Remote Control Bar¶
Controlling Individual Video Streams¶
You can control your Video Streams individually by clicking anywhere on the seek bar within the Video Stream itself.
Figure: Individual Video Stream Control¶
The Observer Media Player Seek bar is unlike any seek bar you see in other streaming video applications. The Observer Media Player video feeds do not have a finite end to the video stream like other internet based video streams. Therefore, we cannot count down to the end of currently playing video. Instead the end user can configure the seek bar duration time span displayed on screen. Using the “+” & “-” magnifying glass icon in the lower right hand corner of the Observer Media Player (see the red box, above). You can define the seek bar time span to be anywhere from 1 minute to 10 hours in length in predefined increments. This duration applies to all open streams.
By hovering over the Observer Media Player Seek bar, you can immediately see the time down to the millisecond you wish to navigate to within that time span. Once you click anywhere on the seek bar, the video stream will instantly begin to stream video from that point in time. To return to the most recent content, simply click the live button and all open video streams will begin to stream live content again. Each open window can be individually controlled in the same manner.
Note that in this context “live” means “real time to the Observer.” The Observers ingests live video, transcodes it, stores it, and streams it out to you as an end user. This process takes from 6-8 seconds. Thus, the “live” feed will be about 8 seconds behind real time.
Border Color Identification:
Green Border
First, Observer Media Player always surrounds a live Video Stream with a thin green border. Anytime you press the “Live” button on the Media Player bar, all open video streams will begin streaming live video and the green border will appear around all open video streams.
The green border disappears when the stream is not in near real time.
Blue Border
A blue border along the bottom of the feed represents the stream from which you are hearing audio.
Figure: Video Stream Border Colors¶
Time Identification
The second method is comparing the time displayed on the video stream to the current time on your PC/laptop.
Video Stream Management Advanced Actions Bar¶
Figure: Advanced Actions Bar¶
Observer provides you with several tools for managing individual Video Streams within the Video Stream window itself. If present and configured by your Volicon Administrator, from right to left these actions are:
The Calendar Function
The Synch to Me function
Closed Captioning
Advanced Options
The Calendar Function¶
Besides using the Media or Seek bars to find specific content, you can navigate any Video Stream to a specific date and time by left clicking on the date/time value in the bottom left of each Video Stream. Observer opens the Go to date and time window.
Figure: Go to date and time Window¶
Enter the date you are searching for either by clicking on the calendar icon and choosing the date, or by entering text in the format MM-DD-YYYY. Enter the time you are searching for in the 24-hour format HH:MM:SS or by clicking the up and down arrows beside the Time field. Click the Go To button to move to your chosen date and time. The video stream will instantly begin to stream video from that specific date and time.
INFO TIP
Note: you can only view historic video up to the date either when the system was initially installed or back to the time configured for video storage, which ever time comes first.
Sync to Me¶
If you have several Video Streams open and need to know what each Video Stream was displaying at a specific date and time, you can move a single Video Stream to that date and time and then click the Sync to me button. Observer will set all your open Video Streams to match the date and time of your selected window.
Another method is to open one stream select a date and time to view then open other video streams. You will notice all video streams open to the same time as the original open stream
Figure: Sync to me Button¶
Closed Captioning¶
You can turn Closed Captioning/Teletext on or off for individual Video Streams using the Show/hide CC button in the lower left portion of the window. The closed captions/teletext is an overlay and not burnt into the video when it is turned on or off. It can be turned on or off by each user without being displayed on any other users stream. Observer always captures the cc/tt data if the admin configures it to do so, which allows you to go to any point in time and view cc/tt. When Observer displays the Closed Caption text, it conforms to SMPTE profile of W3C Time Text Markup Language which preserves the Position, transparency, font, color, and timing of the CEA708 CC data
Figure: Show/hide CC Button¶
Advanced Actions Button¶
Each Video Stream also gives you access to an Advanced Actions Button that affects that Video Stream only.
Figure: Advanced Actions Button¶
Left-click on the Advanced Actions Button or right click inside the video stream to open the Advanced Actions Menu. The menu gives you access to a set of commands:
Play live: causes your stream to retrieve the live Video Stream from your selected source.
Last position: Allows you to jump back and forth between two positions on the Video Stream time line. For example, you can be watching a live Video Stream, use the Go To Date and Time window to move to a specific point in the past, and jump back and forth between the two.
Sync to me: Synchronizes the date and time of all your open Video Stream windows to that of the window in which you execute the command.
Loudness Meter: Displays an active loudness meter in the lower left of your Video Stream window.
Figure: Loudness Meter¶
Set LM right: Sets the loudness meter to the lower right of your Video Stream window.
Figure: Set Loudness Meter Right¶
Display Metadata: this option expands the menu to give you the option of displaying various metadata as an overlay on top of your Video Stream. This metadata is not burnt into video but is an overlay that can be turned on or off on live or historic data. Not all metadata is available; please check with your Observer administrator to understand which data is being captured.
Figure: Display Metadata Submenu¶
You can choose which set of metadata you wish to display.
XDS Metadata If present in the Video Stream, you may display the source, title, and program rating of your Video Stream.
Figure: XDS Metadata¶
Video and Audio displays the video codec, the pixel resolution, the bits per second, frames per second, and audio sampling frequency of your Video Stream.
Figure: Video and Audio Metadata¶
Audio loudness displays the audio regulatory environment from which the Video Stream originated: in the capture below, English language from the United States.
Figure: Audio Loudness Metadata¶
AFD (Active Format Description) is a standard set of codes for television or set-top-box decoders. AFD displays that metadata on your Video Stream. The AFD information instructs the Observer as to what specific format is being sent, either 4:3 or 16:9. Since programs can vary in format in a given stream, the Observer will use the AFD to adjust the format dynamically for display.
Figure: AFD Metadata¶
NAVE (Nielsen Audio Video Encoder) is a Nielsen encoder that adds data to audio and/or video to track the distribution of content through a variety of local and national distribution systems. If the Video Stream you are watching carries a NAVE watermark, choosing this option will display that metadata.
Figure: NAVE Watermark Metadata¶
AC3 is the technical name for Dolby Digital Audio Compression. It has been standardized by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), and is used for the efficient encoding of surround sound. If your Video Stream is carrying AC3 information to create surround sound, choosing AC3 will display that metadata.
Figure: AC3 Metadata¶
DPI or Digital Program Insertion allows cable headends and broadcast affiliates to insert locally-generated commercials and short programs into remotely distributed regional programs before they are delivered to home users. If your Video Stream is displaying locally generated programming, you can see its parameters by observing the DPI metadata.
Align Metadata allows you to push your metadata display either to the left:
Figure: Align Metadata Left¶
Or to the right:
Figure: Align Metadata Right¶
Sub Encoders: displays the available sub encoders in your Video Stream. Sub encoders, if they are available allow you to view the video stream in something other than the default pixel size and data rate. This will always be in a lower bit rate and usually in a lower resolution. Sub encoders are intended for bandwidth constrained networks (WiFI, Mobile, etc).
Figure: Sub Encoders¶
Captions and Subtitles: displays the available closed caption options in your Video Stream, and allows you to turn them on or off. This option provides the same function as clicking the CC button on the Advanced Video Options bar. If available, allows the user to select DVB subtitle(s) by language
Figure: Captions and Subtitles¶
Audio Tracks: displays the audio tracks available on your chosen Video Stream. Your administrator configures which tracks are available on your chose stream with the Audio Profile Manager (see the Observer Admin Guide for details).
Figure: Audio Tracks¶
Wide Screen: lets you view your Video Stream in wide screen format, regardless of the format of the Video Stream.
Figure: Wide Screen¶
Full Screen: lets you see your Video Stream in full screen format. In full screen format, press ESC to return to your Volicon RPM window.