epiphan Pearl-2 Rackmount, User Manual

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Pearl-2 User Guide What is a channel?
What is a channel?
Your video and audio sources that are connected to the input ports on Pearl-2 can be combined and added to
channels, which you can stream and record. A channel is essentially an encoding instance that you associate
with your video and audio inputs to produce outputs such as video recordings and streaming destinations.
And you can create multiple channels. For Pearl-2, we recommend a maximum of six 1080p sources in up to 6
full HD channels or having up to four 4K sources
4K
in a single channel for best performance.
You can pick and choose which channels to record, stream, or do both at the same time! You can even choose
the output from one channel as the video input source for another channel.
Channels with multiple layouts
There are many creative ways to customize your channels in Pearl-2. Easily combine multiple video sources to
the same layout for picture in picture or side-by-side layouts using the convenient custom layout editor. You
can add text overlays and effects, like transparent logos and lower thirds. Customize your channels with
images, company information, corporate colors, and time stamps just to name a few possibilities. You can
even apply chroma key effects to either one or to all your input video sources at the same time.
When you use the custom layout editor to create multiple layouts in a channel, you can live switch between
the different layouts while recording, streaming, and displaying the channel on a confidence monitor. You're
not limited to creating single-source
Channels that are a one-to-one reflection of your video inputs . And if
you need to output your switched program using multiple encoding settings, you can use the output from
one channel as the input source for another channel, then stream and record each channel at different
encoding settings.
Each channel can include some or all of your video and audio sources. And you can add the same source to as
many different layouts as you want in a channel.
For example, you could use the same source in all of these situations at the same time:
- in Channel 1 as part of a multi-source layout with picture in picture at 1080p, 30 fps, 6,000 kbps
- as the only source in Channel 2 at 720p, 30 fps, 2,000 kbps
- as the only source in Channel 3 at 1080p, 60 fps, 2,000 kbps
To create custom layouts, see Custom layout configuration and About the custom layout editor .
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