Videoguys Top Products of 2022
The Videoguys Top Products Awards is an annual tradition when we like to take the time to look back at the year, the technological developments and the new products that are helping to shape the future of content creation including live production and streaming. 2022 stood out in the industry as the return to LIVE – not live on zoom, not live on YouTube, but LIVE AND IN PERSON! We loved it! The NAB Show in Las Vegas in April had the same buzz and excitement as the glory years of the past and new products that were delayed by challenging supply chain issues started to ship and sparked the advancements once again. Live production and streaming started to take on a new role as a creative complement to a larger content creation strategy and is now an exciting part of a large portfolio rather than a necessity to reach any audience you can. We are really starting to see now how the creative minds are expanding productions and doing more than ever – and the Videoguys’ Top Products of 2022 definitely help.
NOTE: This list of our top products is not presented in any particular order. The best product is always the one you need to meet your goals and we would be happy to help you select from this list or from our complete product catalog. These items were all introduced in 2022 and all impressed us in the ways we describe below.
Watch the full webinar below:
Atomos Shogun Connect
The Atomos Shogun Connect is the flagship device of the new Atomos Connect Family that expands on the production capabilities that made Atomos famous (monitor, record, playback) with connected features that support integrated and clou-based workflows. The Shogun Connect is the “best Shogun ever” and tops the Connect family that also includes the Atomos Connect attachment for the Ninja V and the Zato Connect entry level encoder. Atomos Connect is the hardware component of the new Atomos Cloud Studio, Cloud-based video production workflow with Camera to Cloud support for Frame.io.
BirdDog P240 NDI PTZ Camera with 40x Zoom
BirdDog cameras are no strangers to the Videoguys Top Product list. BirdDog has built a strong history of making NDI products that work well and continue to push the workflows that professionals need. The new P240 camera offers a high-quality Sony image sensor with an impressive 40x optical zoom that will help in a lot of installations – especially large churches, lecture halls or other venues. Combined with their growing suite of software tools like BirdDog Color, Cam Control 3.0 with auto-tracking and BirdDog Cloud the capabilities of this camera go far beyond the traditional NDI network.
NETGEAR M4250 Desktop Switches
Last year Netgear received a Videoguys Top Product award with the new M4250 AV Line of switches and these have continued to be the top solution for making NDI productions work. This year Netgear expanded the line with two desktop models that are just as easy to set-up and use but are built into the compact form factor perfect for portable solutions and small studios. Pair the M4250 desktop switch with the award-winning TriCaster Mini X for one of the most compact NDI powerhouses available today.
NewTek TriCaster Mini X
The TriCaster Mini X is the perfect combination of compact and powerful. This latest edition of the TriCaster Mini combines the HDMI I/O from the previous TriCaster Mini HD4 with the improved power and performance of the TriCaster Mini 4K with the ability to adeptly handle both HDMI and NDI sources with ease. The NewTek TriCaster Mini X is an affordable live production powerhouse perfect for in-studio or portable set-up.
Kiloview N50 and N60 NDI Converters
NDI solutions are always on the top of our list and the new Kiloview N50 and N60 converters insure that you get everything you need for your workflow. These converters support 4K resolutions through HDMI (N60) or 12G SDI (N50) with bi-directional conversion to any NDI protocol you need including full-bandwidth NDI and high-efficiency NDI|HX 3 or NDI|HX 2. Take care of all of your 4Kp60 transmissions easily with these reliable solutions.
Canon CR-N500 PTZ Camera
The Canon CR-N500 PTZ Camera is an impressive 4K PTZ camera with 1” image sensor and flexibility to work in HDMI, SDI, USB, NDI|HX and SRT workflows. The most impressive part of this camera though is the renowned Canon Color Science with support for wide dynamic range and Canon Log 3 combined with the dual pixel autofocus and optical image stabilization. Your audience will not be able to tell the difference between this PTZ camera and other Canon cameras that have earned their exceptional reputation.
MRMC Polymotion Chat Pro Autotracking Software
We were introduced to MRMC Polymotion Chat Pro software this year by our PTZ Camera manufacturers who recommended this software as the ultimate auto-tracking tool. Polymotion Chat Pro works with every top PTZ camera on the market and we can help you build the best bundles that fit your productions including Panasonic, BirdDog, PTZOptics, Canon cameras and more. Polymotion Chat Pro uses AI technology to do more than any other solution available. You can configure multiple points on your subject to create slow, gentle movements, like a cameraman.
YoloLiv Instream (plus ALL of the YoloBox Pro Updates)
The YoloLiv Instream was introduced this year as the world’s first vertical video production system with direct integration to TikTok and Instagram. Now content creators can easily use multiple cameras to share their next story on these popular vertical formats. One of our biggest reasons for awarding the Instream is because we know YoloLiv’s track record for making their products better. The YoloLiv YoloBox Pro has received so many updates and upgrades this year that it is so much more than the award winning product from last year’s list and has to be awarded again. YoloBox Pro can now do more than ever with video backgrounds, remote guests, graphic layers and more. We’ve gone from YoloBox Pro 1.3 to version 3.0 in the past year and the development has been impressive!
Telestream Wirecast Gear 3
The Telstream Wirecast Gear 3 is the fastest and most efficient generation of the Wirecast turnkey live production system. Choose from HD or 4K, HDMI or SDI, all with the CPU and GPU power to support NDI productions, remote guests, and all of the production capabilities of Wirecast Pro.
Epiphan AV.io + Video Grabbers
How does a USB Video Grabber make a top product list in 2022? The technology is not new, nor is the product, but the Epiphan Grabbers were hard to come by for a while and were re-introduced this year in the latest edition that is faster and even better than before. These USB video grabbers require no drivers. Just plug them in and they work! Add these to your tools before you set out for a production and you will have what you need to bring and HDMI or SDI camera to USB for direct integration in conferencing tools like Zoom or Teams or even as another video source in software like OBS or Wirecast.
LiveU Solo Pro
LiveU Solo is a previous award winner and the newest version – the LiveU Solo Pro is a huge upgrade that brings it to this list! The LiveU Solo Pro adds support for 4K resolutions, HEVC encoding, 5g connectivity and up to 4 cellular modems. All of this combined means you will get higher resolution streams in a more efficient bandwidth with the latest in cellular bonded technology and LiveU’s broadcast quality solutions to stream your event live from anywhere.
SanDisk Professional Pro Blade series
The SanDisk Professional ProBlade series may be one of the coolest developments in storage that I’ve seen yet. SanDisk Professional is taking all of the technology for reading drives and putting it into the Pro Blade Transport and the (soon to come) Pro Blade Station. This allows you to buy SSD storage like razor blades – inexpensive add-ons to your workflow that can be changed at will, managed by project, and shared in an ultra-portable solution. The Pro Blade workflow is going to give content creators the speed and storage you need in about a tenth of the size and weight in your camera bag.
2022 was an exciting year where we saw a lot of new products that were held back in production make their way to market. Many of these products leap-frogged their previous generations and added significant improvements in capabilities. The more you can do, and the less time that you need to do it, all adds to your creativity and the ability to produce more live content than ever before. We are excited to see that and know these developments will continue as we head into 2023. Call us at 800-323-2325 or email sales@videoguys.com if you have any questions about these products or about creating the perfect workflow for your production needs.
Honorable Mentions
These are products that were announced this year, but since they won't start shipping until next year, we unfortunately couldn't award them this year. But these products still look like they're going to be awesome additions into any workflow, and we can't wait to see them next year.
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