Release notes

Release 4.21.0

  • Added support to schedule the start and stop times for recording and streaming using the premium version of Epiphan Edge. This requires a subscription to Epiphan Edge.

  • Added file transfer progress indicator to the video preview screens as well as the Single-Touch screen on Pearl Mini and Pearl-2. This feature will help users monitor the progress of their uploads and avoid removing the storage in the middle of the transfer.

  • Added option to require user to enter a PIN to user Pearl Nano to factory reset the device.

  • Added option to require user to enter a PIN in order to apply built-in configuration presets using the front screen.

  • New built-in Configuration presets for Pearl-2 and Pearl Mini to transform routine meetings and events into captivating TV broadcast-like experiences.

  • Added a new counter to the SRT statistics called Reconnections to show the number of times a SRT connection disconnected and was successfully re-established.

  • Added support to encode MP3 and AAC audio formats at 192 Kbps.

  • Resolved a bug that caused recording failure when Pearl is configured to record a scheduled Panopto webcast event and at the scheduled start time, connection to Panopto is established but either Panopto does not respond in a timely manner or does not respond at all.

 

Previous releases and features

This section lists features and updates introduced in previous product releases.

 

Release 4.20.0

  • Added ability to apply a Pearl Configuration preset from an attached USB drive.

  • Re-branded Epiphan Cloud to Epiphan Edge on web admin interface and touch screen.

  • Made enhancements to Pearl-2 to allow the inclusion of video files of size up to 100 MB in configuration preset.

  • To improve the user experience and readability configuration presets, icons representing sections of the preset are no longer shown on the touch screen.

  • Resolved an issue in which Pearl times out when attempting to discover NDI sources on the network.

  • Resolved an issue that leads to loss of input video signal when the name of a video source on Pearl web UI is changed to reserved key words.

  • Provided better handling of HTTP error code 401 from YuJa Enterprise Video Platform.

 

Release 4.19.0

  • Added support for media playback enabling you to add an MP4 video file to a layout within a channel.

  • Added support for web URL as input for use with graphics solutions such as Singular.live, Uno, and Flowics. This can be used for use cases such as lower-thirds and bugs.

  • Increased number of simultaneous sources that can streamed to Panopto from 4 to 6.

  • Implemented a fix for an issue that prevented the upload of recorded files to Panopto. This problem is encountered when Pearl is rebooted while in the middle of uploading a recorded file to Panopto.

  • Implemented a solution to identify and restore the XLR analog audio input capture when it fails due to grounding and/or external environmental issues.

  • Resolved an issue that prevented Pearl from uploading files to existing subdirectories in an S3 bucket using AFU.

  • Resolved an issue that caused video signals from the SDI input on Pearl-2 to not de-interlace properly.

Release 4.18.0

  • Performance improvements to NDI|HX functionality

  • Pearl-2 can register itself with an NDI discovery server if one is set up on the network, this functionality can be enabled in the Network section

  • Added support for quickly connecting SRT inputs to Epiphan Connect

  • Enhanced SRT inputs and outputs with buttons to quickly copy information to clipboard

  • Enhancements made to Panopto integration; Pearls configured to record webcast events will now begin recording to local storage if Panopto cannot be reached at the scheduled start time.

  • Improved discoverability of the Epiphan Live dashboard

  • Resolved an issue in which some scheduled back to back events with Panopto, Kaltura, or YuJa CMS may not get recorded

  • Bug fixes

  • MPEG-DASH is no longer supported on Pearl devices

  • UPnP is no longer supported on Pearl devices

Release 4.17.3

  • Added support for closed loop fan speed control on thermal load of Pearl-2. As thermal load increases fan RPM increases, and as thermal load decreases fan RPM decreases

  • An issue has been resolved wherein configuration presets that contained Epiphan Cloud data from one Pearl were applied to another Pearl which then caused a hard lock of that Pearl upon reboot. A better handling of this information has been implemented in this release to prevent the hard locking of these Pearls on reboot.

  • An issue has been resolved wherein occasionally Epiphan Cloud team members were not able to access the Admin interface of a paired Pearl unit

  • Bug fixes

  • All Pearl-2 units manufactured after November 2022 will have a new LCD screen and a new fan that require firmware version 4.17.3 or higher. These Pearl-2 devices cannot be downgraded to previous versions. Similarly, old Pearl-2s whose fans require repair, will have the new model of fan installed. These Pearl-2s also require firmware release 4.17.3 and cannot be downgraded to older firmware versions.

Release 4.17.2

  • Bug fix for the full frame rate preview in Epiphan Cloud Pro. HLS preview stream from Pearl to Cloud was not closing properly when preview was stopped, this has been resolved

Release 4.17

  • Firmware version 4.17 is the last version to support connections to UPnP enabled devices
  • Support for Kuando BusyLight Alpha and Omega model 2
  • Support for starting and stopping scheduled YuJa events early using Pearl
  • Support for pausing and resuming YuJa events in progress using Pearl
  • Support for extending a YuJa event in progress using Pearl management interface
  • Addition of brute force password attack prevention. If the same IP address tries and fails to log in to Pearl 50 times in a row within 60 seconds, Pearl will block further attempts to log in from that IP address for 60 seconds
  • Security vulnerability fixes
  • Bug fixes

Release 4.15

  • Direct integration with the YuJa content management system lets you streamline your YuJa workflows for even more efficiency. Pearl can automatically start recording or streaming based on your schedule in YuJa and push files to the right folder on the platform
  • Kaltura updates including Improved ad hoc events and My Dashboard integration
  • MultiViewer onscreen options including on-air status, audio meters, channel status, and CMS event status
  • SRT support upgraded to version 1.4.3 (better stability, more accurate statistics, and other improvements)
  • Support for automatic file uploading via secure SMB2 and SMB3, improving compatibility with Windows-based systems
  • Preset optimizations allow you to select which aspects of a created preset to apply to a Pearl device

Release 4.14.2

  • MultiViewer displays a custom mix of up to six video sources including channels on the HDMI output port in a convenient grid for confidence monitoring with minimal impact to the system's processor.
  • Pause and extend CMS events
  • Panopto device templates
  • Live channel RTSP stream transport option
  • NDI version 4.6.2 support
  • Keyboard shortcuts
  • Pearl as FTP server functionality removed.

Release 4.14.1

  • Upload local webcast recordings to Panopto
  • Locking the CMS start screen
  • Pre-configured stream URLs for Kaltura webcasts
  • Schedule CMS event uploads
  • Adjustable fan speed

Release 4.13.0

  • Epiphan Edge support replacing AV Studio
  • Diagnostic tools added to the touch screen and Admin panel
  • Scheduled Automatic File Upload (AFU)
  • DHCP option 81 (FQDN) support
  • Dynamic DNS (DDNS) support
  • Configure Pearl-2 to not send low storage alerts to Panopto
  • NDI resource discovery across subnets and external networks
  • SHA hashing algorithm support

Release 4.12.1

  • External keyboard control for the touch screen
  • Status light indicator support for select models of Kuando BusyLight and Delcom Product's USB HID status indicators
  • Email address lookup for Kaltura ad hoc events

Release 4.12

  • Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) streaming protocol support
  • HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) streaming protocol support
  • MPEG-DASH streaming protocol support
  • Additional HLS (pull) options to configure the segment size and playlist duration
  • Multiple multicast publishers support in the same Pearl-2 channel and the ability to start and stop the publishers

  • Adding pre-existing recordings to an Automatic File Upload (AFU) queue

  • Changed some status fields on the Admin Panel's Info page and changed the bitrate status to now show the total combined bitrate of the video plus audio.
  • Enhanced streaming error messages

Release 4.11

  • Extend certain admin privileges to operators
  • NDI 4.1 support on Pearl-2
  • Monitor status of file transfers using touch screen and cancel file transfers using the Admin panel
  • Added support for Kaltura's lecture capture plus live event type

Release 4.10

  • Local Admin panel access using a USB keyboard, mouse, and monitor connected directly to Pearl-2 plus a built-in virtual keyboard, multiple keyboard language layouts, and support for touch screen monitors
  • NDI Alpha channel support on Pearl-2 plus the option to ignore timecodes
  • Assigning Pearl-2 a unique device name, description, and location
  • Using a Kaltura application token to register Pearl-2 as a remote recorder
  • Selecting a video output source using the touch screen

Release 4.9.1

  • Kaltura ad hoc event details and configurable event schedule refresh interval
  • Panopto support for ad hoc event authentication from Pearl-2's touch screen using credentials for external identity providers
  • Panopto ad hoc event folder selection from the Pearl-2's touch screen
  • Automatic user logout when an ad hoc event ends
  • International character support in channel names, layout names, video and audio input names, text overlays, and recorded file names. For a list, see Release notes
  • Epiphan Discovery Utility support deprecation

Releases 4.9.0 and 4.9.0h

  • Full Panopto integration
  • Kaltura ad hoc event creation using the touch screen
  • Toggle Temperature/CPU load on the touch screen
  • Automatic EDID verification of connected sources upon start up
  • USB tethering removed
  • Confirmation before AFU queue file deletion
  • Kaltura users who are only defined in MediaSpace are allowed to start unsheduled ad hoc events using both the touch screen and the Admin panel (4.9.0h)

Release 4.8.1

  • Traffic shaping to improve video output quality when streaming over a Gibabit Ethernet network to 10/100 Mbps set-top boxes. If the API is used for traffic shaping, see the Technical Notes for your Pearl-2 model for instructions. They're available from the product resources page on the Epiphan.com website.
  • Improved video smoothness of the HDMI outputs
  • We improved the smoothness and quality of interlaced video from SDI inputs

Release 4.8.0

  • NDI and NDI|HX support
  • Hardware acceleration
  • Live switching improvement
  • Audio inputs as playback audio sources for HDMI outputs
  • Product registration changes
  • Pairing to AV Studio changes
  • Original Livestream and Wowza Cloud streaming presets removed

Release 4.7.1

  • AFU to SFTP server stability improvement
  • BIOS update to resume status after a power cycle

Release 4.7.0

  • Integration with Kaltura CMS
  • International character support in text overlays
  • Chroma key color selection update
  • RTMPS certificate update
  • EAP-TLS user name field update

Release 4.6.0

  • 802.1x network security compliance
  • RTMPS AV encryption
  • HTTPS
  • Discovery utility port disabled

Release 4.5.1

  • Constant volume for layouts with multiple audio sources
  • Stereo and mono analog audio selection
  • Assign XLR B/RCA audio sources to an input
  • Mute audio
  • Remote login
  • Channel as a source
  • Mirror the video output
  • Some important UI terminology changes

Release 4.4.1

  • AV synchronization improvements of RTSP streams and loopbacks.
  • Improved synchronization and performance of 4K sources on SDI and 4K HDMI port.
  • Fixed the Wowza custom streaming option.
  • Improved the recognition of AV.io SDI capture cards when they are first plugged in.
  • Fixed a hot plug issue affecting the detection of interlaced 1080i signals from certain camera models (for example, Sony HDR-CX180, HDRCX190, and Panasonic HC-VX980M).

Release 4.4.0

  • Constant frame rate
  • Audio VU meter
  • Epiphan Live preview on HTTPS networks
  • AFU to an SCP server remote directory creation

Release 4.3.0

  • Chroma keying
  • Text overlay and custom layout editor enhancements
  • Clone channels and custom layouts
  • Clone recorders and recorder metadata
  • AFU enhancements
  • Start and stop individual streams using Epiphan Live
  • Logitech BRIO 4K camera support

Release 4.2.0

  • USB 3.0 support for web cameras and AV.io UVC video capture cards
  • Fully integrated multi-publishing
  • Enhanced video cropping
  • Audio delay control
  • Epiphan Live recordings management

Release 4.0.1

  • Launch of Pearl-2 Rackmount models
  • 4K add-on

Release 4.0.0

  • Inaugural release of Pearl-2 with the following features
    • Capture 6 video sources at once
    • Epiphan Live
    • Switch video sources live
    • Pro video inputs and outputs
    • Pro audio inputs
    • 512 GB data storage (SSD)
    • Touchscreen