Adding a Source - HLS

ZEN Master can receive a Source directly from an HLS input.

The following procedure describes how to add an HLS Source in ZEN Master. In addition, an explanation of each of the configuration parameters is given in the table below.

To add an HLS Source:

1. In the main navigation, click Sources.
2. Click + Add.
   The Create New Source window is displayed.
   
3. Click on HLS.
   The Create New HLS window opens.
   
4. In the Info section, in the Name field, type a logical name for the Source.
5. In the Tags field, select one or more of the predefined Tags from the drop-down list.
   Tags are used for access control. By selecting a Tag, you are relating this Source to that Tag. Tags are associated with certain roles (through the Users & Roles screen), and roles, in turn, are associated with users and user groups. If you would like to create a new Tag, see Creating a Tag.

6. In the Events Configuration Profile field, select from the dropdown list the profile that you would like to apply to this Source. By default, the Default profile is applied.

   Events Profiles consist of a series of rules that determine precisely how various types of Events are logged and what results they trigger.

7. The Source's location is used to represent it in the proper position in the Map display (see Maps). By default, the location is determined automatically based on the Source's IP. If you would like to manually set the location of the Source (Optional), use th following procedure:
   1. Click on the Edit icon next to the Location field.
      A search box is shown below the Location field.
   2. Enter identifying info for the location (e.g. street address, zip code, coordinates).
      Search results are displayed below the search box as you type.
   3. Click on the desired location.
      The selected location populates the Location field.
8. In the HLS Configuration section, in the URL field, enter an HLS master or media playlist URL (e.g. https://example.com/index.m3u8).
9. Click on the Load media playlists button to verify the URL.
10. In the HLS media stream URL field, select the relevant media stream from the drop-down list.
11. In the Buffer Size [ms] field, select the buffer size. (Default: 30,000)
12. If you would like to convert EXT-X-CUE-OUT/EXT-X-CUE-IN ad markers to SCTE-35, select the Convert EXT-X-CUE-OUT/EXT-X-CUE-IN ad markers to SCTE-35 checkbox.
13. In the Source Configuration section, in the Ingest Cluster field, select from the drop-down list one of the available Ingest Clusters as the destination for the Source.

14. In the Target Broadcaster/s field, select your broadcaster preference. Either select a specific broadcaster to be used OR specify your preference for using primary vs. backup broadcasters, options are: Prefer Primary Broadcasters, Primary Broadcasters only, Backup Broadcasters only or Prefer Backup Broadcasters.

    For managed clusters, it is not recommended to select a specific broadcaster, as the broadcaster's availability may not remain stable.

15. If you would like to apply a PID Mapping profile to this Source, then in the PID Mapping Profile field, select the desired profile from the drop-down list.

    Using this method creates a single Source in ZEN Master with PID Mapping applied. If you would like to maintain a Source with the original PIDs and create an additional Source with PID Mapping (e.g. if you want to create several different PID Mapped variations), then use the method described in Adding a Source - PID Mapping.

    To create a new PID Mapping Profile, see Adding PID Mapping Profiles.

16. If you would like to generate email notifications whenever a PID change is detected, select the Alert on PID changes checkbox.

17. Select the Log SCTE-35 checkbox if you would like to log SCTE-35 markers for this stream.

    To log SCTE-35 markers, SCTE-35 needs to be enabled both on the Ingest Cluster and in the Source configuration.

    SCTE-35 logging is only available for v13.1.40262+ Broadcasters.

18. Select the Log SCTE-35 checkbox if you would like to log SCTE-35 markers for this stream.
19. In the Public Output field, if you would like to allow access to the stream directly through a supported player, select the Allow checkbox.
20. If you selected the Allow checkbox, then enter a password in the Password field to authenticate access to the stream.

21. If you would like to enable Content Analysis (CQA), verify that the Enable Content Analysis checkbox is selected (default).

    It is generally recommended to enable Content Analysis unless it is causing technical problems. If Content Analysis is disabled, the system won't detect errors in the video and audio content of the stream and won't generate warnings for such events. Even when Content Analysis is disabled the system will detect TR101 errors in the stream.

22. If you would like to monitor CEA-608/CEA-708 closed captions, select the Monitor CEA-608/CEA-708 checkbox.

    Monitoring CEA-608/CEA-708 Closed Captions requires using a version 14.4 or newer Broadcaster.

23. If you would like to show traceroute info in the History tab for this Source (for Zixi Broadcasters v13 and above), select the Traceroute History checkbox.

    This feature is most useful for debugging connections with relatively static routes, such as through fiber or other private networks. It should not be activated for Sources sent through cloud providers since those routes constantly fluctuate.

24. If you would like to disable auto-pull, select the Disable Auto-Pull checkbox.

    Disabling Auto-Pull will lock Channels using this Source to the Source's INgest Cluster and Targets to the Source's current active Broadcaster. This setting only applies to Pass-Through Channels.

25. If Auto-Pull is enabled, in the Auto-Pull Latency [ms] field, specify the desired latency for auto-pull actions. (Default: 1000 ms)

26. In the WebRTC Playback section, select the desired playback method.

    WebRTC enables you to monitor the stream via web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC). WebRTC needs to be activated independently for each Source in ZEN Master (by default it is disabled).

    Select one of the following options:

    • Disabled – users will not be able to view this Source using WebRTC (default)
    • Pass-Through – passes the stream through to WebRTC without transcoding. This option can only be used if the input stream is already in a WebRTC compliant format (video - H.264 codec with Baseline or Main profile and no B frames, Audio – Opus codec).

    • Auto - ZEN Master automatically transcodes the stream using the optimal profile for each specific user. In this option Zixi Broadcaster will decode the video, transforming it into RAW frames, which will be passed to the WebRTC library, where it will be re-encoded for each individual user.

      Best quality. However, if monitored by multiple users this can consume extensive resources.

    • 1080p/720p/480p/360p - ZEN Master transcodes the stream to a WebRTC compliant profile with the specified resolution. The transcoding is done by Zixi Broadcaster's transcoder.

      This method requires a Zixi Broadcaster with X264 or Nvidia for transcoding. This method allows many users to monitor the stream without encoding separately for each individual user, which saves CPU capacity. Since there is only one stream version, it is recommended to encode to a low resolution and low bitrate so that the stream will be viewable by all users monitoring the stream.

27. In the Initial State section, select the Disabled checkbox if you would like to disable this Source upon initial configuration.

28. Select the Muted checkbox if you would like to disable error/recovery notifications for this Source upon initial configuration.

    You can Enable/Unmute the Source at any time.

29. If you would like to adjust the advanced settings, click Advanced.
    The Advanced settings fields are displayed:
    
    
    
30. If you would like to track usage for this Source, enter your Billing Code details. See Billing Codes.
31. In the Auto Pull MTU field, specify the maximum transmission unit (largest data packet that a network-connected device will accept) in bytes for the Auto Pull.
32. To set the detection of frozen video, in the Frozen Video Minimal Duration field, specify the default minimal duration in seconds of frozen video after which the Broadcaster will trigger a Frozen video alert. Default: 10 seconds. This setting is supported for Broadcaster version 16.3 and higher. 
33. To set the detection of blank video, in the Blank Video Minimal Duration field, specify the default minimal duration in seconds of blank video after which the Broadcaster will trigger a Blank video alert. Default: 10 seconds. This setting is supported for Broadcaster version 16.3 and higher. 
34. Click Save.

HLS Source Configuration Parameters Table