Lianhe Zaobao adapts to the digital winds of change by adopting professional video and audio tools for its live news show streams
As Singapore’s leading Chinese-language news title with a 100-year history, Lianhe Zaobao has moved with the times to incorporate digital content, and was among the first Chinese-language newspapers in the world to go online in August 1995. Today, it has become a well-rounded multimedia news platform. Live! at The Newsroom is one such example of its multi-faceted portfolio.
The show is livestreamed every weekday from a relatively small office room that cannot accommodate large production equipment. The main hosts collaborate closely with a moderator to manage the live screen presentation and discussion of news and comments online.
The Challenge
At first, the team made use of the built-in microphone and camera on their laptops, but audio and video quality was often compromised. The team attempted to enhance audio quality by introducing external headsets for the hosts. However, a drawback emerged as each laptop could only connect to one headset – so whenever two hosts worked together, this prevented both hosts from speaking at the same time. The moderator also used consumer-grade wired headphones during the live show, but sometimes wires became tangled, requiring the moderator to remove the headphones to sort out.
These challenges caused distractions and interruptions to the live show, prompting the video newsroom to introduce Jabra’s professional audio solutions into their setup. Three products stood out for them - the Jabra PanaCast 20 personal video camera, the Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex professional headset and the Jabra Speak 750 speakerphone.
Natural sounding conversations with incredible audio quality
Darren Lim, Executive Video Editor and Videographer at Lianhe Zaobao, played a crucial role in implementing these solutions to address the challenges faced by the team.
With the Jabra Speak 750 speakerphone, now both hosts for the livestream can now speak at the same time - and be heard clearly too. The speakerphone has a powerful omnidirectional microphone (360° pickup) and a range of up to 2.3 meters. Because of its compact size, the speakerphone can be hidden off-screen to keep the set looking clean.
“Now our hosts need not raise their voices when speaking because the strong audio pick-up from the Speak 750’s microphone means they can still be heard clearly during the recording, while the acoustic echo cancellation removes any distracting background noise.”
Improving work productivity with the Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex professional headset
Tangled wires are now a thing of the past for moderators and presenters with the wireless Jabra Evolve2 65 Flex headset. This delivers a robust, reliable Bluetooth connection and high-quality audio for the live streams and for regular virtual meetings.
Darren rates its many nifty features including a busylight that helps warn co-workers not to disturb during calls, especially when moderating live streams, and the ability to mute or enable calls by lifting and lowering the microphone boom arm. While during virtual meetings, the quality of the Active Noise Cancellation is perfect for shutting out background noise and aiding in maintaining focus.
High-quality video which automatically keeps presenters center stage
The small, portable Jabra PanaCast 20 video camera offered a more professional video stream for their programs. The PanaCast 20 is extremely versatile and can be easily clipped onto the top of any laptop.
The team praises the impressive image quality, which offered a clear improvement. The Intelligent Zoom feature identifies human faces and reframes the video so that the hosts are automatically kept in the center of the frame. Hosts no longer have to try and stay still while presenting. They can move around and get knowing the camera will automatically center them in the video stream.
The color balancing feature has also particularly impressed the team as it enables them to adjust brightness, contrast, and color effectively under different lighting scenarios.
"I like how we look on camera now as the Jabra PanaCast 20 allows us to look more natural and sharp without extensive lighting equipment. It’s foolproof, even for a non-tech-savvy person." - Yeo Boon Teng, host for Live! at The Newsroom (Jan 2022 - Oct 2023).
