Ensemble Designs 4500 User Manual

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

E NSEMBLE

DESIGNS

Model 4500

ASI and SMPTE 310M

Converter and MPEG

Transport Processor

Data Pack

Revision 1.1 SW v2.2.3

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4500-1

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Contents

MODULE OVERVIEW 4

DVB-ASI and SMPTE 310M Converter and MPEG Transport Processor 4

Clock Quality and Transmission 5

The Transport Stream Hierarchy 5

Transport Stream Bit Clocks and ATSC Transmissions 6

Importance of clock quality for broadcasting 6

MAJOR FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES OF THE 4500 7

Signal Conversion 7

Stream Analysis 7

Clock Cleaner 7

Transport Stream Time Base Corrector 7

BLOCK DIAGRAM 9

INSTALLATION 11

CABLING 11

Status and Alarm Cabling 11

3RU and 1RU Backplane Diagrams 12

4500 Parameter Table 14

Front Panel Controls and Indicators 15

AVENUE PC REMOTE CONFIGURATION 16

4500 Avenue PC Menus 17

Input Menu 17

Stream Menu 18

CRC Menu 19

Program Menu 20

Process Menu 21

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Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Cong Menu 22

AVENUE TOUCH SCREEN REMOTE CONFIGURATION 23

Input Menu 24

Stream Menu 25

CRC Menu 26

Program Menu 27

Process Menu 28

Cong Menu 29

TROUBLESHOOTING 30

SOFTWARE UPDATES 30

WARRANTY AND FACTORY SERVICE 31

Warranty 31

Factory Service 31

SPECIFICATIONS 32

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4500-3

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

MODULE OVERVIEW

DVB-ASI and SMPTE 310M Converter and MPEG Transport Processor

The 4500 MPEG Transport Stream Processor processes DVB-ASI and SMPTE 310M bitstreams. It provides stream content analysis with support for Priority 1 and Priority 2 test protocols of the ETR 290 DVB measurement guidelines. As a converter, it can translate ASI to 310M or 310M to ASI. Using the reference input, the output bitstream can be synchronized to a video or 10 MHz reference signal.

The 4500 module is useful in broadcast and transmission applications. Set the output of the 4500 module to the desired signal type, either ASI or 310M. The module auto-senses what type of signal is on the input and converts as needed. Advanced conguration in the Avenue Control System allows choosing which services on the input are passed on to the output.

The built-in transport stream analyzer detects whether the input constitutes a valid signal by checking for PAT, PMT, and PID packets. In addition to the ETR 290 test protocols, you can congure tests to dene the minimum number of video and audio packets expected per second in a given service. Alarms can be generated via SNMP, Avenue PC, and contact closure outputs.

The 4500 acts as a Time Base Corrector to remove jitter and adjust transport streams to the precise, desired bit rate. The reference input to the 4500 allows the use of either analog video or a 10 MHz signal to synchronize the output of the module. This is of particular importance in broadcast applications where the quality of the symbol clock – both jitter and accuracy – bears directly on the modulation process.

Reference to the 4500 can be supplied from an Avenue 7400 or 9400 SPG with GPS Option in order to provide the ultimate clock accuracy. In this conguration, the 4500 is an ideal solution to frequency coordination for multi-transmitter systems like Single Frequency Networks (SFN) and mobile/handheld transmission services.

A CRC and Data Checksum packet can be inserted into the stream by the 4500 to provide data path integrity testing at downstream points. Monitoring of these special packets can be performed by a second 4500 or an Avenue 4450, 4455, or 7455 ASI/310 Protection Switch. Data Integrity history is carried forward through the system to facilitate fault nding. These CRC packets provide an unequivocal test of data integrity on a transmission link by transmission link basis.

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Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Clock Quality and Transmission

This section addresses the underlying capabilities of the 4500. As background for that discussion, we will take a quick look at the components of the transport stream.

The Transport Stream Hierarchy

The transport stream works as a hierarchy. At the top of the stream hierarchy is the PAT followed by PID, PMT and PCR. See the following table for more information about the components of this hierarchy.

Transport Stream Hierarchy

PAT Program Allocation Table

Goes by about every half a second; •

Shows how many programs are in the stream; •

Indicates which program it is; •

Points to the PID number or PMT for the program. •

PID Packet Identier

PID number for program 1 is 100; PID number for program 2 is 312; •

In the PID stream, there will be a PAT every half a second; •

Every half second, there will be enough packets to add up to 19.3 Mb/s. •

PMT Program Map Table

Indicates how to nd all constituent parts of the transport stream; •

Has description of the program; •

Indicates what the element count is; •

Refers to elemental streams that collectively make up the program; • elemental stream includes video, audio, closed captions, surround sound;

Indicates where to nd the PCR. •

PCR Program Clock Reference

An on-going set of packets; •

When used properly, the 4500 causes the PCR to be frequency and phase • locked all the way back to the station.

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4500-5

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Transport Stream Bit Clocks and ATSC Transmissions

Having clean, accurate, low-jitter clocks in the MPEG transport stream feeding an ATSC transmitting system is important. The 4500 oers a method to improve clock quality, thereby improving the overall performance of the transmission system.

Importance of clock quality for broadcasting

As it aects SDI signals

An SDI signal is a bitstream that contains both information (data) and the pacing (clock) needed to read it. In order to recover error-free data at the end of a cable, the clocking that is used to construct the bitstream must be stable and consistent. The eye pattern display on a digital waveform monitor can be used to verify how well a particular signal source achieves that goal. The better the clock that underlies the data, the longer a piece of cable that an SDI signal can transit without error.

When a serial clock’s frequency is unwavering and free of phase shifts and noise that would cause the clock edges to jitter, the data can be easily recovered because the dierence between the symbols (the ones and zeros in the bitstream) is clear and unambiguous.

As it aects ATSC digital transmission

There are two critical dierences between ATSC and SDI expressed in terms of restrictions in ATSC’s 8 VSB modulation.

The rst dierence is that the channel bandwidth of ATSC is severely restricted compared to an SDI signal traveling on a piece of coaxial cable. The eective bandwidth of that cable is several times greater than the fundamental bit rate being transmitted. The consequence of the bandwidth restriction is that the 8 VSB eye is much smaller than the SDI eye.

The second dierence is ATSC’s use of eight symbols (discrete amplitude levels or voltage levels) versus two for SDI. At each sampling point (clock) in the ATSC signal, the signal can take on any one of eight dierent voltage levels (symbols). The digital waveform monitor displays this as a stack of seven eyes, created by the eight discrete voltage levels possible at the sampling point.

The MPEG encoder generates the digital clock seen in the 8 VSB eye pattern. The frequency accuracy, purity, and stability of the computer grade clocks is sucient for sending data from point to point on a coaxial cable. However, these computer grade clocks are not sucient for creating a waveform as complex as 8 VSB modulation.

Placing an Avenue 4500 MPEG Stream Processor in front of the ATSC Exciter helps the transmitter present the cleanest possible digital signal.

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Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

MAJOR FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITIES OF THE 4500

Signal Conversion

The 4500 converts DVB-ASI to SMPTE 310M or SMPTE 310M to DVB-ASI. Using the reference input, the output bitstream can be synchronized to a video or 10 MHz reference signal.

Set the output of the 4500 module to the desired signal type. The module auto-senses what type of signal is on the input and converts as needed. Additionally, it will pass DVB-ASI to DVB-ASI, and SMPTE 310M to SMPTE 310M.

DVB-ASI is a worldwide standard, whereas SMPTE 310M is broadcast in North America only because it is highly specic to NTSC broadcast standards.

Stream Analysis

The idea of stream analysis in this context is similar to what the 4455 and 7455 can do, yet the capabilities of the 4500 go above and beyond those products.

The built-in transport stream analyzer detects whether the input constitutes a valid signal by checking for PAT, PMT, and PID packets. In addition to the ETR 290 test protocols, you can congure tests to dene the minimum number of video and audio packets expected per second in a given service.

Clock Cleaner

Transport Stream Time Base Corrector

There are reclocking techniques that can be used to reduce jitter in a serial bitstream. But they cannot correct any underlying frequency error, and ultimately their eectiveness is limited by the bandwidth inherent in their design.

In contrast, the Avenue 4500 overcomes underlying frequency error by separating the content from the original clock and generating a new output based upon more accurate and more stable clocks.

Although the data rate of the actual content is constantly varying in response to the compressibility of that content, the overall data rate is held constant at 19.39 Mb/s. The 4500 accomplishes this by adjusting the number of null packets (which contain no data) to keep the packet count at precisely 12,894 per second.

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4500-7

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

As a transport stream arrives at the input of the Avenue 4500, the signal is deserialized and the Data packets are saved into a buer. The Null packets are discarded.

Guided by a reference clock, Data packets are read from the buer. Null packets are inserted as needed to bring the total bit rate up to 19.39 Mb/s. The packets are then serialized, using that reference clock, as either a DVB-ASI or SMPTE 310M signal. All of the original Data is preserved, but the clocks are all new.

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4500-8

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Processed Outputs

CRC Test

Master

Reference

Ext Ref Input

Reclocked Loopback Output

DVB-ASI / SMPTE 310M Input

Status and Alarms SNMP, TCP/IP, GPI

Bit Rate

Clock Generation

CRC History

Management

Stream

Analysis

CRC

Insertion

Packet

Buer

Output

Formatting

Internal

Precision

Reference

BLOCK DIAGRAM

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4500 MPEG Stream Processor Functional Block Diagram, Portrait View

4500-9

Processed Outputs

CRC Test

Master

Reference

Ext

Ref

Input

Reclocked Loopback Output

DVB-ASI / SMPTE 310M Input

Status and Alarms

SNMP, TCP/IP, GPI

Bit Rate

Clock Generation

CRC History

Management

Stream

Analysis

CRC

Insertion

Packet

Buer

Output

Formatting

Internal

Precision

Reference

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Functional Block Diagram, Landscape View

4500 MPEG Stream Processor

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4500-10

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

INSTALLATION

Plug the 4500 module into any one of the slots in the 1RU or 3RU frame and install the plastic overlay provided onto the corresponding group of rear BNC connectors associated with the module location. Note that the plastic overlay has an optional adhesive backing for securing it to the frame. Use of the adhesive backing is only necessary if you would like the location to be permanent and is not recommended if you need to change module locations. This module may be hot-swapped (inserted or removed) without powering down or disturbing performance of the other modules in the system.

CABLING

Refer to the 1RU and 3RU backplane diagrams of the module on the following page for cabling instructions. Note that unless stated otherwise, the 1RU cabling explanations are identical to those given in the 3RU diagram.

Status and Alarm Cabling

In addition to full monitoring and access through the control system, the module provides contact closure status indications through the 15-pin D Control connector on the corresponding rear slot of the frame. These connections can drive an alarm system or other external monitoring devices including LEDs. Two override GPI Inputs can also be accessed through the connector. Pinouts for the status monitoring are given in the illustration on the next page.

Form C relay contacts provide both NO (Normally Open) and NC (Normally Closed) switching to indicate fault status of the Primary and Secondary inputs and the protection switch output. Both the NO and NC contacts are simultaneously available on the Control connector. Each output is independently strappable to provide Ground, current limited +5V (1k Ω resistor), or a Common which appears on the D connector.

The three relay contacts provide the following status reporting:

Primary Good or Failed• – indicates Primary input status as Good when NO contact is active (switched to Common).

Secondary Good or Failed• – indicates Secondary input status as Good when NO contact is active (switched to Common).

Switch Position• – indicates the position of the protect switch as either Primary or Secondary selected. The normal position corresponds to the Primary feeding the input.

An individual common is provided to each of the relays. For each of the three status relays there is a 3-position jumper on the module which congures the common signal that will be used by that relay. The choices are as follows:

COM• – uses the user-provided common signal from the Control connector.

+5• – provides a +5V signal through a 1k Ω resistor to the relay common.

Gnd• – uses ground as the relay common.

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4500-11

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Out 1

Out 4

Ref In

4500 MSP

Control

Out 2

ASI/310M In

Out 3

Loop Out

PIN FUNCTION

1

6

11

5

10

15

Control

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

GPI Out 1

GND

GPI Out 4

GPI Out 2

GPI In 1

GPI Out 3

GPI In 2

GND

GPI In 4

GPI In 3

4500 MSP

Out 2

Out 4

Out 1 Ref In

ASI/310MLoop Out

Control

Out 3

3RU and 1RU Backplane Diagrams

Out 1, Out 2, Out 3, Out 4:

Outputs 1 through 4 carry the processed signal. The output is selectable and can be either DVB-ASI at 270 Mb/s or SMPTE 310M. Set the output from the Process menu.

3RU Backplane

Loop Outut: The loop output is reclocked and follows the ASI/310M Input.

Ref In: The Reference input is used to correct the ASI and 310M symbol clock and remove jitter. The Reference Input can have two sources: an external source, or the Frame Master Reference. The reference input signal can be PAL or NTSC composite video or 10 MHz 1V P-P sine or square.

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1RU Backplane

4500-12

Using the reference input, the output bitstream can be synchronized to a video or 10 MHz reference signal.

ASI/310M In: Can be either DVBASI at 270 Mb/s or SMPTE 310M signal input. The module autosenses what type of signal is on the input and converts as needed.

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

MODULE CONFIGURATION AND CONTROL

The conguration parameters for each Avenue module must be selected after installation. This can be done remotely using one of the Avenue remote control options or locally using the module front panel controls. Each module has a REMOTE/LOCAL switch on the front edge of the circuit board which must rst be set to the desired control mode.

The conguration parameter choices for the module will dier between Remote and Local modes. In Remote mode, the choices are made through software and more selections are available. The 4500 Parameter Table on the following page summarizes and compares the various conguration parameters that can be set remotely or locally and the default/factory settings.

If you are not using a remote control option, the module parameters must be congured from the front panel switches. Parameters that have no front panel control will be set to a default value. The

Local switches are illustrated in the Front Panel Controls and Indicators section following the 4500 Parameter Table.

Avenue module parameters can be congured and controlled remotely from one or both of the remote control options, the Avenue Touch Screen or the Avenue PC Application. Once the module parameters have been set remotely, the information is stored on the module CPU. This allows the module be moved to a dierent cell in the frame at your discretion without losing the stored information. Remote conguration will override whatever the switch settings are on the front edge of the module.

For setting the parameters remotely using the Avenue PC option, refer to the Avenue PC Remote Conguration section of this document.

For setting the parameters remotely using the Avenue Touch Screen option, refer to the Avenue Touch Screen Remote Conguration section of this data pack following Avenue PC.

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4500-13

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

4500 Parameter Table

CONTROL LOCAL REMOTE DEFAULT

Ref Source None Congured Ref

Internal Input Stream

Program Sel None 1 - 100 1

Output Format ASI/310M switch:

Select ASI (left) to select ASI as the output, or 310M (right) to select 310M as the output.

CRC Insert None O

CRC Err Gen None O

Congured Ref None Master Ref

CRC PID None 4000 - 8000 4000

DVB-ASI SMPTE 310M

On - Forward On - No Fwd

CRC Error Only CSum Error Only CRC & CSum Error

External Ref

Congured Ref

DVB-ASI

O

Master Ref

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4500-14

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

DVB-ASI

310M

Remote

Local

Run

Pwr

4500

MPEG

Stream

Processor

Ref

Input

ASI/310M Genlock

On

Out

Front Panel Controls and Indicators

Each front edge indicator and switch setting of the 4500 is shown in the diagram below:

DVB-ASI green LED: ON when input is DVB-ASI. OFF when no DVB-ASI signal is

present in the input. The module auto-senses what type of signal is on the input and converts as needed.

310M green LED: ON when input is 310M. OFF when no 310M signal is

present in the input. The module auto-senses what type of signal is on the input and converts as needed.

Ref green LED: ON when Reference input is

detected and locked. OFF when no Reference input is detected.

ASI/310M switch: Select ASI (left) to select ASI as the output, or 310M (right) to select 310M as the output.

Remote/Local switch: Set to the mode you wish to use: Up for Remote mode and down for Local mode.

Run green LED: OFF A power fault or halted CPU ON A halted CPU FAST BLINK CPU Run error SLOW BLINK System OK. (If SPI

control is active from the main frame System Control Module, all Run indicators will be synchronized.)

Pwr green LED: Indicates the presence (ON) or absence (OFF) of power (+5V).

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4500-15

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

AVENUE PC REMOTE CONFIGURATION

The Avenue PC remote control status menus for the 4500 module are illustrated and explained below. Refer to the 4500 Parameter Table for a summary of available parameters that can be set remotely through the menus illustrated. For more information on using Avenue PC, refer to the Avenue PC Control Application Software data pack that came with the option.

Parameter elds that are grayed out can indicate one of the following conditions:

An option is not installed. •

The function is not active. •

The module is locked. •

The User Level set with Avenue PC is not accessible from the current User Level. •

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Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

4500 Avenue PC Menus

Input Menu

The Input menu screen shown below displays the Input Status, Reference Source and Reference Status. This is useful for verifying which signal is present in the input and which reference source is selected. The built-in transport stream analyzer detects whether the input constitutes a valid signal by checking for PAT, PMT, and PID packets.

Input Status• – Auto-detects which input signal is present. Can be either DVB-ASI at 270 Mb/s or SMPTE 310M. If there is no input signal present, this eld will show “No input.”

Ref Source• – Shows the selected Reference Source. Available selections are: Congured Ref, Internal, and Input Stream. Congured Ref means that the Ref Status eld will reect what has been selected under the Cong menu.

Internal means that the Ref Status eld shows Internal. Input Stream means that the Ref Status eld reects the signal present in the Input, either ASI

Input or SMPTE 310M Input.

Ref Status• – Displays one of the following:

No Reference, SD525 Sync, SD625 Sync, 10 MHz, ASI Input, 310M Input, Internal, Unknown.

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Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Stream Menu

The Stream menu shown below displays information about the signal stream for monitoring purposes. All the elds are read-only.

Stream Status• – Status indicators for the signal stream are Good, Not Present, and No Input.

Packet Length• – Indicates the packet length in bytes. Can be 188, 204 or 208.

PAT per Sec• – Shows how many Program Allocation Tables are present in the signal per

second.

Stream Rate• – Shows the stream rate in terms of kilobytes per second.

Null Rate• – Indicates the current rate of Null packets being inserted into the signal stream in

terms of kilobytes per second.

Null Min• and Null Max – These elds show the range of minimum and maximum Null packets in the signal stream in terms of kilobytes per second.

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Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

CRC Menu

The CRC menu shown below allows you to monitor the status of the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) data in the stream. A CRC and Data Checksum packet can be inserted into the stream by the 4500 to provide data path integrity testing at downstream points. These CRC packets test the data integrity on a transmission link by transmission link basis.

Input CRC• – Possible values are: None, Good, CRC Bad, CSum Bad, CRC/CSum Bad.

CRC ErrSec• – The CRC error rate per second.

CSum ErrSec• – The Checksum error rate per second.

Hop Count• – The number of times that the signal has gone from one 4500 to another.

For example, a 4500 module upstream may insert CRC packets which are detected by a downstream 4500 module.

UpStream CRC• – Indicates whether there has been an error in the signal upstream.

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4500-19

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Program Menu

The Program menu shown below allows you to select a program and monitor its program status, Program Map Tables per second, Program Clock References per second, video rate and audio rate.

Program Sel• – Select a program by clicking the arrows or entering a value directly in the eld. (Touch Screen: Select a program by pressing the arrows.) Available values are 1 to 100.

Program Status• – Reports the program status. Possible values are: No Input, No Stream, No PAT, No PMT, No Video, No Audio, Good.

PMT per Sec• – Reports the number of Program Map Tables detected in the signal per second.

PCR per Sec• – Reports the number of Program Clock References detected in the signal per

second.

Video Rate• – Reports the Video Rate in terms of kilobytes per second.

Audio Rate• – Reports the Audio Rate in terms of kilobytes per second.

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4500-20

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Process Menu

The Process menu allows you to select which Output Format you want (DVB-ASI or SMPTE 310M) for BNC Outputs 1 through 4 for the processed signal. You can also congure how you want to treat CRC insertion and CRC and Checksum error generation using the drop-down menus CRC Insert and CRC Error Generator. Data Integrity history is carried forward through the system to facilitate fault nding.

Output Format• – Set the output of the 4500 module to the desired signal type, either DVB-ASI or SMPTE 310M.

CRC Insert• – Available selections are: O, On - Forward, On - No Fwd.

O means that no CRC packets are inserted into the signal. On - Forward means that CRC packets are inserted into the signal and also forwarded on so

that they can be detected downstream. On - No Fwd means that CRC packets are inserted into the signal but are not forwarded on.

CRC Err Gen• – Available selections are: O, CRC Error Only, CSum Error Only, CRC & CSum Error.

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4500-21

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

Cong Menu

The Cong menu allows you to select which reference you want to use (Master Ref or External Ref). The Ref In eld reports the type of reference signal coming in. You can also select an option for the CRC PID control (from 4000 to 8000).

Congured Ref• – Select either Master Ref or External Ref.

Master Ref means that the module is taking its reference signal from the Avenue Frame itself. External Ref means that the module is taking its reference from an external source, such as an

Avenue 7400 Test Signal and Sync Pulse Generator installed in the Avenue Frame.

Ref In• – Reports the type of reference signal coming in. Possible values are: No Reference, 525 Composite, 625 Composite, 10 MHz.

CRC PID• – Use the arrow buttons to select a value from 4000 to 8000. You can also enter a number directly in the eld. This is commonly a “set and forget” type of conguration. Use it to select the PID you want to use for inserting CRCs or Checksum, replacing Null packets.

The Cong menu showing the available selections for the Congured Ref control.

The Cong menu showing the upper limit that can be selected for the CRC PID control.

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4500-22

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor

AVENUE TOUCH SCREEN REMOTE CONFIGURATION

The Avenue Touch Screen remote control status menus for this module are illustrated and explained below. Refer to the 4500 Parameter Table for a summary of available parameters that can be set remotely through the menus illustrated. For more information on using Avenue Touch Screen, refer to the Avenue Touch Screen data pack.

Parameter elds that are grayed out can indicate one of the following conditions:

An option is not installed. •

The function is not active. •

The module is locked. •

The User Level set with Avenue PC is not accessible from the current User Level. •

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4500-23

Model 4500 MPEG Stream Processor