Wat Na Pa Pong is a Theravada Buddhist monastery located northeast of Bangkok in Thailand’s Pathum Thani Province. The venerable Ajarn Kukrit Sothipalo leads the monastery and believes in learning, practicing, and proclaiming exclusively from the words of the Buddha – a practice known as Buddhawajana. To assist with outreach, Wat Na Pa Pong uses many modern technologies.
Websites, mobile applications, and video content allow for followers – and those interested in the monastery and its teachings – to quickly connect online. That said, analogue systems for recording and broadcasting video had the monastery struggling with image quality. To repair that situation, Wat Na Pa Pong turned to NewTek and NDI.
The Best Thing
The head of Wat Na Pa Pong said the NewTek system had a high standard to meet as the monastery refuses to settle for anything but the best medium to share its teachings.
“When we do something about the Buddha, we choose the best thing,” said Ajarn Kukrit. “When we print the book, we only use the best paper. These teachings will be passed down to people using advanced technology. We think NewTek has the best device with the best technology at this moment.”
“I am not an expert in IT and gadgets, but I can connect to the NewTek system easily,” Ajarn Kukrit said. “NewTek’s design makes it very convenient to broadcast from anywhere, any time. I can give a sermon from anywhere in the world.”
ICamplus Co., Ltd., NewTek’s partner in Thailand, worked collaboratively with the monastery to design a workflow based on the NewTek TriCaster TC1 and NDI PTZ cameras. TriCaster TC1 live production systems enable creators to switch, stream, and record in HD and 4K UHD 60p while offering native Skype integration – perfect for bringing remote callers into a video. It also enables dual-channel live streaming to Facebook Live, Microsoft Azure, Periscope, Twitch, YouTube Live, and more.
The Shift to IP
Meanwhile, NDI PTZ cameras require only a single Ethernet connection for setup, power, operation, and signal flow. The camera pairs perfectly with TriCaster for a configuration-free NDI experience and a better than broadcast feel.
The NDI video-over-IP protocol ties the system together, with all video signals being sent between devices over the network. Free-to-use NDI allows individuals and organizations to access the benefits of IP-based, software-defined visual storytelling for a fraction of the cost of other IP protocols or traditional video transport methods.
The monastery also utilizes many free-to-use NDI Tools, which are downloadable from www.NDI.tv. Tools such as NDI Scan Converter, NDI Studio Monitor, and NDI Virtual Input allow for integration between the TriCaster and personal computers – allowing creators to quickly and easily add additional media content or external video to productions.
The monastery uses the NDI-HX Capture app – which is available for iOS or Android devices – to allow live screen capture screen from mobile devices and the NDI-HX Camera app to quickly add additional, high-quality video sources to a production.
The full NDI setup allows Wat Na Pa Pong to stream content to three Facebook feeds, three YouTube channels, and one RTMP feed each day.
