Using the Volicon Observer

Figure: Volicon Observer Home Page

Figure: Volicon Observer Home Page

#1 Menu and Feature buttons; The basic permission set for the Volicon Observer Media Player gives you access to a minimum of four tabs, which comprise the basic user set:

  • Home brings you to the home page, shown here, from any point in the Observer

  • Clips gives you access to the Bookmarks window, which allows you to see all the clips created by all the users of this Observer

  • Search brings you to the Search window, which allows you to search for streams by searching for text contained in the Closed Captions

  • Preferences allows you to set your preferences for such variables as seek bar duration time, your time zone, and your default audio language

Depending upon the features your organization purchases and the permissions you are given by your administrator, you may also have access to four further tabs:

  • The Content Matching Module (CMM) from Volicon is for organizations that need to measure or be notified automatically when certain A/V assets are broadcast. The notifications are based on audio samples created by end users which are matched against monitored video streams, keeping tabs on their competitors, brands, and exclusive content. Content Matching allows you to look at your Stamps (small portions of video streams that you identify), Detections (occurrences of the identified portion), and Backlog.

  • Programs allows you to organize video recording based on program name, channel name and time. Programs and the As Run Log integrate with an existing automation system. Users can look up logged content according to program name, media ID, or other data from the as-run log. Automatic importation of common as-run logs simplifies finding content for ad verification and compliance purposes.

  • Reports gives you access to the Programs Loudness report, which integrates audio loudness and your As Run logs for this reporting. This integration allows you to easily perform loudness tasks such as monitoring and compliance verification. By adding BS-1770-2, EBU R128 and ATSC A/85 compliant loudness monitoring into the Observer logger, operators now have unparalleled loudness management tools that combine frame accurate loudness measurement, A/V recording of content, integration with automation/ad system As-Run-Logs (ARLs), loudness reporting, and graphing and alarming.

  • Content Export allows you to save a portion of a video stream to your computer. The Content Export Module allows you to manually export content or to automate the exporting, transcoding, and/or archiving of content logged by the Observer. The content can then be permanently stored to local or networked storage

If you are an administrator, this portion of the Observer home page will contain two further tabs:

  • Central Config, which gives you access to the Encoders screen, which lists all the probes and encoders you have configured

  • Maintenance, which allows you to manage your users and alerts

#2 The Dashboard, in the lower left-hand corner of your window, lists all the video stream(s) to which you have access or have been allowed access to by the local Observer administrator

#3 The Player Window, which initially shows up as a large white space, is the frame where video is displayed after selecting channels from the dashboard section. When you view video in the Player Window, Observer automatically displays that video in the correct aspect. Any subsequent video streams you open will automatically adjust and resize within the Observer Media Player window while always maintaining to correct aspect ratio