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VBrick EtherneTV Media Control Server

Users Guide

Version 2.0.0

August 19, 2004

4410-0097-0001

VBrick Systems, Inc.

12 Beaumont Road

Wallingford, Connecticut 06492

Telephone: 1-203-265-0044

Toll Free (USA Only): 1-866-VBrick-1 www.VBrick.com

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Copyright

VBrick Systems, Inc. copyrights this manual with all rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of VBrick Systems, Inc.

 VBrick Systems, Inc., 2004

Disclaimer

VBrick Systems, Inc. has reviewed this manual to insure it is an easy-to-use guide. All statements, technical information, and recommendations in this manual and in any guides or related documents are believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness thereof are not guaranteed or warranted and they are not intended to be, nor should they be understood to be, representations or warrants concerning the products described. VBrick reserves the right to make changes in the specifications of the product without notice and without obligation to notify any person of such changes.

Trademarks

VBrick, VBrick Systems, StreamPlayer II, StreamPlayer Plus and StreamPlayer Plus are registered trademarks of VBrick Systems, Inc. Other brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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Table of Contents

C

OPYRIGHT

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D

ISCLAIMER

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T

RADEMARKS

........................................................................................................................................ 2

T

ABLE OF

C

ONTENTS

............................................................................................................................. 3

1: OPERATION ...................................................................................................................................... 4

O

VERVIEW

............................................................................................................................................ 4

O

PERATION

........................................................................................................................................... 4

D

ESKTOP

R

EQUIREMENTS

...................................................................................................................... 4

Windows-based PCs........................................................................................................................ 4

Macs ................................................................................................................................................ 5

H OME P AGE .......................................................................................................................................... 6

D

OWNLOAD

C

OMPONENTS

(W

INDOWS

-

BASED

PC

S ONLY

) ......................................................................... 6

W ATCH T ELEVISION ............................................................................................................................... 7

V

IDEO ON

D

EMAND

................................................................................................................................ 9

S CHEDULED P ROGRAMS ...................................................................................................................... 12

M

ENU

................................................................................................................................................. 13

O PTIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 13

A

DD

/M

ODIFY

T

HUMBNAIL

..................................................................................................................... 14

A DD V IDEO ......................................................................................................................................... 15

STB R

EMOTE

C

ONTROL

....................................................................................................................... 16

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CHAPTER one

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1: Operation

Overview

The VBrick EtherneTV Media Control Server (MCS) is a web-based Portal for accessing Live and On-Demand audio and video files. A key component of VBrick’s EtherneTV Media

Distribution System, the MCS provides a simple interface to easily locate available media assets from Windows PCs, Macs, and Set Top Boxes. Upon accessing the main portal page, users can navigate or search for specific videos, select the video, and immediately begin viewing television quality video. For on-demand videos, users can Fast

Forward/Rewind and Seek to specific points in the video.

Details on the specific functionality are provided below.

Operation

The Media Control Server can be accessed by Windows-base PCs, Macs, or by the

EtherneTV Set Top Box (STB). For the most part, the operation of the MCS from a

Windows-based PC, Mac 1 , or STB is the same; however, there are some subtle differences.

The majority of this document is written from a PC perspective, so certain screen shots may be slightly different for Macs or STBs. For example, the Mac client uses QuickTime Player to display the video, so the player window will look different from the screen shots provided here.

NOTE: The interface pages on the MCS were designed to be viewed with a screen resolution of 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768. Screen resolutions lower or higher than this may not display appropriately.

Desktop Requirements

Windows-based PCs

Windows 98, 2000, XP.

300 MHz Pentium II processor for MPEG-1 streams.

500 MHz Pentium III processor for MPEG-2 streams.

500 MHz (minimum), 750 MHz Pentium III processor (recommended) for MPEG-4 streams.

128 MB RAM.

SVGA video card 640x480, 256 colors, video card acceleration recommended.

Windows compatible sound device.

Minimum 10 MB hard disk space for installation.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher.

Windows Media Player Version 6.4, 7.1 or 9.

DirectX Media Version 8.1 and higher.

Windows XP operating systems: Service Pack 1

1 For Mac users, the MCS uses the QuickTime player to display the video. The QuickTime player supports MPEG-4 video; therefore Mac users can only view MPEG-4 video, and MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos on the system will not display for Mac users.

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Macs

Mac OS 9 with Internet Explorer for Mac 5.1.7 and QuickTime Player 6.0.3

Mac OS X with Safari 1.0 (or higher) or Internet Explorer for Mac 5.2.3; QuickTime

Player 6.0 or higher

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Home Page

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Access to the server is through the address bar on Internet Explorer browser:

Open an Internet Explorer browser.

Enter the EtherneTV MCS host name or IP address (for example, http:// mcsservername).

This directs a user to the EtherneTV MCS Home Page, where the choices available are:

Watch Television – View live streams available on the network.

Video-on-Demand – View pre-recorded content available from the EtherneTV-NXG server.

Scheduled Viewing – View scheduled programs.

Download Components (Windows-based

PCs only)

For Windows-based PC users, VBrick uses StreamPlayer software-based components to decode streams on the desktop. The EtherneTV MCS downloads these components to the desktop the first time the server is accessed, with user permission. No download is necessary for subsequent access.

If this is a new installation, it is necessary to answer Yes to security requests to download components.

The EtherneTV MCS may require the installation of up to five components. If the box is checked, “Always trust content from VBrick Systems Incorporated,” the user only answers one time and content will be automatically downloaded.

NOTE: It is not necessary to restart the computer after each download.

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Watch Television

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The Watch Television page enables a user to view live streams available on the network.

The list of available streams are either live streams from a VBrick or another encoder or stored files that are multicast from an EtherneTV-NXG Video on Demand or other Video-on-

Demand server.

The administrator can assign a channel number to a live video stream in the administration section. The channel appears as a number in a column to the left of the entries.

Search – Search Channels by Title or Keyword. Search criteria are entered in the MCS server administration section. It is possible to search by:

All

Title

Keyword

NOTE: Press the Enter key or the Go button to execute the search.

The results of the search are displayed in the program listings area. To return to the entire listing, select Watch TV from the MENU.

Selection – To select a video to preview, position the cursor button over the desired entry and use the left mouse button to select.

Scroll Up and Scroll Down – The scroll bar on the right of the table of available videos allows the user to scroll up or down through the entries. Users can also scroll up or down through the entries by using a mouse wheel or standard keyboard keys such as Page Up and Page Down.

Preview Window – To select a video to preview, position the cursor button over the desired entry and use the left mouse button to select. When an entry is selected, it appears in the

Preview Window.

Note: In certain instances where the video link is to a non-MPEG video, an external player, such as Windows Media Player, Real Player, or QuickTime Player, may launch.

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Control Buttons – The icons on the bottom of the Preview Window control the video (note, these buttons are for the Windows-based player. Mac users will see the familiar QuickTime

Player buttons):

Play – Starts the video stream if has been previously stopped

Stop – Stops the video

Record – Records the video to the On-Demand Server. Depending on your user permissions your may not have the ability to record.

Full Screen – Selecting the icon changes the view to Full Screen.

Exit Full Screen Mode – To Exit Full Screen, use the Escape key on the keyboard.

Volume Control – Controls the audio volume with a slider bar.

Launch External Viewer – Launches the player in another browser window, along with the control buttons. Once the window is launched, subsequent selections will play in the external player. The launched window can be moved or resized. Closing the main EtherneTV MCS window leaves the smaller player on the screen.

NOTE: The viewer may be resized after launch by dragging from the corners or from any side.

Time Counter – The time counter displays the amount of time elapsed since the viewer began viewing the currently selected video.

Message Board – The Message Board area serves three purposes:

Displays, by default, any Global Message entered by the administrator.

Displays the name of the selected video being played.

Displays additional information about the selected video if text is entered in the MCS administration configuration.

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Video on Demand

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If the MCS installation includes an EtherneTV-NXG Video on Demand server, the Video on

Demand link on the Home Page displays a list of content stored in folders and files on the server.

Title – The title of the video clip is displayed after the symbol indicating it is a video clip or a thumbnail which provides a visual preview as to what is in the clip.

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Search – Search Channels by Title or Keyword. It is possible to search by:

All

Title

Keyword

NOTE: Press the Enter key or the Go button to execute the search.

The results of the search are displayed in the program listings area. To return to the entire listing, select Video on Demand from MENU.

Folders – This information is obtained from EtherneTV-NXG server. The folders are listed in alphabetical order by default. Folders may contain subfolders.

Files – The Video on Demand folders contain files that can be requested and played. Each listing displays either a file icon or a thumbnail image of the clip, as well as information about the clip, such as Duration and Key Words.

Folder Up – When inside a folder, the top row displays the folder up icon. Selecting this allows the user to move up a folder level.

Scroll Up and Scroll Down – The scroll bar on the right of the table of available videos allows the user to scroll up or down through the entries. Users can also scroll up or down through the entries by using a mouse wheel or standard keyboard keys such as Page Up and Page Down.

Preview Window – To select a video to preview, position the cursor button over the desired entry and use the left mouse button to select. When an entry is selected, it appears in the

Preview Window.

Note: In certain instances where the video link is to a non-MPEG video, an external player, such as Windows Media Player, Real Player, or QuickTime Player, may launch.

Control Buttons – The icons on the bottom of the Preview Window control the video. There is also a long slider bar that controls Seek and a short slider bar that controls volume; and a time counter that displays the total length of the video and the elapsed time.

*NOTE: Fast Forward and Rewind are supported for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. The Scroll bar is used to seek through MPEG-4 content.

Full Screen – Full Screen Mode – Selecting this icon changes the view to Full

Screen.

Exit Full Screen Mode – To Exit Full Screen, use the Escape key on the keyboard.

Volume Control – Controls the audio volume with the slider bar.

Launch External Viewer – Launches the player in another browser window, along with the control buttons. Once the window is launched, subsequent selections will play in the external player. The launched window can be moved or resized. Closing the main EtherneTV MCS window leaves the smaller player on the screen.

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NOTE: The viewer may be resized after launch by dragging from the corners or from any side..

Message Board – The Message Board area serves two purposes for Video on Demand:

Displays, by default, any Global Message entered by the administrator

Displays the name of the selected video being played.

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Scheduled Programs

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Scheduled Programs displays content scheduled to be shown at a particular date and time.

The list of available streams are either live streams from a VBrick or another encoder, or stored files that are multicast from an EtherneTV-NXG Video on Demand or other Video-on-

Demand server.

To access the Scheduled Programs page, select Scheduled Programs from the Home page or select the Menu button from any page and select Scheduled Programs. Scheduled programs that are currently playing will display a Now Playing message and can be played directly from the Scheduled Programs page.

NOTE: Programs in the process of being played are also displayed in the Live Video selection.

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Menu

Select the Menu button to switch between viewing choices:

Home – Return to the Home Page.

Watch Television – View live streams available on the network.

Video on Demand –View pre-recorded content available from the EtherneTV-

NXG server.

Scheduled Programs – View content scheduled at a particular date and time.

Create Thumbnail – If you have publishing permissions, you can assign a thumbnail to that content. If you do not have publishing permissions this button will not appear.

Add Video – If you have publishing permissions you can publish an MPEG video that you recorded using a VBStar or StreamPlayer Plus.

Status – Check the record and publishing status of the videos you are recording or publishing from the MCS user interface.

Options – Turn Closed Captioning on or off. NOTE: Closed Captioning does not work with the Windows 98 operating system.

Logout/Login – Allows you to logout or login to the server.

NOTE: Closed Captioning does not work with the Windows 98 operating system.

Options

Captions menu turns captions off and on.

NOTES:

Captions are supported for MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video.

Closed Captioning is not supported for the Windows 98 Operating System.

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Add/Modify Thumbnail

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If given permission, you have the ability to replace the generic video clip icon with a snapshot of the video or your own image. The folders to which you can upload thumbnails to are configured by your Administrator. The folder list that you can upload thumbnails to may be different from the folders from which you may view content.

Simply click the video you would like to create a thumbnail for. You can then:

• Click Take a Snapshot at anytime in the video to capture that frame, this will automatically replace the existing thumbnail. If you don’t like it the fist time you can keep trying.

• Delete the existing thumbnail.

• Upload your own thumbnail.

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Add Video

If given permission, you have the ability to Add Video to the EtherneTV-NXG Video-on-

Demand server. The folders to which you can Add Video to are configured by your

Administrator. The folder list that you can Add Video to may be different from the folders from which you may view content.

If you have MPEG-1,2 or 4 video saved on to your PC (which may be acquired by recording with StreamPlayer Plus or a VBrick VBSTAR), then you can publish this to the on-demand server by using the Add Video page.

Source File: Browse to the folder on your PC or a network drive that have the video you wish to add.

Destination: choose a folder that you would like to publish the video too. Only the folders to which you have permission to publish will display.

Video Name: Define that name that you would like the video to display on the MCS interface. There can be no spaces in the name.

Keyboard: Assign keywords that can be used to search for the video later.

Description: Define a brief description of the video. This is displayed in the messages area of the EtherneTV user interface when the video is played.

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STB Remote Control

1. Video-On-Demand Controls allow you to Stop,

Play, Pause, Rewind, and Fast Forward just like you would on a DVD Player or VCR.

2. Mouse Controls can be used to navigate and select any of the buttons that you see on the screen.

3. On-Screen Display Navigation Buttons.

• Arrow Up/Down buttons will scroll through the content screens one full page at a time. These buttons can also be used to scroll on the MCS

Home page and Menu selections.

• Channel Up/Down button will scroll through the content screens one title at a time.

• Full Screen button will make your preview video go to full screen mode. Once in full screen mode simply hit the button again to return back to the menu.

• TV button will take you to the live television menu.

• WWW brings up a web browser that will allow you to navigate the World Wide Web. This requires the use of the optional wireless keyboard, or a keyboard directly attached to the Set Top Box.

• VOD button will take you the Video-On-

Demand menu.

4. Record (if you have permissions) will allow you to record the channel (live only) that you are tuned into.

5. Menu Allows the user to navigate to all available MCS pages including Add/Record

Video Status page.

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