We Rebuilt Pixelview From Scratch: HDR and 10-bit 4:4:4
Over the past six months, we rewrote the Pixelview streaming pipeline completely, from the ground up.
Why We Started Over
Our old system relied on third-party services that limited what we could build. Adding new color spaces or optimizing workflows meant waiting for vendors. So we rebuilt everything ourselves, which lets us build the features you need.
Introducing the Pixelview Engine
We now have our own streaming engine. Every part of it is either code we wrote or open-source software we can modify and improve.
We control the entire pipeline, from when your stream hits our servers to when it reaches your viewers' devices. If you need something specific for your workflow, we can build it instead of saying "sorry, we can't do that." It is also much more secure, because we can read 100% of the code that handles your stream.
Technical Improvements
SDR streaming in the new pipeline supports full 10-bit 4:4:4 color, so none of your color information is thrown away. HDR streaming supports Rec.2020 PQ, HLG, and P3-D65 PQ.
With OBS you can stream 10-bit 4:2:2 today, which is a big step up in color accuracy and gradients. HDR works well in Chrome and our iOS and iPad apps. Apple TV doesn't support HDR yet, so streams get tone-mapped to SDR there.
Since we're in beta, we'd like to hear what works and what we should improve. We're also working on a new encoder for full 4:4:4 support.
The iPad Pro finally doing HDR things thanks to 1,000 lines of new code 🫠
Better Security Through Isolation
One thing that always bothered us about the old system was resource sharing. Multiple customers' streams would run on the same servers, which wasn't ideal for security or performance.
Now every Pixelview customer gets their own dedicated container, completely isolated from other users. That is more secure, and someone else's traffic can't slow your stream down.
Expanding Our Reach
We've also put a lot of work into infrastructure. There are now 18 regions worldwide, so the server can sit close to both you and your viewers, which lowers latency and improves reliability.
| Region | Cities |
|---|---|
| Africa | Johannesburg |
| Asia | Mumbai, Singapore, Tokyo |
| Canada | Toronto |
| EU | Amsterdam, London, Paris, Stockholm |
| Pacific | Sydney |
| South America | Buenos Aires, Querétaro, São Paulo |
| US East | Boston, Dallas, New York |
| US West | Los Angeles, San Jose |
If you're having connection issues, you can switch to a different region from your admin panel in about 60 seconds.
Currently in Beta
We're rolling this out as a beta. The core works, but before the full release we want feedback and to make sure it holds up in different workflows.
What's Next
With the rebuild we can move faster on the features you've been asking for, support more formats, and customize things for specific workflows.
It's been a long six months. We finally have the control to build the streaming platform we've always wanted.
Join the Beta
If you'd like to try the new pipeline, sign up here. We want your feedback while we refine it.
Have questions or feedback about the new pipeline? Email us at hello@pixelview.io.
First time we got HDR playback to work 😢