--- title: ZEN MASTER April 2023 RELEASE NOTES slug: zen-master-april-2023-release-notes docTags: createdAt: 2025-03-21T18:26:45.262Z --- The following updates will be included in the ZEN Master April 11, 2023 release. Features The following new features were implemented in this release: • AWS Broadcasters now support custom Names and Streaming/Private Ips. Previously, when creating Clusters in AWS, individual Broadcasters were named per parent Cluster, followed by a unique random sting. In this update, the ability to override the random post-fix and specify a specific Broadcaster name is introduced: • Source Multiplexing. A new ZEN Master Source type, accessible in the “Create New Source” menu, is provided to support the current Multiplexing capability of the Zixi Broadcaster: Once selected the ZEN Master operator can: \- Set a target bitrate for the final multiplexed MPTS. \- Select multiple individual SPTS sources to include in the MPTS. \- For each component program of the final stream, configure: o The program name. o Program ID. o Base PID. PIDs will increment consecutively from the base PID within each program. Once the new source configuration is saved, the target Broadcaster of the Multiplex Source acquires all input sources, (either locally, or where necessary via auto-pull from corresponding broadcasters) and constructs the final MPTS. The MPTS output appears as a new source and is available as an input for Channels etc. The Transport Stream structure can be verified by selecting the new Source, and inspecting the stream details for the contained Programs. • Demux Sources. In addition to Multiplex Sources, Demuxing is now supported and is accessible in the “Create New Source” menu: The Source configuration provides the ability to choose an existing MPTS source. Once an MPTS is selected, the “Program Number” dropdown allows the user to select the specific program from within the MPTS that should be broken out as a standalone SPTS. Once the other common source parameters are set, and the Demux Source is saved, the new Source appears in the Sources list and is available as an input for Channels. • Fully customizable Roles. Permissions are now managed by object type and more control is provided to Admins to assign read, write, and notification permissions across system objects: • PID mapping Sources now display the changes in the PID tree. The before-and-after PID number is highlighted in the transport stream details when mapping rules have taken effect, enabling Users to easily confirm that a PID number change has occurred: • Re-designed SCTE35 tracking/alerting on Sources. SCTE-35 monitoring on Sources has been updated to only check for SCTE existence in a time window. This allows for alerting of all SCTE messages that do not fall within the window, including those that do not adhere to the SCTE specification: o SCTE35 alerting is now the same as closed-captions alerting, ZM will alert if there are no SCTE35 messages for some period of time. o At least one SCTE message is required before ZM will alert. o The alert is disabled by default. • VIP Tags. Admins can now assign VIP status to a tag. Any object that contains one or more VIP tags will have its alerts elevated as VIP: Objects tagged as VIP will be clearly labeled in the object details page: In addition, object list tables can highlight, and be sorted by, VIP objects: • In-application User Guide - Event profiles only for now. Beginning with the Event Profiles, ZEN Master introduces detailed in-application links to context specific help documentation. Additional Improvements and Changes The following additional improvements and changes were implemented in this release: • Source sharing updates: • Added link management and password protection. The previous release introduced the ability for users to share a Source details page with external partners and others without ZEN Master accounts. The latest release builds on this by adding password security. External users with the share link are required to enter the password before accessing the stream details: • Added elementary stream bitrate graphs. Once the shared link is accessed and the correct password provided, the external user is now provided with an additional bitrate graph: • ZECs are now presented in Source/Channel/Target diagrams. • PID Mapping profiles now allow list of PIDs or ranges of PIDs. • Grids can now be filtered by Broadcaster version. • Administrators can now modify User Notes, all Note changes are now logged. • MPGA (MPEG-1 layer 2) Audio transcoding. • Support for SASL\_SCRAM Kafka Authentication. • Thumbnail will now display the previous picture with a warning if a refresh fails. • Automatic disabling of Channels is now optional at completion of Live Events. • Added description field support to the MediaConnect Channel type. • General UI Polish.