Something I will say for the record...
I did not plan how I would view my script for this video, as the camera's lens does
not have a filter thread for me to attach my teleprompter, so...
It's gunna get weird.
Today’s video is something a little different.
You might have noticed that I’ve taken a brief hiatus from streaming-related content
until this month, but I’ve been really diving into streaming setups and
building more of my own out and so on - and I’m posing a possible use case here that
not many people consider.
I want to pose the idea of using PTZ cameras for your live stream instead of the usual
mirrorless and cam link or webcam combo.
It’s a little weird, but I really think it’s worth considering - after a word from
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The specific camera we’re looking at today is the Saber 4K from Angekis, who were kind
enough to loan this to me for a month to review and check out.
I’ve looked at a couple PTZ cameras in the past and was looking into what options might
work for my setup desires.
BY THE WAY, “PTZ” stands for “Pan, Tilt, Zoom” for cameras that can do all of those
things controlled remotely.
These are typically used for big conference room setups, education setups, some multi-cam
broadcasts, and so on.
Running through specs real quicklike… and since I can't reference the specs into you,
I'm going to have to reference them from my phone... because I don't have them memorized
off the top of my head...
Because I'm a professionaL! the Saber 4K is kind of their big flagship
camera, if you will.
It has a 12 megapixel CMOS sensor, a wide angle optical lens that can zoom in up to
12x with an additional 2x of digital zoom, can do 4K video over IP with H264 or H265
encoding, supports power over ethernet, supports standardized control protocols from Sony Visca,
Pelco-P, and Pelco-D - if you don’t know what those are, you honestly don’t need
to worry about it.
It can be controlled via a remote or web UI, has wide
dynamic range modes and noise reduction, supports video up to 3840x2160 at 30fps and can output
via ethernet, HDMI, SDI, or USB, simultaneously!
That’s a lot of info to throw at you, definitely dig through the product info and user manual
when deciding.
What makes this specific camera stand out is the flexibility in its outputs.
This is insane.
This camera can send an IP video signal up to 4K via RTSP over ethernet - and two different
streams of it - up to 4K output via HDMI and up to 1080p 60fps via SDI or even USB!
Yeah, the camera can act as its own capture card or webcam, essentially, over USB giving
you 1080p 60fps signal into your broadcasting or video calling app, much more simplifying
the setup requirements for plenty of use scenarios.
If it’s close to your computer, you don’t need anything else to connect it!
And, it can output 1080p 60fps to all of those outputs simultaneously!
Which further expands the possibilities of hooking the camera into a variety of different
uses you can get from the camera.
The camera features a quarter-twenty thread tap on the bottom so you can mount it with
normal camera mounting and put it….
Just about anywhere.
On the ceiling with built in flipping and mirroring support, above your monitor, in
a corner.
The 12x zoom covers the entirety of my living room office, so you can get the exact framing
that you need.
If you want to control grain or sharpness, there’s noise reduction and sharpness boosts
available in the menu or right on the remote.
This remote also controls the panning, tilting, and zooming - for quick adjustments - and
those controls are super smooth, too, so they won’t be jarring for your viewers.
The remote also lets you control up to 4 cameras at once with one remote - though it is IR
based and you will mostly need line of site to the cameras to control them with it.
It’s not perfect, though.
You can only output 4K to a single source at a time - either IP or HDMI - the rest will
be locked to 1080p.
And their IP control system is incredibly outdated, requiring me to run Internet Explorer,
disable security settings, install ActiveX controls, and the UI does not scale at all
and ends up looking pretty messed up with just Windows DPI scaling enabled.
That’s fairly annoying, especially when usually my complaints about this stuff are
that companies go “too modern” and put everything in mobile apps only, and often
only iOS - but this is like the polar opposite.
Also, the on-screen menu or OSD to customize settings doesn’t seem to show up or work
when I set the camera to 4K 30fps over HDMI, forcing me to hit “Reset” on the remote
to kick it back to 1080p and get rid of my settings, in order to access the menu again.
Also, the “video mute” button seems to not affect the HDMI output of the camera.
The RTSP stream when running over ethernet can be accessed via VLC or added to OBS with
a VLC Video Source and inputting the stream URL (main or secondary) given from the web
UI.
The USB driver is UVC and plug and play in Windows 10, automatically working in Discord,
OBS, Skype, and the Windows Camera App.
This thing is convenient.
While bog-standard streaming setups with a single host playing games is still probably
best or easiest suited with a normal webcam or DSLR or mirrorless camera, more dynamic
streams would benefit from PTZ setups.
As I’m working on how I’d like to do streams in an ideal world, I could see myself utilizing
a few of these to get different angles of my production desk, to have an on-the-fly
adjustable camera at my workbench when doing PC build streams, showing different areas
of my retro streaming room, and so on.
Being able to just quickly with the remote adjust the camera where I need with up/down,
left/right and zoom controls available would save me a lot of hassle and make many of my
intended camera angles better.
And the sheer flexibility of output options on display here certainly make this a convenient
choice.
The video quality is pretty solid, too, especially when you consider that most people can leave
it on Auto and get what they want, or manually dial in exposure and etc.
I really like diving into unique streaming setups and use cases, and I’d love to build
out a future streaming setup with a few PTZ cameras like this.
What do you think?
Could you see yourself using PTZ cameras in your streaming setup or studio?
Comment below with your thoughts.
While you’re down there, you can find a link to Angekis’ website, the like button
if you know..
You liked the video..
The subscribe button so you can get more tech education and cool upcoming streaming guides,
things like that.
I’m EposVox and I’ll see you next time.