23.07 Media Server

We’re excited to announce the release of Flussonic Media Server 23.07. This update brings significant enhancements to the Admin UI, improving push status display, audio track configuration, and failover file transcoding. The DVR Player has been refined with bug fixes, addressing logo display issues, playback during input unavailability, and WebRTC WHEP session restarts. A notable addition is the episode-based DVR mechanism, offering flexibility, scalability, and fault tolerance. The update also introduces passthrough support for time_signal markers, enabling precise ad insertion. Furthermore, logging and DVR index optimization result in clearer logs and reduced storage requirements. In the client area, the retroview dashboard has been improved to provide a more insightful and comprehensive experience.

Admin Web-Interface

The 23.07 release enhances the Admin UI by introducing improved status display for both MPTS (multiplexer) and SPTS (stream) push, allowing users to conveniently monitor their status. Additionally, users can now configure and manage audio track ingestion and pushing settings directly from the Admin UI, specifically for DekTec SDI cards.

Based on user feedback, the Admin UI has been enhanced to include a checkbox for failover file transcoding, providing users with greater control over their failover mechanisms and simplifying the configuration and management of transcoding settings. The improved Admin UI now ensures visibility of all server statuses, addressing the previous limitation of only displaying running servers and preventing potential oversight of important server statuses.

DVR Player

The latest release of the DVR Player in Flussonic Media Server brings significant improvements and bug fixes to enhance performance and reliability, ensuring a seamless playback experience for users. Among the resolved issues, the problem with the overlaid logo not appearing on the preview despite being shown in the Player itself has been addressed. Users can now play the stream’s DVR even when the input is unavailable, and WebRTC WHEP sessions no longer restart due to timeouts on the “embed.html?proto=webrtc” page. The issue that previously prevented the viewing of archives in the DVR Player when stream names contained special characters, such as “/”, has been successfully resolved. These updates contribute to a more efficient and trouble-free DVR Player functionality.

Episode-based DVR

The latest release introduces a significant improvement in the Flussonic Media Server’s DVR functionality by implementing an episode-based mechanism instead of traditional locks. With episodes, recorded video is divided into self-contained segments, enabling concurrent access to multiple portions of the DVR without the need for exclusive locks. This approach enhances flexibility, scalability, and fault tolerance, as it allows for efficient management of DVR content, optimal resource utilization, and uninterrupted access to episodes even in the event of failures or interruptions. The transition to episodes marks a game-changing advancement in the Flussonic Media Server’s DVR capabilities, deprecating the use of locks and providing users with a more efficient and seamless experience.

SCTE-35 Based Ad Insertion

Flussonic now supports the passthrough of time_signal markers, providing improved compatibility and functionality for SCTE-35-based workflows.

By supporting time_signal markers passthrough for HLS SCTE-35, Flussonic empowers content providers, broadcasters, and streaming platforms to deliver enhanced viewing experiences with precise ad insertion, seamless content transitions, and synchronized playback across different devices and players. This feature adds another level of flexibility and compatibility to Flussonic’s robust streaming capabilities, reinforcing its position as a reliable and feature-rich media server solution.

Enhanced Logging and DVR Index Optimization

  • Enhanced Pusher Log Readability. The sensitivity to minor bitrate changes has been reduced, resulting in clearer and more concise log entries. The focus is now on significant events, reducing “noise” in the logs and providing valuable insights for troubleshooting and analysis.
  • Optimized Multiplexer Log Messages. Instead of generating frequent log entries, the log message is now sent once per minute. This optimization reduces unnecessary log entries and improves log management efficiency.
  • DVR Index Data Reduction. By minimizing the amount of data stored in the DVR index, storage requirements for DVR content are significantly reduced. This reduction in storage needs translates to cost savings and improved overall performance for DVR operations, enabling more efficient utilization of system resources.