In our second industry podcast, Z-Band's southwest territory manager, Joe Dalto, joins VP Dan Helfrick to discuss the ever-increasing demand corporate environments face regarding their video distribution.

We recently set up shop down at the Baltimore Convention Center to attend ASHE's 2019 Annual Tech Conference. Focusing specifically in the healthcare industry, ASHE's diverse membership includes facility managers, architects, engineers, designers, and many others.

Our own Vice President, Dan Helfrick, sat down recently to talk about the changes in direction video distribution systems have taken over the past few years.

PALMETTO HEALTH is the largest and most comprehensive integrated health care system in the South Carolina Midlands region. In addition to their seven acute care hospitals, Palmetto Health also has an expansive physician practice network, dozens of affiliated clinics and specialty care practices, and a non-profit foundation. Their team is dedicated to fulfilling their vision: “To be remembered by each patient as providing the care and compassion we want for our families and ourselves.”

Coax cable has long been considered the default solution for video distribution. Those days, however, are quickly drawing to an end. Z-Band's video distribution systems have made use of category cable to serve as the signal transmission vehicle. CAT cable has rapidly become the preferred choice for video distribution systems in industries such as healthcare, education, government and military installations, as well as a wide range of commercial businesses for a number of important reasons.

It’s hard to imagine a world without Category cable — or, as it’s more commonly known, CAT cable. We rely on it for everything from connecting our computer networks to distributing video and television signals from their source of origin to the viewing device.

H.264 is a commonly used video coding format for the recording, compression and distribution of video content. Also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, H.264 is the video compression standard that was jointly developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) and ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG). H.264 is best known as the video coding standard that applies to Blu-ray Disc players, as well as for streaming Internet sources such as YouTube and iTunes.

MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) refers to an international group of authorities that establishes global standards for audio and video distribution and compression. MPEG is also the general term given to the collection of standards that apply to the coding of video data in a digital compressed format. MPEG video formats consist of the following:

If you’re an IT manager or anyone who works or comes in contact with video distribution systems, you’ve probably heard the term “latency” at some point. A simple definition of latency is the time lapse between when a video frame is captured and actually displayed. The lower the level of latency, the shorter amount of time lapse that is present between frames. Latency is measured in terms of milliseconds.

The availability of technologically advanced video distribution systems has enabled the widespread organizational use of video for a variety of purposes. Video can be used as a type of virtual salesperson that allows customers and prospects to see a product in action. By seeing the product and action, customers can get a better sense of its features and benefits. Video can also be used for training purposes and to deliver information and entertainment to employees and/or customers.

Video can be distributed from its source of origin to the devices that display it in multiple ways. For years, RF (radio frequency) has been the tried-and-true technology. The most common application of RF technology has been in the transmission of the signals used in radio broadcasting. A specific segment of the RF spectrum is also designated for RF video distribution, which is still widely used in industries such as healthcare, government and military, education, and hospitality.

Think about how much your organization relies on video these days. Video is now widely used to present material in business meetings, for training purposes, to provide information and entertainment to employees and customers, and to stay connected and communicate effectively with employees and stakeholders in remote locations. This heavy demand requires an all-encompassing enterprise video solution that is up to the challenge.

We are often asked if the Z-Band Video Distribution System transports HDCP. The answer is that HDCP is not an issue when it comes to the distribution of broadband RF video over the backbone and horizontal cabling in a building or campus environment.

Z-Band specializes in providing active, self-adjusting broadband video distribution systems for the commercial, education, healthcare, hospitality, commercial, and government and military markets. Unlike baseband video in which one video picture is sent from one point to another, a broadband video system uses the entire bandwidth of a distribution medium. This means multiple signals can be sent concurrently, allowing for the simultaneous video distribution from various TV and video sources.

Twisted pair cabling has been around since the days of Alexander Graham Bell and is still used today to transmit landline telephone signals. As the name implies, twisted pair cabling involves two pairs of metal wires wrapped around each other to prevent electromagnetic interference. A variation of twisted pair cable is unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable where no shielding is used to surround the copper wires. UTP cable is commonly used in Ethernet networks such as computer and video distribution systems.

If you’re responsible for selecting a video distribution system for your organization, you have a few options to consider. Essentially, the choice boils down to whether RF (Radio Frequency) or IP (Internet Protocol) is the technology that will provide the most efficient, and cost-effective, solution. You also need to determine which best serves the needs of your customers, patients, students, etc. so it’s important to obtain their input during the process.