Canon HG20 & Live Stream

[MarkJD]

Hey All,

First time poster here. Sorry if this topic has been brought up before a quick search didnt result in what im looking for.

Our society is running an event soon and as we are expecting large numbers we want to use the HD Camcorder as a live feed source at the event. The plan is that we have the camcorder setup on a tripod recording said event but that it would also be hooked up to a Sony Vaio Laptop and then we could hook that up to a projector behind the demonstration so larger numbers can see it.

Camcorder & Laptop both have HDMI Ports.

Just wondering is it as simple as it sounds or more involved? Do i need any specialised software or utilities?

Many thanks for your responces.

[MarkJD]

Bump!

Anyone got any ideas about this please?

[edDV]

Your plan has flaws.

The HG20 can output analog and/or uncompressed digital (HDMI).
It won't export compressed HD like an HDV model would. The HV20/30/40 could output compressed digital over IEEE-1394 for recording or retransmission on a PC.

As it stands, your HG20 can feed a monitor or projector with HDMI inputs.

Your laptop may have an HDMI output but it can't receive an HDMI input. With an appropriate capture device, you could connect the analog outputs from the HG20 to a laptop at standard definition. Test the camcorder to see if it can output HD over HDMI and SD composite at the same time.

If you were to buy or rent an HDV camcorder, you could live stream HD over IEEE-1394 to the laptop and if the laptop is up to the task, you could uplink the MPeg2 stream to a media server for distribution.

If you replaced the laptop with a powerful desktop, you could use a BlackMagic Intensity Pro to capture off HDMI (uncompressed) and realtime compress in software for uplink to your media server.

[EddyH]

Question: Does it have a USB port over which video can be sent? USB2.0 is good enough for standard def at least, and if you're livestreaming you may not want to go even that high rez if you can frame the picture suitably to show all the relevant content with reasonable detail.
Canon do offer that sort of capability on at least some of their stills cameras, and I wouldn't be surprised to find such a "webcam" feature on the camcorder devices.