The 10 Best Telepresence Products launched in 2010 (Editor’s Choice) – 6. LifeSize Conference 200 Telepresence development kit
17 January 2011. LifeSize Communications was the first company to develop and deliver High-Definition video communications products. Founded in 2003 by industry veterans, the company was chosen as “HD Video-conferencing Company of the Year 2010” by this newsletter last week. It won the same honour in 2007.
LifeSize is headquartered in Austin, TX with subsidiaries in Europe and Asia Pacific. LifeSize has more than 1,500 channel partners in 80 countries reselling its line of High-Definition videoconferencing products.
LifeSize was acquired by Logitech at the end of 2009 and is now a Division of Logitech. LifeSize shares the Logitech vision that HD Video should be available to anyone, anywhere.
In 2009, LifeSize recognised that costly, proprietary Telepresence solutions were too expensive and too awkward to deploy throughout the organization. LifeSize felt that with its 720p HD video-conferencing technology, the company could produce quality Telepresence and make it affordable and flexible enough to be deployed in environments beyond the board room. That is how LifeSize Conference kit was conceived.
In 2010, LifeSize made all its HD videoconferencing system capable of 1080p video and added the number 200 to indicate this. For Telepresence, LifeSize Conference 200 with 1080p video was also launched in 2010.
LifeSize® Conference 200™ is not designed to be made into a fixed Telepresence suite. Rather to enable more users in more places to realize the benefits of Telepresence to improve their productivity, working face-to-face with colleagues in remote locations.
LifeSize Conference 200 System Components are: 3 x LifeSize Room 200 Codecs, 4 x LifeSize Cameras 200, 1 x LifeSize Phone, 1 x LifeSize Conference software, Power supplies Cables.
LifeSize® Conference 200™ has some attractive features: Full 1080p HD video, 16×9 format, can use one-third of the bandwidth of comparable Telepresence solutions and a kit designed for deployment in any conference room. The systems integrator also gets an embedded multipoint control unit (MCU) complete with transcoding.
The Bandwidth required is 2.5 Mbps – 18 Mbps (768Kbps – 6.0Mbps per codec). For Video Resolution 1920x1080p/30fps, 1.7 Mbps or higher per codec is required. For resolution 1280x720p/60fps, 1.1 Mbps or higher per codec is required. This drops to 768Kbps per codec for 1280 x 720p30fps video.
Such is the efficiency of the LifeSize codec that where bandwidth is a constraint 720p/30fps video can be achieved. That makes LifeSize Telepresence inexpensive to operate as well as affordable to buy.
The company’s exemplary attention to the human experience ensures that the LifeSize Conference 200 system is easy to use. And with built-in AMX panel software, calling is made simple with one-button dialing.
LifeSize is committed to open architecture, so Conference 200 will interoperate with other standards-based videoconferencing and TelePresence systems.
As with LifeSize Full HD videoconferencing systems, LifeSize Conference 200 enables facial expressions, body language and gestures to transcend geography. Your work teams, wherever they are, get incredible, lifelike clarity.
Review the LifeSize Conference 200’s capabilities and you will discover remarkable video communications that transports user experiences across cities, countries and continents. The LifeSize difference is the LifeSize experience.
Last year, Videonations Telepresence based on the original LifeSize Conference kit was one of the 10 Best Telepresence solutions of 2009.
A/V systems integrators who have installed the LifeSize Conference 200 Telepresence kit are impressed by its low cost, the high quality of video and audio and its ease of use. It is clearly one of the 10 Best Telepresence solutions of 2010.
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