The Roland VR-50HD provides easy-to-use HD AV switching for corporate enterprise production.

For Immediate Release

Rebecca Genel
Global PR/Media Relations Manager
Roland Corporation
+1 (323) 890-3718
Rebecca.Genel@roland.com

Los Angeles, CA, December 17, 2015 — Ustream, the world's live and on-demand video platform leader, based in San Francisco, is using Roland’s VR-50HD all-in-one HD multi-format AV mixer to control internal streaming audio and video communications within its corporate environment. The Roland VR-50HD, which integrates an audio mixer, video switcher, multi-viewer touch screen and USB video/audio streaming into a compact and portable stand-alone device, is being employed in combination with Ustream Align, Ustream Demand and Ustream Producer live video software solutions.

View a video case study here: Ustream Utilizes Roland's VR-50HD for Streaming Corporate & Customer Communications.

Ustream was founded by John Ham, Brad Hunstable and Gyula Feher in 2007, initially to connect remote military servicemen to significant personal and cultural events, and has since developed into the live business video platform of choice for a long list of clients including Cisco, Facebook, Intuit, Mazda, NASA, Samsung, Sony and others. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company also maintains offices in Los Angeles and Budapest, Hungary, and regularly uses the Roland VR-50HD during local and global internal streaming events such as sales, customer service and town hall meetings.

According to Brad Hunstable, Ustream’s CEO and Co-Founder, “One of the biggest benefits of the VR-50HD that I’m hearing from our production team is that you can have multiple inputs into the switcher. What makes that so powerful is that in a corporate environment, where you have lots of different types of input devices, you’re going to have one clean, beautiful, high-quality feed that’s going to look a lot like your home HD television experience — but now you have that in your corporation.”

The VR-50HD accommodates up to 12 HDMI, 3G/HD/SD-SDI/SDI, RGB/Component and composite inputs, enabling feeds from devices of differing formats and resolutions to be effortlessly combined into a single 1080p output.

Alden Fertig, Senior Director of Product & Customer Success for Ustream, says, “The VR-50HD has been great for our in-house production team because it’s very easy to use. What we like about the VR-50HD is that is has the appropriate inputs and outputs to interface with our in-house AV systems, whether that’s the projection screen or the sound reinforcement system, and you can also send your program to a recorder or to our live streaming software. So the VR-50HD is the perfect complement in front of Ustream products, because it has a hardware interface to do audio mixing and low-latency video switching, and it has all the inputs and outputs and resolution matching that you need to be able to work nicely with a software-based encoder.”

Fertig adds, “The quality for both the video and audio in the VR-50HD has been excellent. One of the things that’s really nice is you can mix different input formats and get a full 1080 signal out of it. And the audio quality is exactly what you’d expect from a company with such a strong history in audio products. We even use the VR-50HD for a quick in-house audio solution, should we need one on the fly.”

Ustream offers many benefits for live communications as a service, Hunstable believes. “It helps you connect more closely with your customer and with your employees, and really feel like you’re there, and able to interact and communicate. It’s one of the most powerful mediums on the internet.”

The company has grown rapidly and now has offices globally, Hunstable continues. “As you might expect, when you have multiple offices it can be a challenge to have alignment around your vision and your goals. But through live video streaming you can get that alignment. You can get that connection between teams that are spread out around the world.”

About Ustream
Ustream is the pioneer in live social video streaming, boasting the largest global community with more than 60 million viewers and broadcasters. The company’s innovative cloud technology enables anyone – from entertainers to consumers, to companies to non-profit organizations – to easily connect and broadcast in real-time. Founded in 2007, Ustream is a San Francisco-based company that has grown to more than 160 employees within their San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Budapest offices. Company partners include Panasonic, Samsung, Logitech, CBS News, PBS NewsHour, Viacom, and IMG Media. Ustream is a privately-owned company. For more information on Ustream, visit ustream.tv, twitter.com/ustream, or facebook.com/ustream.

About Roland Professional A/V
Roland’s professional A/V division is dedicated to providing solutions in support of audio and video professionals demanding excellence in both performance and functionality. Through the development and support of video and audio products, we endeavor to improve workflow and maximize creative possibilities in a variety of markets including Broadcast, Corporate, Education, Legal, Live Production, Sports, Theater, Theme Park, Videography, Visual Performance, Worship. Roland is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.