What's new in version 5?
View the most recent release notes.
Web Player for Mac and PC
- Play SD or HD TV recordings from any popular Web browser
- Supports Mac OS X 10.6.3 and above; Windows XP and above
- Create TV clips with draggable start and end points
- View in-progress TV recordings on Mac and PC
- Smart plug-in self deploys; no administrative installation required
- Capture video screenshots in native resolution NEW!
- New layout inserts program guide info next to the player NEW!
Share Clips in the Cloud
- Share TV clips in the cloud with anyone, anywhere
- Universally play TV clips from any computer, mobile device or tablet with a connection to the Internet
- Recipient receives an email link to view the video file
- New cloud options: download the file or view the transcript NEW!
- Share a TV clip as you're watching it from the Web Player NEW!
- No email attachments are involved, which effectively circumvents file size limits and spam filters
Set Up Workflows
- Initiate Workflows based on triggers, such as when a recording starts, days after a recording finished, or when a clip is created
- Using filters, like category and channel, to selectively perform actions such as ShowSqueeze and SmartChapter
- ShowSqueeze Live allows you to transcode recordings as they hit the air and also view the video while it's converting
- Workflows enables a high level of customization for how different types of recordings are handled, formatted and saved
- Run Workflows manually from the TV Library on hand-picked recordings or clips
Improved Search and Usability
- Completely reorganized TV library
- Sort recordings by date and channel
- Navigate to common tasks more quickly
- Preview program guide results above organic TV mentions NEW!
- Toggle between recordings and guide results NEW!
- Create saved filters to refine your TV search results.
- Opt to group search results by TV show for a macro view of where mentions are occuring
- Notification boxes stick on every page so you can check the progress of behind-the-scenes tasks
- All URLs are shareable, e.g. search results pages
Recording Improvements
- Record segments of the day in reference to the program guide
- Record digital channels 24/7 with seamless recording block transitions
- IR blast sub-channels when using ATSC/QAM converter boxes
- Black out specific chunks of time from your 24/7 recording jobs
- Drag and drop to set recording priorities on the fly
- Distinguish partial recordings from full-length, so you can tell if a job did not complete
SmartChapter Commercial Detection
- SmartChapter auto-detects where TV commercials occur
- Web Player timeline now displays color-coded segments
- Skip between programming and commercial SmartChapters
- Two ways to SmartChapter your recordings:
- Select a batch or individual recording from the library
- Set up a workflow for specific types of recordings
- SmartChapter generation is now up to 200% faster for HD files and 40% faster for SD files
Speed Enhancements
- Search TV from the Web interface up to 4X faster
- Transcode to H.264 over 50% faster
- Program guide updates are up to 80% faster
- Daily updates occur more frequently and consistently
- Lighter, faster and more efficient queries for high traffic
- Edit custom lineups from the Web interface
- Intelligent updater removes duplicates from multiple TV sources
- Faster page loads in the Web interface
Build a SnapStream Cluster
- Record and search more TV by adding SD/HD tuners
- Expand your archive with SnapStream Storage Nodes
- Save disk space by mass-ShowSqueezing recordings to WMV or H.264
- Transfer TV content into editing suites seamlessly with the HD-SDI Playout node
SnapStream API
- Programmatically interface with SnapStream software
- Implement custom solutions quickly and easily
- Pass and receive data between SnapStream and external apps
- Do things like: manage and create tasks; search and create notifications; automate custom workflows
- Uses JSON Web Services
Reliability Enhancements
- Improved database backend: SQL Server Express instead of INI and XML files
- Record TV and execute tasks with greater fault tolerance
- Recordings and post-processing tasks are dispatched across nodes with more intelligent error handling
- Service architecture designed from the ground up to be more robust, e.g. you will receive a notification e-mail if any individual tuner goes offline and each tuner will automatically be reallocated to match your recording priorities
- Enhancements to back-end file streaming improves recording reliability in large clusters
- Improved reliability of recordings in a cluster configuration
- Improvements from 4.9.3 to 5.9:
SnapStream 4.9.3
(old hardware)
SnapStream 5.x
(old hardware)
SnapStream 5.x
(new hardware)
OS
Windows XP
Windows XP
Windows Server 2008
Web Server
SnapStream-built
IIS Express
IIS
Data Store
XML and INI files
SQL Server Express
SQL Server Express
Core Improvements
- New web interface runs on Microsoft IIS Express and is simpler, more nimble, and more intuitive
- Logging interface is faster and fully equipped to handle clustered systems
- Improved logging enables you to easily search your logs to isolate user activity and resolve problems
- “Prediction-based" file distribution makes more efficient use of disk space by using the upcoming recording schedule to put files in the best possible place
- Oldest content expires first, casting across all hard drives (in a cluster)
- Folder security in the Web interface: grant specific user groups permission to view and access particular video folders in the library
- Encrypted communication between all clients and SnapStream for improved security
SnapStream Version 5 Upgrade FAQ
It depends on several factors:
- You must be within a current and fully-paid service contract.
- Your SnapStream appliance must meet the hardware qualifications—SnapStreams on a first generation platform will not qualify up front, but hardware upgrades can be made on a case-by-case basis.
- Contact us by phone at 1-877-696-3674 or at support@snapstream.com to verify your eligibility.
Best reasons for you to upgrade now:
- You want to simplify the task of managing multiple SnapStreams by combining them into a single SnapStream Cluster
- You heavily use the Web interface, and need to be able to play back search results and create clips from the Web Browser
- You would like to set up Workflows for ShowSqueeze, SmartChapter and more
- You want to burn DVDs from the Web interface
- You want to detect commercial breaks and verify ads with SmartChapters
- You want to take advantage of SnapStream's API
- There’s a bug fix in version 5 that solves a problem you’ve been encountering. Reference the full release notes
- Contact us by phone at 1-877-696-3674 or at support@snapstream.com to verify your eligibility
- If you’re running 4.x, the upgrade to the latest version of the software will be a hands-on process with our support team. After prep, the entire upgrade procedure can involve up to a day of downtime. Additional SnapStream equipment may be recommended or even required.
- If you’re already on 5.x, the upgrade process is relatively easy. Contact our support team for upgrade instructions.
