Product updates: 15th August 2023

Posted: 10/08/2023

The latest upgrade to the Blackbird platform is due to be released 15th August 2023. This release includes editor and overall efficiency improvements. 

This update will be made available during a maintenance window of 11:00-16:00 BST (6:00-11:00 EST) on the day.

Admin: New arrivals / endpoint configuration windows

As part of ongoing maintenance and underlying technology updates – The existing ‘arrivals’ setup on accounts has been undergoing functional and cosmetic changes. This now has an assignment toggle where previously a drag and drop behaviour existed. This allows for faster setup tasks on larger systems with many source locations and streams.

Admin: Metadata filtering on cloud configured watchfolder locations

When Blackbird is watching large repositories of media, it can be efficient to apply metadata filtering to apply more complex rules regarding which assets to ingest and which to ignore. Simple examples would be to only ingest files that are made after a certain date, more complex examples can also include other properties such as internal file metadata.

HLS improved frame rate detection and SEI recovery point settings

Blackbird live ingest capability for HLS has been further enhanced to handle stream frame rate detection in a more consistent manner in particular for interlaced media sources. In addition to this, we have added the ability to support for ignoring SEI recovery points where these may be invalid keyframes. This is to ensure seeking during publishes is improved.

Multiple Backend infrastructure software changes

Our ongoing backend software infrastructure changes for future compliance and security means a number of changes that have no impact on user experience but which continue to ensure ongoing support of the various system components.

Coming Soon – Control Centre Media Manager

The media manager portion of the Blackbird control centre has been undergoing a design and technical refresh. This will be nearing completion prior to the start of the official rollout in the next 2-3 months. 

If you have any questions regarding the upcoming release or how these updates may impact you and your teams, please feel free to contact us at support@blackbird.video.