Review: Epiphan Pearl Nexus
Nexus puts a Pearl out of sight for automated/no-touch video capture and streaming duties.
16 October 2024
Review:/ Christopher Holder
Epiphan has been a leader in the streaming and video capture game since the Canadian company was established in 2003.
Epiphan’s original epiphany was around the need for an appliance that brought together various aspects of broadcast and production into one box – something that dovetailed with the streaming zeitgeist.
Epiphan’s success is built on the fact it’s a video capture and streaming specialist, and brings product to market that combines the Goldilocks (just-right) mix of features at the right price. The processing power has always been there as well, which is why you’ll find plenty of original Epiphan Pearl’s still in the field, something that allows Epiphan to support its legacy product with well-worth-it firmware upgrades that usefully expand its capabilities at no extra cost. Little surprise then, that Epiphan has a legion of loyal fans.
NEXT NEXUS
New from Epiphan is an addition to the Pearl family called Nexus. It’s not designed in the usual Pearl mould. There’s no touchscreen, for starters. In fact, it’s designed not to be touched at all.
The Pearl Nexus is Epiphan’s response to a growing demand for a streamer and recorder that is a good, ‘law-abiding citizen’ of an enterprise network; that obediently does the bidding of the enterprise control system; will shake hands in a friendly fashion with the house CMS, such as Panopto or Kaltura; and will efficiently go about its business, behind the scenes, 24/7, in automated scenarios such as council meetings, lecture theatres, court proceedings and the like – all without the need for an operator.
NEXUS SPECS
Pearl Nexus records and streams up to three channels of 1080p video. Inside is a one terabyte SSD or you can record to a network drive.
Epiphan is well known for including a good mix of professional ins and outs. Nexus allows you to choose your video flavour – USB, HDMI, SDI or network video such as NDI or SRT. On the audio side you’ve got balanced XLR inputs along with RCA and minijack.
Given Nexus will sit out of sight, some kind of management software is particularly important. Epiphan’s answer is Pearl Edge. It’s a one-stop shop for Pearl fleet management and control, scheduling, collaboration and monitoring. Remote production is becoming more commonplace these days and Pearl Edge gives you what you need for remote streaming, recording, monitoring, and switching. It makes the creation and streaming of broadcast-quality video from a distance, easy.
SOAKING IN VIDEO
Video is everywhere – we’re soaking in it – and increasingly we want to capture it and stream it. Why? Why not. Storage is comparatively cheap and the AI tools are here and emerging that can help us get the most out of captured video without a human spending days sifting and repackaging. Epiphan is a leader in helping the AV world navigate this explosion in video capture and streaming.
Pearl Nexus does what Epiphan does best, only in an environment where customers don’t want to think about the tech, let alone touch it. Little wonder, then, that Pearl Nexus is fast finding a space behind lecterns and in the racks of meeting rooms, lecture theatres, council chambers, courtrooms and elsewhere.
AP Technologies: aptech.com.au
PEARL NEXUS SPECS
Video inputs:
3G SDI
HDMI 1.4a2
USB 3.0 (UVC)
Video over Ethernet:
RTSP
SRT (push)
NDI|HX
Browser
Audio Inputs:
XLR/TRS combo jacks
RCA
3.5mm
CMS Integrations:
Kaltura
Panopto
YuJa
Opencast
Administration & Control:
Admin panel: Local web UI for full administration
Epiphan Live: Local web-based UI to easily control streaming, recording, and switching
Remote access: Epiphan Cloud/Edge for remote device management and remote login.
API: Yes (HTTP/HTTPS or RS232)
RESPONSES