Controlling your video streams

After you select a video stream(s) for display, a media player bar opens along the bottom of the display frame. The media player bar controls all the video stream(s) simultaneously.

Figure: Media player bar

Figure: Media player bar

The player buttons allow you to rapidly scan through historical programs. From left to right, the buttons perform the following functions:

  • 1Frame rewind: rewinds one frame each time the button is pressed

  • X1/2 half speed rewind: rewinds at half the normal frame rate

  • Fast rewind: rewinds at twice the normal frame rate, or click again for 8x

  • Rewind: rewinds at the normal frame rate

  • Pause: stops playback

  • Play: moves forward at the normal frame rate

  • Fast forward: moves forward at 2x the normal frame rate, click again for 8x

  • X1/2: half speed forward playback

  • 1Frame forward: advances one frame each time button is pressed

  • LIVE: synchs up all the Video Streams in the Player Window with the most recent content

    • 1) The LIVE player indicator is green when playing a live feed and is white when playing a historical program.

    • 2) Date/Time are displayed at the top of the player

The power of MIS is in its ability to support many sessions or users simultaneously without affecting other users. For example: what you do in the player window only affects your player, it has no effect on other users.

In the example below, both video streams were paused. Clicking on the LIVE button caused the MIS to simultaneously retrieve the current live content for both streams.

Figure: Simultaneous control

Figure: Simultaneous control

Volume control

Figure: Volume control

Figure: Volume control

Use the volume control, located in the lower right hand corner of the page, to set or mute audio. If you have multiple video streams open, you only hear audio from a single stream. Left clicking inside any open video stream enables audio for that stream and mutes the others. The channel name turns blue to indicate the active audio channel.

Seeking within a program

The MIS 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 seek bar is used to select a time duration. Once selected the value is displayed in the Seek bar as a reminder.

Figure: Seek control

Figure: Seek control

Clicking anywhere on the <Seek> bar resets the program to a new time relative to the duration of the <Seek> bar. If the program has been recorded you can easily seek forward or backward in time. When the program reaches the end of the <Seek> bar duration the bar is automatically reset to the next interval, either forward or backward in time.

Click on the image <Seek Time> button at the lower right hand corner to change the duration of the seek bar.

Time info is displayed at the top of the player. To return to the most recent content, click the <Live> button and all video streams will begin playing live content again. Each open window may be individually controlled in the same manner by clicking on the <Live> icon within the individual video player.

Live program time accuracy

In this context “live” means “real time to MIS.” MIS ingests live video, transcodes it, stores it, and streams it out to you as an end user. This process takes a few seconds. Thus, the “live” feed may be several seconds behind computer time.

Due to the time it takes MIS to ingest the video stream and the accuracy (or lack thereof) of your PC real time clock, the time displayed on the live video stream may lead or lag the time on your computer by several seconds. The size of the difference is a combination of the time it takes MIS to ingest the video stream and how accurately and often your PC is synchronized to an NTP server.

Figure: Time accuracy

Figure: Time accuracy