Pearl-2 is the recommended hardware encoder for clients in the worship space
Stream Monkey is an online video company focused on simplifying the way users share, connect, and engage with their audience. Their cloud technology allows control and delivery of video all across the planet. Video is hosted on the Akamai CDN and packaged in a convenient player that’s easily embedded on websites or integrated with other streaming sites, like Facebook Live.
Looking for the best hardware encoder
Director of Operations, Nicholas Roselius, had a hard time finding a reliable hardware encoder to recommend as part of their solution. Since many clients from houses of worship don’t have a technical background, Stream Monkey was looking for a robust hardware encoder that was simple to use, affordable, and high quality.
According to Nicholas, “It all starts with the encoder.” If the encoder doesn’t work, then everything else down the line doesn’t work well. So when Stream Monkey discovered Pearl, they realized they’d finally found what they were looking for.
The Pearl solution
“Now we can go to our customers with options to consider using Pearl as a great way to start off streaming, or if they’re not satisfied with their current setup, to switch over to Pearl-2.” To Nicholas, the Epiphan Pearl line is affordable, simple to use, very reliable, and produces high quality streams. Pearl also helps keep support costs to a minimum. “…eliminating the encoder as the cause of issues is a great thing for us.”
People like the easy, one-touch recording and streaming feature of Pearl and Pearl-2, as well as the touch screen on the front panel. They’re really impressed by the many Pearl features, like switching between cameras and picture in picture.
Reach more people
More houses of worship are choosing live streaming as a way to reach more people. Christ Community Church is a large church near Chicago, IL with thousands of local worshipers. They live stream using Pearl with Stream Monkey to reach thousands more online.
“It all starts with the encoder.”
More higher quality streams
In the six months since the launch of Pearl-2, Stream Monkey already has a number of churches using it in their live streaming solution. Real Life Church in Valencia, CA has been using Stream Monkey for many years. They recently updated their live stream encoding, moving away from a software based solution to offer more streams and also higher quality streams simply by adding Pearl-2. Now they’re delivering a better quality stream to their thousands of viewers.
“Now we can go to our customers with options to consider using Pearl as a great way to start off streaming, or if they’re not satisfied with their current setup, to switch over to Pearl-2.”
A client recently approached Stream Monkey needing to push an English stream, a Spanish stream, and a hearing-impaired stream. Pearl-2 was recommended because it can do six simultaneous streams: a high bitrate stream and a low bitrate stream each for English, Spanish, and hearing impaired.
Before Pearl, a solution that could do six simultaneous streams would have cost in the range of about ten thousand dollars. Pearl’s price point makes it more accessible for clients, like houses of worship, to push their own bitrates and control the quality of their stream.
Reliable, affordable, and simple
Stream Monkey needed a reliable and affordable hardware encoder solution for their clients – one that was versatile and easy to use. That’s exactly what they found with Pearl-2. Pearl-2 handles the encoding, streaming, and setup while Stream Monkey does all the rest. It shows the person “Wow! This does pretty much everything I need it to do and more – like switching between sources and picture in picture.” Pearl makes a perfect complementary product for the quality services Stream Monkey offers.
“Wow! This does pretty much everything I need it to do and more – like switching between sources and picture in picture.”