I Connectivity Standards Alliance has released Matter 1.5.1, the latest update to the Matter specification. While it’s not a headline grabber, it brings a variety of sensible upgrades, particularly to the cameras and video door hardware, as well as extensive improvements to performance, media handling, and reliability.
Matter 1.5 introduced support for cameras and doorbells, marking a major step forward for the standard. Version 1.5.1 builds on that foundation with targeted updates designed to make these devices more efficient and usable in real-world applications, while strengthening how they integrate across ecosystems.
Multi Stream Support
The main addition to this release is support for multi-stream video and audio. Previously, if multiple users or services needed access to a camera feed, separate streams often had to be created. This increases bandwidth usage and adds unnecessary complexity. With Matter 1.5.1, a single camera can now deliver multiple enhanced streams simultaneously within one structured session.
This allows different streams to be built for specific use cases. For example, high-quality streaming for recording, low-bandwidth version for mobile viewing, and other streaming for analysis or AI processing. It also supports situations like multi-lens cameras that output multiple feeds at once. The result is a highly efficient system that reduces network load, simplifies integration, and improves reliability when multiple viewers or services access the same device.
Media support has also been extended. Snapshots can now use the HEIC format, providing better image quality at smaller file sizes compared to JPEG. This helps reduce both bandwidth and storage requirements without sacrificing detail. For video, the update adds support for modern streaming formats like HLS and DASH using CMAF, aligning Matter more closely with technologies widely used across today’s cloud and media platforms.
Alongside these improvements, there are a number of updates focused on reliability and ease of use. Camera controls such as pan, tilt and zoom have been improved to better support a wider range of input conditions, including settings where the default position sits at the edge of the camera’s range of motion. The recording configuration check has also been improved to prevent invalid setups, helping to ensure consistent behavior across different platforms.
Development of door hardware
This update also brings improvements to doorbells, chimes, and intercom devices. Doorbells benefit from general stability improvements, while chimes gain more flexibility, including the ability to trigger specific sounds rather than relying on a single default tone. This opens up more advanced use cases, such as assigning different sounds to different doors or automatic triggering when the chime starts playing. Intercom devices have also been updated with clear requirements and support for integrated chimes, helping to ensure consistent behavior across ecosystems.
Like most incremental releases, Matter 1.5.1 also includes a list of minor fixes, clarifications, and specification updates, many of which focus on the camera functionality introduced in version 1.5. These changes help strengthen interoperability and ensure a more stable experience as more devices adopt the standard.
While Matter continues at full speed, it’s worth being cautious about release expectations. This is not a criticism Connectivity Standards Alliance or activity behind Matter, but the manifestation of reality. It takes time for developers and manufacturers to validate devices and bring new features to the market.