This release introduces a number of quality-of-life improvements to EdgeVis and includes a new encoder firmware and a new release of EdgeVis Server.
Encoder Upgrades
Support for the new EVVR-1 (version 2) encoder
The original EVVR-1 was EOL'd last year, and we are pleased to announce a new product that replaces it - the EVVR-1 v2. This product originally shipped with V8.7.1.
Early users of the EVVR-1 v2 should check the firmware on their encoder to determine if an upgrade to V8.7.2 is available.
Improved cellular performance reporting
This release has implemented two new improvements to the modem report within the Communications page of the local web interface. When you select your cellular modem, you should notice two changes:
New cellular strength indicator
The cellular strength indicator has been improved to factor in new additional metrics reported by the modem, with a colour-coded indicator that signifies if the signal is poor, fair, good or excellent:
Four different factors make up this new grading (which are displayed under the Band entry) - for more information on how to interpret the new Signal quality metrics.
Reorganised structure
The entries on this page have been reordered into new categories; Status, Advanced Connection Information (e.g. observed network and band), Modem Information (make, model, IMEI, and version), and SIM card details (sim card number).
Download a live modem diagnostics report
It is possible to download a report of all the low-level diagnostic commands provided by your encoder's modem. This allows you to perform a more in-depth performance/reliability investigation.
For more information, see how to download and interpret the modem diagnostics.
New ability to upgrade cellular modem firmware
Most EdgeVis encoders contain a cellular modem from Sierra Wireless that provides 3G/4G connectivity. These modems also contain firmware that...
is occasionally updated to improve the reliability and performance of cellular connections.
offers carrier-specific optimisations (which are often used in North America).
With this release, users are now able to upgrade the firmware running on their modem to either update to a later version, or switch to a different carrier's optimised settings.
For further information please refer to:
New retention options for encoder logs
By default, the encoder stores developer logs for 5 days. These can be requested by support in the event of unexpected behaviour, and 5 days is normally enough to capture the necessary debugging information from a previous incident.
However in some circumstances, this is not enough time to capture the issue, so it's possible to increase the retention period to 30 days if necessary.
The relevant option is now available on the Logs and diagnostics page of the local web interface of the encoder, under the Log settings menu button:
Added the ability to access the local web interface over cellular
Under normal circumstances, it's good security practice that the encoder only allows access to the local web interface using local network methods (i.e. LAN and Wi-Fi) - as a consequence access via the cellular modem is disabled.
However, if using other security measures (e.g. private network SIM cards) the new firmware now allows you to re-enable access to the web interface.
The relevant option is now available on the Control local web access page of the local web interface of the encoder:
Extra options for automatically configuring ONVIF cameras
When adding an ONVIF camera, previous firmware had the option to configure the camera to 10 Mbit/s (at 1080p @ 30fps). The firmware extends the options available to allow setting the bitrate to 3, 6 or 10 MBits/s, allowing you to balance quality versus recording duration:
Other minor bug fixes
APN settings for the UK network O2 have been updated
PTZ presets were not being respected on MiniCam on certain models
Various improvements to the ONVIF camera driver to improve support for specific cameras (e.g. the Axis F5A4, Claresys MIDVER)
Incompatible RTSP streams now have improved error reporting.
EdgeVis Server improvements
New multi-stream management interface
A new user interface for managing the output EdgeVis video streams has been implemented when configuring your encoder through the server's web interface:
This removes the previous grid interface and allows you to more easily view/edit the cameras associated with each stream.
In addition to reworking the interface, there are new utility functions (e.g. enable/disable all cameras) that should make it simpler to switch modes of operation (e.g. only one camera per stream).
Clustering and multi-server improvements
Numerous low-level improvements have been made to the communication protocols used between each node in a server cluster. This should improve reliability, especially when the links between servers are congested or of variable quality.