Teradek User Guide

Web UI Overview

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The Prism web UI is organized around pipelines: a pipeline takes one input, encodes it, and feeds its outputs (streams and the recorder). This article explains how to open the web UI, how the screen is laid out, and how to find and change settings.

Accessing the Web UI

You can open the web UI from any computer (Windows/Mac) or mobile device on the same network as Prism.

  1. Connect Prism to your network. For details, see Connect to a Network.
  2. Find Prism's IP address.
  3. Open a web browser and enter the IP address in the address bar (for example, http://192.168.1.50). The web UI opens on the Pipelines page.

Prism's default password is prismXXXXX, where XXXXX is the last five digits of the device's serial number. While the password is the default. Password settings are located in System Settings > Security.

NOTE: The web UI remembers the last page you viewed. When you reconnect, it opens where you left off.

Layout

The web UI has three areas (see image below):

  • Sidebar (left) - Navigation for every page, plus the help, theme, and page width controls at the bottom.
  • Center - The page you selected. Pipeline pages have tabs; device pages are made of cards.
  • Status panel (right) - Live status for the pipeline you are viewing.

Click an item to open its page, or click its arrow to show the items under it. The device name is shown at the top; click the pencil icon to rename the device.

  • Pipelines - All inputs, physical outputs, and pipelines. Expand it to open a single pipeline (for example Encoder 1, Encoder 2, Decoder 1).
  • Streams - Every stream (RTMP, SRT, RTSP, MPEG-TS, and so on), with one entry per stream. See Streaming.
  • Signal Flow - A full-screen diagram of every input, pipeline, and output.
  • Audio - Input levels and gain, and the audio tracks for each pipeline. See Audio.
  • Recording - Recording Settings and Files. See Recording.
  • Network - Network Interfaces and VPN. See Network.
  • System Settings - Security, Date & Time, Bluetooth, and Licenses. See System Settings.
  • Maintenance - System info, firmware, diagnostics, settings export/import, sync, and factory reset. See Maintenance.
  • Accounts - Teradek Cloud and Camera To Cloud. See Accounts - Teradek Cloud.

Status Panel

When you open a pipeline, the status panel on the right shows its live status (see image below):

  • Header - Pipeline name, state (for example ENCODING), and how long it has been running.
  • Preview - A snapshot or live preview of the encoded picture, with audio level meters, the input format, and the timecode. A warning such as No input signal appears over the preview when the input is lost.
  • VIDEO / AUDIO / OUTPUTS / RECORD - Current video bitrate and its target, audio bitrate, how many outputs are on (for example 4 of 5), and the recorder state.
  • VIDEO BITRATE - A rolling graph of the video bitrate, with the target bitrate shown as a dashed line.
  • OUTPUT - Each stream on the pipeline with its protocol, state, sending rate (SENDING), and uptime (ON FOR), followed by the recorder.
  • Summary - Input, Encode, Encode status, Generator, and the audio tracks being encoded.

The Pipelines Page

The Pipelines page shows information about all of the configured encoder and decoder pipelines. You can click individual pipelines to go straight to the configuration, or Pipelines to view an overview of the entire system . The badge next to the page title shows the overall state (for example Encoding). The page has three sections: Inputs, Outputs, and Pipelines.

Inputs

The Inputs section lists the video sources your pipelines can use (see image below). A colored dot shows each input's status, and the label shows its signal (for example No signal or the detected format, such as 3840x2160p23).

  • PHYSICAL INPUTS - The SDI and HDMI ports on the unit.
  • NETWORK INPUTS - IP stream ingests along with the ingest protocol (for example TS). A button allows you to add a new network input (IP stream ingest).

Click an input to open its settings drawer on the right side of the screen.

  • Physical inputs - The Input Audio settings for that input: Per Channel Audio, Input Gain, Asynchronous Audio, and Audio Test Tone. These settings are shared by every pipeline that uses the input. For details, see Audio.
  • Network inputs - The ingest settings: Ingest Mode, Buffer Length (ms), Max Buffer Length (ms), and the settings for the selected protocol (for MPEG Transport Stream: Protocol, UDP Port, and Interface). Click the pencil icon to rename the input. Remove deletes the network input. For details, see Decoder Configuration

Outputs

The Outputs section shows physical output routing. For Prism Mobile and Prism Flex, SDI 2 (Labeled output on the chassis) can be switched to an Input if the device has a mutli-input license installed. Click the settings icon at the end of the row to open the output drawer:

 

  • Prism Flex/Prism Mobile
    • SDI 2 Select Input or Output (default)
  • Prism Jetpack
    • SDI/HDMI Video Output (Prism Jetpack only) - Sets what the SDI/HDMI output loops out: one of the hardware inputs, or the decoder output.
      • Auto - (Default)
      • SDI 1
      • HDMI
      • Decoder Output
      • Multiview
    • Monitor - SDI 1-4, HDMI, Decoder Output, Multiview
    • Multiview - Sets the output format for the Multiview - 1080p60, 4k30, 4k60

Pipelines

The Pipelines section shows one card per pipeline (see image below). The header shows how many encoder slots are in use (for example 2 of 4 encoder slots used). Prism can run up to four encoder pipelines.

Each pipeline card shows:

  • Type, name, and state - PIPELINE (encoder) or DECODER, the pipeline name (click the pencil icon to rename it), and the state badge (for example ENCODING or INACTIVE). The colored dot shows the input signal status.
  • Input and outputs - The configured input (for example HDMI or Ingest 1), and a badge for each stream protocol on the pipeline (for example SRT, RTMP, TS, +2).
  • Live preview - A button to switch between a periodic snapshot and a live WebRTC preview.
  • Start Recording - Starts the pipeline's recorder.
  • Outputs - Lists the pipeline's streams with their state and uptime. Push streams that are not live (for example RTMP) show a Go Live button.
  • Preview - The picture with audio level meters.
  • BITRATE, UPTIME, RECORDING - Live statistics.
  • VIDEO, PICTURE, AUDIO - The encoded resolution and frame rate, codec, profile and level, bit depth and chroma subsampling, color space, and audio codec, channels, and bitrate.

Click a card to open that pipeline's configuration page. Additional options are available in the actions menu (three dots) (see image below):

  • Configure - Opens the pipeline's page.
  • Deactivate - Stops the pipeline and frees its encoder slot. The pipeline and its settings are kept.
  • Restart - Restarts the pipeline.
  • Remove pipeline - Deletes the pipeline.

The Pipelines header has additional controls:

  • Card view / Row view - Switch between cards and a compact list. Row view shows each pipeline's preview, details, state, uptime, and a bitrate graph with its target (see image below).
  • Restart all - Restarts every pipeline. Streams and recordings on all pipelines are interrupted while the pipelines restart.
  • Add Pipeline - Creates a new pipeline. Choose the input, the codec, and an optional first output. Nothing is created on the device until you click Create Pipeline, so you can back out safely. [SCREENSHOT NEEDED: Add Pipeline dialog. Not opened on the bench unit (the crawler does not click Add Pipeline).]

Pipelines, Streams, and Outputs

The web UI uses three terms:

  • Pipeline - One input, one encoder (or decoder), and its outputs. Each encoder pipeline has its own video settings, audio tracks, generator, metadata, and recorder. An encoder pipeline uses one encoder slot.
  • Stream - A network output that sends a pipeline's video over a protocol such as RTMP, SRT, RTSP, or MPEG-TS. A stream belongs to one pipeline at a time. You can create streams on the Streams page or from a pipeline's Outputs tab, and pair a stream with a pipeline when you create it or later. Streams that are not paired with a pipeline are shown as unassigned.
  • Outputs - Outputs include streams and recordings. Each pipeline has its own recorder, started with Start Recording. Decoder pipelines output to the physical SDI/HDMI output.

Because each encoder pipeline is independent, you can run different codecs, resolutions, and bitrates at the same time, for example an H.264 1080p stream to RTMP from Encoder 1 and an HEVC stream to SRT from Encoder 2, both from the same HDMI input.

Signal Flow

Select Signal Flow in the sidebar to see a read-only diagram of every input, pipeline, and output on one screen (see image below). Signal Flow is a full-screen view; click Exit at the top left to return to the web UI.

  • SOURCES - Physical and network inputs, with their signal status.
  • PIPELINES - Each pipeline with its state, bitrate, source, and how many of its streams are streaming (for example 4/5 streaming).
  • OUTPUTS - Each stream with its protocol, state, and destination.
  • RETURN VIDEO - Decoder pipelines and the physical output they feed.
  • UNASSIGNED - Streams that are not paired with any pipeline.

Lines connect each source to the pipelines that use it, and each pipeline to its outputs. Click any card to open its settings. Use the +, -, and fit buttons at the bottom left to zoom in, zoom out, or fit the whole diagram on screen.

Applying and Discarding Changes

Most settings pages stage your changes instead of applying them right away. When you change a setting, an Unsaved badge with the number of pending changes appears at the bottom of the page, and the Discard and Apply buttons become active.

  • Click the Unsaved badge to see the PENDING CHANGES list, with each setting's old and new value (see image below).
  • Click Apply to send all pending changes to Prism.
  • Click Discard to undo all pending changes.

Nothing is changed until you click Apply. If you reload the page before clicking Apply, your changes are discarded.

NOTE: Some controls act on the device immediately, even on pages that show Discard and Apply. These include the Source selector on the Color Grading tab, adding or deleting audio tracks and streams, the per-pipeline Recording settings, and buttons such as Go Live, Start Recording, Restart, and Remove pipeline.

Theme and Page Width

Prism's web UI has contorl for how the page is displayed, as well as re-launching the 2.26 UI tour. These are located at the bottom left of the page.

  • ? - Starts the tour (see Take the Tour below).
  • Dark theme / Light theme - Switches the color theme. Dark is the default.
  • Full - Uses the full window width.
  • 1440 px - Limits the page to 1440 pixels wide, which keeps settings easier to read on large monitors.

Take the Tour

The tour is a short walkthrough of the web UI. To start it, click ? at the bottom of the sidebar. Click Next and Back to move between steps, or Skip tour to close it. This opens automatically the first time a device with 2.26 is accessed in your browser.

Settings are grouped by category. And a pipeline comprises multiple different settings objects: Encoder settings, Streams, Audio, and Recording. To find and change an encoder setting, for example the video bitrate:

  1. In the sidebar, select Pipelines, then select the pipeline (for example Encoder 1). The pipeline page opens with its tabs.
  2. Select the tab that holds the setting (for example Video & Audio).
  3. Change the setting. The Unsaved badge appears at the bottom of the page.
  4. Click Apply. The change is sent to Prism, and the status panel updates to show the new values.

You can also open a pipeline by clicking its card on the Pipelines page, or by clicking its card in Signal Flow.
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