Full Features List

Features generally apply for the SnapStream SD, HD and Small Business Edition. Distinctions made below.

Reliable and powerful hardware

• Qualified, tested and burned-in by SnapStream
• Hot-swappable, fault-tolerant storage array
• Rack-mountable in 3U or 4U configurations
• Enterprise-grade SAS storage backplane
• Dual redundant, load-balancing power supplies

Easy to set up and maintain

• Shipped pre-configured with your line-up information
• Simple installation: connect your TV source, power and LAN connection and turn it on!
• Simple client installation: just run the SnapStream Link installer
• Self-healing service architecture provides application-level redundancy
• Automatic disk space management (oldest recordings are deleted to make room for new recordings)
• Automatic daily download of TV listings information
• Web-based advanced settings interface

Watch recordings and live TV

• Play and pause recordings and live TV
• Watch a recording while it's in progress
• Fast-forward and rewind at multiple speeds
• One-button 7-second replay and 30-second skip forward
• Jump to a particular time within a recording
• View program information, original air date and other show information
• Sort the TV Library by series, channel, folder, date and clips
• Run exports and Workflows on demand from the TV Library
• Jump between commercials and television programming using SnapStream's SmartSkip
• Watch recordings full-screen or windowed on your desktop
• Do work on your PC while TV plays in a window (set the SnapStream window as "always on top")
• Capture a video screenshot in native resolution (timestamp in file name) NEW!
• New layout displays program guide information next to the Web Player NEW!
• Share a TV clip while viewing from the Web Player NEW!

Schedule and manage recordings

• Browse two-week program guide
• Schedule "smart" recordings (Record all episodes, new episodes or just one episode)
• Browse shows by category (such as "News" or "Talk Shows") and schedule individual recordings
• Search program guide by title and keyword to schedule recordings
• Rank the priorities of your recording jobs by order of importance and resolve conflicts
• Record all shows on a single channel as individual shows or specify a 24/7 recording as custom time blocks
• Record timed segments of TV with program guide data
• Seamless transitions between 24/7 recording blocks on the same HD channel
• Black out specific chunks of time from your 24/7 recording jobs; works for manual jobs or program guide jobs
• Designate a tuner for viewing Live TV only
• "Pad" recordings that run the chance of starting early or ending late
• Configure recording quality, padding, SmartSkip and other parameters globally and for individual recordings
• Schedule recordings to delete after X days
• 80xs faster than before, the Scheduler allows you to navigate through the Viewscape without delay

Search within recordings

• Search instantly after a start of a recording, based on real-time closed-caption information
• Advanced search interface with Boolean logic (and, or, not) and filtering by date, title description and category
• Preview program guide results above recorded TV mentions found in the closed captioning NEW!
• Toggle between results from TV recordings and the program guide NEW!

• Search by Channel ("channel:12"), network ("network:ABC"), or call sign ("callsign:KHOU")
• Search clips only (is:clip)
• Create saved filters to refine your searches
• Search results start playback at matching place within recording
• Download or view a complete text transcript for a recording
• "Did you mean." message appears when a search term is mistyped or misspelled
• Closed-Captioning data is automatically archived once a recording is deleted, and continues to be searchable
• Search via the Web interface is now up to 4X faster

Set up automatic TV Alerts

• Set up SnapStream TV Alerts and receive an e-mail anytime a saved keyword or phrase is recorded
• Use the "Test Alert Now" feature to preview results
• Track and view your TV Alert History

Create clips, download, ShowSqueeze, and burn DVDs

• Clipping is seamlessly integrated into SnapStream's Web interface
• Drag the start and end points to set the boundaries of your clip
• Cloud sharing: share and play TV clips in SnapStream's privately-hosted cloud
• Download TV clips and view the transcript from the cloud NEW!

• Clip while program is in progress
• Clip with accuracy using frame-by-frame playback
• Specify a destination folder for clips
• Save clips to the My Clips folder for easy reference
• Status box shows clip creation in progress and offers a convenient play link
• Separate clips view from the Library
• Add additional tags to metadata when creating a clip
• ShowSqueeze recordings and clips to Windows Media Video (WMV) or H.264 for smaller file sizes
• ShowSqueeze supports H.264 + AAC for .mov files
• ShowSqueeze Live lets you transcode recordings in-progress
• Download recordings and clips from the appliance to the client, for archival or use in 3rd party software
• Download complete transcripts

• Burn a video or data DVD from the SnapStream Web interface using the helper application
• DVD burning supports all popular formats, including DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW and dual-layer discs
• View 10 most recent tasks, such as new clips and ShowSqueezed files, on the home page NEW!

Streaming TV via LAN

• Stream live or recorded TV content across your local area network

Administration

• The web interface allows users to view and edit advanced features
• Access control grants the administrator to grant permissions, such as watching shows, making recordings, and editing system settings to certain groups. This can be tied to an active directory system.
• Folder security: grant specific user groups permission to view and access particular video folders in the library

• Active Directory support for groups and authentication
• Documents all user log-ins and detail use of each user found in the View Log
• SnapStream can be configured to notify an administrator by email whenever an error occurs
• Encrypted communication between all clients and SnapStream for improved security
• Warning and Email Alerts are pre-configured with SnapStream.net service

Web Player for Mac and PC

See FAQ

• Web Player runs from the Web interface on your Mac or PC
• Supported on Windows XP and above, Mac 10.6.3 and above
• Access full TV search features from your Web browser: For Windows, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. For Mac, Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
• Windows Web Player supports WMV, H.264 and MPEG-2 (in-progress and pre-recorded)
• Mac Web Player supports H.264 and MPEG-2 (in-progress and pre-recorded)
  • Search results include video that plays back in the browser
  • Video plays from the point of mention
  • Create TV Clips
  • Set up TV Alerts
  • Turn closed captioning on and off
  • Open multiple tabs in the browser to run concurrent searches
  • Fast forward, rewind, play, pause, seek, skip forward and back
  • SmartChapters let you skip between programs and commercials
  • Full mode removes the search bar and navigation from view
  • Control volume
  • Adjust skip forward and back settings to a specific number of seconds
  • Link to a show
  • Jump to a specific point in the program

• Web browser plug-in installs from first time use; administrative privileges may not be necessary
• Live TV not supported at this time
• Fullscreen playback not supported at this time

Workflows

• Drag-and-drop rule builder puts you in total control of post-processing tasks
• No more global settings; automate transcoding at the job level
• Specify exact destination folders under different rules
• Save storage space by systematically reducing individual file sizes
• Set up as many Workflows as you'd like.
• Run Workflows on demand from the TV Library

• Triggers include:
• Recording finished
• Recording started - allows you to transcode in-progress recordings
• Clip created
• X number of days after a recording is created
• When ShowSqueeze finishes
• Filters include:
• From Job
• On Channel
• Of File Format
• HD
• Movies
• From Series
• From Category
• In Folder
• Clips
• Actions include:
• Transcode to H.264
• Transcode to WMV
• SmartChapter
• Copy
• Move
• Delete
• Generate Transcript
• Transcode to H.264 (TP)
• Transcode to QuickTime
• Export Item

SmartChapter Commercial Detection

• The SmartChapter feature auto-detects commercials by marking major scene changes
• Web Player timeline shows grey segments for commercials and white segments for programming
• Use the up and down arrow keys to skip from one SmartChapter to the next
• Refine TV search results include or exclude commercials, based on SmartChapters
• Two ways to SmartChapter from the primary Web interface:
• Select recordings from the library to SmartChapter individually or in a batch
• Set up task rules to SmartChapter specific recordings on an automated basis

Clustering

• Cluster two or more SnapStream appliances to increase tuners (# of channels recording) and storage
• Specifically expand the TV search archive with the SnapStream Storage Node
• Export content with the SnapStream HD-SDI Playout Node
• Enhance transcoding with the SnapStream ShowSqueeze Node
• File streaming between nodes in a cluster is improved for greater stability and reliability

SnapStream HD

See FAQ

• Record ATSC (over-the-air digital broadcasts) directly from a digital antenna without a digital-to-analog converter
• Record from an in-house custom QAM feed
• Capture up to 5 HD feeds at once
• Supports clustering

SnapStream HD-SDI Playout Node

See FAQ

• Output video from the SnapStream appliance to your SDI router and/or workstations
• Queue up multiple recordings at the same time for output
• Manage recordings in the queue using custom controls to play, stop and seek

SnapStream ShowSqueeze Node

See FAQ

• Convert MPEG-2 recorded on the SnapStream appliance to H.264 or WMV
• Transcode up to 8 video files simultaneously
• Retain search meta data in the flipped file format

SnapStream Storage Node

See FAQ

• Expand the TV archive beyond 30TB on one SnapStream appliance
• Retain seamless searchability; conduct one search
• Scale to petabyte storage

SnapStream Small Business Edition

See FAQ

• Full TV search functionality and all general features listed above
• Limited to 5 client licenses and 3TB storage
• No clustering capabilities

SnapStream API

• Programmatically interface with SnapStream software to implement custom solutions quickly and easily
• Pass and receive data between SnapStream and external applications
• Manage and create tasks
• Search and create notifications
• Automate custom workflows
• Uses JSON Web Services