ZEC Adding HLS Streams
- Elisa Diel (Unlicensed)
- Eli Pielet (Writec) (Unlicensed)
This screen enables ZEC to receive an HLS stream. The HLS stream is not protected by the Zixi protocol. There are two options for pulling the stream:
- Single source (adaptive bitrate) - the stream can be an adaptive bitrate stream. In this case, ZEC will pull the main playlist to adapt between bitrates according to network conditions.
- Multiple sources - it is possible to pull multiple input streams with static individual bitrates. In this case, ZEC will automatically create a separate input for each bitrate.
To Add an HLS stream:
- In the ZEC Navigation menu, click the Inputs tab.
- In the Menu bar, click New Input. The Add a new input stream window is displayed.
Enter the unique Stream I.D.
Note: this must be identical (case sensitive) to the stream name configured in the sending Zixi Broadcaster or MediaConnect.
- Enter the maximum concurrent connections to this stream from the Max. Outputs drop-down list. Default: Unlimited.
- Select the Show in Matrix check box to display this stream in the Matrix (see Using the Matrix). Default: Selected.
- Select HLS for the input stream.
- Specify the Stream Parameters (see Input Streams Parameters Table below).
- If you want to specify Billing Codes to identify and differentiate traffic on a ZEC for billing purposes, select this checkbox (see Input Stream Parameter Table below).
- If you want to Enable multicast on pull outputs, select this checkbox (see Input Stream Parameter table).
- If you want to Enable encryption, select this checkbox (see Input Stream Parameters Table). For more information, see ZEC Encrypting an Input Stream.
- If you want to configure the Recording Parameters, specify them in the respective fields (see Input Stream Parameter table).
- Click OK.
The “Input added” message appears on the top of the screen. The HLS stream from the source is added to the ZEC and now appears in the list of streams available in the ZEC inputs UI. If the "multiple sources" option was select, ZEC will automatically create a separate input for each bitrate.
Input Stream Parameters Table
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Stream parameters | |
| Master Playlist URL | Specify the URL of the HLS stream's master playlist. |
| Download Type | Specify whether the variants will be pulled from a single source (adaptive bitrate) or multiple sources (pull all bitrates). |
| Inject SCTE35 on CUE Marks | Select this checkbox to inject SCTE markers into the adaptive stream manifest. SCTE-35 markers found in the source input will be used to segment the stream and the #EXT-X-CUE-IN/#EXT-X-CUE-OUT tags will be added to the manifest. |
| Support EXT-X-DATERANGE | Select this checkbox to enable this feature. EXT-X-DATERANGE is a way of providing timed metadata in an HLS manifest. It is used to define date range metadata in a media playlist. A possible use case is defining timed metadata for interstitial regions such as advertisements, but can be used to define any timed metadata needed by your stream. |
| Start from last segment | Select this checkbox to begin downloading from the last segment in the playlist. By selecting this mode, you may lose the previous data in the playlist (i.e., the chunks before the last chunks will not be downloaded), but latency will be lowered. |
| Zixi broadcaster | Select this checkbox if you are pulling the HLS from a Zixi Broadcaster. This will add a parameter in the request to pull the stream so that the origin Zixi Broadcaster can identify the puller and show a single output in the outputs table. if you don't select this option, the origin Zixi Broadcaster will display a different output for each downloaded segment. |
| Use HTTP parameters for substreams | If your Master URL has HTTP parameters (e.g., http://server.com/main.m3u8?user=someuser&password=somepass&etc=...), the parameters will be propagated as subplaylists and chunks. For example, the master playlist will have a subplaylist: sub_playlist1.m3u8 |
| Billing Codes | Billing codes are used to identify and differentiate traffic on a ZEC for billing purposes. When a billing code is added to a Source or Target, Zixi can track the traffic on that Broadcaster input or output separately from other inputs and outputs on the same Broadcaster. Billing codes are created by Zixi personnel on the Zixi Customer Portal for a particular organization. |
| Billing Code | Enter the billing code that corresponds to this stream. The relevant billing can be obtained from the organization that received the billing code from Zixi. |
| Billing password | Enter the password that corresponds to this billing code. |
| Enable multicast on pull outputs | Select this checkbox to enable the transmission of this stream’s outputs as multicast. A ZEC that will pull the stream will receive it in multicast. By default ZEC is configured to allow transparent fallback to unicast if it is out of the LAN. Requires enabling Multicast Pull in the Settings. |
| Multicast-Only (for Multicast enabled) | If desired, specify multicast only outputs. |
| Enable Encryption | Select this checkbox to encrypt the Input stream. For more information, see ZEC Encrypting an Input Stream. |
Encryption type (for Encryption enabled) | Specify the type of Encryption (AES 128/192/256). |
Encryption key (for Encryption enabled) | Click Generate to generate an encryption key. The generated encryption key must be sent to the end-user to decipher the received encoded stream. |
Recording parameters | Select this checkbox to customize the recording parameters. |
Destination Type | Select the radio button for the desired storage type and then fill in the relevant parameters. · Record to disk – the recording is saved on the local disk. It is possible to record to an external destination by replacing the default storage location with a symbolic link. To learn more, see Using an External Storage section. · Record to S3 – the file is saved to your AWS S3 Bucket. |
Record to Disk Parameters | |
File Name Template | Specify the file name pattern that Zixi will use to generate when saving the recorded content. A separate file will be generated for each recording up to the time specified in the Max recorded file duration parameter (see above). After this duration a new file will be generated. The file name pattern can include any string and up to five variables listed below. Only the %T=HH.MM.SS creation time is mandatory. You can change the order of these variables and add text as long as you maintain the legitimate structure of the file in Linux and Windows:
For example, the following pattern %Y_recording%T.ts will generate the following file name 2022_recording15:32:35.ts. |
Max recorded file duration [hours] | Specify the maximum time allotted for recording a video stream. Default: 2 hours |
Keep recorded files for [hours] | Specify the maximum time for storing the recording. Default: 0 hours |
Custom Path | Optionally specify a storage location for the recorded files that is relative to the root folder. This location bypasses the location specified as the root folder in the Settings > General screen. |
Record to S3 Parameters | |
File Name Template | Specify the file name pattern that Zixi will use to generate when saving the recorded content. A separate file will be generated for each recording up to the time specified in the Max recorded file duration parameter (see above). After this duration a new file will be generated. The file name pattern can include any string and up to five variables listed below. Only the %T=HH.MM.SS creation time is mandatory. You can change the order of these variables and add text as long as you maintain the legitimate structure of the file in Linux and Windows:
For example, the following pattern %Y_recording%T.ts will generate the following file name 2022_recording15:32:35.ts. |
Max recorded file duration [hours] | Specify the maximum time allotted for recording a video stream. Default: 2 hours |
URL | Specify the URL of the S3 bucket. |
Ignore TLS certificate errors | TLS certificate for S3 bucket might be detected as faulty if bucket name contains dot[s]. When this option is selected, ZEC will ignore the TLS certificate errors and transmit the stream to its destination. |
Access Key | The access key that is used for accessing the S3 bucket. |
Secret Key | The secret key that is used for accessing the S3 bucket. |