As of Pearl-2 firmware release 4.2, Pearl-2 supports AV.io family video grabbers as alternate video input sources.
Pearl-2 is an advanced live video production system with a large variety of available audio and video inputs. This powerful system captures video from any six sources simultaneously. Until recently, the list of available capture inputs was:
- RTSP sources like IP cameras sources and other Pearl systems,
- two on-board SDI ports (12G-SDI capable with the 4K add-on), and
- four on-board HDMI™/DVI ports (two of which are 4K UHD HDMI capable, with the 4K add-on).
This means that if you have three SDI video sources (e.g. and Pearl-2 has two on-board SDI ports), you can simply connect an AV.io SDI to one of the two USB 3.0 ports on the back of your Pearl-2 and get an extra SDI input port. This extra port can be used in all the same ways as a traditional source, including setting a no signal image for the source and using it in any number of full-screen and picture in picture layouts. The same is true for AV.io HD and AV.io 4K (although Pearl-2 has a limit to the number of simultaneous 4K signals you can use).
Need to capture from a VGA source?
If you’re familiar with Pearl and Pearl-2, you know that unlike Pearl, Pearl-2 doesn’t have an on-board VGA capture mechanism. But now, using AV.io HD video grabbers connected to USB ports on Pearl-2, you can easily capture video from up to two VGA sources simultaneously. And of course, you can use them the same way as any traditional source.
Webcams? Did someone say webcams?
Yes, actually. I did sneak webcams into this post. Pearl and Pearl-2 now support video input from web cameras. Pearl can support one web camera, and Pearl-2 can have up to two. These are interchangeable with all the other source types to be one of your four video sources on Pearl or six video sources on Pearl-2. You can also use UAC-based audio devices to capture from USB microphones and other USB audio devices.
Fantastic flexibility
These new features bring even more flexibility to Pearl and Pearl-2. Release 4.2 will be available in February 2017 and is a free firmware update for all existing Pearl and Pearl-2 customers.
