Every update has a focus, and for Ultimate Playout v1.2.2, that focus is singular: a cue list that keeps running, hour after hour, without anyone at the desk.
While Ultimate Playout is built for dynamic, operator-driven productions, many of our users rely on it for continuous, unattended 24/7 broadcast schedules. Running a full-day programming schedule places very different demands on a system than a two-hour live show—especially on compact machines running integrated graphics.
In this release, we have overhauled how media playback, memory management, and cue recovery behave over long broadcasts.
Smarter Memory & VRAM Management for Full-Day Schedules
When running a 24-hour rundown filled with bumpers, commercial breaks, and long-form programs, memory efficiency is critical. Previously, every video cue that played kept a portion of its system RAM and GPU video memory (VRAM) allocated until a new schedule was opened. Over several hours, this could accumulate to several gigabytes—eventually exhausting shared memory on systems with integrated graphics and 8GB of RAM.
In v1.2.2, cues immediately release their system and GPU memory once they finish playing. If your schedule loops, cues are dynamically re-prepared ahead of time when their turn comes back around, keeping memory usage flat no matter how long your broadcast runs.
Eliminating Black Screens & Timing Collisions
We tracked down a rare timing issue where a stop and a start command could reach the same video source at nearly the exact same millisecond. When this happened—most noticeably a few hours into a broadcast when transitioning from short clips to longer programs—the video could freeze on its first frame or display a black screen while overlays remained visible on top, stalling the rundown.
We have eliminated this race condition completely. Furthermore, pre-loaded videos are now only marked as ready once they have actively verified frame decoding, ensuring smooth transitions into heavy media files.
Automatic Playback Watchdog
In automated playout, a single problematic file or decoder hiccup should never stop your channel. We have introduced an active playback watchdog that monitors on-air video cues in real time:
- Instant Recovery: If an on-air video unexpectedly stalls while it should be playing, Ultimate Playout automatically restarts playback from the exact point where it stopped within a few seconds.
- Fail-Safe Advancement: If a file still fails to play after two recovery attempts, the rundown automatically advances to the next cue rather than waiting indefinitely on a frozen screen.
Cleaner Cuts & Seamless “Go To” Loops
To round out our performance improvements, we also refined two core rundown behaviors:
- Hard Cut Resource Cleanup: Previously, performing a hard cut (switching cues without a transition) allowed the outgoing video to continue playing invisibly in the background until its natural end, consuming unnecessary CPU cycles. Outgoing videos are now stopped immediately upon a hard cut.
- Pre-loading on “Go To” Loops: When using a Go To cue to loop a rundown back to the top of the list, the first cue previously launched cold without pre-loading on subsequent rounds. Target cues following a Go To action are now pre-loaded in advance just like any other cue in your list.
Download v1.2.2 Today
Ultimate Playout v1.2.2 is available now. Whether you are running a live production desk or an automated 24/7 broadcast channel, we recommend updating to take advantage of these stability and resource improvements.
Head over to our download page to grab the latest installer, and as always, let us know your feedback on the forum!