AJA BRIDGE LIVE Operation Guide

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BRIDGE LIVE Family

Video I/O and Streaming Appliances

Installation and Operation Guide

Version 1.18r1 Published December 18, 2025

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Notices

Trademarks

AJA® and Because it matters.® are registered trademarks of AJA Video Systems, Inc. for use with most AJA products. AJA™ is a trademark of AJA Video Systems, Inc. for use with recorder, router, software and camera products. Because it matters.™ is a trademark of AJA Video Systems, Inc. for use with camera products.

Corvid Ultra®, lo®, Ki Pro®, KONA®, KUMO®, ROI® and T-Tap® are registered trademarks of AJA Video Systems, Inc.

AJA Control Room™, KiStor™, Science of the Beautiful™, TruScale™, V2Analog™ and V2Digital™ are trademarks of AJA Video Systems, Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2025 AJA Video Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. All information in this manual is subject to change without notice. No part of the document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, without the express written permission of AJA Video Systems, Inc.

Contacting AJA Technical Support or Sales

Please have all pertinent information at hand prior to contacting AJA support or sales. Support Telephone: +1.530.271.3190 Support Website: https://www.aja.com/support/contact Support Email: [email protected] Sales Email: [email protected] Shipping Address: AJA Video Systems

180 Litton Drive Grass Valley, CA 95945, USA

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Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Contacting AJA Technical Support or Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Chapter 1 – Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Encoding Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Encoding and Decoding Protocols Supported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

BRIDGE LIVE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Hardware Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chassis Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chassis Power Button. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chassis Rear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Rear Panel Power Supply LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Workow Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

REMI (Remote Production) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Simultaneous Bidirectional Encoding and Decoding . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Backhaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Cloud Contribution . . . . . . 20

BRIDGE LIVE as a Receiving Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Contribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Remote Video Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Reference Video for Remote Creatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Secure Window into the Remote Set or Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Connecting Remote NDI Production Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Streaming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Direct-to-Audience Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Encoding For Content Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Live Production Encoding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Backhaul . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Cloud Contribution . . . . . . 30

Conguration Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chapter 2 – Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

What's In the Box? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Quick Start Guide Login Credentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Installation Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Initial Hardware Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Mounting the Chassis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Connect AC Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Initial System Access via Local Kiosk Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

EULA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Initial System Setup Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Basic Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

HostName . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Network Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Use For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Assign Address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

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GPU and CPU Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Conguration Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Default Route. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Set DNS Manually for Whole System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

BRIDGE LIVE System Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Admin Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Logout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Restart Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Reboot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Factory Reset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Keyboard Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Password Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

User Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Password Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Installing a New License Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

License Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

BRIDGE LIVE Software Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Low Latency Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Low Latency Using Low Latency Preset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

NDI Discovery Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Using NDI Discovery with BRIDGE LIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Timecode Insertion in SEI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

HEVC Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

H264 Activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

OS and Network Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Console Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Default Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

BRIDGE LIVE Files Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

System Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

System Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 3 – Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Browser Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Unsupported Browsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Logging in Remotely with a Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

BRIDGE LIVE User Interface Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Dashboard Interface Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Home View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Pipeline View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

The Left Column (Pipelines). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Add New Pipeline Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Returning to Dashboard Home View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Upper Left Quadrant – Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Upper Right Quadrant – GPU/CPU Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Lower Left Quadrant – Services and Devices Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Lower Right Quadrant – Memory GPU/System RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Lower Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Setup Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

System Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Advanced Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Version Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Diagnostics & Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Admin Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Pipeline Conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

About Pipelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

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Saving, Starting, and Stopping Pipelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

General Procedure for Creating a Pipeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Add New Pipeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Naming the Pipeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Selecting Input Stream Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Congure Input Stream Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Conguring an SDI Input Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Conguring an NDI Input Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Conguring an RTMP Input Stream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Conguring an MPEG TS Input Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Input Stream Audio Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Add New Output Stream to Pipeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Adding an Output Stream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Naming the Output Stream. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Selecting Output Stream Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Selecting Latency Addition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Selecting Output Mode and Total Bitrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Congure Audio Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Audio Only Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Conguring an NDI Output Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Conguring an MPEG-TS Output Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

RTP or UDP Output Stream Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

SRT Output Stream Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Managing Pipelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

When to Reduce the CPU/GPU Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Clearly Naming Multiple Output Streams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Cloning an Output Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Output Stream Audio Conguration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Cloning Output Audio Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

To Clone an Output Audio Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Creating and Loading Preset Stream Congurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

To save as a preset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

To load a preset conguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

JSON Created Pipelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Additional BRIDGE LIVE Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Output Stream Cropping and Padding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Cropping Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Resize Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Logo Insertion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Verifying Pipeline Congurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Verifying the Conguration of Your Pipeline Remotely . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Verifying BRIDGE LIVE Output Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Verifying BRIDGE LIVE Input Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Chapter 4 – Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Multiple Input Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Auto Reconguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Encoding Incoming Uncompressed SDI to Various Stream Types . . . . . . . .101

Input SDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Output Stream Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Supported Output Data for Single Program Transport Stream . . . . . 102

Stream Type. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Total Bit Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

PCR Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

EBP Length (Encoder Boundary Point) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Compliance With . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Congure Service Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Output Stream Destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Congure Destinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Typ e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

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IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

NIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Output Stream Video Conguration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Video Codec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Video Bit Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Scan Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110

Wrap Captions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Output PID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Overwriting a PID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Decoding Incoming Streams and Outputting Uncompressed SDI . . . . . . .111

Input Stream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Conguring Input Streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

MPEG-TS over RTP, UDP, or SRT Input Stream Sources . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Choosing the Program Number. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Output SDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Muxing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Closed Captions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Electronic Program Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

EPG Support Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Conguration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Current Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Alternative Methods for Verifying Pipeline Conguration. . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Using RTMP Server for Mac. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

SRT Bonding for Path Redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Conguration of 'Sending' BRIDGE LIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Conguration of 'Receiving' BRIDGE LIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Monitoring Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Dolby E Passthrough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Conguration of SDI or IP Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Conguration of Dolby E Passthrough Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

AAC-HE Decode and Encode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Conguration of Input with AAC-HE Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120

Conguration of AAC-HE Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Chapter 5 – Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Example of Streaming to YouTube. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Adding an Output Stream for YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 3

Audio Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

YouTube Studio Live Streaming Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Streaming to Wowza Live Video Streaming Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Destination Syntax Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Chapter 6 – Using the REST API . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Accessing the API Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Featured Curl commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

list network interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

list all available pipelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

add simple pipeline with input stream data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

get the state of pipeline with ID 0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Chapter 7 – Using SNMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

BRIDGE LIVE Server SNMP Enabled by Default . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

BRIDGE LIVE Server SNMP Disabled by Default. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Example of SNMP Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

CPU utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

GPU utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Available GPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Inbound streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

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Outbound streams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Dropped frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Overall status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Network received data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 9

Network transmitted data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Network interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Obtaining the name of an object in a tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Obtaining the location of a certain object from MIB . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

SNMP Traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Conguration of SNMP Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Chapter 8 – Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

How can I collect BRIDGE LIVE log les?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

How can I change the default system password? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

How can I change the admin password? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131

The UI shows streams are working but no data on output. . . . . . . . . . .132

I see frame drops in the UI. What can be the cause? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Information needed for troubleshooting by Support? . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

A list of possible error messages in UI:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Appendix A – Specications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

BRIDGE LIVE/ BRIDGE LIVE12G-4 SDI Video Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 SDI Video Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

BRIDGE LIVE Family Video Color Component Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Video Codecs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Audio Streams/Codecs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Containers and Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

Video Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Audio Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Synchronization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Audio Input Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Audio Output Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Conguration and Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

BRIDGE LIVE / BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 Form Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 Form Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Appendix B – Safety and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

3 Year Warranty and Liability Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

AJA Software License Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

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Chapter 1 – Introduction

Overview

BRIDGE LIVE products are broadcast quality, low latency turnkey systems for REMI, Synchronous Multi-Channel Video Contribution, Remote Collaboration, Direct to Audience Streaming, and Multi Bit Rate/Format Delivery.

NOTE: REMI is an acronym used in the broadcast industry for Remote Model Integration

and is sometimes called "at home" production with a broadcast workflow where content is captured live at a remote location while production is performed at a main studio.

Equipped with 3G or 12G-SDI I/O plus the power and flexibility to enable real time bidirectional encoding, decoding, and transcoding for critical UltraHD and HD workflows, BRIDGE LIVE is an essential part of any modern live video production toolkit. A compact and robust 1RU form factor with redundant power supplies and a 3 year warranty means peace of mind even when dealing with the most demanding applications.

Whether facilitating remote production, two-way interviews, live event streaming, synchronous multi-cam backhaul with HDR, cloud contribution, program return, confidence monitoring, collaborative production, or ABR ladder profiles to hand-off for OTT packaging, BRIDGE LIVE ensures simultaneous, secure, and stable workflows whether over private lines or the public internet.

NOTE: The term BRIDGE LIVE as used in this manual refers to the BRIDGE LIVE Family of

products. BRIDGE LIVE models are listed in cases where the specific model details are presented.

Features

• BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4: 12G-SDI/3G-SDI I/O supports Multi-Channel UltraHD as standard

• BRIDGE LIVE: 12G-SDI/3G-SDI I/O supports Multi-Channel HD or UltraHD as standard

• BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8: 3G-SDI I/O supports Multi-Channel HD as standard (up to 8x channels). BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 supports multiple frame rate families at the same time

• Bidirectional Encode/Decode/Transcode: H.265 (HEVC), H.264 (AVC, MPEG-

4), H.262 (MPEG-2), and with optional licenses NDI ® JPEG2000 (TR-01), and JPEGXS (TR-07)

• Synchronous Multi-Channel / Multi-System Transport for SDI backhaul or Cloud Delivery

• Protocols: SRT, UDP, HLS, RTP, RTMP/S (output), MPTS (input)

• Transports: MPEG-TS, NDI, AVC-TS, Fragmented MP4 (input)

• SRT Bonding for Redundancy

• Multiple NDI Discovery Server support

• Supports NDI Groups

• Multi bit rate/format distribution, ABR Ladder Profiles for OTT hand-off.

• Selectable profiles for 10-bit and 8-bit, 4:2:2 and 4:2:0

• Unmatched Metadata capabilities including MPEG-2 ANC, SMPTE 2038, Ad insertion markers (SCTE-35/SCTE-104), CC/Subtitles (EIA-608/708, Line 21, H.264 SEI)

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• HDR/SDR from SDI source to SDI destination in the BRIDGE LIVE end-to-end configurations

• Remote WebUI or local GUI for easy administration, control, and operation

• Monitoring, Control, and Automation supported via REST API or SNMP

• Turnkey 1RU rack-mountable, enterprise-class form factor

• Dual 10GigE interface for control and transport

• Dual power supplies for critical application redundancy

• Three year hardware warranty included. Option to extend hardware warranty to five years, with active support contract

Encoding Guidelines

BRIDGE LIVE supports JPEG2000, JPEGXS, H.264, H.265 and H.262 passthrough (video skips decoding and encoding and is passed through as it is). The video parameters must be exactly matched and it’s not possible to use it at the same time with logo insertion or video correction. To configure this, you must set the output video bitrate to 0. Keep in mind that the Total bitrate must be higher than the real video bitrate otherwise frame drops will occur.

NOTE: You can only choose two different frame rate (fps) options on the output, i.e. the

same as the source or halved in rate.

Metadata

BRIDGE LIVE allows the pass through of metadata, and supports various codecs, protocols, and transports:

• Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

• Closed Captioning (EIA-608/708 including conversion)

• CC/Subtitles embedding into H.264 SEI messages

• SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry + Luminance

• Timecode

• Ad insertion markers (SCTE-35/SCTE-104) pass through

• Line 21 captions

• Electronic program guide (EPG) on input

NOTE: “End-to-End SDI Transport” refers specifically to workflows where the first

BRIDGE LIVE device is receiving SDI and sending IP video to a second BRIDGE LIVE device, which is receiving IP video and outputting SDI.

NOTE: End-to-End SDI workflows support HDR transport (SDI to IP to SDI), but this is only

possible when the IP Video format supports 4:2:2, 10-bit and as such, is a function of using either H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit, JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, or JPEGXS TR-07, 10-bit.

Encoding and Decoding Protocols Supported

BRIDGE LIVE supports encoding from SDI to Stream, and decoding from Stream to SDI. Encoding and decoding between SDI, JPEG2000 and JPEGXS streams is also fully supported (watermark removed), with installation of optional licenses. Transcoding between any Stream input and Stream output is also supported. See the following tables for detailed signal specifications:

BRIDGE LIVE

For SDI to Stream encoding see "BRIDGE LIVE SDI to Stream Encoding" on page 10

For Stream to SDI encoding see "BRIDGE LIVE Stream to SDI Decoding" on page 11

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The table values are recommendations only. Bit rate value settings should consider available network throughput for each channel.

Table 1. BRIDGE LIVE SDI to Stream Encoding

Codec/Quality HD (1080p) UltraHD Protocol Transport Metadata

NDI UYVY 4:2:2, 8-bit P216 4:2:2, 16-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 8/10-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:2, 8-bit

JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, 10-bit

JPEGXS 4:2:2 10-bit

4x up to 60p 105 -165 Mbps

4x up to 60p 5-12 Mbp s

4x up to 60p 8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p 2x up to 60p 50 -75 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i

8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i

10-20 Mbps

4x up to 60p 80 -220 Mbps

4x up to 60p 180 -400Mbps

3x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 150 -312 Mb ps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 35-110 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 40 -75 Mbps

1x up to 30p 80-120 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 200-800 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 360-1600 Mbps

NDI NDI

RTP SRT UDP

HLS RTP RTMP/S SRT UDP

RTP SRT UDP

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

AVC-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion Subtitles embedded within H.264 SEI

messages

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion Subtitles embedded within H.264 SEI

messages

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

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Table 2. BRIDGE LIVE Stream to SDI Decoding

Codec/Quality HD (1080p) UltraHD Protocol Transport Metadata

NDI UYVY 4:2:2, 8-bit P216 4:2:2, 16-bit

NDI HX (1, 2, 3) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 8/10-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:2, 8-bit

JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, 10-bit

JPEGXS 4:2:2 10-bit

4x up to 60p 105 -165 Mbps

4x up to 60p 9-16 Mbps

4x up to 60p 5-12 Mbp s

4x up to 60p 8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p 2x up to 60p 50 -75 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i 8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i 10-20 Mbps

4x up to 60p 80 -220 Mbps

4x up to 60p. 180 -400Mbps

3x up to 60p 3x up to 30p 150 -312 Mb ps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 19-30 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 35-110 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 40 -75 Mbps

1x up to 30p 80-120 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 200-800 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 360-1600

Mbps

NDI NDI

NDI HX NDI

RTP SRT UDP

HLS RTP RTMP/S SRT UDP

HLS RTP SRT UDP

RTP SRT UDP

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC), supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC), supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8

Table 3 "BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 SDI to Stream Encoding" on page 12 Table 4 "BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 Stream to SDI Decoding" on page 13

NOTE: The table values are recommendations only. Bit rate value settings should

consider available network throughput for each channel.

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Table 3. BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 SDI to Stream Encoding

Codec/Quality HD (1080p) Protocol Transport Metadata

NDI UYVY 4:2:2, 8-bit P216 4:2:2, 16-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 8/10-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:2, 8-bit

JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, 10-bit

JPEGXS 4:2:2 10-bit

8x up to 60p 105 -165 Mbps

8x up to 60p 5-12 Mbp s

8x up to 60p 8-15 Mbps

8x up to 30p 4x up to 60p 50 -75 Mbps

8x up to 30p/60i

8-15 Mbps

8x up to 30p/60i

10-20 Mbps

4x up to 60p 80 -220 Mbps

8x up to 60p 180 -400Mbps

NDI NDI

RTP SRT UDP

HLS RTP RTMP/S SRT UDP

RTP SRT UDP

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

AVC-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion Subtitles embedded within H.264 SEI

messages

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion Subtitles embedded within H.264 SEI

messages

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

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Table 4. BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 Stream to SDI Decoding

Codec/Quality HD (1080p) Protocol Transport Metadata

NDI UYVY 4:2:2, 8-bit P216 4:2:2, 16-bit

NDI HX (1, 2, 3) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 8/10-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:2, 8-bit

JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, 10-bit

JPEGXS 4:2:2 10-bit

8x up to 60p 105 -165 Mbps

8x up to 60p 9-16 Mbps

8x up to 60p 5-12 Mbp s

8x up to 60p 8-15 Mbps

8x up to 30p 4x up to 60p 50 -75 Mbps

8x up to 30p/60i 8-15 Mbps

8x up to 30p/60i 10-20 Mbps

4x up to 60p 80 -220 Mbps

8x up to 60p. 180 -400Mbps

NDI NDI

NDI HX NDI

RTP SRT UDP

HLS RTP RTMP/S SRT UDP

HLS RTP SRT UDP

RTP SRT UDP

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC), supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC), supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4

For SDI to Stream encoding see "BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 SDI to Stream Encoding" on

page 14

For Stream to SDI encoding see "BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 Stream to SDI Decoding" on

page 15

The table values are recommendations only. Bit rate value settings should consider available network throughput for each channel.

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Table 5. BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 SDI to Stream Encoding

Codec/Quality HD (1080p) UltraHD Protocol Transport Metadata

NDI UYVY 4:2:2, 8-bit P216 4:2:2, 16-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 10-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:2, 8-bit

JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, 10-bit

JPEGXS 4:2:2 10-bit

4x up to 60p 105 -165 Mbps

4x up to 60p 5-12 Mbp s

4x up to 60p 8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p 2x up to 60p 50 -75 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i

8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i

10-20 Mbps

4x up to 60p 80 -220 Mbps

4x up to 60p 180 -400Mbps

4x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 150 -312 Mb ps

4x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 35-40 Mbps

1x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 35-60 Mbps

4x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 40-60 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 80-110 M bp s

2x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 200-800 Mbps

3x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 360-850 Mbps

NDI NDI

RTP SRT UDP

HLS RTP RTMP/S SRT UDP

RTP SRT UDP

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

AVC-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion Subtitles embedded within H.264 SEI

messages

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion Subtitles embedded within H.264 SEI

messages

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

Encoding: SCTE-104 to SCTE-35 conversion

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Table 6. BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 Stream to SDI Decoding

Codec/Quality HD (1080p) UltraHD Protocol Transport Metadata

NDI UYVY 4:2:2, 8-bit P216 4:2:2, 16-bit

NDI HX (1, 2, 3) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.265 (HEVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.264 (AVC) 4:2:2, 10-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:0, 8-bit

H.262 (MPEG2) 4:2:2, 8-bit

JPEG 2000 TR-01 4:2:2, 10-bit

JPEGXS 4:2:2 10-bit

4x up to 60p 105 -165 Mbps

4x up to 60p 9-16 Mbps

4x up to 60p 5-12 Mbp s

4x up to 60p 8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p 2x up to 60p 50 -75 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i 8-15 Mbps

4x up to 30p/60i 10-20 Mbps

4x up to 60p 80 -220 Mbps

4x up to 60p 180 -400Mbps

4x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 150 -312 Mb ps

4x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 35-110 Mbps

2x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 35-40 Mbps

1x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 35-60 Mbps

4x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 40-60 Mbps

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 80-110 M bp s

1x up to 60p 2x up to 30p 200-800 Mbps

1x up to 60p 4x up to 30p 360-850 Mbps

NDI NDI

NDI HX NDI

RTP SRT UDP

HLS RTP RTMP/S SRT UDP

HLS RTP SRT UDP

RTP SRT UDP

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

Fragmented MP4, AVC-TS

MPEG-TS MPEG-TS MPEG-TS

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC), supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG-2 ANC)

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC), supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

End-to-End: Generic SDI VANC metadata via SMPTE 2038 ANC (MPEG2 ANC). Supporting SDR/HDR Transfer Characteristics, Colorimetry and Luminance

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Table 7. JPEG XS (TR-07) Encoding Efficiency Mbps

Power Button

Format Minimum Maximum

720p 59.94 92 221

720p 50 77 184

1080i 29.97 104 249

1080i 25 86 207

1080p 59.94 207 497

1080p 50 173 415

2160p 59.94 829 1989

2160p 50 691 1659

Hardware Description

Chassis Front

Figure 1. BRIDGE LIVE Chassis Front View

Power Button

Figure 2. BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 Chassis Front View

Figure 3. BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 Chassis Front View

Chassis Power Button

The main power switch is used to apply or remove power from the power supply to the system. Turning off system power with this button removes the main power but keeps standby power supplied to the system. Therefore, you must unplug all system power cords before servicing.

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Chassis Rear

Figure 4. BRIDGE LIVE Chassis Rear View

USB Ports (4)

IPMI

Redundant Power Supplies Unused

Unused

Display Ports

Figure 5. BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8 Chassis Rear View

Redundant Power Supplies Unused

Figure 6. BRIDGE LIVE 12G-4 Chassis Rear View

Dual 10Gig Ethernet

Streaming Video I/O

USB Ports (4)

IPMI

Dual 10Gig Ethernet

Streaming Video I/O

Baseband Video I/O

Card #1 SDI Ports

Ch 1- 4

SDI Ch 4

Reference

Baseband Video I/O

Card #2 SDI Ports

ReferenceReference

Ch 1- 4

Display Ports

SDI Ch 2

SDI Ch 3

SDI Ch 1

RS422

USB Ports (4)

IPMI

Redundant Power Supplies Unused

Dual 10Gig Ethernet

Streaming Video I/O

SDI Ch 4

Reference

SDI Ch 2

SDI Ch 3

Display Ports

SDI Ch 1

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BRIDGE LIVE devices are equipped with:

• Two Redundant Power Supplies (IEC connectors)

• Two USB 3.0 (blue) connectors

• Two USB 2.0 (black) connectors

• Two 10Gb RJ-45 Ethernet connectors

• Display Ports for use with monitors

• One IPMI (Intelligent Platform Management Interface) RJ-45 connector

• Four bidirectional 12G-SDI (Full BNC) connectors (BRIDGE LIVE / BRIDGE LIVE 12G -4)

• Eight bidirectional 3G-SDI (1.0/2.3) connectors (BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8)

• Video Reference input ports

Rear Panel Power Supply LEDs

On the rear of each power supply module an LED indicates its status as follows.

• Solid Green: When illuminated, indicates that the power supply is on

• Solid Amber: When illuminated, indicates the power supply is plugged in and turned off, or the system is off but in an abnormal state

• Blinking Amber: When blinking, this system power supply temperature has reached 63°C. The system will automatically power-down when the power supply temperature reaches 70°C and restarts when the power supply temperature goes below 60°C

Workflow Examples

REMI (Remote Production)

Since BRIDGE LIVE can be used as an encoder, decoder and transcoder, there are many advantages to its use in REMI workflows.

Additionally, BRIDGE LIVE can take independent SDI source inputs, and maintain their synchronous relationship while transporting the content to end-point destinations.

This functionality can take place between a pair of BRIDGE LIVE units for a synchronous end-to-end SDI workflow, often referred to as SDI backhaul, or siteto-site SDI workflows.

BRIDGE LIVE’s synchronous multi-channel capability is also supported for cloud contribution, whereby a BRIDGE LIVE system can send to a cloud instance of Comprimato Live Transcoder software, for delivery to various platforms / cloud services as IP video.

Simultaneous Bidirectional Encoding and Decoding

BRIDGE LIVE supports simultaneous bidirectional encoding and decoding with UltraHD, HD, and SD sources.

For example, with a pair of BRIDGE LIVE systems, a broadcast facility can receive three incoming encoded HD camera sources from a remote location and decode them back into SDI for editing and production while simultaneously providing an HD program return to the remote location.

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Figure 7. Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Backhaul

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Backhaul

For SDI backhaul or other site-to-site SDI workflows, BRIDGE LIVE’s bidirectional functionality means BRIDGE LIVE can act as an encoder or a decoder, and do so simultaneously. As such, references to BRIDGE LIVE Tx or BRIDGE LIVE Rx are only descriptions of how the unit is currently configured. A single BRIDGE LIVE unit can be configured for encode only, decode only, or a combination of both.

BRIDGE LIVE Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport functionality provides an easy and repeatable way to ensure synchronous SDI video sources can be fed to an encoding BRIDGE LIVE (Tx), then be timestamped, transported, and ultimately output from the decoding BRIDGE LIVE (Rx) with each SDI signal in lock step with each other.

Furthermore, Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport can be scaled up from a single BRIDGE LIVE pair to additional BRIDGE LIVE pairs, to enable workflows where multiple BRIDGE LIVE systems can be receiving SDI and sending to multiple BRIDGE LIVE systems outputting SDI, all in synchronicity.

For end-to-end SDI workflows, HDR is also supported.

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Figure 8. Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Backhaul

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Cloud Contribution

When using individual or multiple BRIDGE LIVE systems for contribution to cloud platforms/services such as AWS (Amazon Web Services), the receiving side is supported by single or multiple instances of Comprimato Live Transcoder software. From Comprimato Live Transcoder, Synchronous Multi Channel IP Video can be handed off to 3rd party services.

NOTE: AWS references are examples. Comprimato Live Transcoder can be used as the

receiver with other cloud providers/services.

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Figure 9. Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Cloud

BRIDGE LIVE as a Receiving Hub

BRIDGE LIVE supports workflows where it is necessary to receive contribution streams coming from various 3rd party encoders, IP cameras, or AJA products such as HELO Plus, for conversion back/to SDI at a production facility.

For example, BRIDGE LIVE could be receiving UDP or HLS from HELO Plus, SRT from a Panasonic camera (e.g. AW-UE150, AW-UE100, AG-CX350, AJ-CX4000), SRT from a Haivision encoder (e.g. Makito X4), and NDI from AJA Bridge NDI, software such as NLE or Gaming PC, NDI cameras, or hardware based encoders such as BirdDog (e.g. Studio NDI) and Magewell (e.g. Pro Convert).

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Figure 10. BRIDGE LIVE as a Receiving Hub

Contribution

Remote Video Transport

For Broadcast, BRIDGE LIVE provides an efficient mechanism for backhauling remote live SDI camera sources to the media production facility, in order to be converted back to SDI and made available on the internal facility SDI router for ongoing production/transmission.

Traditional secure lines for remote production can be very expensive, with additional fees being levied for time before and after a production starts and ends. BRIDGE LIVE allows source cameras and local program out to be transported using publicly available Internet, with no penalty for early or extended use during a production. BRIDGE LIVE also offers lower latency than traditional secure lines for time critical productions.

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Figure 11. Remote Video Transport and Contribution

Collaboration

Reference Video for Remote Creatives

Production and Post: Connecting remote artists and clients using reference quality video, or providing a high quality window into production for those who cannot be on-set.

BRIDGE LIVE means the flexibility to leave media and equipment at the secure, managed facility, and have creative talent work together remotely with reference quality video.

BRIDGE LIVE compliments existing GUI driving technologies (e.g. RDP, Teradici) by layering on the reference quality video needed for creative confidence and client/ executive sign-off. Choices between H.265 (4:2:0, 10-bit), H.264 (4:2:2, 10-bit) with turnkey BRIDGE LIVE, or via optional license JPEG2000 (4:2:2, 10-bit), mean there is choice and flexibility in how to approach your needs in terms of quality and latency.

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Figure 12. BRIDGE LIVE for Facility HD Streaming to Creatives and Clients

Secure Window into the Remote Set or Studio

BRIDGE LIVE also offers the flexibility to tap video from on-set recording devices and stream the output of cameras (over a secure private line with encryption) providing a high quality window into production for those who cannot be on-set.

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Figure 13. Encoding for Remote Production UltraHD to H.265

Connecting Remote NDI Production Teams

BRIDGE LIVE can be used to connect two geographically separated NDI production teams via Public Internet.

For example, a studio or event location could be sending the feeds from 3 NDI cameras to an NDI production or post facility, which can distribute those sources as both NDI and SDI, while also returning a program feed back to the studio location.

BRIDGE LIVE Video I/O and Streaming Appliances v1.18r1 25 www.aja.com

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Figure 14. Connecting Remote NDI Production Teams

Streaming

Direct-to-Audience Streaming

BRIDGE LIVE offers a comprehensive platform for live video streaming. Streaming support includes SRT, HLS, RTMP/S, RTP, UDP, and MPEG-TS. Using these standard protocols provides wide support for streaming services such as Twitch, YouTube Live and Facebook Live.

BRIDGE LIVE builds upon the tried and tested approach of AJA’s HELO Plus streaming device, while including flexibility for multiple bidirectional transport, broad format and bit rate support, as well as metadata and redundancy.

And, while streaming to CDNs for a direct-to-audience delivery, BRIDGE LIVE can simultaneously deliver different stream types to partners to re-transmit, transcode, or store.

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Figure 15. Direct to Audience Streaming for UltraHD Workflows

Delivery

Encoding For Content Distribution

For Studios and Broadcast applications BRIDGE LIVE facilitates primary distribution of finished and mastered content to partners for subsequent streaming to audiences.

BRIDGE LIVE can provide ABR ladder profiles or hand-off for OTT packaging. For example, encoding to H.264 or H.265 for hand-off with ABR ladder profiles, including pointing the ladder profile directly to a local packager or CDN.

BRIDGE LIVE can also provide multi-format/rate/bit rate material via HLS. The combined outputs within the HLS stream are presented as a “playlist”, meaning that devices (e.g. phones or tablet) or software (e.g. web browser) can pull a particular format, frame rate and bit rate based on the device characteristics and the current connectivity. Note that this is not a Push model. If conditions change (e.g. available bit rate) then the receiving device can elect to consume a different format / frame rate / bit rate. However, multi variants are chunked, so if a player switches to a different resolution, it must start downloading a new chunk and this can result in impacts to video stream continuity – since chunks are 10 seconds in length.

The best way to deliver HLS with BRIDGE LIVE is to provide the pre-packed video to a CDN. This means many end-point-devices can utilize the content simultaneously.

HLS could be sent to a local network in a studio or on set, to enable iPad and iPhone to receive and monitor (provided the devices have network access to BRIDGE LIVE). However, in this situation the number of simultaneous consumers will need to be kept low (under 10) to avoid over-taxing BRIDGE LIVE.

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Figure 16. Encoding for Content Distribution

Live Production Encoding

Telcos, IPTV and cable operators are often presented with an SDI source or a live event or live production, which is needed as a simple MPEG-Transport Stream with H.264/H.262 encode. The delivered stream may be required for further processing (storage, production), or else be streamed directly to an IPTV/Cable network.

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Figure 17. Live Production Encoding for Telco, IPTV and Cable

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport

NOTE: Bidirectional functionality means that BRIDGE LIVE can act as an encoder or a

decoder, and can do so simultaneously. As such, references to BRIDGE LIVE Tx or BRIDGE LIVE Rx are only descriptions of what the unit is currently deployed to do, rather than references to an encode-only or decode-only model of the product.

BRIDGE LIVE can take independent SDI source inputs and maintain their synchronous relationship while transporting the content to end-point destinations.

This functionality can take place between a pair of BRIDGE LIVE units for a synchronous end-to-end SDI workflow, often referred to as SDI backhaul, REMI, or site-to-site SDI workflows.

BRIDGE LIVE’s synchronous multi-channel capability is also supported for cloud contribution, whereby a BRIDGE LIVE system can send to a cloud instance of Comprimato Live Transcoder software for delivery to various platforms or cloud services as IP video.

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Backhaul

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Remote Sources

Public Internet or Private Line

Media Facility or Data Center

Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Backhaul

SDI Source 1

SDI Dest 1

SDI Source 2

SDI Dest 2

SDI Source 3

SDI Dest 3

SDI Source 4

SDI Dest 4

Genlock

Reference

SDI

Reference

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Reference

SDI

Reference

SDI

Reference

SDI

Reference

BRIDGE LIV E Rx

(Decode SDI)

Read Timestamp

BRIDGE LIV E Tx

(Encode SDI)

Write Timestamps

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Synchronous multi-channel transport is necessary when the SDI sources being decoded by the BRIDGE LIVE Rx are required for uses such as live production switching, multicam recording or other live multichannel workflows.

NOTE: For end-to-end SDI workflows, HDR is also supported.

In most situations BRIDGE LIVE will yield perfect sync between sources. In some cases a transport may occasionally drift by a maximum of 1 frame.

Figure 18. Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Backhaul

Synchronous Multi-Channel Transport for Cloud Contribution

When using individual or multiple BRIDGE LIVE systems for contribution to cloud platforms/services, the receiving side is supported by single or multiple instances of Comprimato Live encoder software.

From Comprimato Live Encoder, Synchronous Multi Channel IP Video can be handed off to 3rd party services.

BRIDGE LIVE Video I/O and Streaming Appliances v1.18r1 30 www.aja.com

NOTE: AWS references are examples. Comprimato Live Encoder can be used as the

receiver with other cloud providers/services.

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Remote Sources

Public Internet or Private Line

Cloud or Data Center

Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Cloud

SDI Source 1 SDI Source 2 SDI Source 3 SDI Source 4

Genlock

Com prima to Live Transcoder (Transcode)

Read Timestamp

Reference

SDI

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Reference

SDI

Reference

SDI

Reference

SDI

BRIDGE LIV E Tx

(Encode SDI)

Write Timestamps

Stream

(IP Vide o)

Stream

(IP Vide o)

IPIP

AWS Media

Connect

AWS Media

Live

AWS Media

Connect

AWS Media

Live

AWS Media

Connect

AWS Media

Live

AWS Media

Connect

AWS Media

Live

Figure 19. Multi-Channel Synchronous Transport for Cloud

Configuration Requirements

The default encoding configurations should be suitable for most use cases. However, when configuring synchronous multi-channel transport, the following four key areas warrant careful consideration:

• Genlocking

• Encoding Guidelines

• Decoding Guidelines

• Audio Best Practices

Genlocking

Genlock on the SDI source side should be provided to the BRIDGE LIVE Tx system and upstream SDI source devices, such as cameras.

Genlock on the SDI destination side should be provided to the BRIDGE LIVE Rx

BRIDGE LIVE Video I/O and Streaming Appliances v1.18r1 31 www.aja.com

system and downstream SDI devices, such as switchers.

Genlocking on both the source and destination sides should be of the same frequency.

If delivering to Comprimato Live Transcoder, genlock on the destination side is not required.

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On BRIDGE LIVE 3G-8, reference needs to be provided to both Corvid cards if reference is needed on SDI ports on both cards. Reference connection is used by the SDI ports on the card to which it is connected.

Encoding Guidelines

Encode the SDI inputs using MPEG-TS.

Use equal parameters for all SDI inputs. Do not modify any video parameters such as scan type, resolution, or frame rate.

To simplify this process of using equal parameters, you can use the “Clone” button to replicate the configuration on a single encoder. Use the “Download” and “Upload a preset” buttons to replicate the configuration over multiple encoders.

Use the RTP network protocol for transport on reliable networks such as within a single facility. Use the SRT network protocol for transport over less reliable networks when possible packet losses may be expected.

The output of every encoding pipeline must be routed to a unique address and port destination.

You can tune the encoding configuration to achieve your desired quality. For example, you could choose to encode using the visually lossless codec JPEG 2000.

Decoding Guidelines

Decoders are configured to receive traffic originating from encoders and to straightforwardly decode it to your SDI feed without modifying any video parameters such as scan type, resolution, or frame rate.

When decoding using the SRT network protocol, you may need to tune SRT latency to meet the requirements of the network unreliability.

Configure all decoding pipelines to equal SRT latency. This field is present in the BRIDGE LIVE User Interface on the main page. If you see packet drops, there could be an issue with SRT. Increasing the latency should help. Be careful to set up the same latency in each pipeline. Refer to the pipeline configuration on the Source side.

Audio Best Practices

For Audio, best practice is to add primary audio via a single pipeline (up to 16 channels). This may require some routing or premixing upstream of BRIDGE LIVE (Tx).

Audio can be carried via all pipelines. However, in some circumstances, it is possible for one or more pipelines to get up to 1 frame late. In this scenario, the audio transported across each pipeline remains good; however, if switching live between the SDI outputs from the BRIDGE LIVE (Rx), then some audio clicks and pops may occur.

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Chapter 2 – Installation

Overview

BRIDGE LIVE ships from the factory with the latest version of software installed.

What's In the Box?

• BRIDGE LIVE Quick Start Guide

• BRIDGE LIVE appliance, including:

• pre-installed rack-ears

• rack rails

• two power cables

Quick Start Guide Login Credentials

BRIDGE LIVE ships with a Quick Start Guide when it comes from the factory. This physical document contains the login information for accessing BRIDGE LIVE for the first time. Do not discard the unique Quick Start Guide, as these credentials will be required following any future Factory Reset. If you do not have this Quick Start Guide, you will need to contact AJA tech support.

If you are receiving a system that has been used elsewhere and you do not have the password that may have been applied, you can perform a Factory Reset and then use the factory supplied password from the Quick Start Guide to regain access to the system for set up.

Installation Summary

First time BRIDGE LIVE configuration involves the following steps.

• Unpack the shipping box, retaining the printed BRIDGE LIVE Quick Start Guide.

• Mount the BRIDGE LIVE chassis into a standard 19-inch wide equipment rack, allowing space for cooling airow. The chassis occupies only one vertical rack unit.

• Connect the two BRIDGE LIVE power cords to AC mains.

• Perform initial network configuration. This is accomplished via the Kiosk interface, using a customer supplied Display Port monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

• Access the BRIDGE LIVE UI over your network, using the unique User and Password information for your unit, included in the printed BRIDGE LIVE Quick Start Guide provided.

• Connect your SDI sources and/or destinations to your BRIDGE LIVE. Which SDI connectors you use depends on your intended workflow.

• Create an initial BRIDGE LIVE workflow by creating the necessary BRIDGE LIVE Pipelines, to ether encode SDI signals to the network, decode from the network to SDI, or for encode/decode bidirectional operation.

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Initial Hardware Installation

Unpacking

As you unpack the shipping box, carefully examine the contents. Retain the Quick Start Guide, which has important information for that individual BRIDGE LIVE unit. Make sure you received everything and that nothing was damaged during shipment. If you find any damage, immediately notify the shipping service and supply them with a description of the damage.

If you find shipping damage, contact your AJA dealer or distributor for details on how to have your BRIDGE LIVE repaired or replaced.

NOTE: Save packing materials and the shipping box. If your BRIDGE LIVE ever requires

service or you move your system, use the packaging materials and box for safe shipment.

Mounting the Chassis

Mount the BRIDGE LIVE chassis as desired into a standard 19-inch wide equipment rack, using the provided sliding rails. The chassis occupies only one vertical rack unit.

NOTE: Cooling airflow enters the chassis from the front, and exits from the rear and top

panels. Do not obstruct these air vents.

Two rack rail assemblies are included in the rack mounting kit. Each assembly consists of two sections: an inner fixed chassis rail that secures directly to the server chassis and an outer fixed rack rail that secures directly to the rack itself.

The rail assemblies are shipped with rack adapters installed for use with IT (square hole) style rack frames. For IT racks, simply slide the unit into place, as the rails will lock automatically. For use with a standard round hole rack frame, you will need to remove the adapters using a small Phillips head screwdriver.

Connect AC Power

Connect the two BRIDGE LIVE power cords to AC mains. For redundancy, use both power supplies and connect them to separate branch circuits. Then the BRIDGE LIVE will continue to operate even if a circuit breaker opens on one branch. For even greater reliability, connect one BRIDGE LIVE power supply to a UPS, and leave the other connected directly to a live circuit (not through that same UPS). This covers the situation where the UPS itself fails. For the highest level of protection use two UPS units connected to two different branch circuits.

You will power up the unit later, depending on which initial network configuration procedure you decide to use.

Initial System Access via Local Kiosk Interface

1. Connect a computer monitor (user supplied) to one of the rear Display Port connectors.

2. Connect a keyboard and mouse (user supplied) to available rear USB connectors.

3. Power up the chassis. The system will boot up to the BRIDGE LIVE and display a login splash screen. The same screen will appear when connecting using a remote network connected computer's web interface.

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Figure 20. BRIDGE LIVE Kiosk View Login Splash Screen

EULA

4. At the login screen, enter the system's specic Admin credentials as shown below:

• Username: admin

• Password: See the BRIDGE LIVE Quick Start Guide for the unit's unique

default password.

When you login to the BRIDGE LIVE UI for the first time, you will be prompted to read and accept the EULA. If you change the BRIDGE LIVE version using the Version manager, you will be required to accept it again.

Figure 21. EULA

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Initial System Setup Process

BRIDGE LIVE has a menu driven initial setup process available for first time installation. This allows you to easily set basic system operation parameters.

For an initial system setup, you can simply click on the Setup (wrench) icon on top line of the screen. This action takes you directly to the first step of the setup process.

Figure 22. Top Line with Setup Icon

NOTE: The Licensing and API top line icons can also can be clicked on to activate them.

However, there is no need to access these functions during an initial system setup.

Alternatively you can hover your cursor over the top line Setup Icon, and then click on the Setup item in the opened Setup Menu dropdown. This is the method used to access all the items in this dropdown menu.

NOTE: This cursor hover technique is also used with the Admin top line Icon. However,

there is no need to access the Admin functions during initial system setup.

Figure 23. Accessing the Setup menu

NOTE: GPU model displayed in GPU/CPU Utilization selector and UI screens may vary

depending on your system configuration.

After selecting Setup, a series of screens will be displayed from which you can select or enter the necessary information. Four screens will be opened in sequence:

• Basic Information

• Network Connectivity

• GPU & CPU Acceleration

• Configuration Summary

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Basic Information

Figure 24. Setting the System Hostname

A Welcome screen is displayed first, allowing you to identify that specific BRIDGE LIVE system with a unique Hostname.

HostName

Enter a name in the Hostname field, then click Next step.

Network Connectivity

Figure 25. Configuring network connectivity

The Network Connectivity screen appears. Here you configure each of the two 10GigE interfaces.

Use For

Select one of the following from the pull-down menu:

• Don't Use

• Administration

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• Input/Output

• Input/Output and Administration

NOTE: Typically Administration is applied to only one port. If applied to more than one

port, you will see a warning message (but not an error).

NOTE: With a dual NIC setup, you cannot have both NICs connected to the same

network.

Assign Address

Configure the following as appropriate for your network:

• By DHCP

• Statically

• IPv4 Address

• Mask

• Gateway

After entering all the information, click Next step.

GPU and CPU Acceleration

This screen is informational only. It reports detected GPUs and CPUs for acceleration of video frame decoding and encoding.

Figure 26. Informational only – Configuration of GPU & CPU acceleration

NOTE: GPU model displayed in setup or UI screens may vary depending on your system

configuration.

Click Next step to continue.

Configuration Summary

A summary of the final configuration settings of your device, including hostname, network connectivity, CPU and GPU acceleration, and DNS settings.

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Figure 27. Configuration summary

Default Route

This is used for setting up the BRIDGE LIVE system so that it communicates correctly within your network. The default route determines which interface is used by BRIDGE LIVE for outbound communication.

The Default route is also used for internal communication. It is typically the address of another router, which treats the packet the same way: if a route matches, the packet is forwarded accordingly, otherwise the packet is forwarded to the default route of that router.

Click on the Default route circle of the desired NIC.

Set DNS Manually for Whole System

You can manually set which DNS server should be used for your BRIDGE LIVE system. The BRIDGE LIVE server will send DNS requests to either the primary or secondary DNS server. DNS is a protocol which allows you to translate domain names (www.domainname.com) into IP addresses

Enter any desired Primary and Secondary DNS IP addresses, and then click on the Save and proceed to stream setup button to complete your initial system setup. After a short time you are returned to the BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard UI (figure).

Figure 28. BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard After System Setup

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Once your BRIDGE LIVE has completed its initial setup, you will be able to make it fully operational by configuring pipelines that meet your requirements. See

"Pipeline Configuration" on page 66.

BRIDGE LIVE System Administration

Once a BRIDGE LIVE system has been setup with properly configured pipelines, the unit can be routinely reconfigured by an end user to select different signal Inputs and Outputs and adjust other pipeline features, using the Dashboard UI.

Other more complicated system updates and re-configurations are generally performed by a BRIDGE LIVE system administrator using other UI menus.

Admin Menu

Some basic functions can be performed via the Admin Menu. Hover your cursor over the Admin icon and click on the desired function.

Figure 29. Open Admin Menu

Security

Used to manage password security. See "Password Administration" on page 42.

Logout

Logs you out of that BRIDGE LIVE's web interface. This will not affect any currently running pipelines. You will need the user name and password for that BRIDGE LIVE unit to log back in.

Restart Service

This function assists with restarting the BRIDGE LIVE software, useful if unexpected transport problems are encountered.

A "Do you really want to restart...?" prompt appears. After answering Ye s, all currently running pipelines will be halted and will then restart. You will also be logged out. You will need the user name and password for that BRIDGE LIVE unit to log back in.

Reboot

This function performs a complete reboot of the hardware, useful if serious unexplainable problems with signals or OS occur.

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A "Do you really want to reboot...?" prompt appears. After answering Yes, all currently running pipelines will be halted, the BRIDGE LIVE chassis will power cycle, the BRIDGE LIVE application will reload, and all the previously active pipelines will be restarted. You will also be logged out. You will need the user name and password for that BRIDGE LIVE unit to log back in after the unit has completed its reboot.

Shutdown

A "Do you really want to shutdown...?" prompt appears. After answering Yes, all currently running pipelines will be halted and the BRIDGE LIVE chassis will power down. To regain operation, the front panel Power button will need to be pressed, and you will need the user name and password for that BRIDGE LIVE unit to log back in after the unit has completed its bootup.

Factory Reset

NOTE: BRIDGE LIVE factory reset can only be performed locally using the Kiosk UI, not

with a web interface.

Performing a factory reset will restore BRIDGE LIVE to its factory settings. All pipelines and settings, including network setup and passwords, will revert to default factory settings. Only your current licenses will be preserved. Once changes are applied, the server will restart itself and boot into the factory state. The process takes approximately one minute.

WARN ING: Before performing a factory reset, be sure to backup your pipeline

configurations. See "Verifying Pipeline Configurations" on page 98 for more information.

CAUTION: A factory reset will revert the login credentials back to how they were set at

the time of shipment from the factory. You will need to reference your Quick Start Guide for these original login credentials; otherwise you will need to contact AJA Tech Support.

Keyboard Method

To perform a factory reset using the keyboard:

1. While booting or rebooting the BRIDGE LIVE device, repeatedly press the down arrow key on the local keyboard that is connected to the unit. The following options are available:

Figure 30. Factory Reset Options

• Continue booting with the current version (ex. v1.16.8) with NO factory reset

• Boot using a previous software version (ex. v1.14.1) with NO factory reset

• Reinstall latest version (ex. v1.16.8) AND perform a factory reset

NOTE: Examples may not match your available firmware.

2. Select "REINSTALL LATEST"

3. You will need the original Admin credentials indicated in the Quick Start Guide in order to login following the factory reset.

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Password Administration

User Types

Two user types exist for a BRIDGE LIVE System:

• Admin Username (“admin”) is used for local login, browser login and REST API access. This is the user type we are going to be using in the examples below.

• Transcoder Username (“transcoder”) is used for CLI/SSH (CLI stands for Command Line Interface, SSH for Secure Shell).

Changing passwords for the two user types is done through the Password management page, accessed through the Admin > Security menu.

Figure 31. Accessing Password Management

Setting Remote Shell Access

From the Password management page, you can enable or disable SSH access to BRIDGE LIVE altogether by clicking the Enable button (if currently disabled) or the Disable button (if currently enabled) underneath the Secure Shell (SSH) heading. Remote secure shell (SSH) access is intended only for the transcoder user (console user).

Password Management

Manage passwords for the admin user (web application user) and the transcoder user (console user) by entering the current password, then setting the new password.

Licensing

Licenses that are ordered at the time of purchasing the BRIDGE LIVE unit are pre-installed prior to shipment. At a later date, if you want to order an additional license, you will need to get the unique Installation ID number, found on the System Information page, and contact your AJA Distributor or Regional Sales representative. If you do not know who that is, you can contact AJA Sales directly.

To access the System Information page, select System Information from the Setup menu in the upper right area of Dashboard. The System Information page displays.

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Figure 32. Accessing the System Information page from the Setup menu

From the System Information page, the Installation ID is found a few lines below

Installing a New License Package

Typically, new BRIDGE LIVE License Packages are delivered as a zip file. If zipped, please unzip the delivered package.

Remote Installation

Accessing BRIDGE LIVE through a browser requires that you are using a machine that has network connectivity to the BRIDGE LIVE device.

Steps for Installing a New License

1. From the BRIDGE LIVE interface, select the Licensing menu in the upper right area.

Figure 33. The Licensing menu

The Licenses page displays.

Figure 34. The Licenses page

2. Click the downward pointing disclosure triangle to display your License Package details for your previously installed License Package.

Figure 35. The Licenses page displaying previously installed License Package

3. Click the red “X” icon to the right of the currently installed License Package to remove it.

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4. Next, with no License Package present, click Load license le. A navigation window opens.

5. Navigate to your new License Package location, choose the le, and select

Open. The new License Package will install.

6. Next, navigate to the License page by clicking Licensing in the upper right area of Dashboard.

Figure 36. Accessing the Licenses page

7. From the Licenses page, select Load license le. Navigate to the license le, select it, then click Upload.

Upon completion of the license upload, the license will immediately be available for use.

License Status

If a license is granted, the status shows “Unlimited time” or the time for which the stream is allowed to produce an output, according to loaded license files. The status will be, for example:

• License: Unlimited time – a stream may produce an output for an unlimited period of time

• License: Till 2021-02-21 23:59:59 – a stream will produce an output until the displayed time point is passed.

NOTE: For your convenience, the status shows the time and date according to your

computer's time setting, not the BRIDGE LIVE system time, which may be different. For example, during installation, the automatic installer sets the timezone to America/Los Angeles, but you may be located in a different time zone. Also, you might have offices in different time-zones and would prefer the servers to have the same system time, potentially for monitoring purposes.

If a stream is not allowed to produce an output, the license status reads “Blocked” or “Unavailable” and is shown red. BRIDGE LIVE will process the stream as usual, the only difference is that the output will not be sent to defined output destinations. This feature will help you verify your environment abilities, such as system load limits, input stream compliance, and other factors, even if you don’t have enough licenses yet. For that reason, the input and output stream status indicator may be green even if the license status is not valid.

Possible invalid license statuses are:

• License: Blocked – there are licenses for the stream loaded in the system, but the count of streams exceed the licensed number (other streams have exhausted the available licenses)

• License: Unavailable – the stream needs a license which is not loaded (the stream contains a feature of newer version of BRIDGE LIVE which isn’t included in any loaded license)

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BRIDGE LIVE Software Update

WARN ING: When upgrading to v1.18 or newer, the BRIDGE LIVE MUST be running

v1.16.10 or newer. If an older version is running, please upgrade to v1.16.10 first and then upgrade to the desired version. When upgrading to v1.18, software versions previous to v1.16.10 will be removed. A system upgrading to v1.18 cannot revert to versions earlier than v1.16.10.

To check for updates for BRIDGE LIVE software:

1. Go to the AJA website and view/download the package for your particular BRIDGE model:

https://www.aja.com/products/bridge-live#support

After unzipping the file, the download will be a .tgz file.

NOTE: MacOS with Safari has a setting that can cause the browser to incorrectly unzip

the .tgz file into it's elementary components, making it unusable. To prevent this turn off "Open safe files after downloading" via Safari>Preferences>General.

2. Stage the downloaded update on an accessible network location.

3. From within BRIDGE LIVE, navigate to Setup > Version management.

Figure 37. Accessing the Version management page from the Setup menu

The Version Management Upgrading page displays.

Figure 38. Version management Upgrading page

4. Select Upload upgrade le and browse to the downloaded update.

5. Select Perform upgrade and conrm processes in subsequent dialogs. BRIDGE LIVE will upload and install the update. You will need to reboot the system via the dialog after the update completes.

Following the upgrade, you can verify the version installed if you like by navigating to Setup > System information.

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Figure 39. Accessing the System information page from the Setup menu

The System Information page displays, indicating the version number currently installed and running.

Figure 40. System Information page indicating the version number

In the event that there is an issue or failure during the update process, BRIDGE LIVE will automatically retry the upgrade process and reboot up to three times.

If the upgrade is unsuccessful, even after the automatic retries, the UI shows a warning statement at the top of the page with a link to the Version Management page. From the Version Management page, you can retry the upgrade process manually.

Corvid 44 Firmware Update

When BRIDGE LIVE is updated, an AJA Corvid card firmware update may be required. If it is required, you will be prompted to do so in the UI.

1. Update to the latest BRIDGE LIVE version, as outlined in the preceding installer sections.

2. Once upgrade is complete, login to BRIDGE LIVE. If the AJA Corvid card rmware is out of date, an orange dialog box will appear at the top of the screen with the following prompt: "Unsupported SDI card firmware – click here to upgrade."

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Figure 41. Firmware Upgrade Prompt

3. Click on the orange dialog box to start the upgrade procedure. This will take you to the ‘Version Management’ page.

WARN ING: DO NOT POWER CYCLE OR INTERRUPT THE FIRMWARE UPGRADE

PROCESS IN THE FOLLOWING STEPS. DOING SO MAY RENDER THE BRIDGE LIVE UNIT INOPERABLE REQUIRING FACTORY SERVICE AT AJA.

4. In the orange ‘SDI card rmware upgrade’ dialog box, after reviewing upgrade information and cautions:

• Enable checkbox for 'I understand that interrupting the update may cause the SDI card to stop functioning and require service'

• Click on ‘Perform firmware upgrade’. A reminder regarding non-interruption of the upgrade process will appear. Press 'Yes, Start Upgrade' when prompted.

Figure 42. Perform Firmware Upgrade

5. After clicking 'Yes, start upgrade', machine will reboot the BIOS screen (possibly multiple times) before showing an OS selection screen.

6. After loading the OS, machine will reboot again to a black screen (for up to 5 minutes) before restarting.

7. After this reboot, the OS will load and proceed to the login screen as the update is complete.

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Low Latency Operation

Introduction

There are two methods to adjust latency in BRIDGE LIVE:

• To set all outputs to lowest latency, applying the low_latency preset will always set every pipeline for the lowest latency possible.

• To set individual outputs to lowest latency, in Output Stream Options, set Latency Addition to a value of -1. Setting the Output mode to VBR further improves latency.

Please follow the appropriate procedure below for your workflow.

Low Latency Using Low Latency Preset

If all the formats, rates and settings are the same across all pipelines, then the

low _ latency.ini file can be used.

1. In the BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard screen, hover your cursor over the Setup item at the top right and click on "Advanced setup".

Figure 43. BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard

2. Inside the Advanced setup window that opens, open the drop-down menu of "Available Settings" and choose "Low Latency."

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Figure 44. Selecting Low Latency from Available Settings

3. You will be prompted with a verifying message asking if you want the Low Latency settings le to be used. Click "Next."

4. In the additional pop-up that appears, click "Restart now!"

5. BRIDGE LIVE will restart and activate the Low Latency Preset.

NDI Discovery Servers

NDI Discovery servers can act as central resources which detect the presence of all the NDI streams on the network. The NDI discovery service is designed to allow you to replace the automatic discovery NDI uses with one or two servers which operate as a centralized registry of NDI sources.

This can be very helpful for installations where you wish to avoid having significant mDNS (Multicast DNS) traffic for a large number of sources. It can also be useful in situation where multicast is not possible or desirable; it is very common for cloud computing services not to allow multicast traffic.

When using the discovery service, NDI can operate entirely in unicast mode and thus in almost any installation. The discovery servers support all NDI functionality including NDI groups.

Starting in v1.16 BRIDGE LIVE supports multiple NDI Discovery servers.

Using NDI Discovery with BRIDGE LIVE

In order to utilize NDI Discovery servers, it is necessary to change parameters in the active .ini settings file. See "Advanced Setup" on page 64.

Configure as follows:

• Download the active .ini settings file

• Open the downloaded .ini settings file and locate the line which contains “NDI_DISCOVERY=” and add the IP address of your discovery server to that line (ex. NDI_DISCOVERY=10.3.60.2)

• If your file doesn't contain a "NDI_DISCOVERY=" line, simply add it to the .ini

file (along with the required IP address). While that new line can be located

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anywhere, appending it to the end of the file makes it easy to find should it require a change. See Figure 45 on page 5048.

• To add a second NDI Discovery server, add a comma followed by the NDI Discovery server IP address (ex. NDI_DISCOVERY=10.3.60.2, 10.3.60.3)

• Save your changes, then Upload the updated .ini settings file. Select the file, click Apply, then follow directions to activate

Figure 45. Advanced Setup, NDI Discovery

Timecode Insertion in SEI

BRIDGE LIVE supports inserting Timecode into SEI (Supplemental Enhancement Information) for encoding into HEVC or H.264 streams. The timecode inserted can be set to lock to NTP (Network Time Protocol), which must be configured on the sending BRIDGE LIVE.

To configure Timecode Insertion in SEI, it is necessary to change parameters in the active .ini settings file. See "Advanced Setup" on page 64.

HEVC Activation

Download the active .ini settings file and remove the semi-colon on two lines:

• ; NVENC_HEVC_ADD_TIMESTAMPS = 1

• NVENC_HEVC_ADD_TIMESTAMPS = 1

• ; NVENC_HEVC_TIMESTAMPS_IDENTIFIER = cf848278-ee23-306c-9265e8fef22fb8b8

• NVENC_HEVC_TIMESTAMPS_IDENTIFIER = cf848278-ee23-306c-9265-

e8fef22fb8b8

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Figure 46. HEVC Activation

Save your changes, then Upload the updated settings file. Select the file, click Apply, then follow directions to activate

H264 Activation

Download the active .ini settings file and remove the semi-colon on two lines:

• ; NVENC_H264_ADD_TIMESTAMPS = 1

• NVENC_H264_ADD_TIMESTAMPS = 1

• ; X264_ADD_TIMESTAMPS = 1

• X264_ADD_TIMESTAMPS = 1

Figure 47. X264 Activation

Save your changes, then Upload the updated settings file. Select the file, click Apply, then follow directions to activate.

OS and Network Administration

Console Administration

NOTE: Starting with v1.16, BRIDGE LIVE has moved to the Rocky Linux 9 Operating

System (previously CentOS7). If you need to roll back to an older BRIDGE LIVE firmware release, please use the appropriate manual, to ensure accurate representation of configuration options.

If you want to administer the BRIDGE LIVE locally, it is highly recommended that you boot it with the monitor already connected. You can unplug the monitor later, but if you want to use it again, you should re-connect it to the previously used port.

The default user environment is the aforementioned web-based console. However, for advanced administrative tasks, it is possible to switch to the system console. The background OS is Rocky Linux 9. The standard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+T will take you to the graphical terminal application (not meant for long-term use, only for a quick configuration or diagnostic).

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Default Accounts

Admin User

Admin Username: admin

• Used for local login, browser login and REST API

Admin Password:

• See the Quick Start Guide that was originally delivered with your unit for your factory-provided unique password.

Transcoder User

Transcoder Username: transcoder

• Used for CLI/SSH

Transcoder Password:

• See the Quick Start Guide that was originally delivered with your unit for your factory-provided unique password.

NOTE: Due to security reasons, it is not possible to connect using SSH as a root user.

BRIDGE LIVE Files Location

Most of the important files are located in /opt/transcoder/ folder including the binaries and configuration files.

System Services

All BRIDGE LIVE components run as a system service. You can use the standard OS’s interface systemctl to manage those services.

transcoder-base

Starts the BRIDGE LIVE and the web server with WebUI at system start.

transcoder-x

Starts graphical window system with lightweight desktop manager OpenBox.

transcoder-browser

Starts Chromium browser in kiosk mode and restarts it in case it detects that Chromium stops running.

transcoder license

Starts the license server with its WebUI at system start.

System Security

The security of the system is provided by a built-in firewall. The setup is available in the UI’s setup wizard.

Each network interface needs to be marked with an attribute whether its intent is to be used for:

• Administration – SSH, HTTP(S), SNMP protocols ports allowed

• Incoming/outgoing streams – 1024-65535 ports allowed

• Both

• Unused

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All of the remaining ports are blocked.

In a situation when an interface is marked either Administration or Unused, it will not show in the stream configuration dialogue; therefore, it cannot be selected there.

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Chapter 3 – Operation

Overview

BRIDGE LIVE is designed as a network appliance, such that once configured it will transport signals across the network without requiring direct user interaction. After initial configuration of the unit for network operation, most of BRIDGE LIVE end-user operating procedures involve creating or modifying pipelines, which can be as simple as selecting different available input or output signals.

Browser Types

Once BRIDGE LIVE has been configured, it can be accessed with a network connected computer running a supported browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).

Unsupported Browsers

Browsers change over time as new functionality is added. In some cases, using an older browser may cause some issues. If that happens, you will be notified that you are using an old or unsupported browser, as pictured in Figure 48.

Figure 48. Example of an Unsupported Browser Message

Logging in Remotely with a Browser

Once BRIDGE LIVE has been configured, it can be accessed with a network connected computer running a browser.

You login by entering the IP address of that BRIDGE LIVE into the browser. The following login prompt appears:

Figure 49. BRIDGE LIVE Initial Login Prompt via Browser

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Utilization

The Username is "admin", and the default password that is unique to that BRIDGE LIVE unit is included in the Quick Start Guide provided with shipment. If the password has been changed, contact your system administrator for the new password.

After entering the username and password, click Login. You will go to the BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard displays showing the general user interface (see

"BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard Home View" on page 55).

BRIDGE LIVE User Interface Description

Dashboard Interface Basics

Figure 50. BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard Home View

Click to Return

to Home View

Pipelines

Status

Home View Upper

Left Quadrant

Home View Upper

Right Quadrant

Administration

Menu Buttons

Chart

Color IDs

Pipelines

Add New

Pipeline

Button

Home View Lower

Left Quadrant

The BRIDGE LIVE UI has two basic layouts, Home View and Pipeline View. Both views share the same left column, which displays system status and is also used for pipeline operation and selecting a pipeline for configuration.

Home view is the default display when the BRIDGE LIVE application is first launched (Figure 50). You can return to Home view at any time by clicking on the BRIDGE LIVE logo at the upper left corner of the screen.

Clicking on a pipeline in the left column displays the Pipeline view, showing video configuration information for that pipeline on the right side of the screen (Figure

51).

Home View Lower

Right Quadrant

GPU/CPU

Chart

System

Memory

Chart

Home

View

Lower

Panel

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Home View

Pipeline View

Click to Return

to Home View

Home View provides an overview of system status. It also shows an overview of performance and of the utilization of the system through the following interface elements:

Left Column - Shared with Pipeline View. Pipeline status, pipeline selection for

configuration, and controls for starting, stopping, and deleting pipelines.

Upper Left Quadrant - Reports the data throughput transmitted (Tx) and

received (Rx) for the selected interface. For SDI, it reports what is detected and if it is used for output streaming.

Upper Right Quadrant - GPU utilization/CPU utilization

Lower Left Quadrant - Services and devices status

Lower Right Quadrant - Memory GPU/System RAM

Lower Panel - Stream statistics including stream latency, FPS and FPS drops

Figure 51. BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard Pipeline View

Pipeline Name

(editable)

Input Stream

Conguration Pane

Output Stream

Conguration Pane

Selected

Pipeline

Option

Access

Add New

Pipeline

Button

Delete Pipeline

Button

Add Output

Stream Button

Output Stream Selection Pane

Save Buttons

Left Column - Shared with Home View. Pipeline status, pipeline selection for

configuration, and controls for starting, stopping, and deleting pipelines.

Input Stream Configuration Pane - Input stream configuration parameters,

which will vary depending on type of input stream.

Output Stream Selection Pane - Output stream addition and selection, used for

pipelines that support multiple output streams.

Selected

Output

Stream

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Output Stream Configuration Pane - Output stream configuration parameters,

which will vary depending on type of input stream.

Pipeline Control Buttons - Located at the bottom of the screen, these buttons

affect the currently selected pipeline or output stream, allowing you to Delete and Save pipelines. Different button functions are displayed, depending on the current pipeline configuration step.

The Left Column (Pipelines)

Beneath the AJA and Comprimato logos, in the top left of the interface, is a summary of the number of running pipelines, beneath which are flags for Errors (Red) or Warnings (Yellow).

Flags, Warnings and Errors

The Pipeline status indicators shown in Figure 52 below show the number and types of errors, along with indicators for configured and applied Pipelines.

Hover the mouse over a half circle to see specific error messages for a Pipeline.

Figure 52. Pipeline status indicators

Pipelines

Below the errors and warning flags the currently configured pipelines are displayed. Clicking on a pipeline displays information for that selected pipeline.

On the left side, each pipeline has a circular status icon. The left half of the colored circle provides feedback on the incoming part of the pipeline, while the right side indicates the status of the outgoing part of the pipeline.

Immediately to the right of the circular icon is the name of the pipeline. An asterisk (*) in front of the name indicates changes have been made to that pipeline's configuration that have not been saved.

Further to the right, when hovering the mouse over the pipeline, there is also a toggle pipeline stop and start button.

Figure 53. Pipeline Stop Button

Figure 54. Pipeline Play Button

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When hovering the mouse, along the right edge of each pipeline is a vertical ellipsis. Clicking on the ellipsis will toggle the button to display the following three options:

Figure 55. Pipeline Delete, Clone, Download Buttons

Use these buttons to delete, clone or download a pipeline.

Backing Up Pipelines

Once you have created all the pipelines you need, you can create a backup of them. From the lower left corner, click the vertical ellipsis next to "Add new pipeline" to open the Pipelines Management pop-up menu.

Figure 56. Pipelines Management Menu

Select "Download all as a preset." All of your pipeline configuration settings will download as a "pipelines.json" file.

You can upload this file in the future to upload your pipeline preset using the "Upload a preset" menu. If the name of an uploaded pipeline is identical to an existing pipeline, the name will be appended with #1, #2, etc.

Additionally, you can delete all pipelines by selecting the "Delete all" menu.

Output Streams and Licenses

Beneath the name of the pipeline is an indication of the number of output streams associated with the pipeline. For every stream, there is also information on license status. Streams need to be licensed in order to run. For H.265, H.264 and H.262, BRIDGE LIVE will come with perpetual licenses.

Meaning of Color Statuses

Both sides Grey - No pipeline has been created (new system or all pipelines deleted). The pipeline has been stopped.

Right side Grey - The output is not configured

Red - There is an error causing the pipeline not to work correctly. Left side for input, right side for output.

Yellow - Standby mode. This can occur, for example, when a pipeline is in SRT mode and the stream does not have a subscriber. In that case, the stream is not being sunk. In this case when a subscriber is actively receiving the stream, the signal turns green. Another example is HLS buffering.

Green - The stream is working correctly (and in the case of SRT, is being subscribed to).

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Add New Pipeline Button

The bottom left corner of the Dashboard has an Add new pipeline button for adding a new pipeline. Selecting it directs you to the pipeline window. This is the same window accessed when you want to change the configuration of an existing pipeline.

Returning to Dashboard Home View

At any time, to return to the main Dashboard home view, click the AJA/ Comprimato logos in the top left area of the Dashboard interface.

Upper Left Quadrant – Interfaces

The first quadrant (upper left) displays information for the BRIDGE LIVE's I/O signals. When the AJA Corvid is selected, the configuration status and format of that incoming signals are displayed (Figure 57).

The Interfaces panel also allows you to easily monitor reference signals. See

"Reference Monitoring" on page 60.

Figure 57. Interfaces Panel of Dashboard, Corvid 44 Selection

Clicking on the Interfaces box presents a dropdown menu (Figure 58).

Figure 58. Interfaces Panel Drop-down Menu

Selecting an Ethernet Card displays a chart over time of data transfer (Figure 59). The Loopback setting is used for system testing purposes.

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Figure 59. Interfaces panel Ethernet Selection

Reference Monitoring

The Interfaces panel displays reference detection and provides SDI output genlock status.

Figure 60. No Reference Detected

Figure 61. Reference Detected and Used for Genlock

Upper Right Quadrant – GPU/CPU Utilization

The second quadrant (upper right) shows GPU/CPU utilization hardware components. The GPU has three statistics. The blue line shows the level of GPU utilization. NvEnc and NvDec represents the workload of the NVIDIA hardware encoder decoder respectively.

Hover the mouse over a line to see the percentage of utilization of that component at that point in time on the graph.

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Figure 62. GPU utilization/CPU utilization panel of Dashboard

NOTE: When working with JPEG2000, the CPU chart may go to 100% utilization.

Generally, however, the CPU is not expected to go over 65%.

Lower Left Quadrant – Services and Devices Status

The lower left quadrant, Services and devices status, reports statistics for services that are running. It reports what is running, and it also displays the status of the License server. In the example shown below, the License server is initialized. Hardware temperatures are also reported.

Figure 63. Services and devices status panel of Dashboard

Lower Right Quadrant – Memory GPU/System RAM

The lower right quadrant, Memory GPU/System RAM, reports memory consumption. When you hover the mouse over the line in the graph, a mouseover message reports the amount of memory used at that point in time, followed by the amount of memory that was available.

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Figure 64. Memory GPU/System RAM panel of Dashboard

Lower Panel

In the lower panel of Dashboard, you can see a list of all currently running streams, both input and output. Use the Stream statistics radio buttons to filter by All, Input stream only, or Output stream only. Clicking on a column name on the top gray line sorts the list by that category. You can also search for a particular stream using the search tab in the upper right section of the panel.

If an error occurs, the relevant lines will turn red. When you hover the cursor over a red line, a brief description of that error will be displayed.

Figure 65. Dashboard Stream Statistics

NOTE: Inactive pipelines still being configured will not be displayed on the stream

statistics list.

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Setup Menu

Additional setup and information screens can be accessed by hovering your cursor over the Setup top menu button, and then clicking on the desired menu item.

Setup

Initiates an initial system setup procedure (see "Initial System Setup Process" on

page 36). If you do not want to run this procedure, click on Cancel Setup.

System Information

To view system information, click System information. System information reports various aspects of the system including software version, OS version, Installation ID, Host Name, Memory statistics, drivers, hardware and network information.

Figure 66. Selecting System information from the Setup menu

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Figure 67. System Information

Advanced Setup

Figure 68. Setup Mouse-over

Access Advanced setup by clicking the Advanced setup option under the Setup mouse-over. You can select among saved configurations under Available settings drop-down menu. Configurations are stored in BRIDGE LIVE using .ini files. Users can download, edit, upload, and activate various settings and features via these files.

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Click the Apply button in order to set the chosen settings configuration. After that, you will be prompted to restart the BRIDGE LIVE service in order to apply changes. This configuration allows you to edit parameters, which adjust the transcoding process, such as GPU memory distribution, encoding presets, and other settings.

The suffix “preset” means that the file is the pre-configured one, which in general should work best with a particular use case. The suffix “custom” points out the fact that this settings file was uploaded to BRIDGE LIVE by the end user. It is advised to consult the configuration adjustments with your support team.

Figure 69. Advanced Settings Management

See "Low Latency Operation" on page 48 for an example using Advanced Setup.

Version Management

See "BRIDGE LIVE Software Update" on page 45 for information.

Diagnostics & Support

The Diagnostics and Support page lets you create a BRIDGE LIVE log file, which can be useful for troubleshooting by AJA support staff. The report contains system information, pipeline configuration information, pipeline error messages, and system logs.

To access the page, select Diagnostics & Support from the Setup menu in the upper right area of Dashboard. An informational screen will be displayed.

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Figure 70. Diagnostics and Support Screen

To create a log file, Click Create and download diagnostic report. The diagnostic report will download to your computer. You can see logs in the folder:

/opt/transcoder/transcoder/logs/

If you need to send logs to AJA Support, please copy the contents of the folder, archive them and share.

Admin Menu

Functions available in the Admin Menu can be used for system management functions, including restarting all pipelines, and rebooting or shutting down the BRIDGE LIVE unit. See "Admin Menu" on page 40 for more information.

Pipeline Configuration

About Pipelines

A pipeline is a configured network communications path defining necessary signal stream information. Each pipeline has an Input Stream and at least one Output Stream, which specify various parameters that are configured to define the functionality of that pipeline. Each Output Stream also has an Output Stream Destination, which further defines that Output Stream target and capabilities. Each Pipeline also employs a Codec, used to encode and decode the data sent over the network.

Various parameters are available, depending on the choice of Input Stream, Output Stream, Destination, and Codec. During the pipeline configuration process the BRIDGE LIVE UI displays only the parameters applicable to the options that you have selected.

Because of the progressive definition of a pipeline, the order of the configuration steps you perform is important. For example, some pipeline settings can be set automatically when a pipeline is first created, but only if an active source is already present and detected. If that source is not available, additional manual configuration settings, subject to human error, will be required. Following the general procedure described here can help you efficiently and successfully configure your BRIDGE LIVE with the pipelines needed for your workflows.

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Saving, Starting, and Stopping Pipelines

Once created, each pipeline must be saved before it can be used. When a pipeline is started, it activates that network signal path, transporting video from the selected source to the desired destination. Pipelines continue to operate as long as the input source and output destination(s) are present and valid.

Currently active pipelines will be automatically restored to operation when the BRIDGE LIVE unit is reset, rebooted, or power cycled. All pipeline configurations are also retained, but inactive pipelines are not automatically re-activated under those circumstances.

General Procedure for Creating a Pipeline

Overview

The following procedures describe the basic steps required to create an entirely new pipeline. You will make choices regarding transport streams, protocols, and codecs to meet your encoding requirements. These choices dynamically affect which sets of configuration options become available as you build your pipeline.

NOTE: Because different parameter settings are required depending on the type of

pipeline being created, cross references are provided to manual locations explaining specific settings.

Identifying Your Encoding Requirements

Before you begin, consider which of the following components match your requirements. See "Encoding and Decoding Protocols Supported" on page 9 for available options.

Add New Pipeline

1. From the BRIDGE LIVE Dashboard, click Add new pipeline at the bottom of the Pipeline pane in the lower left corner.

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Figure 71. Add New Pipeline Button

2. Dashboard will display a page with Input stream conguration options.

Figure 72. Input Stream Options

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Naming the Pipeline

3. From the top of the Input stream conguration options column, click

[edit name], found immediately to the right of the text "Name your

pipeline."

Figure 73. Edit Name Button

4. The Edit Pipeline Name pop-up window displays. The default name is "Pipeline".

Figure 74. Edit Pipeline Name Pop-up Window

5. Click in the box and enter a name for your new pipeline. Use a simple name that will be easy to understand.

NOTE: Pipeline names are limited to 128 characters. An error message is displayed If you

try to enter too many characters, and you will not be able to save the name.

6. After clicking OK, the new pipeline will be shown in the left column of Dashboard. Both half circles are gray indicating that the pipeline is not congured or active yet.

Figure 75. Newly Named Pipeline

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Selecting Input Stream Type

Figure 76. Input Stream Type Selection

The rest of the configuration procedure depends on the Type of Input stream you select. Click on the Type box, and select your desired Input stream type. Example procedures are included for the following types:

• SDI (see "Configuring an SDI Input Stream" on page 70)

• NDI (see "Configuring an NDI Input Stream" on page 73)

• RTMP (see "Configuring an RTMP Input Stream" on page 74)

• MPEG TS (see "Configuring an MPEG TS Input Stream" on page 77)

Configure Input Stream Options

BRIDGE LIVE now supports automatic population of the input codec and signal format when receiving MPEG-TS streams. Once the Input Stream Source is configured, select 'Start Detecting Input'. Once the signal is detected, the 'Auto Detected Video streams' section will show a summary of the incoming signal. Select 'Set as Input'. The detected input will now automatically populate the codec and all associated formats. There should be no need to further configure the incoming signal. The manual steps to configure MPEG-TS Input streams are still included in the manual. Consult the Reference section for configuration and feature details.

Configuring an SDI Input Stream

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Selecting Input Stream Type" on

page 70.

After selecting the SDI Input stream type, you need to configure the input stream's parameters.

NOTE: The SDI CORVID card installed in the BRIDGE LIVE unit will need to have an

active input SDI signal connected to the desired BNC port to continue with this procedure.

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Figure 77. SDI Input Stream Example

1. Click on Select SDI device. Select the only choice, which is the AJA Corvid card installed in your BRIDGE LIVE chassis.

2. Select the input SDI port with the desired SDI input signal.

Figure 78. SDI Input Stream, Device and Port Selected

Start Detecting Video Input Properties

3. To prompt BRIDGE LIVE to detect the incoming SDI signal, click Start Detecting Input located above the video preview window. A preview

image of the input will be displayed, with the left half circle colored green, indicating an input source is present. A new heading called "Auto-detected video streams is also displayed.

NOTE: If no image displays, check that an SDI signal is actively being sent into the

selected port.

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Figure 79. SDI Input Stream, Detected Input with Preview

NOTE: If you require reference-quality video image monitoring, we recommend that you

use either an SDI monitor and/or a receiving client (host system) with a highquality GPU and Monitor.

4. Under the "Auto-detected video streams" heading, click on Set as input (Figure 80). The heading immediately above expands and displays autopopulated characteristics of the detected video signal.

IM PORTANT: Both the Start Detecting Input and Set As Input buttons need to be clicked

if you want to use the automatically detected source video format for this input signal.

Figure 80. Auto-populated Characteristics of the SDI Input signal

5. This completes the pipeline's Input stream conguration.

Go to "Add New Output Stream to Pipeline" on page 78 to continue this procedure.

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Configuring an NDI Input Stream

NOTE: NDI is a paid for feature which much be purchased and have the license activated

on the BRIDGE LIVE server. The BLVE-NDI license is non-transferable.

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Selecting Input Stream Type" on

page 70.

NOTE: This procedure assumes an NDI system is already present and operating on the

network, using standard NDI auto-discovery. See "NDI Discovery Servers" on page

49 for information about using an NDI Discovery server instead.

After selecting the NDI Input stream type, you need to configure the input stream's parameters.

Figure 81. NDI Input Stream Example

1. Click on Select NDI Source in the "Detected sources" box. A list of the discovered NDI sources will be displayed.

NOTE: Only the names of currently active NDI sources will be available for selection.

NOTE: The NDI source can also be entered manually. The name entered must exactly

match the actual NDI source.

Figure 82. NDI Detected Sources

2. Click on the desired NDI source. That source name will be displayed in the "Detected sources" and "Selected source" boxes.

3. Click on the Start Detecting Input button. An "Auto-detected video streams" heading appears displaying the detected NDI video format. The left half of that pipeline's status will also be colored green.

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Figure 83. NDI Detected Video Format

4. Click on the Set As Input button. Additional information about that NDI source will be displayed in the "Input stream video conguration options" pane.

IM PORTANT: Both the Start Detecting Input and Set As Input buttons need to be clicked

if you want to use the automatically detected source video format for this input signal.

Figure 84. Advanced NDI Options

5. You may select the sync mode for NDI input:

• Frame Sync (default). Synchronises both video and audio using the local clock. Audio is re-sampled and video is duplicated/dropped if needed.

• Free-Run. Synchronises video to the audio. This may drop video frames in order to resync

Figure 85. Auto-populated Characteristics of the NDI Input signal

6. This completes the pipeline's Input stream conguration.

Go to "Add New Output Stream to Pipeline" on page 78 to continue this procedure.

Configuring an RTMP Input Stream

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Selecting Input Stream Type" on

page 70.

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IM PORTANT: RTMP source clients must be configured with a video format compatible

with BRIDGE LIVE. For example, 720p 30 is not a SMPTE standard and is not supported by BRIDGE LIVE. See "Appendix A Specifications" for a listing of supported video formats.

About RTMP Streaming

Configuring an RTMP input on BRIDGE LIVE differs somewhat from configuring other IP video stream inputs because RTMP requires a stream key. Typically the stream key follows the / after the IP address:

rtmp://<IP Address>/live/<Stream Key>

The BRIDGE LIVE pipeline's RTMP input must be configured with a stream key, and also be running, before the external RTMP client (source) that has been configured with that same stream key is started. When that source stream starts, it finds the matching key for that BRIDGE LIVE's running RTMP pipeline's input stream, and can then complete the streaming connection. With that connection established, you can then set the video settings for that BRIDGE LIVE pipeline, and continue configuring that pipeline's output stream(s). BRIDGE LIVE actually provides three methods of stream key configuration (see "RTMP (Input and

Output)" on page 103).

This example procedure assumes an external RTMP source device is available on the network, you can change the configuration settings for that RTMP source, and you can turn that external source stream off and on.

1. After selecting the pipeline's input stream type, you now need to configure the input stream's parameters.

Figure 86. RTMP Input Stream Example

2. Click on the Generate Random button to create a unique stream key.

Figure 87. RTMP Input Stream Key Generated

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3. Click on the Copy button of the RTMP stream URL you wish to use.

4. Go to the RTMP source stream conguration application and paste in that URL and stream key, as required for that application.

NOTE: Do not turn on the external RTMP source stream yet.

5. Click on the Start button at the bottom left of the BRIDGE LIVE UI.

Figure 88.

6. Now start the external RTMP source stream. The left side of the status circle for that pipeline will be colored green.

Figure 89. RTMP Stream Connection Initiated

7. Click on the Start Detecting Input button. An "Auto-detected video streams" heading appears displaying the detected video format. The left half of that pipeline's status will remain colored green.

8. Click on the Set As Input button. Additional information about that source will be displayed in the "Input stream video conguration options" pane.

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Figure 90. RTMP Input Stream Key Generated

IM PORTANT: Both the Start Detecting Input and Set As Input buttons need to be clicked

if you want to use the automatically detected source video format for this input signal.

9. This completes the pipeline's Input stream conguration.

Go to "Add New Output Stream to Pipeline" on page 78 to continue this procedure.

Configuring an MPEG TS Input Stream

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Selecting Input Stream Type" on

page 70.

The Input Stream IP address field will autopopulate with the first IP of the selected NIC. You may also specify a different valid IP address.

NOTE: The Input Stream IP address field will autopopulate with the first IP of the selected

NIC. You may also specify a different valid IP address.

Input Stream Audio Detection

BRIDGE LIVE v1.18 supports input stream audio detection.

Figure 91. Input Stream Audio Detection

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Under Configured/Auto-Detected Audio Streams, choose from the following options:

• Auto Reconfiguration - Reconfigures audio if the incoming audio stream changes.

NOTE: There may be certain scenarios where this does not resolve the audio mapping.

• Manual-After Detection - Once audio stream is detected, the applied settings will be maintained even if the incoming audio stream changes. If an assigned audio channel input disappears, silence is inserted meaning the audio samples amplitude is 0 but bitrate is still present.

• Manual-Fixed Channels - Only supported for NDI inputs. Allows for manually setting audio input channels before audio detection. The mapping will remain as set, regardless of input changes. If an assigned audio channel input disappears, silence is inserted meaning the audio samples amplitude is 0 but bitrate is still present.

Add New Output Stream to Pipeline

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Configure Input Stream Options" on

page 70 for your selected Input Stream Type.

After you have configured your pipeline's Input stream, and a valid signal has been detected, you now can now easily configure your pipeline's Output stream(s).

During initial pipeline configuration the Dashboard will indicate that the currently selected pipeline lacks any output streams.

Figure 92. Pipeline Without Output Stream

Adding an Output Stream

1. Click on Add output stream at the bottom of the Output Stream Mapping pane. New fields display in the Output stream column on the right side of Dashboard for naming and configuring your new output stream. Some of the fields of the Output stream column are auto-populated, matching the detected Input stream

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Figure 93. MPEG-TS Output Stream Added with an Input Stream Source

Detected

NOTE: If no valid Input stream is detected, you can manually enter data into empty

elds, but will need to know exactly what that pipeline's input values will be when that input is activated. Having an already active input stream greatly simplies the initial conguration process.

Naming the Output Stream

2. Under Output stream options, enter a name in the Name eld. Create a name that will be descriptive to your users for this specic output stream.

Figure 94. Output Stream Naming

NOTE: The name of the Output Stream is intended for user convenience and does

not affect signal transport operation. However, it is important that Input and Output Stream names be descriptive enough so users can distinguish between them, especially when multiple streams are being configured for simultaneous operation.

Selecting Output Stream Type

1. Click on the Stream Type box and select your desired Output stream type.

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Figure 95. Output Stream Type Selection

2. After creating, naming, and selecting the pipeline's Output Stream type, you can congure the audio (if any) to be included in the output stream.

NOTE: If you want to use a hostname instead of an IP address in the URL, you need to set

an appropriate DNS server. If it is in the external network, the set Default route needs to have access to the Internet. Both can be done in the Setup. For more information, see "Initial System Setup Process" on page 36.

Selecting Latency Addition

Specify optional latency in milliseconds. Default is 2000ms per stream. A lower latency can be attained by entering the desired value.

If minimal latency is desired, enter a value of '-1'. Latency addition can be set to dynamically calculate latency addition (PTS offset) for each pipeline by entering a value of '-1'.

Figure 96. Latency Addition

Selecting Output Mode and Total Bitrate

Select output mode CBR, VBR, CVBR for individual Output streams. This removes the need for CBR and VBR ini files.

NOTE: If your BRIDGE LIVE system was using CBR or VBR presets on a previous version

(ex. 1.16.10), upon upgrade to v1.18 it will switch to the low latency preset. Please also verify the output mode is set for CBR, VBR, or CVBR.

Under Output Stream Options, click on Output Mode and select from available options.

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Figure 97. Output Mode Selection

If CBR or CVBR is selected, the Total Bitrate field will be available.The default is Auto but can be manually set for desired bits, kbits, and Mbits.

Figure 98. Total Bitrate Field

NOTE: If a manual bitrate is entered which is insufficient to support the configured

signal path, an error will be presented.

Configure Audio Mapping

By default a newly created pipeline will not include any audio in the output stream. You must manually map incoming audio channels to the output stream.

NOTE: Some RTMP streaming services will not accept streams without audio.

1. Click on Change Audio Mapping near the bottom of the Output Stream pane.

Figure 99. Change Audio Mapping Button

2. A screen will appear displaying the available incoming source audio.

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Figure 100. Audio Mapping Window, No Output Stream Audio

3. In order to add the incoming audio to the output, select a desired audio pair to send to the output. Then select Add all channels. This will add the two channels in the selected pair to the output section of the Audio channel selector. The audio channels can then be inserted into the desired output audio pairs. If more than 1 pair of audio mapping is needed, repeat the above procedure for each needed pair.

Figure 101. Output Stream with 2 Channels

4. You can name that audio output stream, and adjust other audio related settings for conversion.

5. Click on the Save Setup button. The window closes.

6. You can now congure additional Output Stream Options. Different options are available, depending on the Output Stream Type. Follow the link below to the appropriate sub-procedure for your Output Stream Type:

• NDI (go to "Configuring an NDI Output Stream" on page 83)

• MPEG-TS (go to "Configuring an MPEG-TS Output Stream" on page 84)

Audio Only Output

By default, Output Streams send video and audio but Audio only output is also supported. Unchecking Video Configuration in an output stream will remove the Video component and allow for an Audio only stream to be sent.

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Figure 102. Audio Only Output

Configuring an NDI Output Stream

NOTE: NDI is a paid for feature which much be purchased and have the license activated

on the BRIDGE LIVE server. The BLVE-NDI license is non-transferable.

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Selecting Output Stream Type" on

page 79.

1. After selecting NDI as the output stream type with a valid Input stream source detected, the following parameters are displayed by default. It will be auto-populated with the incoming signal video format.

Figure 103. Output Stream, NDI Defaults

2. Enter a descriptive name for the NDI Output stream.

3. Click on Save and Restart at the bottom of the screen.

Figure 104. Save & Restart button

4. The NDI output stream will be activated, and both circles for that pipeline status will be colored green.

Figure 105. Pipeline Status

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5. This completes the procedure for creating an NDI pipeline.

NOTE: When this NDI Output stream is active, its name will appear in all other pipeline

NDI Input stream Detected Sources lists, becoming available for selection. When that NDI Output stream is stopped, its name will be removed from all pipeline selection lists.

Configuring an MPEG-TS Output Stream

NOTE: Procedure continued from the conclusion of "Selecting Output Stream Type" on

page 79.

About Port Numbers

Ethernet port numbers can be used to direct network communications to a specific application associated with a destination Network Interface Card (NIC). Specifying a port number is required for network communications, and default port numbers are often used.

A NIC configured with a specific IP address may communicate with multiple applications at the same time. Because each NIC has only one IP address, defining a unique port number in the sent message packets can direct the communications to the correct receiving application using that port number.

Numbering conventions exist defining ranges of port numbers, but generally all that is required is to have the port numbers of the sending and receiving message packets match each other.

About Loopback

Loopback is a special Ethernet configuration used for internal network traffic, and is commonly used for pre-testing network settings. Loopback can be useful to protect the network from excessive or inappropriate data traffic during network configuration. The localhost (127.0.0.1) IP address can be used to communicate only with your local computer.

1. After selecting MPEG-TS as the Stream type with a valid Input stream source detected, the following parameters are displayed by default. It will be autopopulated with the detected incoming signal video format.

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Figure 106. Output Stream, MPEG-TS Defaults

2. In Stream Destination eld, click on Congure Destinations.

Figure 107. Configure Destinations Dialog

3. In the dialog that appears:

• Choose RTP, UDP, SRT, or RTMP and enter relevant details for the connection.

• For RTP or UDP configuration, see "RTP or UDP Output Stream Destination" on

page 86.

• For SRT configuration, see "SRT Output Stream Destination" on page 87.

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4. On the right side of each stream destination, an Enabled button is checked by default. If the Enabled button is unchecked, the selected destination stream will stop, without impacting other streams. This is applied when the Apply changes without restart is selected.

NOTE: Similarly, new destinations can be added to the Output Stream and activated

without requiring a restart of the pipeline.

RTP or UDP Output Stream Destination

The BRIDGE LIVE's RTP and UDP Output Stream Destination parameters are identical.

This sub-procedure demonstrates using Loopback to internally test the pipeline's network settings, using default settings.

1. Open the Configure Destinations dialog from "Configure Destinations Dialog"

on page 85.

2. Enter the desired IP address for your Output stream destination. In this example the default 127.0.0.1 (localhost) IP address is used for testing.

3. Enter the desired port number. In this example use the default port 5050.

4. Under NIC, select Ethernet card or Loopback. In this example use the default Loopback I/O Connected setting for testing. The remaining default settings can be used for this test only pipeline conguration.

Figure 108. Loopback Example, Default Settings

5. Click on Apply changes without restart and Close the dialog.

6. Click on Save and Start at the bottom of the Output Stream Congurations home page.

Figure 109. Save and Start

7. The pipeline will be activated and loopback the signal through only the NIC card. When the path is complete and active, both halves of the Status circle for that pipeline will go green.

Figure 110. Pipeline Status

8. This completes the procedure for creating a pipeline that demonstrates Loopback operation for testing.

Stream to the Network Instead of Loopback

To configure and run an actual network stream, instead of loopback, select an Output Stream Ethernet Card, enter the desired IP address and Port number, and click Save & Restart.

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SRT Output Stream Destination

About SRT Operating Modes

NOTE: SRT encode and decode are only utilized with MPEG-TS streams.

BRIDGE LIVE supports two SRT stream modes of operation, Listener and Caller (a client–server model).

Listener - The Listener unit is configured with a pipeline that always waits/

listens for a connection from an external Caller unit. After the connection is established, if the Listener is output, it will start sending the streaming data. If the Listener is input, it starts receiving the streaming data.

Caller - The Caller unit is configured with a pipeline that first seeks a connection

with an external Listener unit, and when that is achieved the Caller receives streaming data from the Listener. The Caller pipeline is configured with the remote Listener unit's IP address and port.

This method works as long as each stream has one Listener and one Caller that use matching IP and port numbers, regardless of which unit is actually sending or receiving data. BRIDGE LIVE can even act as the Listener for one pipeline, and simultaneously act as the Caller for a different pipeline.

NOTE: SRT is a one-to-one connection scheme and cannot be used in a one-to-many

workflow. If multiple SRT destinations are needed, simply add additional output streams following the above procedure. Each output stream will need its own unique port number.

This example procedure demonstrates methods for sending the identical or related SRT streams to multiple clients using a single pipeline.

Configuring Output Side of SRT Transmission

1. After selecting SRT as the type of output stream, the following default screen will be shown.

Figu re 111. SRT Output Default Settings

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For the SRT mode (under Congure Destinations), select either Listener or Caller. Choose the mode opposite to that congured for the other end of the stream.

DNS Resolution of Hostname for SRT Caller Output

1. When using SRT output with Caller mode, you can use either an IP address or a web URL name. This can be useful when a URL points to multiple IP addresses for distribution.

2. Click on Congure Destinations under Stream Destinations to launch the destination conguration dialog.

NOTE: Hover mouse over various fields for descriptions.

Figure 112. SRT Caller Mode

3. Enter the IP Address to which you want to send the stream.

• For Caller mode, enter the address of the remote listener which will be called to receive the stream.

• For Listener mode, enter the local address which remote callers will use to request the stream be sent to them.

Port

Port 5050, 5051, 5052 and 5053 are all viable. It usually does not matter which port is used, it just needs to match on both ends.

NIC

Because this example does not use loopback, select a BRIDGE LIVE NIC.

SRT Overhead

In addition, you should define the SRT overhead parameter – a percentage amount over Total Bit Rate that can be surpassed in order to achieve the lost data recovery. As a result, the maximum used connection bit rate is equal to the configured Total Bit Rate + SRT overhead. In general, this is the upper limit and the connection does not require it for normal operation.

Select Video Codec

1. Next, under the heading Output stream video configuration options, for Video codec, select H.264.

Figure 113. Multiple video codec selections available

2. The Frame size is auto-populated to reect the detected input signal. The Scan rate and other properties are also auto-populated. Leave the remaining fields with their default values.

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Figure 114. Output stream video configuration options

3. Click Save & Restart.

Figure 115. Save & Restart button

4. BRIDGE LIVE takes just a few moments to process the settings. Once nished, the left column updates to show your newly created pipeline. The two green circle halves indicate that both the input and output sides of the pipeline are running with no errors.

Figure 116. The newly created Pipeline displaying in the left column

One SRT Output Stream, Multiple Clients Example

If you have 8 remote clients who all want to view the same SRT stream, you can configure destinations to add 8 new destinations and increment the IP, port number or a combination of both, as long as each is unique. In this example only the port numbers are incremented. For example, client 1 is assigned port 5051, client 2 is assigned port 5052, client 3 is assigned port 5053, and so on.

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NOTE: Hover mouse over various fields for descriptions.

1. To add a new destination with a new Port number, click on Congure Destinations under Stream Destinations to launch the destination conguration dialog.

Figure 117. Adding port numbers

2. Click Add new destination. A new row is added for the new stream destination.

3. Edit the port number to match your port conguration plan.

4. Repeat as needed, then click Save changes. The new stream destinations are added to the pipeline. This is an efficient approach since it requires only one output stream and BRIDGE LIVE does not need to do any extra encoding.

Two SRT Output Streams, Multiple Clients Example

If you have 10 remote clients who all want to view the same SRT stream, but 5 of them require 15Mbps and the other 5 require 8Mbps, you would need to create two separate output streams—one for 15Mbps and another for 8Mbps.

For each output stream, configure five destinations, each with a unique IP and port number combination, to correspond to the 5 remote receiving clients.

NOTE: Encoding two output streams rather than one is more demanding on the

BRIDGE LIVE system. However, it meets the needs of the two sets of remote clients with varying bit rate requirements.

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Managing Pipelines

When to Reduce the CPU/GPU Load

Users are advised to look out for errors, alarms, dropped frames, etc. If the BRIDGE LIVE is consistently dropping frames, check to see if the CPU/GPU resources are running at or near 100%. If so, consider reducing the CPU/GPU load by reducing channel count, number of outputs, 4:2:2 10-bit to 4:2:0 8-bit encoding, lowering the frame rate, etc.

Clearly Naming Multiple Output Streams

When adding an output stream, it is important to name it clearly to eliminate any potential confusion as to what it is. Figure 118 shows the configuration panels for output stream settings and shows a situation where there are multiple output streams already configured.

Besides the mandatory options to direct the output to a specific network interface and a receiving device, these settings have more attributes that impact the quality of the resulting stream.

Figure 118. Additional Output Stream Configuration

Cloning an Output Stream

If you need multiple similar output streams within one pipeline, you can clone an output stream that you have created earlier.

1. Hover your mouse over the output stream that you want to clone. A clone button displays.

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Figure 119. Hovering mouse over output stream shows cloning button

2. Click the clone button. A copy of the output stream displays beneath the original.

3. Make any modications you need to the copy of the original output stream.

Figure 120. The cloned output stream (copy #1)

Output Stream Audio Configuration Options

While configuring the output stream, you can choose which transmitted audio or metadata channels you wish to include (Figure 121).

Figure 121. Audio Mapping

Cloning Output Audio Streams

If you need multiple similar output audio streams within one Audio Mapping, you can clone an output audio stream that you have created earlier.

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To Clone an Output Audio Stream

1. Hover your mouse over the output audio stream that you want to clone. A clone button displays.

Figure 122. Hovering mouse over output audio stream shows cloning button

2. Click the clone button. A copy of the output audio stream displays beneath the original.

Figure 123. The cloned output audio stream (copy #1)

3. Make any modications you need to the copy of the original output audio stream.

Creating and Loading Preset Stream Configurations

In order to avoid manually configuring Pipelines, you can save configuration settings to a file. You can then load the saved configuration settings from the file and instantly populate all the settings, saving time and potential configuration errors.

Presets can also serve as a way to backup, clone or restore pipeline configuration settings.

These configuration files are stored in the .json structured file format.

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To save as a preset

1. From the left column of Dashboard, click on the configured stream that you want to save as a preset. The window opens showing the Input stream configuration options and the Output stream mapping.

2. With the stream selected, or while hovering the mouse over the stream, a vertical ellipsis displays along the right edge.

Figure 124. Initial display of vertical ellipsis

3. Click on the vertical ellipsis. Three buttons display, giving you the choice to Delete, Clone, or Download the Pipeline.

Figure 125. Delete, Clone, and Download buttons

4. Select Download. A JSON le downloads to your computer that contains all of the conguration settings. If your pipeline is named "SDI to H264," the downloaded le will be named "SDI to H264.json." This is the Preset le. You can view or edit it using a text editor.

To load a preset configuration

1. From Dashboard, hover your mouse over Add new pipeline from the lower left area.

Figure 126. Add new pipeline

2. Click on the vertical ellipsis. Choose from Delete all, Upload a preset, or

Download all as a preset.

Figure 127. Three buttons displaying after clicking the vertical ellipsis

3. Select Upload a preset. A navigation window displays.

4. Navigate to the .json le that you want to upload, select it, then click

Open. Dashboard refreshes to display the pipeline populated with all the

conguration settings that were stored in the JSON preset conguration le.

Alternatively, if you have previously created a pipeline and saved it, you can drag and drop its .json file onto the left column as another method of adding a pipeline.

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Figure 128. Adding New Pipeline by Dragging a .json File

JSON Created Pipelines

If you have previously created a pipeline and downloaded it, you can drag and drop its .json file onto the left column as another method of adding a pipeline. This new pipeline will have the previously selected parameters, but can be a good starting point for creating a new variation of that pipeline.

Figure 129. Adding pipeline with a .json file

When a .json file is loaded, the pipeline will have the original name of the downloaded pipeline. If you modify the settings to create a pipeline with different functionality, you should rename it.

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Additional BRIDGE LIVE Features

Output Stream Cropping and Padding

In order to address how you want BRIDGE LIVE to handle resolution changes, use the Cropping/Padding configuration window to adjust settings for the input video and output video. Click Configure cropping and padding in the Output stream video configuration options area to access the configuration window.

Figure 130. The Cropping/Padding configuration window

For the input video, you can adjust frame size, left/top cropping and right/ bottom cropping.

Cropping Example

As an example, let's consider a case in which you want to crop an image with a frame size of 1920 x 1080. You want to crop 30 pixels off of the left side, 30 pixels off of the right side, 20 pixels off of the top, and 20 pixels off of the bottom. In that case, you would enter the numbers as shown below. Select Scale for Resize method.

Figure 131. Example of entering numbers into Crop number fields

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• In the above example, the number "30" is being used to crop the left side. "30" indicates the horizontal offset of the first pixel to be used from the input video (0 by default). Use a negative value to create explicit padding.

• The number "20" is being used to crop the top. "20" indicates the vertical offset of the first pixel to be used from the input video (0 by default). Use a negative value to create explicit padding.

• The number "1890" is being used to crop the right side. "1890" indicates the horizontal offset after the last pixel to be used from the input video (frame width by default). Use a value greater than the width to create explicit padding.

• The number "1060" is being used to crop the bottom. "1060" indicates the vertical offset after the last pixel to be used from the input video (frame height by default). Use a value greater than the height to create explicit padding.

For the output video, you can adjust the output frame size and resize method.

Resize Method

From the Resize method pull-down menu, available selections are:

• Scale: Resizes the configured input frame to the configured output frame and changes the aspect ratio when it differs.

• Crop: Resizes the configured input frame to the configured output frame, but keeps the input frame aspect ratio. The input will be automatically cropped horizontally or vertically.

• Pad: Resizes the configured input frame to the configured output frame, but keeps the input frame aspect ratio. The input will be automatically expanded with horizontal or vertical black bars.

Logo Insertion

You can insert a logo into the stream. You can configure it in the “Output stream video configuration options” section by clicking the “Output stream video configuration options” button.

Figure 132. Logo Insertion Button

Select the 'Configure logo insertion' link to bring up the Logo Insertion window.

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Figure 133. Logo Insertion Configuration

First, a logo file in the .png format must be uploaded and selected. After that, the user can choose to position the logo either in pixels, or set its positions using percent. If for some reason a logo has to have adjusted scale, it’s possible to do it using the Logo scaling option.

If you save a pipeline that uses the Logo insertion function and has some logo uploaded as a preset, it will be saved with the logo file, too.

Verifying Pipeline Configurations

You can use a variety of methods to verify your pipeline configurations.

For an encoded stream using stream type MPEG-TS, you can use RTP, UDP, or SRT to send the stream to an output stream destination device.

For RTP or UDP, BRIDGE LIVE needs to be able to send the stream directly to the target location. If the target location is behind a router that blocks it, or if the target location is in a network behind NAT (network address translation), your target location will not be able to receive the stream.

For an encoded stream using stream type RTMP(S), the stream cannot do pointto-point. It has to bounce off of a server first.

See "Alternative Methods for Verifying Pipeline Configuration" on page 115 for more advanced methods of testing pipelines.

Verifying the Configuration of Your Pipeline Remotely

When an SRT output pipeline is configured on BRIDGE LIVE, you can verify it is functioning correctly by accessing the stream with off-the-shelf software for monitoring.

Besides the BRIDGE LIVE itself, a few examples are:

• VLC - (see https://www.videolan.org)

• OBS - (see https://obsproject.com)

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Verifying BRIDGE LIVE Output Stream

In this example we will use VLC media player to monitor a BRIDGE LIVE output stream.

BRIDGE LIVE Configuration for Sending an SRT Stream

1. Under Output Stream Configuration, click on Configure Destinations in the Stream Destinations pane to launch the destination configuration dialog. In the dialog, select SRT from the Type drop-down menu.

NOTE: Hover mouse over various fields for descriptions.

2. For the IP address eld, enter the IP address for the computer you will use to run VLC media player.

3. The default 5050 port number can be used, provided it is not used by another BRIDGE LIVE output stream.

4. Select the desired Ethernet card from the NIC drop-down menu.

5. Note what the SRT mode is. VLC will need to be congured with the opposite SRT mode.

6. Save the changes.

7. From the lower right corner of Dashboard, click Save and Start. BRIDGE LIVE applies your conguration changes.

VLC Media Player Configuration for Receiving an SRT Stream

You now configure VLC to receive the SRT stream you just configured on BRIDGE LIVE.

NOTE: This is not intended to be a comprehensive instruction set and may differ from

later releases of VLC. Please follow VLC documentation for complete instructions.

1. From VLC media player, go the Network configuration window.

2. In the URL eld, enter srt://<IP Address>:<Port Number>. For example, a VLC URL could look like:

srt://198.169.208.120:5050

3. Congure the SRT mode to be either Caller or Listener, whichever is opposite the BRIDGE LIVE's conguration.

4. Click Open. VLC will open a new window displaying the live stream of the SDI source that you selected in your new BRIDGE LIVE pipeline. VLC may take a brief moment to open the new window.

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Verifying BRIDGE LIVE Input Stream

Generating an External SRT Output Stream for Input Testing

Besides the BRIDGE LIVE itself, the following are examples of external devices or applications that can be used to generate an SRT stream for testing purposes:

• HELO Plus - (see https://www.aja.com/products/helo-plus)

• VLC - (see https://www.videolan.org)

• OBS - (see https://obsproject.com)

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AJA BRIDGE LIVE Operation Guide

Contents

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Chapter 2 – Installation

Chapter 3 – Operation