24-hour TANK TV Live Stream powered by Panasonic Pro PTZ Cameras

When Sea Life Sydney Aquarium re-opened its doors to the public with reduced capacity due to social distancing, it ensured that fans didn’t miss out on the action by offering TANK TV, a convenient 24-hour live stream allowing viewers to take a deep dive into the world of one of Sea Life’s most popular exhibits, the penguins.

SEA LIFE’s much-loved penguins include a spectacular King and Gentoo colony as part of the ‘Penguin Expedition’ experience, which reflects the environment of sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island, where both these species can be found.

Panasonic’s AW-UE4 camera is small and compact with an easy to position head.  This offers the benefit of flexibility of location – it can be placed on a rail, ceiling or wall mounted anywhere within the aquarium – while an ultra-wide 110-degree angle means everything is in the shot. The aquarium simply decides the angle of view they need and positions the camera to suit.

Importantly, at a time when no visitors were permitted during lockdown, the camera was delivered, and then installed by SEA LIFE’s in-house AV/IT team of two, with the aid of a brief Skype demonstration. Richard Dilly explained, “having temporarily closed our doors to the public on 23rd March, we wanted to ensure that our guests could still interact with us, learn new things and be amazed by the extraordinary underwater world – right from the comfort and safety of their own living rooms.”

During the closure, SEA LIFE was impressed by the number of teachers who contacted them to say they were using the ‘TANK TV’ stream as part of remote learning for students while schools were shut.

The AW-UE4 camera was set up within a day, linked to the network and was very quickly streaming to SEA LIFE’s YouTube account. Once installed, the AW-UE4 streams 24/7 with no further control needed.

Mathew Alexander, Product Marketing Manager - Broadcast & Professional Camera from Panasonic Australia explained: “The camera only needs one CAT5e or CAT6 cable for power, video and control, and then you’re ready for RTMP (Real Time Messaging Protocol) streaming to YouTube, Facebook, Twitch or any other RTMP/RTMPS service. This single-cable control also makes it really easy to move the camera when you need to.”