Magewell Control Hub Pro

About this product

With well over a hundred encoders and decoders in service, nobody has time to log in to each one. Control Hub Pro is the largest version of Magewell’s device management and stream conversion software, made for organisations running devices across many rooms, buildings or sites. You install it on a server and use it from a web browser. One licence covers up to 150 devices, 50 stream conversion channels and 150 conversion outputs.

How far the Pro licence stretches

• Devices: up to 150. Every registered encoder, decoder or other supported unit counts as one device, so one installation can hold a large deployment.
• Stream conversion channels: up to 50. A channel takes a stream in and sends it out again, in the same or a different protocol.
• Conversion outputs: up to 150 in total. This figure is shared across all your channels rather than given to each one, so you can weight it towards your busiest feeds.
• A perpetual licence. All three full versions are sold this way, so you can budget for it as a purchase instead of a recurring fee.

What device management does for you

Every registered device appears on the Control Hub dashboard. From there your team works centrally:

• See status. A dashboard shows the state of your devices at a glance, which means a fault is seen at the desk instead of reported from the room.
• Change settings remotely. Device parameters are configured from Control Hub, saving a login to each unit.
• Start and stop. Operations such as starting or stopping encoding are triggered remotely, so the operator stays in one place.
• Update firmware in batches. Several devices can be upgraded together. On an estate this size, that saves a great deal of repetition.

What you can register

Control Hub manages Ultra Stream and Ultra Encode encoders, Pro Convert encoders and decoders, Pro Convert audio converters, Modator chassis and modules, USB Fusion and the Director family, so the encoders, decoders and converters across a site sit in one list. Each product needs a minimum firmware version, and we are happy to check yours before you order.

Control Hub is built for Magewell’s network devices. Pro Capture, Eco Capture and USB Capture cards are outside its scope.

Stream conversion at scale

• Protocols. Control Hub converts between RTMP, SRT (in caller or listener mode), RTSP and transport streams delivered over UDP or RTP, so you can pass a feed between systems that expect different protocols.
• Devices or plain IP streams. A channel’s inputs and outputs can be registered Magewell devices or IP streams, so you can bring in a feed from outside your own estate.
• Planning NDI or HLS? Conversion covers the protocols above; NDI and HLS sit outside that list. Installed on Linux, Control Hub also generates an NDI stream for each channel automatically. Ask us to confirm the fit before building an NDI or HLS workflow around it.

Hosting and licensing

• Runs where you choose. Control Hub is delivered as a Docker container, so you can host it on your own server or on public cloud infrastructure.
• Operating system. Linux is recommended, and the software is also compatible with Windows and macOS. The recommended server examples use Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
• Licence. You add the licence in Control Hub’s settings by entering its name and serial number. The licence page then shows the permitted number of devices, streaming channels and active outputs, which keeps your limits in view. Each licence runs on one Control Hub installation at a time.
• Try it first. A 14-day trial covers 5 devices, 5 channels and 5 outputs, so you can see how it handles your own devices before you commit.

The other versions

If Pro is more than you need today, the smaller versions use the same software. Control Hub Lite manages 20 devices and is the device-management version. Control Hub Basic covers 20 devices, 5 channels and 20 outputs. Control Hub Plus covers 50 devices, 25 channels and 50 outputs. The whole family is on the Control Hub page.