Adding a Zixi Source – ZEC

You can add an input from a ZEC to a Broadcaster cluster to be managed as a Source in ZEN. This is done by selecting Zixi in the New Source menu. In this case, the ZEC is referred to as the Origin ZEC which streams to the Ingest Broadcaster. 

When configuring a Source using a Push stream from a ZEC to a Zixi Broadcaster you can apply Network Bonding to the stream. This divides the stream into several network Channels using multiple NICs and subsequently reunites them at the Zixi Broadcaster. You can specify which NICs are used for Bonding or you can select Automatic to enable ZEN Master to divide the bandwidth evenly among all available NICs.

You can select several inputs from a single ZEC to simultaneously create a new Source in ZEN Master for each input.

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

To add a Zixi Source:

1. In the main navigation, click Sources.
2. Click + Add. The New Source selection window is displayed.
   
   
   
   
3. Click on Zixi. The Create Zixi Source window opens.
   
   
   
   
4. In the Info section, in the Name field, type a logical name for the ZEC 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 the following procedure:
   1. Click on the Edit icon next to the Location 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
8. In the Input section, verify under Mode that Push is selected (default) and not Pull, and under Application that the ZEC radio button is selected (default).
9. In the ZEC field, select from the drop-down list one of the available ZECs.
10. In the ZEC Input field, select the desired input.
11. If you want the Source to be sent over a single NIC (i.e. no bonding) then do the following:
    1. Do not select the Bonding checkbox.
    2. In the ZEC Output NICs field, if you would like to specify which NIC is used, then select the IP of that NIC from the drop-down list. By default, Any is selected.
12. If you would like to use Bonding, then do the following:
    1. Select the Bonding checkbox.
    2. Select two or more NICs by clicking the button for each of the desired NICs. Selected NICs are shown above the Filter box. (You can remove a NIC by clicking the button for that NIC).
    3. For each NIC that is selected you can adjust the following parameters:
       • In the Max Bitrate field, enter the maximum bitrate to be used on this NIC.

       • If you want to use this NIC only when there isn’t sufficient bandwidth available on the other NICs, then select the Backup checkbox.
         
         

         If the Backup checkbox is not selected then this NIC is used in parallel with the other selected NICs.

13. In the 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, specify which Broadcaster/s within the cluster on which ZEN Master can deploy the source. 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. In the Latency [ms] field, select the latency time for the stream (default 4000).
16. If you would like to enable the Zixi auto encryption feature for encrypting the Source stream, select the Enable Encryption checkbox.

17. If you would like to apply a PID Mapping profile to this Source, then in the PID Mapping field, select the desired profile from the dropdown 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.

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

19. 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.

20. If Log SCTE-35 was selected, you can choose to receive alerts for SCTE-35 markers by selecting the Enable SCTE-35 alerts
21. In the Public Output field, if you would like to allow access to the stream directly through a supported player, select the Allow
22. If you selected the Allow checkbox, then enter a password in the Password field to authenticate access to the stream.

23. If you would like 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 still detect TR101 errors in the stream.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. If Auto-Pull is enabled, in the Auto-Pull Latency [ms] field, specify the maximum latency for auto-pull actions. The Broadcaster will update the latency as required, by using the maximal defined latency and then reducing the latency gradually. (Default: 1000 ms)

27. 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).

    1. 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.

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

29. 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.

30. If you would like to adjust the advanced settings, click Advanced.
    The Advanced settings fields are displayed:
    
    
    
31. If you would like to track usage for this Source, enter your Billing Code details. See Billing Codes.
32. 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.
33. 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. 
34. 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. 
35. Click Save.

ZEC Source Configuration Parameters Table