Encoder configuration

Press the <Edit> icon to access details about the encoder.

Figure: Encoder sections

Each encoder has eight configuration subsections.

• Encoder configures specifics of name and display icons.

• Input programs ingest settings.

• Output configures specifics of how Volicon Media Intelligence service stores each channel and sub-encoder.

• Storage configures storage location and duration.

• Features enable loudness, thumbnails and NAVE.

• Alerting sets error detection thresholds.

• Captions configure CC and subtitles.

• More configures miscellaneous settings.

At the bottom of each page is a <Save> button. Volicon Media Intelligence service will prompt you to save changes if you attempt to leave the section without saving changes.

Figure: Unsaved change warning

Encoder: Information

Figure: Encoder settings

Table. Encoder information

Encoder source	Indicates which of the four possible input types is in use – video capture card, Transport Stream, cloud or device direct
Encoder status	Real-time encoder status – running or stopped
Display name	Encoder name presented to users; used to create a user-friendly name for the channel
Encoder name	Read-only name created by Volicon Media Intelligence service
Probe name	Probe server on which the encoder is installed
Color	Dropdown used to color code the player
Icon	Used to add an icon to channel name; <Browse file> icon used for workstation access to upload desired icon; typically for uploading channel logo, but may be any JPG or PNG image
Bouquet	Appears if the STB is configured for remote control; dropdown associates a specific bouquet with the STB; if more than one bouquet defined, use caution when changing to ensure services are available on the STB
Diagnostic	Opens media player for the channel

Encoder: Input

This section is dependent on how the program is ingested by the Volicon Media Intelligence service. Currently, there are four types of video acquisition.

• Video input: Capture card used to interface Volicon Media Intelligence service to a program source – typically an STB

• Transport Stream (TS): IP-based direct program access

• Cloud: IP-based, typically via CDN streaming

• Device direct: Tethered cell phone acquisition

Figure: Video and audio input profile (capture card and TS)

Table: Encoder video input (capture card and Transport Stream)

External switch output	If external A/V switch used, entry specifies which switch output port feeds associated encoder input, assuming switch has more than one output port; set value to 1 if external input switch not used
Restart on input recovery	Automatically restarts encoder when its input is recovered; relevant for Blackmagic cards only (to avoid timestamp issues)
Signal loss restart interval	During periods of no input, encoder automatically restarts at specified interval (to avoid timestamp issues)
Video device name	Text string with the card name and channel ID if the card supports multiple channels
Name	Required text field
Connector type	Dropdown used to select video connector
Format	Dropdown used to select type (i.e., PAL-B 1080i, frame rate and resolution)
Add format	Used to open dialog to create another format

Table: Encoder audio input (capture card and Transport Stream)

Name	Card name and additional information about audio input type
Profile	Audio profile in XML format

Figure: Encoder Transport Stream input

Table: Encoder TS input

Host	IP address or URL of the program source
Port	IP port address to access the program
HTTP node name	The name of the HTTP node, as configured in the Mediahub, for streaming data of the required PID
Storage node name	The name of the storage node, as configured in the Mediahub, where data for the required PID is stored
Program name	The name of the program to encode the TS
Close gaps from cache	If encoder losses feed, it keeps recording black screen until feed returns; allows downtime to be represented in the recorded data
Detect PAT/PMT events	Depreciated, no longer used
Handle PAT/PMT events	Depreciated, no longer used
Handle XDS events	System to process Extended Data Services events and log them
Stop on scrambled	Ignores encrypted streams so Volicon Media Intelligence service does not generate erroneous alerts
Enable low-bitrate streams	Enable/disable handling of low-bitrate streams; usually disabled due to slowing down of recovery in event of connection loss; to be enabled if nearly no payload (e.g., black video); this should be enabled

Figure: Encoder cloud input

Table: Cloud direct input profile

Type	Dropdown used to select program source server – no Authentication, Akamai, Uplynk CMS
ACL	Akamai parameter
Shared key	Akamai parameter
CT	Uplynk parameter
API secret	Uplynk parameter
Proxy	URL or IP of proxy server if used
URL	Channel-specific URL
Load data	Saves profile data
Rendition	Bitrate and resolution
Video format	Normally set automatically based on the input feed, but may be sent manually
Audio format	Normally set automatically based on the input feed, but may be sent manually

Figure: Encoder device direct input

Table: Encoder device direct input profile

Devices	Smartphone used to capture the program
Device ID	ID of the device as the Mediahub configured it
Device manufacturer	Smartphone manufacturer
Device model	Smartphone model name
Device name	The name of the device to be shown in Mediahub
Device serial number	The hardcoded serial number of the device; automatically detected
Devices	A list of all devices connected to the server
Display height	Height in pixels
Display orientation	Landscape or portrait; if blank, defaults to portrait
Display width	Width in pixels
Mediahub host	Mediahub IP address typically localhost
Mediahub port	IP port typically 8080 to avoid conflicting with other web servers
VMN port	Port used to stream content from the device

Encoder: Output

Unlike inputs, the output settings are the same for all encoders, regardless of how the program is ingested into Volicon Media Intelligence service.

Figure: Encoder output

Table: Encoder output – video output profile

Video codec	Dropdown used to specify how Volicon Media Intelligence service encodes the program for storage; Volicon Media Intelligence service supporting H264, WMV3, WMVA and WVC1
Bitrate (Kbps)	Dropdown used to specify program bitrate for storage
Resolution	Dropdown used to specify screen resolution for storage
Compression quality	Compression quality is a tradeoff – the higher the level, the less storage required at the expense of greater CPU processing
Force minimum GOP size	Optional field to set MPEG group of picture structure; setting defines the number of frames dependent on preceding frame before another I frame; MPEG removes redundancy spatially within a frame and temporally among frames; I frame (or key frame) – the only frame that can be decompressed without reference to other frames
Reduce frame rate	Reduces frame rate to reduce output bandwidth consumption
Reduce frame rate target FPS	Output frame rate value

Table: Encoder output – audio output profile

Audio codec type	Dropdown used to specify how Volicon Media Intelligence service encodes audio for storage: AAC, WMA and WMApro; when configuring audio codec type that describes the audio codec used by this encoder, codec changes for each audio stream in feed
Audio languages	Specifies one or more audio channels

Table: Encoder output – live stream profile

Enable

Live stream used to view low-latency video on monitor page; note this feature is CPU intensive

Sub-encoders

Each encoder has a primary video codec that creates the channel stream digital multimedia archive. If desired, additional sub-encoders may be configured. Sub-encoders are typically set for lower resolution and bitrate, in comparison to the primary codec that serves specific monitoring or file exchange requirements.

Sub-encoders have the same server requirements as the identical setting for the primary codec sequentially; CPU cycles are needed for the compression engine, and disk storage is needed for the resulting file.

Table: Encoder output – sub-encoders

Name	System-created name derived from bitrate and resolution
Bitrate (Kbps)	Drop-down selection of bitrates
Resolution	Drop-down selection of screen resolution
Add/delete	Adds or deletes a sub-encoder

Encoder: Storage

This section defines where video is stored, how long it is saved and the disk threshold.

Figure: Encoder storage

Table: Encoder storage – general

Main index path	Example: C:\Video\indices\AB1.idx; normally set by Volicon Media Intelligence service to default path on main HDD
Free disk space threshold	Amount of space not to be used by Volicon Media Intelligence service, but kept free for other use; value to be 0-0.9, where 0 means no free space reserved, and 0.9 means 90% of storage location kept free
History depth	Specifies how long programs are stored; numeric value specifying how many unit intervals video will be stored; e.g., value of 30 and interval of days will store video 30 days

Table: Encoder storage – storages

Path	Absolute path to the storage location
MaxUsage	The maximum percentage of the total size of the storage location used by the channel
Add/delete	Add/remove storages

Table: Encoder storage – long-term storage (LTS)

History depth	Specifies duration of program storage; streams normally stored in local storage; if inadequate, Volicon Media Intelligence service Support to configure LTS; numeric value of unit intervals video will be stored: dropdown specifying minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years; setting value to 0 means data not saved
Path	LTS storage location; typically C:Video\LTS\ if LTS is running on the same computer
Min free disk space	Minimum disk space available on archive machine before archiving; value is in Gigabytes
Slave	Specifies if this encoder is a backup encoder for another system
Master encoder name	The name of the master encoder; only relevant when backup encoder is used
Master encoder path	Absolute path to the storage location of the master encoder; only relevant when backup encoder is used
MaxGap size	The maximum gap size between files
Slave lag	Specifies how long slave will wait before starting to archive its content; setting to less than one week not recommended – may cause master and slave to archive needlessly

Encoder: Features

This section specifies audio loudness monitoring, DPI and AFD metadata processing, thumbnails and NAVE.

Loudness monitoring

Figure: Encoder features – loudness

Table: Encoder features – loudness

Loudness	With optional loudness module enabled, Volicon Media Intelligence service performs loudness meter measurements to meet following standards: EBU R 128, BS-1770-1, BS-1770-3, ATSC A/85 and EBU Tech 3341/2/3; Volicon Media Intelligence service loudness module, accurate per each video frame, takes measurements every 100 milliseconds; measurements able to be done with/without gating windows (-10 dB but adjustable)
Gating mode	Dropdown used to select ATSC1, ATSC3 or EBU
Input adjustment	Adjustment to input level for fine tuning; a floating-point value will be added to the input measurement
LRA	Loudness Range Measurement (LRA) quantifies variation in time-varying loudness measurement; supplementary to main audio measure, program loudness, of EBU R 128; measures variation of loudness on macroscopic time-scale loudness units (LU); LRA computation based on measurement of loudness level specified in ITU-R BS.1770 – with different gating threshold; LRA not to be confused with other measures of dynamic range
Long IM	Long-form integrated measurements: Greater than two minutes; total of seven user-defined, configurable measurements (e.g., 1 hour, 6 hour, 1 day, 5 day intervals); long-term values Volicon Media Intelligence service default setting: 60, 360, 1440, 0, 0, 0, 0
Short IM	Short-form integrated measurements: Two minutes or shorter; total of seven user-defined, configurable measurements (e.g., 10s, 30s, 60s); short-term values Volicon Media Intelligence service default setting: 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 120, 0
Pre-Dialnorm	Dialnorm indicates level of average spoken dialogue within encoded audio program; short-, long-term values often factory preset; Dialnorm not to be enabled when encoder ingesting digital audio stream (e.g., optical, S/PDIF or Dolby AC-3)
True peak	Enables monitoring the value of the audio signal waveform of a program in the continuous time domain; detects peak loudness that otherwise would escape the sampling process

Table: Encoder features – AC-3

AC-3	Dolby: Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3 enable/disable
Enable DRC	Dolby: Dynamic Range Compression

Figure: Encoder features – DPI and AFD

Table: Encoder features – Digital Program Insertion (DPI)

DPI	Digital Program Insertion
Events interval	List of intervals to be monitored for in/out DPI events
Log events	Enable/disable logging of DPI event to a database
Stream IDs	List of DPI streams to be monitored
DPI offset	Offset of DPI event relative to A/V (in milliseconds)
Default local avail durations	Default location available duration to use (in milliseconds)
Default pre-roll	Default pre-roll time before local avail (in milliseconds)
Indexing settings	New feature not yet implemented

Table: Encoder features – Active Format Description (AFD)

AFD profile	AFD profile in XML format
Type	Not used in Volicon Media Intelligence service

Table: Encoder features – interactive services

Enable

Only applies to RPM systems: Identify objects and images on screen; used for channel change verification

Figure: Encoder features – thumbnails

Table: Encoder features – thumbnails

Thumbnails enable	Checkbox to enable/disable thumbnails
MSMQHost	IP address or URL of Microsoft Message Queuing used to access video clip thumbnails
Resolution	Dropdown used to specify thumbnail image resolution
Sampling rate	Every x seconds, saves an image to storage

Figure: Encoder features – text overlay

Table: Text overlay

Text	Enable/display of embedded text
Height	Number of free text lines
Width	Number of characters in a free text line
Score line	The line on which the scores will be burnt in a 1-based index system
Status line	Line on which scores to be burnt in 1-based index system; if using default height, this is line before last
Video input line	Setting for the video input line burnt into the video

Table: Timestamp

Timestamp enable	Turns on timestamp overlay for this encoder channel
Alignment	Dropdown used to position the info on player screen
Auto calculate offset from UTC	Based on probe’s time setting
Format	Specifies how time is displayed: %month%-%day%-%year%%hour%:%minutes%:%second%/%frame%
Offset from UTC	Manually sets a time zone offset; setting overrides probe O/S time zone setting; Volicon Media Intelligence service uses value instead of offset in probe

NAVE

Encoding of television signals, such as in the Nielsen system, is used for audience measurement (e.g., to accurately identify television distributors, including broadcast stations or cable networks). The Nielsen Media approach installs metering devices at the user’s premises. This device identifies stations and networks to which the end user tunes in. By encoding content with a NAVE unit, ratings data for programming can be provided  whether it is received in a digital, analog or combined viewing environment. Reading the aforementioned watermarks, or other codes, inserted into the television signal at the distribution source through the NAVE unit captures this end user data.

Figure: NAVE watermarking

The NAVE is a system capable of inserting Nielsen Media Research proprietary NAVE source identification watermarking directly into the audio portion of compressed digital ATSC Transport Streams prior to broadcast. NAVE devices can simultaneously insert watermarking data on multiple independent digital television programs being broadcast, whether they are standard-definition (SDTV) or high-definition (HDTV). The watermark is capable of identifying the Provider Content (PC), the network on which the content was distributed (NT) and the final distributor (FD), say in the case of local broadcast station or cable channel. The watermarks include a timestamp, so if the content viewed is time-shifted (VOD) within a reasonable time frame, that usage data is also captured.

If any station’s NAVE encoder is interrupted, the meter device installed in Nielsen sample premises collects and stores passive signatures for all non- encoded programming viewed. These signatures are downloaded each night to Nielsen’s operations center. To identify viewing, the passive signatures collected from the meter device in the premises are matched against the signatures in the library.

The feature allows you to define the watermarks to be accepted and the faults/recoveries to occur by configuring the watermarks’ creation time and the number of good watermarks that should be received per period.

Figure: Encoder features – NAVE

Table: NAVE

Enable	Enable/disable Nielsen Audio Video Encoder monitoring; requires a subscription to Nielsen service
Score line	Percentage of good watermarks in the monitored window; labeled “Error percent” in early versions of Volicon Media Intelligence service
Levels	Filters watermarks by their levels
FD	Final Distributor: Entity that delivered content to customer
PC	Provider Content: Entity that originated content
VOD	Video on Demand: Time-shifted viewing
NT	Network that delivered the content
Minimum good watermarks	If number of good watermarks during sliding window are lower than minimum value, fault detected
Station IDs	List of good watermarks you intend to accept; if field left empty, all watermarks will be detected; if some channels support more than one station ID (SID), insert into SID array all IDs you intend to accept; single SID sufficient to satisfy minimum good watermarks and watermark percentage recovery variables to avoid faults and stay recovered
Warning percent	If value greater than score line but less than warning percent, warning message will be sent; other cases to result in recovery
Watermark age	The watermark’s time from its creation
Watermark max age	Filters out watermarks older than threshold and reports no faults on these; if left at 0, variable watermark age taken; e.g., if watermark is 10 days old, any older watermarks to be ignored; if the watermark’s age is less than threshold, it will be processed as regular watermark
Window interval	Faults detected and recoveries enabled during sliding window interval; e.g., if you define 30-second window for each second, 30-second window will be checked (0-30, 1-31, 2-32…) against various parameters used
Video quality	Requires optional module to monitor video quality

Encoder: Alerting

The alerting feature configures Volicon Media Intelligence service to constantly monitor program streams. If the stream does not meet the monitoring criterion for the duration specified, an alert is generated. A single alert is dispatched for each event. If the stream returns to normal in excess of the recovery time, a new alert is generated if the stream once again falls outside monitoring parameters.

Figure: Encoder alerting – video

Table: Encoder alerting – video

Video loss	When video framing loss (commonly known as “sync”) is detected by hardware and persists over video duration threshold, then VIDEOLOST alert generated; only duration threshold is configurable, not level threshold; e.g., video lost signal = TRUE over duration of 31 sec exceeding cycle time and duration threshold; when notification enabled, SNMP trap and email messages are sent (if configured by admin)
Detection	Default: 30 seconds
Recovery	Default: 10 seconds
Black screen	When percentage of black pixels (BS) in video frames of incoming video signal exceeds certainty threshold and persists over duration threshold; when notification enabled, SNMP trap and email messages are sent (if configured by admin)
Detection	Default: 30 seconds
Recovery	Default: 10 seconds
Threshold	Default: 95%
Static screen	Detected when video frame pixels at same frame location are compared (for color and luminosity) to pairs of consecutive video frames; and percentage of matching pixels exceeds static screen (SS) threshold and duration threshold; when pixel color, luminance and locations matching between pairs of consecutive video frames exceed 95% of all video frame pixels for longer than 30 seconds, video static alert is declared When notification enabled, SNMP trap and email messages are sent (if configured by the admin)
Detection	Default: 30 seconds
Recovery	Default: 10 seconds
Threshold	Default: 95%

Figure: Encoder alerting – slate

An alert is generated when a matching slate ID is detected.

Figure: Encoder alerting – audio

Table: Encoder alerting – audio

Audio high	An audio high fault is detected when the incoming audio stays above the high-level threshold long enough to exceed the audio duration threshold. Audio high alert example: An audio alert is configured on a channel. Certainty threshold = -1 dB; duration set to default of 30 seconds; audio input signal detected = 2 dB (above certainty) for six minutes (exceeding the cycle time for the lineup plus the duration threshold). A media fault, therefore, is detected, generating an audio alert and automatically creating a fault clip, which is stored under the clips (fault clips section on the Volicon Media Intelligence service media player). When the notification is enabled, SNMP trap and email messages are sent (if configured by the admin). If you wish to change any certainty, duration or recovery levels, please contact Volicon Media Intelligence service Support.
Detection	The default is 30 seconds.
Recovery	The default is 10 seconds.
Threshold	The threshold is -1dB.
Audio low	A low audio fault is detected when the incoming audio stays below the low-level threshold, and the duration of the fault exceeds the duration threshold. Disable audio alert detection on channels with frequent silence. When the notification is enabled, SNMP trap and email messages are sent (if configured by the admin).
Detection	The default is 30 seconds.
Recovery	The default is 10 seconds.
Threshold	The default is -40dB.

Figure: Encoder alerting – metadata

Table: Encoder alerting – metadata

Metadata	Monitors embedded channel metadata
Detection	Default: 30 seconds
Recovery	Default: 10 seconds
Threshold	Defines number of metadata instances missed in detection threshold duration; e.g., if threshold set to 5, and more than 5 instances missed during 30-second window, then alert generated

Encoder: Captions

This section determines how Volicon Media Intelligence service processes closed captioning and subtitles.

Figure: Encoder captions

Table: Encoder captions – closed captioning

CC adjust	Not currently relevant to Volicon Media Intelligence service
Metadata enabled	Enable/disable CC monitoring
Metadata type	Dropdown used to specify which data the format channel is using
TS teletext stream ID	The ID of the teletext stream inside the Transport Stream program

Table: Encoder captions – indexing profile

Database URLs	Host and profile name
Add/delete	Add or remove metadata database URLs

Table: Encoder captions – profile

File name

Database name; <Select file> to add additional profiles

Table: Encoder captions – DvB subtitles language

Name	Name of the language
StreamID	Stream ID of the subtitle language
Milliseconds delay	The delay of subtitles in relation to the video; used to synchronize subtitles to video
Add/delete	To add/remove subtitle language

Encoder: More

This section configures Volicon Media Intelligence service to recover from encoder errors and sets encoder hibernation time.

Figure: Encoder – more

Table: Encoder (more) – Error recovery

Maximum restart retries	The maximum number of times the watchdog will attempt to restart the encoder
Maximum service recoveries	The maximum number of times the watchdog is allowed to restart the entire service

The restart period can be used to force the encoder to restart based on uptime or a specific date and time.

Table: Encoder (more) – Restart period

Off	No force restart
Maximum uptime	Restarts encoder when elapsed run-time exceeded
Restart schedule	Forces restart at specific date and time
Cron line	Selected schedule in Cron format

Table: Encoder (more) – Hibernation

Start	Hibernation start day/time
End	Exit hibernation day/time
Add/delete	Add and remove hibernation events