Epiphan Networked VGA Grid User Manual

Download

Page 1

User Guide

Networked VGAGrid



Release 3.14.4

April 24, 2015

UG104-004

Page 2

Terms and Conditions

This document, the Epiphan web site, and the information contained therein, including but not limited to the text, videos and images as well as Epiphan System Inc.’s trademarks, trade names and logos are the property of Epiphan Systems Inc. and its affiliates and licensors, and are protected from unauthorized copying and dissemination by Canadian copyright law, United States copyright law, trademark law, international conventions and other intellectual property laws.

Epiphan, Epiphan Systems, Epiphan Systems Inc., and Epiphan logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epiphan Systems Inc., in certain countries. All Epiphan product names and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epiphan. All other company and product names and logos may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners in certain countries.

THE SOFTWARE LICENSE AND LIMITED WARRANTY FOR THE ACCOMPANYING PRODUCT ARE SET FORTH IN THE INFORMATION PACKET OR PRODUCT INSTALLATION SOFTWARE PACKAGE THAT SHIPPED WITH THE PRODUCT AND ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE SOFTWARE LICENSES OR LIMITED WARRANTY, CONTACT YOUR EPIPHAN REPRESENTATIVE FOR A COPY.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS AND SPECIFICATIONS REGARDING THE PRODUCTS IN THIS MANUAL ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. EPIPHAN PERIODICALLY ADDS OR UPDATES THE INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS ON ITS WEB SITE WITHOUT NOTICE. ALL STATEMENTS, INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE AT TIME OF WRITING BUT ARE PRESENTED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USERS MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR APPLICATION OF ANY PRODUCTS.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL EPIPHAN BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHER INDIRECT DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THIS PRODUCT OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT OR PROVIDED ON EPIPHAN’S WEB SITE, EVEN IF EPIPHAN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL EPIPHAN’S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THIS PRODUCT, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, EXCEED THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO EPIPHAN DURING THE MOST RECENT THREE-MONTH PERIOD IN CONNECTION WITH AMOUNTS WHICH YOU PAID FOR USING THIS PRODUCT.

INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTS, INCLUDING PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS, PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT OR THE EPIPHAN WEB SITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS”. SPECIFICALLY, BUT NOT WITHOUT LIMITATION, EPIPHAN DOES NOT WARRANT THAT: (i) THE INFORMATION IS CORRECT, ACCURATE, RELIABLE OR COMPLETE; (ii) THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED ON THE EPIPHAN WEB SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; (iii) DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR (iv) THIS WEB SITE OR THE SERVER(S) THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. EPIPHAN SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, AND CONDITIONS, EITHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, BY USAGE OF TRADE OR OTHERWISE INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, TITLE, SATISFACTORY QUALITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

For additional terms and conditions, please refer to additional sections in this document.

Page 3

Thank You forChoosingEpiphan!

At Epiphan Systems Inc. (“Epiphan”), product function and quality are our top priority. We make every effort to make sure that our products exceed your expectations.

Product Feedback

Your feedback is important! We regularly contact our customers to ensure our products meet your performance and reliability requirements. We strive to continually enhance our products to accommodate your needs. Please let us know how you think we can improve our products by emailing your suggestions to

info@epiphan.com.

Specifications

Go to the Professional Recording and StreamingSystems page of the Epiphan website to get the most recent product specifications and additional information about Epiphan's Networked VGAGrid.

Warranty

All Epiphan Systems products are provided with a 100% return to depot warranty for one year from the date of purchase.

Technical Support

Epiphan’s products are backed by our professional support team. If you are having issues with your product, please gather details about your system and contact our team by:

l Emailing support@epiphan.com

l Live chat via the link on our support site http://www.epiphan.com/support/

l Phone toll free at 1-877-599-6581 or call +1-613-599-6581

Be sure to include as much information about your problem as possible. Including:

l Problem description

l Details of the video or audio source (type, connection, resolution, refresh rate, etc.)

l Product serial number

l Product firmware version (if applicable, from web admin interface)

Page 4

What's New in Release 3.14.4?

Release 3.14.4 brings additional streaming functionality through Wowza Cloud to Networked VGAGrid.

New Streaming Functionality

Live Streaming via Wowza Cloud

Using a simple connection code, the power of Networked VGAGrid can easily be combined with the flexibility and worldwide accessibility of the Wowza Streaming Cloud to universally stream from any live video source. See

Stream your video.

Resolved issues

Along with many smaller bugs fixed in release 3.14.4, the following issues have been resolved:

l A blue line appearing on the right side of the captured image when capturing from an SDI source at

720p

l Inconsistent/inaccurate status results shown when attempting to extract a subset of a large, multi-track

file

Limitations and known issues

This section includes known issues or limitations that affect functionality or usability and ways that you can work around these limitations.

Affecting encoding

l Encoding with MPEG-4 sometimes results in poor quality.

Workaround: From the channel's stream setup, increase the video bitrate to improve picture quality.

l Video bitrate for MJPEG streams are approximately one and a half to two times the configured value.

Workaround: Verify the actual bitrate on the channel's channel status page and adjust until the correct value is achieved.

l In multiple source channel layouts, sources cannot overrun the top or left edges of the screen.

Workaround: Avoid using negative values for x and y axis coordinates.

l Encoding is unavailable if a branding logo is placed outside the frame size. (i.e. if the frame is 1024x768

and the logo is placed with an x-axis margin of 1200.) Workaround:Always keep the branding logo within the frame.

l For VGAsources only, some wide-mode resolutions are not correctly identified and result in a slightly

squished image (e.g. for a 1360x768 source, the detected resolution may be 1024x768). Workaround:This issue is related to the video output hardware. Test your source to see if it exhibits the

iii

Page 5

issue. If possible, avoid using wide-mode for VGAdisplays that exhibit this issue.

l When changing a channel's source from a local encoder source to an external encoder source, it's

possible to have an AAC audio encoding bitrate that is higher than the VGAGrid HD Encoder supports. The resulting stream or recording may be unplayable and you may encounter a warning about variable audio bitrate. Workaround: When changing from local to external sources, delete the channel rather than changing the source(s).Or, if re-using channels, ensure audio encoding bitrate forVGAGrid HD Encoders is set to no more than 160 kbps.

l Recordings made with encoded streams from VGAGrid HD Encoders, using AACaudio and AVI file

format are not playable via VLC. Workaround: Use another media player, such as Windows Media Player; choose a different audio codec; or save recordings as .MP4 or .MOV files.

l Some cameras are sensitive to EDIDs and are not captured at optimal settings. When capturing from

these cameras, the HD signal may be down-sampled by the camera to an SD signal because the Epiphan system doesn't share the EDID the camera expects for its HD signal. Workaround:ContactEpiphan customer support for a custom EDID to resolve this issue.

l Limitation: When audio is enabled on an SDIsource where video is already being captured, it takes up

to 15 seconds for the system to detect the audio. Once detected, the audio is properly synchronized with the video. Workaround: Start the SDI signal with audio enabled, or check to ensure audio is detected before streaming or recording.

Affecting streaming

l You may see video artifacts when creating multiple source layouts where sources are partially

overlapped. Workaround: Avoid overlapping sources in multiple source channels or disable the Keep Aspect Ratio parameter.

Affecting recording

l You may see video artifacts when creating multiple source layouts where sources are partially

overlapped. Workaround: Avoid overlapping sources in multiple source channels or disable the Keep Aspect Ratio parameter.

Affecting the web interface

l It is possible to name two or more channels with the same value. Use of automatic file transfer and UPnP

is unpredictable if this occurs. Workaround:Ensure each channel has a unique name.

l The automatic file upload (AFU) file queue shows a maximum of 15 files, Newer 15 and Top of the list

buttons do not work. All files are transfered, even though they are not lists. Workaround: Wait for the queue to have fewer files in the list.

Page 6

Affecting other areas

l Limitation:Pearl fails to restart after improper shutdown (power cable removed or rapid power cycle).

LED and touch screen blink. Workaround: Restart Pearl by removing the power cable for 20 seconds, then reattaching the cable and powering the system back on.

Page 7

Table Of Contents

Thank You forChoosingEpiphan! ii

Product Feedback ii Specifications ii Warranty ii Technical Support ii Resolved issues iii Limitations and known issues iii

Welcome 1

About this Guide 2

Networked VGAGrid Overview 3

What's in the Box? 4

Front and back panel view for the VGAGrid 4 VGAGrid HD Encoder overview 5

Quick Start 10

Step 1: Physical Setup and Power On 10 Step 2: Admin Discovery and Login 11 Step 3: Set a static IP address for the encoder 13 Step 4: Add the encoder as a channel 13 Step 5: Configure the Channel 15 Step 6: Testing the Stream 16 Step 7: Recording the Stream 17 What’s Next? 17

PART 1: Setup 18

1-1 Connect to the Admin Interface 19

Connect via DNS-based Service Discovery 19 Connect via the Epiphan Discovery Utility 20 Connect via Persistent Static IP Address 22

1-2 User Administration 23

Understanding User Privileges 23 Setting and Changing User Passwords 26 Removing User Passwords 27 Overcoming Lost Passwords 28 Configure LDAP 28 Changing the logged-in user 31

1-2 View system information 32

1-3 Configure Network Settings 33

Verify IP Address and MAC address 33

Page 8

Configure a Static IP Address 34 Configure DHCP 36 Tether to a Mobile Network 37 Perform Network Diagnostics 38

1-3 Configuration presets 40

Configuration presets overview 40 Configuration groups 43 Create a configuration preset 43 Apply a configuration preset 45 Apply theFactory default configuration preset 46 Update a configuration preset 47 Delete a configuration preset 48 Configurationpreset considerations 49

1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings 54

Verify IP Address and MAC address 54 Set a static IP address for the encoder 55 Configure DHCP for the encoder 57

1-5 Configure Date and Time 59

Verify Date and Time Settings 59 Change the Time Zone 60 Configure Synchronized Time (NTP, PTP v1, and RDATE) 61 Configure a Local NTP Server 62 Manually Configure the Date and Time 63 Synchronize Date and Time for Encoders and Grid 63

1-6 Restrict Viewers by IPAddress 65

Examples 66

PART 2: Sources 69

2-1 Identify sources 70

Connecting sources 70 Previewing captured stream from sources 71

2-2 Configure a video source 72

Configure the video source's frame grabber parameters 72 Change a source name 75

2-3 Configure an audio source 77

Add an audio source to a channel 77 Configure audio encoding settings 77 Set audio volume 78 View audio signal strength 79

2-4 Fine-tune source configuration 81

Video is not centered on the screen (VGAsources only) 81

vii

Page 9

Video is too bright, too dark or washed out (VGAsources only) 82 Video looks squished (VGA sources only) 82 Remove the combing effect on images 84 Force the capture card to use a specific EDID 84

PART 3: Channels 87

3-1 Create and configure channels 88

Add an encoder to the VGA Grid 88 Create a channel with a DVI or VGAsource 92 Create an S-Video channel 95 Configure picture in picture or picture with picture layout 97 Add an encoder as a source for a multi-source channel 99 Create a multi-source layout 101 Delete a channel 105 Rename a channel 105

3-2 Identify a channel 107

3-3 Fine-tune channel configuration 108

Choose a codec to maximize your stream quality 108 Codec and file format compatibility 111 Adjust video quality 112 Upscale or downscale your video image 113 Control the matte (black bars) in the video output 114 Unstretch the output video 117 Limit the frame rate 118 Adjust key frame interval 118

3-4 Customize your channel 120

Add company information to your channel 120 Add a time stamp or text overlay to your channel 121 Select the background color for your channel 123 Add a customized background to a multiple source channel 124

3-5 Preview a channel 128

Preview a channel from the Info page 128 Preview a channel from the Status page 129 Preview all channels at once 129

PART 4: Stream 131

4-1 Stream your video 132

View available video formats 132 Choose a streaming option 133 Disable (and enable) streams for viewers 136 Restrict access to streams for viewers 137 Stream content using HTTPor RTSP 139 Configure streaming ports 140 Stream content using HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) 141

viii

Page 10

Stream content using UPnP 142 Stream content using a Content Distribution Network 148 Stream content using multicast streaming 160

4-2 Samples of stream settings 165

Streaming video content 165 Streaming slide content 166

PART 5: Record 167

5-1 Recorders 168

Add a recorder 168 Rename a recorder 169 Change the channels recorded by a recorder 170 Delete a recorder 171

5-2 Create Recordings 172

Recording basics 172 Record a channel via the web interface 173 Record with a recorder via the web interface 175 Configure thetype and length of recording files 177 Close the current recording file while recording 179 Control recording with a mouse 180

5-3 File Maintenance 181

View the List of Stored Files 181 Rename Stored Files 182 Download Files Manually 183 Delete Files Manually 184 Pick Specific Tracks from a Multi-track Recorder File 185

5-4 File and recording transfer 187

Automatic file upload (AFU) overview 187 Configure the files included in AFU (part 1 of 3) 188 Enable and configure the frequency of AFU (part 2 of 3) 189 Configure AFU to an FTP server (part 2 of 3) 192 Configure AFU using RSync (part 2 of 3) 193 Configure AFU using CIFS (part 2 of 3) 194 Configure AFU to a secure FTP server (part 2 of 3) 196 Configure AFU using SCP (part 2 of 3) 198 Upload to an external USB drive 199 View the file upload log 206

5-5 Use the Local FTPServer 207

Configure the Local FTP Server 207 Downloading Files from the Local FTP Server 208

PART 6: View 211

6-1 View your video 212

Page 11

View the live broadcast and retrieve stream URLs 212 Viewing with a web browser 215 Viewing with a media player 217 Viewing with UPnP 217 Viewing with Session Announcement Protocol (SAP) 219

PART 7: Maintenance 221

7-1 Mobile / Tablet Operator Interface 222

Connect to the tablet interface 222 Confidence monitoring using the tablet interface 224 Verify disk space via the tablet interface 226 Control recording via the tablet interface 226 Switch to the full admin interface 227

7-2 Power Down and System Restart 228

Restarting the Device via the Web Interface 228 Shutting down the Device via the Web Interface 229 Shutting down the Device Manually 229

7-3 Save and Restore Device Configuration 231

Save device configuration 231 Load a saved device configuration 232

7-4 Perform Factory Reset 234

Restore Factory Configuration via the Web Interface 234 Restore Factory Configuration Manually 235

7-5 Firmware Upgrade 237

Check for Firmware Updates 237 Install firmware 238

7-6 Support 241

Download logs and "allinfo" 241 Configure Remote Support 243 Disable Remote Support 244

7-7 Storage Disk Maintenance 246

Check disk storage space 246 Schedule disk check 247 Perform disk check 247 Rebuild or replace storage disks 248 Verify RAID storage 252 Read data from removed storage disks 253

7-8 Encoding Mode 256

7-9 Control with RS-232 / Serial Port 257

Connect and configure the RS-232 cable 257

Page 12

Control the Networked VGAGrid with RS-232 258 RS-232 / Serialport command examples 261

7-10 Control with HTTPCommands 263

HTTP command syntax 263 HTTP command examples 265

7-11 ConfigurationKeys forThirdParty APIs 267

System-level Settings Keys(Read-only) 268 System-level SettingsKey (Read/Write) 268 Recording Configuration Keys 269 HTTPServer Configuration Keys 269 IP-Based Access Control Configuration Keys 270 UPnP Configuration Keys 270 SAP Configuration Keys 271 Frame Grabber Configuration Keys 271 Broadcast ConfigurationKeys 272 Channel Encoder ConfigurationKeys 272 Channel Logo Configuration Keys 274 Channel Layout Configuration Keys 275 Audio Configuration Keys 276 Stream Publishing Configuration Keys 276 RTSPAnnounce Configuration Keys (Publish Type 2) 277 RTP/UDPConfiguration Keys (Publish Type 3) 278 MPEG-TSConfiguration Keys (Publish Types 4 and 5) 278 RTMPPush Configuration Keys (Publish Type 6) 278 ContentMetadata Configuration Keys 279

7-12 Troubleshooting 280

PART 8: Releases and Features 282

Release 3.14.3 Features 282 Release 3.14.1 Features 282 Release 3.12 Features 283 Release 3.11 Features 284

Software and Documentation License 288

Environmental Information 292 FCC & CE Compliance Statement 292 Other Jurisdictional Issues 293 Submissions to Epiphan and Affiliated Servers 293 Third Parties and Links to Third-Party Web Sites 293 Miscellaneous 293 Enforcement of Terms and Conditions 294

Page 13

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Welcome

Welcome

Welcome, and thank you for buying Epiphan’s Networked VGAGrid™. This guide will help you configure your new system.

To get started, review the Networked VGAGrid Overview and What's in the Box? sections. Next, a Quick Start guide walks you through the basic steps to get a single video (and optional audio) source configured as a streamable, recordable output from the Networked VGAGrid.

Following the quick start section, a set of task-based procedures help you to tweak the system exactly how you want it. These procedures are broken into seven categories: Setup, Sources, Channels , Stream, Record, View, and Maintenance.

Page 14

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Welcome

About this Guide

Warnings are depicted as follows.

This is a warning.

Tips and Notes are depicted as follows.

This is a tip.

Throughout this guide there are situations where more than one solution will complete a task. In those cases the guide describes the simplest or most common variation first.



Page 15

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Networked VGAGrid Overview

Networked VGAGrid Overview

Epiphan's VGAGrid allows you to capture, stream, and record audio and video from a large number of VGA, DVI, HDMI, composite and component sources. It supports streaming to a large number of viewers using industry-standard codecs such as H.264 and MPEG-TS. VGAGrid is suitable for a broad range of applications.

This versatile system has a variety of options enabling you to create and configure any number of streaming channels. You can choose to stream (or record) a single channel at once or a configuration of synchronized channels with picture-in-picture or picture-with-picture multiplexing selections.

The VGAGrid comes in two styles to meet your needs:Networked and Standalone. The Standalone VGA Grid captures video and audio through internal cards. Depending on the model it has 4 or 6 DVI source ports, 4 or 6 SDI source ports and 4 or 6 S-Video source ports. The latest hardware models(with SDIcapture) also support HDMI and SDIaudio catpure. Encoding and synchronization of the stream is done locally on the Standalone VGA Grid. The Networked VGAGrid has no internal capture cards, instead it uses VGAGrid HD Encoders to capture and encode sources, sending the already encoded stream to the VGAGrid. Using external encoders means the VGAGrid has less stress on its CPU so it can handle a greater number of inputs. HDMIaudio capture and SDI video capture are not supported with Networked VGAGrid systems.

Page 16

Networked VGAGrid User Guide What's in the Box?

What's in the Box?

The Networked VGAGrid is a 4U rackmount server with dimensions 522 mm (D) × 430 mm (W) × 176 mm(H) (20.5” × 16.9” × 6.9”).

The following items are shipped with the system.

1. One Ethernet cable

2. Power cable

Image Name Description

RJ-45 Ethernet cable Connects the system to your network.

Front and back panel view for the VGAGrid

Table 1 Rackmount Networked VGAGrid Front and Back Panel Descriptions

Label Name Description

Power Button (behind door)

Unlock the door to reveal the power button. Press to turn on; press and release to turn off the system.Press and hold for 4 seconds for a forced system shutdown.

Page 17

Networked VGAGrid User Guide What's in the Box?

Label Name Description

Reset (behind door)

Power LED Indicates the system is powered on.

Hard Drive LED Blinks when the system is recording or accessing the hard drive.

USB Ports (behind door)

USB Ports For connection of external hard drives, flash drives, or control interfaces.

RJ-45 Ethernet Auto-sensing gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000 Base-T network port.

Audio In (blue) Connect amplified line in audio sources to the system.

Audio In (pink) Connect unamplified microphone audio sources to the system.

Unlock the door to reveal the reset button. Cycles the power off then on, like a computer reset button.

Unlock the door to reveal two USB ports. For connection of external hard drives, flash drives, or control interfaces.

VGAGrid HD Encoder overview

VGAGrid HD Encoders are small portable units with a size of 202 mm x 105 mm x 35 mm (7.95” x 4.13” x 1.38”). Each has one DVI (single link), one S-Video and one audio input.

The following cables come with each VGAGrid HD Encoder you purchase:

1. One VGA to DVI-I cable

2. One HDMI to DVI-I adapter

3. One DVI-I to DVI-I (single link) cable

4. One composite to S-Video cable

5. One Ethernet cable

6. One Power over Ethernet injector

Page 18

Networked VGAGrid User Guide What's in the Box?

Image Name Description

DVI-I Single Link cable

VGA to DVI cable

HDMI to DVI adapter

Composite to S-Video cable

RJ-45 Ethernet cable Connects the system to your network.

Connects a DVI source to the encoder’s DVI port (s).

Connects a VGA source to the system’s DVI port (s).

Connects an HDMI source to the system’s DVI port (s).

Connects a composite output from an analog sources to the system’s S-Video port(s).

Injects power over an ethernet cable. Used to

Power over Ethernet Injector

power the s when the network connection is not powered.

Front Panel

This section describes the front panel connectors and indicators.

Note, not all connections are used.

Page 19

Networked VGAGrid User Guide What's in the Box?

Table 2 VGAGrid HD Encoder Front Panel Descriptions

Label Name Description

Reset button Resets the Networked VGAGrid back to its factory configuration

defaults.

To ensure the device is not accidentally reset, a special sequence is required. See Perform Factory Reset.

Status LEDs Three LEDs on the front panel indicate the following Networked

VGAGrid status:

Solid blue LED indicates device is starting up.

Solid green LED indicates the device is ready to capture images.

Flashing blue LED indicates:

l a video signal test is in progress;

l system tuning, or

l Networked VGAGrid is recording received images.

Note: If the periodic disk check function occurs during start up, it may take up to 20 minutes to power up the device. During this time the blue LED is solid and the green LED flashes. See Storage Disk

Maintenance for more information.

S-video input Connect to an s-video source or a composite video source using the

adapter (included).

Page 20

Networked VGAGrid User Guide What's in the Box?

Label Name Description

DVI In Connect to one of the following sources:

l DVI input, use the DVI to DVI cable (included)

l VGA input, use the VGA to DVI adapter (included)

l HDMI input, ( for non-copy protected content), use the HDMI to

DVI adapter (included)

Audio In

Connect to an audio input source.

Back Panel

This section describes the back panel connectors and indicators.

Table 3 VGAGrid HD Encoder Back Panel Descriptions

Label Name Description

Audio Out Connect to audio equipment, such as headphones or speakers, to

confirm the audio stream is captured.

Page 21

Networked VGAGrid User Guide What's in the Box?

Label Name Description

DVI Out Connect to video equipment, such as a monitor or projector to confirm

the video stream is captured.

Connect one of the following sources:

l DVI output, use the DVI to DVI cable (included)

l VGA output, use the VGA to DVI cable (included)

Note: This connection can convert a VGA input signal to DVI output signal.

RJ-45 Attach the provided RJ-45 cable and connect to a powered Ethernet

port. The port is auto-sensing and supports negotiations at 10/100 speeds.

Power over Ethernet is used to power the VGAGrid HD Encoder. If the network connection does not provide power, use the provided power over Ethernet injector to power the device.

Page 22

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

Quick Start

This section helps you get up and running quickly with your Networked VGAGrid.

l Step 1: Physical Setup and Power On

l Step 2: Admin Discovery and Login

l Step 3: Set a static IP address for the encoder

l Step 4: Add the encoder as a channel

l Step 5: Configure the Channel

l Step 6: Testing the Stream

l Step 7: Recording the Stream

Before you get started, make sure you have:

l an HD source (i.e. a computer, a tablet, or a phone)

l the appropriate cables or adapters to convert the output to DVI (if needed)

l a VGAGrid HD Encoder and associated cables

l ideally, a network with Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

l a computer with a web browser connected to the same network (this is referred to as the “admin”

computer in the steps below)

l optionally, an audio source such as a microphone or the headphone jack from a laptop (note that the

audio signal sent over HDMI cables is not supported)

These instructions include steps for setting up and configuring audio. Skip these optional steps if you do not want to configure an audio source at this time.

Step 1: Physical Setup and Power On

Complete the following steps to prepare and power on the system. Refer to the Front and Back Panel View section for your system to locate the appropriate input ports.

1. Turn on your HD source and connect the output cable to the DVI-I port on the VGAGrid HD Encoder.

2. (optional) Attach a 3.5 mm audio cable from your audio source to the VGAGrid HD Encoder's audio

input port.

Page 23

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

3. If your network connection provides power overEthernet:

a. Connect an Ethernet cable to the VGAGrid HD Encoder. Connect the Ethernet cable to your

network.

If your network connection does not provide power over Ethernet:

a. Connect one end of the power cord into the PoE injector and the other end into a grounded AC

power source.

b. Connect an Ethernet cable from the Ethernet switch port to the RJ-45 connector (labled In) on

the PoE injector.

c. Connect an Ethernet cable from the the RJ-45 connector (labled Out) from the PoE Injector to the

RJ-45 Ethernet port on the back panel of the VGAGrid HD Encoder.

4. Wait for the VGAGrid HD Encoder to complete the power up sequence. The green power LED is

illuminated when boot up is complete.

5. Connect the Ethernet cable to the Networked VGAGrid. Connect the Ethernet cable to your network.

6. Attach the power cable to the system and plug it into a power source.

7. Unlock the front panel and press the power button to turn on the system.

8. Wait for the Networked VGAGrid to complete the power up sequence. The power LED illuminates and

the hard drive LED flashes during start up.

Step 2: Admin Discovery and Login

The Networked VGAGrid is managed from a web interface. This interface acts as a configuration utility and system monitor. The first time you access the web interface you will not know the IP address of the system.

The steps below use DNS-based service discovery (a type of zero-configuration networking) to access the system. Depending on the operating system on your admin computer you may need to install some software before you can used DNS-based discovery.

This quick start is meant for systems that support DHCP and DNS, however if your system does not support these mechanisms, refer toConnect to the Admin Interface and Connect via the Epiphan Discovery Utility for alternative discovery mechanisms. Return to step 3 below you have completed setting a static IP address for the Networked VGAGrid.

Page 24

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

Table 4 Installing Bonjour Print Services

System Action Needed

Microsoft Windows You must install Bonjour Print Services:

1. Use the following URL - http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999

2. Click Download.

3. Follow the system prompts to download and install the application.

MacOSX The Bonjour software used for service discovery is built in to the Mac OS. No special

actions needed.

Linux The Avahi implementation used for DNS-based discovery is shipped with most Linux

distributions. If necessary, check with your administrator to ensure you have the Avahi package installed.

You are able to access the system web interface on the local network by specifying its serial number in a web browser on your admin computer.

1. Find the system’s serial number. It is printed on a sticker on the back of the unit.

2. Type the following string into the address bar of your web browser on your admin computer (where

<serial> is the serial number of your Networked VGAGrid):

http://<serial>.local/admin For example: http://95dd40d5.local/admin

3. Enter the user name and password then click OK. The administrative user is ‘admin’. Initially no

password is set. To set a password follow the procedure outlined in Setting and Changing User

Passwords.

Page 25

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

4. Optionally, navigate to the Network link under the Configuration heading and note the IP address of

the system.

Step 3: Set a static IP address for the encoder

It's recommended that you use static IP addresses for any VGAGrid HD Encoders on your network. Encoders are connected to the VGAGrid by their IPaddresses. Using static IP addresses ensures that the encoders can still be located after a system relocation, power failure or other event that may change a dynamically allocatedIP address for the encoder.

If you have not already set a staticIPaddress for the VGAGrid HD Encoder:

1. Find the VGAGrid HD Encoder's serial number. It is printed on a sticker on the bottom of the unit.

2. Type the following string into the address bar of your web browser on your admin computer (where

<serial> is the serial number of your encoder):

http://<serial>.local/admin For example: http://98498.local/admin

3. Enter the user name and password then click OK. The administrative user is ‘admin’. Initially no

password is set. To set a password follow the procedure outlined in Setting and Changing User

Passwords.

4. Navigate to the Network link under the Configuration heading; the network configuration page

appears.

5. Select the radio button use static address, if not already selected.

6. Enter the desired IP Address and Network Mask.

7. Enter the Default Gateway address. If you do not have a default gateway for your network, enter the IP

address of the Networked VGAGrid that is found on the Network page in its web interface.

8. Enter the DNS Server address. If you do not have a DNS server, enter the new static IP address of the

system.

9. Click Apply to save the changes; the changes are saved and a message appears asking you to reboot.

10. Select the Maintenance link under the Configuration menu; the maintenance page appears.

11. Click the Reboot Now button near the bottom of the page.

Step 4: Add the encoder as a channel

Fresh out of the box, your Networked VGAGrid isn't aware of any VGAGrid HD Encoders on your network. The web interface is used to add each encoder as a channel to the VGAGrid.

Whether or not you chose to use a static IPaddress, the next step is to add the encoder as a channel.

Page 26

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

The serial numbers and IPaddresses for your system will not be the same as the examples shown below.

1. From the web interface, scroll to the Channels section and click Add channel; the add channel

configuration page appears.

2. Select External encoder from the Use video source drop-down; the external encoder selection page

appears. Your list should contain just the one VGAGrid HD Encoder set up in Step 1, but if it has several, like the example below, match the serial number with the serial number printed on the bottom of your encoder.

3. Copy theIP address for your VGAGrid HD Encoder from the list and paste it in the Device URL field.

4. Leave the admin password blank (this is the default) unless you assigned an admin password earlier.

5. Click Apply; your channel is added as a new channel named External [<ip address>].

6. Click Status to confirm the new name.

Page 27

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

7. Rename the channel:

a. Click on the channel name at the top of the channel configuration window. The name text

becomes red.

b. Edit the name to reflect the VGAGrid HD Encoder serial number, or the data it is capturing. The

following characters are supported: a-z; A-Z; 0-9; + (plus); - (hyphen); _ (underscore); , (comma), . (period); ~ (tilde); #(hash); [ ]; ( ). Although spaces are also supported, it is suggested you use underscores to separate words.

c. Press Enter on the keyboard. The name is updated at the top of the screen and in the list of

channels at the left side.

Step 5: Configure the Channel

Now that you have confirmed the system sees your source it is time to configure the channel.

To review and configure the channel:

1. From the web interface, scroll to the Channels section

2. Click the link for your channel; the channel expands.

3. Click Encoding for your channel

4. No need to change anything right now. Review some of the default settings. The four most useful

settings to know about are codec, frame size, frame rate and bitrate.

a. The codec is set to H.264 by default.

b. The frame size should reflect the resolution provided by your source. You can set it to something

different by typing in the fields or selecting an option from the different sizes shown. Scaling the

Page 28

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

image (making it larger, smaller, or different aspect ratio) takes some processing power, so it’s always best to leave this at the value detected by the system unless you know it is wrong or know you need to scale the size.

c. The frame rate limit is set to 5. This means the system won’t spend extra computing time to

attempt to receive more than 5 frames per second. For perspective, NTSC TV signals use 24 frames per second and most hand-drawn animations show only 12 unique frames per second. You can change this later and notice how it affects performance and quality.

d. The bitrate is set to automatic, and the system will determine the best value.

5. Click Status for your channel.

6. Notice the Stream Info section has an item named Video that reflects the four settings reviewed in prior

steps (the frame rate is specified as <resolution size>@5 for 5 frames per second). It also provides an indication of the current actual frame rate.

You may now optionally add audio to your channel:

7. Click Encoding for your channel; the Encoding page is displayed.

8. Scroll to the bottom of the Encoding and click the Enable audio checkbox.

9. Leave the default AAC format and audio bitrate.

10. Click Apply.

Step 6: Testing the Stream

The Status page contains a link to the live broadcast stream for your channel.

To preview the channel in a browser:

1. From the web interface, scroll to the Channels section.

2. Click the link for your channel.

3. Click the Status link for your channel.

Page 29

Networked VGAGrid User Guide Quick Start

4. Right-click on the Live broadcast link for your channel and select Open in a new tab or Open in a new

window.

5. The new tab or window opens with the stream displayed.

a. If the signal is not detected, reseat the DVI cable connections and try again.

Your stream setup is complete. Since most of the steps are pre-configured; you are up and running with a stream very quickly. You can share the live broadcast link with your users.

Step 7: Recording the Stream

To record the stream:

1. From the web interface, scroll to the Channels section.

2. Click Recording for your channel; the Recording page is displayed.

3. Click the red Start button; the text at the top of the screen changes to indicate the recording is starting,

then indicates the length of time since the recording started.

4. Click the black Stop button; the recorder stops.

5. Refresh the page by clicking Recording again; the page reloads and a file list appears that shows your

newly recorded stream snippet.

6. Click the file name to download and view your recording.

What’s Next?

Now that you have a source setup and ready to stream, you can fine-tune the system to your exact requirements. You can look at topics such as:

l Add an encoder to the VGA Grid

l Add an encoder as a source for a multi-source channel

l Create a multi-source layout

l Stream your video

l File and recording transfer

l User Administration

When you have completed system tuning, make sure to back up the system configuration using the procedure described in:

l Save and Restore Device Configuration

Refer to the table of contents for a complete list of the topics covered.

Page 30

Networked VGAGrid User Guide PART 1: Setup

PART 1: Setup

If you followed through the quick start guide, you already have a basic configuration and possibly a recording of an input. Before you tweak the channel or configure more, this part of the manual helps you to get your Networked VGAGrid properly configured for your network.

Topics covered:

l Connect to the Admin Interface

l User Administration

l View system information

l Configure Network Settings

l Configure Encoder Network Settings

l Configure Date and Time

l Configuration presets

l Restrict Viewers by IPAddress

Page 31

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-1 Connect to the Admin Interface

1-1

The Networked VGAGrid is managed from a web interface. If you know the IP address of the system you may type it into the address bar of your web browser.

This section covers two system discovery methods that work with networks that support Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and a method that works for networks that do not support DHCP.

For networks with DHCP use one of the following procedures:

For networks without DHCP, use the following procedure:

Connect to the Admin Interface

http://<IP Address of the Networked VGAGrid>/admin

l Connect via DNS-based Service Discovery

l Connect via the Epiphan Discovery Utility

l Connect via Persistent Static IP Address

You can also connect to a reduced Operator tablet interface. See Connect to the tablet interface

Connect via DNS-based Service Discovery

The Networked VGAGrid uses DNS-based messages to advertise details about itself, including its domain name. With a compatible utility installed on your computer, you can access the system simply by typing its serial number and the suffix “.local” into the address bar of your browser.

To ensure you have compatible software, refer to the following table.

Table 5 Installing Bonjour Print Services

System Action Needed

Microsoft Windows You must install Bonjour Print Services:

1. Use the following URL - http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999

2. Click Download.

3. Follow the system prompts to download and install the application.

MacOSX The Bonjour software used for service discovery is built into the Mac OS. No special

actions are needed.

Page 32

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-1 Connect to the Admin Interface

System Action Needed

Linux The Avahi implementation used for DNS-based discovery is shipped with most Linux

distributions. If necessary, check with your administrator to ensure you have the Avahi package installed.

To access the Networked VGAGrid's web interface via DNS service discovery:

1. Find the system’s serial number. It is printed on a sticker on the back of the system.

2. Type the following string into the address bar of your web browser on your admin computer (where

<serial> is the serial number of your Networked VGAGrid):

http://<serial>.local/admin For example: http://95dd40d5.local/admin

3. Enter the user name and password then click OK. The administrative user is ‘admin’. Initially no

password is set. To set a password follow the procedure outlined in Setting and Changing User

Passwords.

4. Optionally, navigate to the Network link under the Configuration heading and note the IP address of

the system.

Connect via the Epiphan Discovery Utility

Epiphan provides a utility for discovering Epiphan systems on your network. The Epiphan network discovery utility is a 32-bit Windows executable that works on most 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems. Download and install the utility via this link: http://www.epiphan.com/downloads/NetworkDiscovery.exe.

To access the Networked VGAGrid's web interface via the Epiphan discovery utility:

Page 33

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-1 Connect to the Admin Interface

1. Launch the discovery utility.

2. Click Search to find all the Epiphan systems on the network; a list similar to the following appears.

3. If more than one system appears, select the one you wish to configure by matching the serial number

listed with the serial number marked on the back of the system.

4. Optionally, note the IP Address shown in the stream properties. Use this for quicker access to the

system on future configuration sessions.

5. Click the Web config button; your browser will open and point to the web interface page.

http://<IP Address for Networked VGAGrid>/admin

6. Enter the user name and password then click OK. The administrative user is ‘admin’. Initially no

password is set. To set a password follow the procedure outlined in User Administration.

Page 34

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-1 Connect to the Admin Interface

Connect via Persistent Static IP Address

This section discusses how to directly connect to the Networked VGAGrid using the factory default persistent network settings. Use this method if your network does not have a DHCP server or if you prefer to connect directly to the system for initial configuration.

To perform this procedure you will need a workstation computer for which you are able to modify network settings.

The Networked VGAGrid is pre-configured with the following static address defaults:

l IP Address: 192.168.255.250 l Netmask: 255.255.255.252 l User Name: admin l Password: your admin password (by default set to no password)

To access the Networked VGAGrid's web interface via the persistent static IP address:

1. Establish an Ethernet connection between the Networked VGAGrid and the workstation by one of the

following methods:

a. Connect the system to a local Ethernet network shared with the workstation.

b. Connect the system directly to the workstation’s Ethernet port using either a regular or a

crossover Ethernet cable.

2. Record the network settings of the workstation being used to connect to the Networked VGAGrid so

that they can be restored later.

3. Temporarily change the network configuration on the workstation to the following:

a. Use Static IP assignment

b. IP address: 192.168.255.249

c. Subnet mask: 255.255.255.252

4. Start a web browser on the workstation and browse to: http://192.168.255.250/admin/

5. Log in as the administrator user with the user name admin and the admin password (by default there is

no password); the web interface page opens.

6. Click the Networking link in the Configuration menu.

7. Select the radio button to use a static address and configure the system with a static IP address and

network settings relevant to the network being used. For specific details about the settings presented, see Configure Network Settings.

8. Restore the previously saved network configurations on the workstation.

Page 35

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

1-2

The Networked VGAGrid has three configured users:

Each VGAGrid HD Encoder has the same three users. The user accounts are not connected and password changes must be made to each device in the system individually.

By default, none of these users have passwords. For security purposes you should add passwords to the admin and operator accounts.

This section describes the following user administration topics:

User Administration

l admin

l operator

l viewer

l Understanding User Privileges

l Setting and Changing User Passwords

l Removing User Passwords

l Overcoming Lost Passwords

l Configure LDAP

l Changing the logged-in user

Understanding User Privileges

Networked VGAGrid's three user accounts are admin, operator and viewer. The user account names cannot be changed and the accounts cannot be disabled. By default, none of the accounts have passwords.

Admin

The admin account is the main operator used for all system configuration. This user has access to all options in the web interface.

Operator

The operator account is a subclass of the admin account. The operator can log in and view all configuration items but may only make changes to a small number of options. This account is intended for an operator to start and stop recordings, download recordings, or perform network diagnostics.

Page 36

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

Viewer

The viewer account is for all end-users who are permitted to view the streamed channels. By default, when there is no password, users are not prompted for a username and password when viewing a channel. The viewer username and password prompt appears only when there is a viewer password set.

In addition to the global viewer account, each channel can set a viewer password that overrides the global value. See Restrict access to streams for viewers.

Current User

When logged in to the web interface, the current username is displayed at the top right corner of the screen.

User Privileges

The following table outlines the privileges for each user:

Table 6 User Privileges in the Web Interface

Action or Menu Option viewer operator admin

View channel output

Channel Operations

View Channel Configuration 

Rename a Channel  

Configure Stream Channel  

Configure Stream Sources  

Publish a Stream  

Configure Branding for a Channel  

Start the Stream Recorder 

Stop the Stream Recorder 

ü ü ü

ü ü

View Recorded FilesList 

Download RecordedFiles 

ü ü

Page 37

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

Action or Menu Option viewer operator admin

Delete RecordedFiles 

Source Operations

View Source Configuration 

Rename Source  

Configure Source 

View Source Snapshot 

SystemConfiguration Operations

View System Configuration 

Configure Automatic File Upload  

Select External USBDrive Behavior  

Configure FTPServer  

Configure UPnP Sharing  

Configure Network Address  

ü ü

Configure USBTethering  

Perform NetworkDiagnostics 

Configure Date andTime preferences  

Set or Change User Passwords  

Configure the Touch Screen  

Configure SerialPort Flow Control  

Upload Branding Images  

Upload Branding Templates  

Select BrandingTemplate  

Enable Remote Support  

Backup Device Configuration  

Restore DeviceConfiguration  

ü ü

Page 38

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

Action or Menu Option viewer operator admin

RestoreFactoryConfiguration  

Reboot Device (via Web Interface)  

Shutdown Device (via Web Interface)  

Configure Time Until Next DiskCheck  

Perform DiskCheck  

View DiskInformation 

Rebuild/Clean Storage Disks  

Upgrade Firmware  

View System Information 

ü ü

Setting and Changing User Passwords

By default, admin, operator and viewer have no assigned passwords. Both the admin and the operator user have access to the web admin interface, so you should always set a password for both admin and operator accounts. Refer to your system administrator for your organization’s specific password requirements.

In addition to setting global passwords for viewers, you can also set access passwords and IPrestrictions on a per-channel basis from the channel's Streaming page. See Restrict access to streams for viewersRestrict

Viewers by IPAddress.

Passwords are case sensitive and can use all alpha-numeric keys in the ASCII range. Your password can be up to 255 characters long, but should not include any spaces.

Setting a user’s password causes the user to be logged out. Be ready to log back in with the new admin password or have operators and viewers log in with the appropriate new password. Viewers may need to refresh their browser window or press play in their media player.

If you lose the admin password, refer to the section Overcoming Lost Passwords.

To set a user password:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

Page 39

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

3. Select the Access passwords link in the Configuration menu; the password configuration page opens.

4. Highlight and delete the current password for your selected user (the password is currently masked as

dots).

For security reasons, the current password appears as eight dots regardless of password length, and even if there is no password set.

5. Highlight and delete the confirmation password for the selected user.

6. Select the user’s password field and type a new password for the user.

The new password must have between 1-255 alpha-numeric characters or special characters with no spaces. Passwords are case sensitive.

7. Select the user’s password confirmation field and confirm the new password.

8. Click Apply.

9. If you were logged in as the user whose password you just changed, you are logged out and must log

back in with the new password. If you added or changed the viewer’s password, all viewer’s stream will pause until they log in with the new password.

If desired, you may specify multiple account passwords on the same page before clicking Apply.

Removing User Passwords

If you want to remove passwords for one or more user accounts, you may do so via the web interface. If you don’t remember the admin password, refer to the section Overcoming Lost Passwords.

Note that viewer passwords can be set on a per-channel basis.

Clearing a user’s password will cause that user to be logged out. Be ready to log back in with the new admin password. If viewers are watching the broadcast when the viewer password is cleared they will be logged out. Viewers may need to refresh their browser window or press play in their media player to trigger the login prompt.

To clear a user’s password:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

Page 40

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

3. Select the Access passwords link in the Configuration menu; the password configuration page opens.

4. Highlight and delete the current password for your selected user (the password is currently masked as

dots).

For security purposes, the current password appears as eight dots regardless of password length, and even if there is no password set.

5. Highlight and delete the confirmation password for the selected user.

6. Click Apply.

7. If you were logged in as the user whose password you just cleared, you are logged out and must log

back in without a password. If you cleared the viewer’s password, all viewers’ stream will pause until they log in without a password.

To clear a user’s password on a specific channel:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Click the Streaming link for the channel; the channel's Streaming configuration page opens.

4. From the Access control section do one of the two following things:

a. clear the viewer password field; or

b. select Use global settings from the access control drop down.

5. Click Apply.

Overcoming Lost Passwords

If you have lost the password for the operator or viewer account, you can log in to the web interface as admin and reset the password using the procedure described in Setting and Changing User Passwords.

If you have lost the admin password and you have remote support enabled on the system, you can contact Epiphan support to request a remote password change. See Support. If remote support is disabled, you will need to return the system toEpiphan for password recovery. Contact Epiphan support to discuss this option.

If you have lost the admin password for the VGAGrid HD Encoder you will need to reset the system to factory defaults, which resets to the default blank admin password. See Perform Factory Reset.

Configure LDAP

You can use the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for authentication into the system. Specify user roles by using group DNs for users who log in as the administrator, operator, or as a viewer.

Page 41

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

The system has only one admin user and one operator: LDAP users log in as either the admin or operator, they do not have their own private profiles.

When enabled, LDAP authentication is an alternative to the regular system usernames and passwords. You may still login as admin, operator or viewer using the passwords for those accounts. Furthermore, any LDAPusers with the name admin, operator or viewer are ignored.The local accounts are used instead.

For security reasons, you should configure passwords for the local accounts. See Setting and Changing User Passwords.

These instructions assume you have a pre-configured LDAP server. The server must support anonymous binding or have a special bind account with search access priveleges. (Note that Active Directory does not support anonymous binding.)

LDAP referrals, restrictions and failovers are not supported.

To configure LDAPauthentication for your Networked VGAGrid:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Access passwords link in the Configuration menu; the password configuration page opens.

4. Scroll to the LDAPauthentication section.

5. Click the Enable LDAPauthentication checkbox to enable LDAPauthentication (or uncheck to disable).

6. Specify the server IPaddress and (optional) port for your LDAPserver(i.e. 192.168.1.101:389) in the

Server address[:port] field.

Page 42

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

7. Use the Connection encryption drop-down to specify the type of encryption, if any used by your LDAP

server.

Connection encryption

No Encryption No encryption is used to connect to the LDAP server. The default port is 389.

SSL SSL encryption is used to connect to the LDAP server. The default port is 636.

TLS/STARTTLS The connection is initially unencrypted then upgraded to TLS encryption is used.

8. Specify the fully qualified DN and password for LDAPbind in the BindDN and Bind password fields.

(The password masked as dots on the screen.) These fields are only needed if your LDAPserver does not support anonymous binding.

9. In Base DN, specify the baseObject in which to search for entries. The system will search this object and

the whole subtree starting at the base DN.

10. By default the search attribute is uid, which is suitable for a unix environment. Specify a different value in

the Search attribute field, if needed. For Active Directory environments, specify userPrincipalName. The value of this attribute must be unique in the BaseDN.

11. In the Administrators (group DN) field, specify the distinguished name of the group users must be part

of to be logged in as the administrator. Users must have the member or unqueMember attribute for the specified group to be granted Administrator access. If left blank, LDAP is not supported for Administrators(but can still be used for Operators and Viewers).

Description/Default port used

The default port is 389.

12. In the Operators (group DN) field, specify the distinguished name of the group users must be part of to

be logged in as the operator. Users must have the member or unqueMember attribute for the specified group to be granted Operator access. If left blank, LDAP is not supported for Operators (but can still be used for Administrators and Viewers).

13. In the Viewers (group DN) field, specify the distinguished name of the group users must be part of to

be logged in as a viewer. Users must have the member or unqueMember attribute for the specified group to be granted Viewer access. If left blank, LDAP is not supported for Viewers (but can still be used for Administrators and Operators).

14. Click Apply.

When a user of the LDAPserver visits next visits the admin or viewer page for the system, the system prompts for use the username and password. For ActiveDirectory servers, the user needs to enter his the fully qualified username(i.e. username@domainname) in addition to his LDAPpassword.

Users are required to authenticate once to the system and one time per channel they view. Therefore users see a prompt to log in to the system (the system name is shown) and a second time to log in to the channel (the channel name is shown).

Page 43

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

In one case, LDAPreplaces the local viewer account instead of working side-by-side with it.

When LDAPis enabled and the viewer account has no password (either there is no global viewer password or the channel overrides the global password with a blank password), the viewer must authentication withLDAP, he may not alternatively use the viewer account with a blank password.

Changing the logged-in user

When you log in to the web interface as admin or operator, your browser remembers this configuration and automatically logs you in as the same user when you go back to the site.

Sometimes you need to change from operator to admin, or vice versa.

To change the logged-in user:

1. Exit your browser completely, open an incognito/private window in your browser, or open a different

browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Safari are different browsers).

2. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. SeeConnect to the Admin

Interface.

3. You are prompted for a username and password.

Page 44

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 View system information

1-2

The system information page provides a great deal of useful information about your Networked VGAGrid. Use the Info link from the Configuration menu to view your current firmware level, system hardware version(if available) and currently configured channels.

To view system information:

View system information

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, scroll to the Configuration menu option.

4. Click Info; the system information page opens.

3. Use the information displayed to get an overview of your system, troubleshoot problems or view

streams for configured channels.

Page 45

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

1-3

By default the Networked VGAGrid uses DHCP to obtain an IP Address via an Ethernet-based network. If you want to change the network settings, or if you’re having network-related issues, this section covers the following related topics:

For VGAGrid HD Encoder network settings, see Configure Encoder Network Settings.

Configure Network Settings

l Verify IP Address and MAC address

l Configure a Static IP Address

l Configure DHCP

l Tether to a Mobile Network

l Perform Network Diagnostics

Verify IP Address and MAC address

The web interface shows you the system’s MAC address and current IP Address via the Network configuration page.

To view settings on network configuration page:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Network link in the Configuration menu; the network configuration page opens.

4. Note the MAC address and Current IP address listed at the top of the page.

Page 46

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

Table 7 Network InformationFields

Label Description/Options

MACAddress A media access control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier for the

network interface. The value is read-only and cannot be changed. You may need to share this value with your system administrator.

Current IPAddress Reflects the current internet protocol address (IP address) of the system. This

value is either obtained from the DHCP server (if using DHCP) or is the configured static IP address. The Networked VGAGrid supports IPv4 addresses. It does not support IPv6 addresses.

Configure a Static IP Address

Your network administrator may require you to use a static IP address for your Networked VGAGrid.

To configure a static IP address:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Network link in the Configuration menu; the network configuration page opens.

4. Select the radio button use static address, if not already selected.

5. Enter the desired IP Address and Network Mask.

Only IPv4 addresses are supported.

Page 47

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

6. Enter the Default Gateway address. If you do not have a default gateway for your network, enter the

same static IP address as in the previous step.

The default gateway cannot be left blank. If no default gateway is specified, unexpected behavior occurs.

7. Enter the DNS Server address. If you do not have a DNS server, enter the new static IP address of the

system.

8. Change the MTU Size value only if needed. See the table below for information on maximum

transmission unit (MTU) values.

9. Click Apply to save the changes; the changes are saved and a message appears asking you to reboot.

10. Select the Maintenance link under the Configuration menu; the maintenance page appears.

11. Click the Reboot Now button near the bottom of the page.

12. Wait for the system to reboot.

13. Open the Web interface using the new IP address.

14. Log as admin and reload the Networking page to verify all changes were applied.

The following table describes applicable fields when setting a static IP address.

Table 8 Static IPAddress Fields

Label Description/Options

Use DHCP Select this radio button to dynamically obtain an IP address at boot up.

Use static address Select this radio button to use the configured static IP address.

IP Address The internet protocol address (IP Address) to assign. This value is may be obtained

from your system administrator. The Networked VGAGrid supports IPv4 addresses. It does not support IPv6 addresses.

Network Mask Also called the subnet mask, this value denotes a range of IP addresses. This value may

be obtained from your system administrator, determined from another computer on the same subnet, or calculated using an online subnet calculator.

Page 48

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

Label Description/Options

Default Gateway The network node that serves as an access point to the rest of the network. This value

cannot be blank unless you are using DCHP. Specify the system’s IP address if you don’t have a default gateway on your network.

DNS Server The domain name system server (DNS server) translates human-readable hostnames

into corresponding IP addresses. Specify the system’s IP address if you don’t have a DNSserver on your network. This value cannot be blank unless you are using DHCP.

MTU Size The maximum transmission unit (MTU) specifies the maximum packet size for transfer

on the network. The default value is 1500, which is the largest value allowed by Ethernet at the network layer. It’s best if all nodes in your network use the same value, so only change this value if you know other nodes use a different value.



Configure DHCP

Occasionally, such as when moving your system to a new network, your Networked VGAGrid must switch from static IP address allocation to dynamic allocation via DHCP. You can accomplish this three ways:

l Restore factory settings, clearing all your custom settings. See Perform Factory Reset.

l Load a configuration file that uses DHCP networking. See Load a saved device configuration.

l Apply a configuration preset that usesDHCP networking. See Apply a configuration preset .

l Change the network settings. See the procedure below.

To configure use of DHCP for networking:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Network link in the Configuration menu; the network configuration page opens.

4. Select the radio button use DHCP, if not already selected.

5. Change the MTU Size value only if needed. See the table below for information on maximum

transmission unit (MTU) values.

6. Click Apply to save the changes; the changes are saved and a message appears asking you to reboot.

Page 49

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

7. Select the Maintenance link under the Configuration menu; the maintenance page appears.

8. Click the Reboot Now button near the bottom of the page.

9. Wait for the system to reboot.

10. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. SeeConnect to the Admin

Interface.

11. Log as admin and reload the Networking page to verify all changes were applied.

The following table describes the fields applicable when configuring DHCP on the Networked VGAGrid.

Table 9 DHCP Fields

Label Description/Options

Use DHCP Select this radio button to dynamically obtain an IP address at boot up.

Use static address

MTU Size The maximum transmission unit (MTU) specifies the maximum packet size for transfer on

Use static address Select this radio button to use the configured static IP address.

the network. The default value is 1500, which is the largest value allowed by Ethernet at the network layer. It’s best if all nodes in your network use the same value, so only change this value if you know other nodes use a different value.

Tether to a Mobile Network

The Networked VGAGrid supports tethering to a mobile device via USB. Tethered networking can work sideby-side with Ethernet routing and either networking system can be a back-up for the other.

When the system falls over to the backup network type (i.e. from Ethernet to mobile, or vice versa) all streaming sessions with clients or servers directly connected to the system are closed and the clients will need to reconnect. You may need to provide a new stream URL(containing the new IPaddress) to your viewers. See the channel information page to get the new stream URL.

By contrast, actively published streams are closed and reconnected via the secondary network (mobile or Ethernet) automatically, permitted the required publishing server is accessible from the new network.

Page 50

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

To configure tethering to a mobile network:

1. Configure the mobile device to allow tethering via USB.

2. Connect the mobile device to the Networked VGAGrid with a USB cable.

3. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. SeeConnect to the Admin

Interface.

4. Login as admin.

5. Select the Network link in the Configuration menu; the network configuration page opens.

6. Click the drop-down box next to Use phone/tablet connection in the USB phone/tablet section; the

following choices appear:

Table 10 Mobile Tethering Options

Label Description/Options

Disabled Specifies that no USB tethering is permitted.

No tethering Specifies that USB tethering is available for connecting a mobile device as a

configuration utility (i.e. using the web browser), but no mobile data is used.

Prefer ethernet When chosen, the system tries to use the Ethernet network first. It switches to use

the mobile network (tethering) when the Ethernet network is no longer available. To prevent viewer interruptions, mobile data will continue to be used until the mobile network is down or publishing is restarted.

Prefer tethering

7. Select your choice based on the table above.

8. Click Apply.

When chosen, the system tries to use the mobile network (tethering) first. It switches to use Ethernet (hard-wired) when the mobile network is no longer available. To prevent viewer interruptions, Ethernet data will continue to be used until the Ethernet network is down or publishing is restarted.

Select this setting if you only have a mobile network.

Perform Network Diagnostics

If your Networked VGAGrid has network trouble, you can perform basic network troubleshooting tasks from the Network configuration page. In addition to providing the system’s IP address and MAC address to your network administrator (See Verify IP Address and MAC address), you can also ping an IP address or use traceroute to determine the path taken to an address.

Note: Not all networks support ping and traceroute.

Page 51

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

To ping or traceroute an IP address:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Network link in the Configuration menu; the network configuration page opens.

4. Click ping or traceroute; an animation appears to the left of the address to indicate processing is

underway.

5. Upon completion of the command, read the results from the console-like display is shown below the

Network Diagnostics setting.



Page 52

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

1-3

In situations where you have changing configuration requirements for your Networked VGAGrid, you can use configurationpresets to quickly and easily apply sets of pre-configured settings.

For an overview of configuration presets, see:

This section also covers the following related topics:

There are also some very important configuration preset considerations to review:

Configuration presets

l Configuration presets overview

l Configuration groups

l Create a configuration preset

l Apply a configuration preset

l Apply theFactory default configuration preset

l Update a configuration preset

l Delete a configuration preset

l Configurationpreset considerations

Configuration presets overview

Configuration presets make it easy to use your Networked VGAGrid in a variety of situations without needing to reconfigure it. Configuration presets divide the system's settings into the following configuration groups. (For a complete list of what is included in each group see Configuration groups.)

System Sources Automatic file uploads

Network Channels

Using the Configuration presets section of the Maintenance page, you can create configuration presets using any number and combination of the configuration groups. Mix and match the settings groups saved together to create sets of configuration settings needed for each situation. You also always have a special Factory default configuration preset (which cannot be erased) to help you return to factory configuration without destructively erasing files saved to the system hard drive. (See Apply theFactory default configuration preset

Page 53

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

It's important to note that configuration presets are applied over existing settings. They affect only the settings groups included in the preset, all other settings are unaffected. Read the Configurationpreset considerations section carefully to understand caveats around using configuration presets.

Example of configuration presets in action

A recording and streaming company brings Networked VGAGrid to a conference as part of a portable rack. Each conference session needs to be streamed and recorded with a picture in picture layout that includes identifying information about the presenter in the metadata and the background image for the stream. Automatic file upload is needed to make sure the files are uploaded right after each session is complete.

The company could bring Networked VGAGrid in a factory configured state and get it ready between each session, but this requires a trained operator and doesn't allow much time to get multiple operations completed.

Instead, the company could connect the system to their own corporate network before the show, upload the required backgrounds, and create channel configuration presets for each conference track. They can also create network and automatic file upload (AFU) presets for each of the home and remote locations. Once at the conference, the only changes necessary are to apply the network and AFU preset upon arrival, and the channel configuration presets between sessions.

Note: channel configuration presets include links to background files used, but do not include the files themselves see Branding content

Internal network and AFU preset

The company uses this preset when configuring and testing from their corporate network. It uses a static IP address on their corporate network and AFU that uses ftp to upload to a local ftp server.

Conference network and AFUpreset

The company applies this preset to the Networked VGAGrid when they arrive at the conference. It changes only the network and AFU settings (using a conference-specific IP address and secure file transfer to an ftp server).

When applying this configuration preset, all other information including passwords, date/time, channels and source configurations, remains the same.

Page 54

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Conference session 1 preset

The company applies this preset from the corporate office when testing and at the conference prior to conference session 1 starting. All other preset groups remain unchanged, this preset only affects the channel (s) and their configuration. This preset includes a channel with a link to the correct background filename (the background file was uploaded during pre-show configuration at the corporate office) and has metadata specifying the speaker's name.

 

Conference session 2 preset

The company applies this preset from the corporate office when testing and at the conference prior to conference session 2 starting. After applying this preset the files recorded from session 1 remain present on the system and continue to upload via sftp (if not yet complete), but the channels reflect the session 2 background file name and presenter name.

 

Page 55

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Configuration presets are a versatile tool to help you use Networked VGAGrid in a variety of changing conditions. Try it yourself and see!

Configuration groups

The following table describes what settings are saved with each configuration group.

Table 11 Configuration group definitions

Group Name Symbol Settings included in the configuration group

Date and time settings, serial port settings, remote support settings, custom

System

Network Network settings and tethering configuration.

disk check schedule, access passwords, deny/allow lists and LDAPconfiguration settings

Sources All audio and video source configuration settings.

All channel configuration data and current recording state, all recorder

Channels

AFU Automatic file upload type and parameters.

Note that branding content, recorded files and SFTP/SCP private keys are not included in any configuration preset.

Updloaded EDID configurations are applied immediately to the system and remain the norm for the source until a new EDID is uploaded. Configuration presets do not affect EDIDs.

configuration data and current recording state, individual and global UPnP settings.

Create a configuration preset

You can create as many configuration presets as you need. The system keeps track of which configuration groups are part of the preset and you provide a name that lets you know the significance of the preset.

Page 56

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Note that configuration presets that include network or system settings require a system reboot when applied.

To create a configuration preset:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Maintenance link in the Configuration menu; the maintenance page opens.

4. Scroll to the Configuration presets section.

5. Type a description for your preset in the Name field.

6. Ensure only the desired configuration groups are selected from the Sections group.

7. Click Save; your configuration preset appears in the list.

Page 57

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Apply a configuration preset

When you apply a configuration preset, the system settings for all included configuration groups are updated. Other settings on the system are not affected. For example if you apply a preset that includes the configuration groups channnels and automatic file upload, your network settings, passwords, time server, source configurations, etc are not modified. Similarly if you apply a configuration preset that has only network settings included, only the network settings change.

If you apply a preset that has the network or system configuration group, a reboot is required.

You can verify which configuration groups are included in a preset by looking at the list to the right of the configuration preset name. The term 'all' means all groups are included. Otherwise groups are listed individually.

You may apply multiple presets one after another. If you apply two (or more) configuration presets that include a particular configuration group, the settings (for that group) from the last applied preset are the active settings. In short, last in wins.

To apply a configuration preset:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Maintenance link in the Configuration menu; the maintenance page opens.

4. Scroll to the Configuration presets section.

5. Click Apply next to the configuration preset you wish to apply.

6. The system asks for confirmation before proceeding.

Page 58

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

If the configuration preset includes the network or system configuration groups, a reboot is necessary.

7. ClickOK to apply the configuration preset; the configuration preset is applied.

8. The system reboots if needed.

Apply theFactory default configuration preset

Your Networked VGAGrid comes with a special factory default configuation preset.This configuration preset cannot be erased and is always presented at the top of the configuration presets list. It contains all possible configuration settings groups.

Using the Factory default configuration setting is similar to using the Factory reset method(see Perform

Factory Reset with a few important differences.

In short, the Factory default configuration preset is less destructive than Factory reset. This table describes the exact differences.

Table 12 Factory default configuration preset vs Factory reset



Deletes all created channels

Deletes all recorded files in channels

Deletes all created recorders

Deletes all recorded files in recorders

Resets network configuration

Resets touch screen configuration

Resets user passwords

Factory default

configuration preset

ü ü

Factory reset function

Deletes all created configuration presets

Page 59

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets



Deletes all branding files

Resets all Source settings

Deletes all Automatic file upload settings

To apply the factory default configuratin preset, follow the instructions in Apply a configuration preset and select the Factory default preset. A reboot is required.

Factory default

configuration preset

ü ü

Factory reset function

Update a configuration preset

If you need to update a configuration preset to include different configuration groups, or simply new settings for the same groups, you can do so easily via the web interface.

To update a configuration preset:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Maintenance link in the Configuration menu; the maintenance page opens.

4. Scroll to the Configuration presets section.

5. Find the preset you wish to change from the presets list.

6. Copy the name of the preset into the Name field.

Page 60

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

7. Selected the desired configuration group(s) from the Sections group.

8. Click Save; a confirmation dialog asks you to confirm you want to overwrite the configuration preset.

9. Click OK; your configuration preset is updated in the list.

Delete a configuration preset

You may want to trim the list of configuration presets to only those that are needed for your ongoing needs. You can delete all configuration presets at once by doing a factory reset, or you can delete individual configuration presets from theMaintenance page.

To delete a configuration preset:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Maintenance link in the Configuration menu; the maintenance page opens.

4. Scroll to the Configuration presets section.

Page 61

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

5. Click delete (x) next to Apply for the configuration preset; a confirmation message appears.

6. Click OKto confirm you want to delete the preset; the preset is deleted.

Configurationpreset considerations

Configuration presets are groups of settings applied to the system, leaving other settings intact. The following considerations will help you get the most from your configuration presets.

Channel and recorder index number behavior

Each channel and recorder has an index number. The first channel created on a system is channel 1, subsequently channel 2, 3, 4, etc. Recorders are also created starting at index 1 with numbers incrementing as new recorders are created. The channel (or recorder) index number is found to the left of the channel or recorder name in the web interface:

Page 62

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Configuration presets that contain the channels configuration group specify the channels in the preset by their index number. This means if you have channels 1, 2, 3 and 4 when you save your preset, applying that preset will overwrite the configuration of your current channels with indexes 1, 2, 3 and 4. If prior to applying that preset you also had channels with indexes 5 and 6, the configuration settings for those two channels are when the preset is applied(because the preset only has 4 channels).

There are three areas where channel (and recorder) index numbers affect what happens when applying configuration presets. Read Recording StateRecorded files (in channels and recorders) and Deleting channels for more information.

Recording State

The Configuration groups section of this chapter shows that each channel and recorder's recording state is included in the channels configuration group. This means that if a channel (or recorder) is recording at the time you create a configuration preset, it will immediately start recording when you apply that preset. Similarly, if a configuration preset is saved when channels or recorders are not recording, those channels and recorders will not be recording when the preset is applied (this means a channel or recorder may stop recording as a result of applying the preset).

For example, when applying a preset with channel 3 set to record:

l If channel 3 exists prior to applying the preset and is already recording, the file will continue recording

uninterrrupted unless the recording file type is differentin the preset (in which case a new file is started).

l If channel 3 exists prior to applying the preset and is not already recording, it immediately begins

recording.

l If no channel with index 3 exists prior to applying the preset, the channel is created and it immediately

begins recording.

Recorded files (in channels and recorders)

Channels and recorders keep a list of files recorded in theirRecordings section of the web interface. These files remain on the system even if the channel or recorder configuration is changed or removed as a result of applying a configuration preset.

Page 63

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

For example, prior to applying your configuration preset, you have channels with indexes 1, 2 and 3; each of these has five recording files. When you apply a configuration preset that has channels with index 1 and 2 only, you'll notice those channels each still have the same 5 recording files. Channel with index 3 is no longer present, but the files are not lost!

Overwritten channel files are still available. To access and download/delete these recorded files, enter the following into the address bar: http://<deviceIP>/admin/channelN/archive or http://<deviceIP>/admin/recorderN/archive, where N is the index of the removed channel/recorder.

For example, if a Channel with index 3 is no longer present, its corresponding files can be accessed by entering the following into the address bar:

l http://192.168.0.183/admin/channel3/archive

If you now create a new channel with index 3 (or load a preset that contains a channel with index 3), you'll find it starts with five recorded files in the Recordings section. These are the same recorded files that existed at the start of this example.

Furthermore, if you delete any of the recordings, you are deleting the only instance of those files. Using our previous example, if you delete one of the five recordings from channel index 1, you'll find that even after applying different presets channel 1 will have only four recorded files.

Deleting channels

Recorded files are stored on the system based on their channel or recorder number. All files saved for channel index 1 are in one folder, and all files for recorder index 2 are in another. When you delete a channel (or recorder), you permanently delete all recordings for that channel (or recorder) even if those recordings were made while a different preset is applied.

Note applying a configuration preset with a different set of channels or recorders is not the same as deleting a channel.

When deleting a channel or recorder that has recorded files, the web interface warns you of other configuration presets that use the same channel or recorder index numbers. When you see this prompt, we recommend you take a moment to look through the Recordings list to make sure you're OK to proceed with permanently deleting all the recorded files.

Page 64

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Branding content

The channels configuration group includes the filenames for logos and backgrounds used in the currently configured channels. It does not include the image files. Therefore it is important to make sure that between uses of different channel-related configuration presets you do not delete or replace files listed in the Branding Content section of the web interface. There is currently no configuration group that includes the Branding Content files.

EDIDs

EDIDs are uploaded and immediately applied to a specific source. This change remains in place until the user uploads a new EDID or requests the factory EDID is applied by using the Restore default EDID button (see

Force the capture card to use a specific EDID

If you apply a preset that needs a special EDID, be sure to remember to upload that EDID after applying the configuration preset.

Configuration presets are not user profiles

Configuration presets should not be confused with the concept of user profiles. Specifically, the following issues arise from trying to use configuration presets as user profiles:

l recorded files are not removed between application of configuration presets (users could see each other's

files)

l configuration presets can be overwritten and deleted with no password (users could affect each other's

presets)

l branding and recorded files can be deleted, affecting more than just the currently applied configuration

presets (users could erase branding or recordings belonging to other users)

l applying a configuration presets does not clear the settings from groups not part of the preset (user

information is not private)

Page 65

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

HDEncoder considerations

When saving configuration presets for Networked VGAGrid, it's recommended that you save both the sources and the channels configuration groups. This is particularly important if you are using multi-source layouts that employ local channels as sources.

Additionally, care is needed to make sure that VGAGrid HD Encoders are accessible and not in use by another VGAGrid Concentrator before applying a configuration preset using those HDEncoders.

Examples:

1. If an applied configuration preset creates a channel that employs a local source but that local source is

not found (e.g. was not part of the configuration preset and is not presently configured on the system), the no signal image is used for that source.

2. If a configuration preset creates a source that is a local channel, but the channel is not presently

configured and was not part of the configuration preset, the source has no signal.

3. If a configuration preset creates a channel containing anHDEncoder that is currently in use by another

VGAGrid Concentrator, no warning is presented to the user and unexpected behaviour occurs. Neither VGAGrid Concentrator has full control of the VGAGrid HD Encoder.

4. If a configuration preset creats a channel containing a VGAGrid HD Encoder cannot be found on the

network, no warning is presented to the user. The Concentrator continues to try to find the HDEncoder, in the same fashion it would if an already configured HDEncoder is disconnected from the network.

Page 66

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings

1-4

It's recommended that you use static IP addresses for any VGAGrid HD Encoders on your network. Encoders are associated to the VGAGrid by their IPaddresses. Using static IP addresses ensures that the encoders can still be located after a system relocation, power failure or other event that may change a dynamically allocatedIP address for the encoder.

This section covers the following network configuration changes for the VGAGrid HD Encoder:

Additionally, the following general network topics are applicable to encoders. Log into the encoder's web interface when following the described procedures:

Configure Encoder Network Settings

l Verify IP Address and MAC address

l Set a static IP address for the encoder

l Configure DHCP for the encoder

l Tether to a Mobile Network

l Perform Network Diagnostics

Verify IP Address and MAC address

The web interface shows you the system’s MAC address and current IP Address via the Network configuration page.

To view settings on network configuration page:

1. Find the VGAGrid HD Encoder's serial number. It is printed on a sticker on the bottom of the unit.

2. Follow the instructions in Connect to the Admin Interface to connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder (use

the serial number from step 1 above, not the serial number of the VGAGrid).

3. Login as admin.

4. Select the Network link in the Configuration menu; the network configuration page opens.

5. Note the MAC address and Current IP address listed at the top of the page.

Page 67

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings

Table 13 Network InformationFields

Label Description/Options

MACAddress A media access control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier for the

network interface. The value is read-only and cannot be changed. You may need to share this value with your system administrator.

Current IPAddress Reflects the current internet protocol address (IP address) of the system. This

value is either obtained from the DHCP server (if using DHCP) or is the configured static IP address. The VGAGrid HD Encoder supports IPv4 addresses. It does not support IPv6 addresses.

Set a static IP address for the encoder

If you have not already set a staticIPaddress for the VGAGrid HD Encoder:

1. Find the VGAGrid HD Encoder's serial number. It is printed on a sticker on the bottom of the unit.

2. Follow the instructions in Connect to the Admin Interface to connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder (use

the serial number from step 1 above, instead of the serial number of the VGAGrid).

3. Login as admin.

4. Navigate to the Network link under the Configuration heading; the network configuration page opens.

5. Select the radio button use static address, if not already selected.

6. Enter the desired IP Address and Network Mask.

Only IPv4 addresses are supported.

Page 68

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings

7. Enter the Default Gateway address. If you do not have a default gateway for your network, enter the

new static IP address of the Networked VGAGrid that is found on the Network page in its web interface.

The default gateway cannot be left blank. If no default gateway is specified, unexpected behavior occurs.

8. Enter the DNS Server address. If you do not have a DNS server, enter the new static IP address of the

system.

The DNSServer address cannot be left blank. If no DNSServer is specified, unexpected behavior occurs.

9. Click Apply to save the changes; the changes are saved and a message appears asking you to reboot.

10. Select the Maintenance link under the Configuration menu; the maintenance page appears.

11. Click the Reboot Now button near the bottom of the page.

The following table describes applicable fields when setting a static IP address.

Table 14 Static IPAddress Fields

Label Description/Options

Use DCHP Select this radio button to dynamically obtain an IP address at boot up.

Use static address Select this radio button to use the configured static IP address.

IP Address The internet protocol address (IP Address) to assign. This value is may be obtained

from your system administrator. The VGAGrid HD Encoder supports IPv4 addresses. It does not support IPv6 addresses.

Network Mask Also called the subnet mask, this value denotes a range of IP addresses. This value may

be obtained from your system administrator, determined from another computer on the same subnet, or calculated using an online subnet calculator.

Default Gateway The network node that serves as an access point to the rest of the network. This value

cannot be blank. Specify the VGAGrid’s IP address if you don’t have a default gateway on your network.

DNS Server The domain name system server (DNS server) translates human-readable hostnames

into corresponding IP addresses. Specify the VGAGrid HD Encoder or VGAGrid’s IP address if you don’t have a DNSserver on your network.

Page 69

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings

Label Description/Options

MTU Size The maximum transmission unit (MTU) specifies the maximum packet size for transfer

Configure DHCP for the encoder

If you have not already set a staticIPaddress for the VGAGrid HD Encoder:

1. Find the VGAGrid HD Encoder's serial number. It is printed on a sticker on the bottom of the unit.

2. Follow the instructions in Connect to the Admin Interface to connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder (use

the serial number from step 1 above, instead of the serial number of the VGAGrid).

3. Login as admin.

4. Navigate to the Network link under the Configuration heading; the network configuration page

appears.

5. Select the radio button use DHCP, if not already selected.

6. Change the MTU Size value only if needed. See the table below for information on maximum

transmission unit (MTU) values.

7. Click Apply to save the changes; the changes are saved and a message appears asking you to reboot.

8. Select the Maintenance link under the Configuration menu; the maintenance page appears.

9. Click the Reboot Now button near the bottom of the page.

10. Wait for the system to reboot.

11. Connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder's admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See

Connect to the Admin Interface.

12. Log as admin and reload the Networking page to verify all changes were applied.

The following table describes the fields applicable when configuring DHCP on the VGAGrid HD Encoder.

Page 70

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings

Table 15 DHCP Fields

Label Description/Options

Use DCHP Select this radio button to dynamically obtain an IP address at boot up.

Use static address

MTU Size The maximum transmission unit (MTU) specifies the maximum packet size for transfer on

Use static address Select this radio button to use the configured static IP address.

Page 71

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

1-5

The Networked VGAGrid uses the current date and time in naming recorded files and when synchronizing and timestamping inputs from multiple sources (i.e. when synchronizing an audio and a video source). The admin interface lets you specify date and time settings to ensure they are correctly configured for your time zone and your network. This section covers the following date and time-related topics:

Remember to log into the encoder's admin interface when performing any date and time related configuration changes to a VGAGrid HD Encoder.

Configure Date and Time

l Verify Date and Time Settings

l Change the Time Zone

l Configure Synchronized Time (NTP, PTP v1, and RDATE)

l Configure a Local NTP Server

l Manually Configure the Date and Time

l Synchronize Date and Time for Encoders and Grid

Epiphan recommends enabling the local NTPserver on the VGAGrid and using this as the time synchronization point for each encoder.

Verify Date and Time Settings

The current date, time, time zone, and synchronized time protocol settings are shown when the Date and Time configuration page is loaded in the Networked VGAGrid web interface.

To view settings on the date and time configuration page:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Date and Time link in the Configuration menu; the date and time configuration page opens

and the following information is displayed:

Page 72

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

The date and time configuration page also indicates whether the system is currently using synchronized or manually set time, and whether or not a local network time protocol (ntp) server is running.

The following table describes the date and time configuration fields.

Table 16 Date and Time Options

Label Description/Options

Time Zone The currently selected time zone.

Enable time synchronization

Protocol The time synchronization protocol.

ServiceIPAddress The time synchronization server address.

Set time manually Whether or not time is set manually. (If time is not being set manually, a time

Date The current date. (This is the current date even if the radio button Set time manually is

Time The current time. (This is the current time even if the radio button Set time manually is

Whether or not a time synchronization protocol is being used for setting time. (If not selected, time is set manually.)

synchronization protocol is used.)

not selected.)

Change the Time Zone

By default the system has the Canada/Eastern time zone set. Configuration of the time zone is necessary to ensure synchronized time servers provide the correct time to the system.

To select another time zone:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

Page 73

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Date and Time link in the Configuration menu; the date and time configuration page opens.

4. Select the new time zone from the Time Zone drop down box.

5. Click Apply.

Configure Synchronized Time (NTP, PTP v1, and RDATE)

By default the Networked VGAGrid uses the network time protocol server (NTP server) protocol and a time server from National Research Council Canada. You can continue to use this time server or configure a new server that is more appropriate for your network and location. Your system administrator can provide the correct time synchronization server settings.

To set the time synchronization method:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Date and Time link in the Configuration menu; the date and time configuration page opens.

4. Click the Enable time synchronization radio button if it is not already selected.

5. Choose one of the following choices from the Protocols drop down:

Table 17 Synchronized Time Options

Label Description/Options

NTP Network Time Protocol (NTP) is used for clock synchronization over the internet.

There are many publicly available NTP servers you can use, or your company may have its own NTP server. For more information about NTP and to find NTPservers, refer to http://support.ntp.org/bin/view/Servers/WebHome.

RDATE RDATE is a tool for querying the current time from the network. It is generally

considered obsolete and has been replaced by NTP. It's offered here for backwards compatibility with older timekeeping systems.

PTP v1 The Precision Time Protocol (PTP) is used for clock synchronization over the

internet. It has clock accuracy in the sub-microsecond range, making it more granular than NTP.

6. Tailor the synchronization protocol with the required parameters as described below.

7. If NTP is selected:

a. Enter the IP address or server name for the NTP server in the Server IP Address field.

Page 74

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

NTP uses UDP packets and port 123. If the system is behind a firewall and accessing an external NTP server, UDP packets must be permitted on port 123.

8. If RDATE is selected:

a. Enter the IP address or server name for the RDATE server in the Server IP Address field.

b. Select an update interval from the drop down box.

9. If PTP v1 is selected:

a. Select the multicast address of PTP v1 server from the PTPdomain drop-down.

PTP Domain Description

Default PTPat multicast address 224.0.1.129

Alternative 1 PTPat multicast address 224.0.1.130

Alternative 2 PTPat multicast address 224.0.1.131

Alternative 3 PTPat multicast address 224.0.1.132

PTP uses UDP packets and ports 319 and 320 . If the system is behind a firewall and accessing an external PTP server, UDP packets must be permitted on ports 319 and 320.

10. Click Apply.

Configure a Local NTP Server

The Networked VGAGrid can run a local NTP server that all encoders can use as their NTP server. Using a local NTP server means that the encoders and VGAGrid will share the same time. Synchronization will be accurate, even if your network has no external time server available.

To configure a local NTP server:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Date and Time link in the Configuration menu; the date and time configuration page opens.

4. Select the check box Enable local NTP server.

If your network has access to an external time server, set the Grid to point to the external server and keep all encoders pointing to the Grid’s local NTP server.

Page 75

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

Manually Configure the Date and Time

By default the Networked VGAGrid uses NTP for time synchronization. If your system does not have access to a time synchronization server, or if you do not wish to use one, you can choose to manually set the date and time.

To manually set the date and time:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Date and Time link in the Configuration menu; the date and time configuration page opens.

4. Type the desired date in the Date field. Use the format yyyy-mm-dd.

5. Type the desired time in the Time field. Use the format hh:mm:ss.

6. Click Apply.



Synchronize Date and Time for Encoders and Grid

Date and time are used to synchronize streams coming into the Networked VGAGrid. Therefore, it's important to ensure that the VGAGrid and all associated VGAGrid HD Encoders share the same date and time settings.

You can accomplish this by configuring each system to use to the same external time server, but for best results we recommend you enable the local NTPServer on your VGAGrid and have the encoders use this as the synchronized time source.

To configure synchronized time using a local NTPserver on the VGAGrid:

1. Follow the steps here to Configure a Local NTP Server configure the VGAGrid. Use the VGAGrid's admin

interface.

2. Connect to the Networked VGAGrid's admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism.

SeeConnect to the Admin Interface.

3. Login as admin.

4. Select the Sources link for your channel; the sources configuration page opens.

Page 76

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

5. Check the Force time synchronization checkbox if it is not already selected.

6. Click Apply.

For other time synchronization methods, see Configure Synchronized Time (NTP, PTP v1, and RDATE).

Page 77

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-6 Restrict Viewers by IPAddress

1-6

The Networked VGAGrid permits you to restrict which computers can access broadcasts by building a list of allowed and/or denied IP addresses. You can do this at a global level for the system and can also override these settings on a per-channel basis. Both global and per-channel configuration procedures are described below.

If your viewer account has a password, your viewers must connect to the system from a computer (or gateway) with a permitted IP address and must also supply the username (viewer) and password before they can view the broadcast.

To restrict access by IP address you need to know the IP addresses, or range of addresses for your viewers. By default all IP addresses are allowed to connect to the broadcast.

If you’re not familiar with creating allow/deny lists, refer to the examples below this procedure for assistance with crafting your lists.

Restrict Viewers by IPAddress

IP address restriction is valid for the viewer only and does not affect the web admin interface or the mobile configuration interface.

IP Address restriction is not configurable per channel. Restrictions affect all broadcasts / streams from the system.

To restrict viewers by IP address:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Select the Access passwords link in the Configuration menu; the password configuration page opens.

4. Type allowed IP addresses or address ranges in the Allow IP’s field. Separate addresses with a comma.

5. Type denied IP addresses or address ranges in the Deny IP’s field. Separate addresses with a comma.

6. Click Apply.

To restrict viewers of a specific channel by IPaddress:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

Page 78

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-6 Restrict Viewers by IPAddress

3. Select the Streaming link for the desired channel; the streaming configuration page opens.

4. From the Access Control drop-down, select Use these Settings; local password and Allow/Deny IP lists

are enabled.

5. If desired, type a password for the viewer in the Viewer Password field.

6. Type allowed IP addresses or address ranges in the Allow IP’s field. Separate addresses with a comma.

7. Type denied IP addresses or address ranges in the Deny IP’s field. Separate addresses with a comma.

8. Click Apply.

If a user attempts to connect to the stream from a disallowed IPaddress, access is denied. If connecting by internet browser, the message "IPaddress rejected." is displayed.

The following table describes the applicable fields.

Table 18 IP Based Restriction Fields

Label Description/Options

Allow IP's Enter individual IP Addresses or IP Address ranges, separated by commas. To specify a

range, use a hyphen (-). Optional spaces improve readability.

Users connecting from addresses in this list are permitted to view broadcasts from the system, provided their IP address is not in the Deny IP’s list.

To allow all (except IP addresses in the deny list, if any), leave the field blank.

You can use the Allow list by itself, or in conjunction with the Deny IP’s list as an exception to a rule in the allow list.

Deny IP's Enter individual IP Addresses or IP Address ranges, separated by commas. To specify a

range, use a hyphen (-). Optional spaces improve readability.

Users connecting from addresses in this list are not allowed to view broadcasts from the system, unless their IP address is in the Allow IP’s list. If a specific IP address is in both lists, access to the stream is denied.

You can use the Deny list by itself, or in conjunction with the Allow IP’s list as an exception to a rule in the allow list.

Examples

Allow List with Distinct IP Addresses

The simplest allow/deny list is to use the list of known IP addresses to craft a list of allowed IP addresses. All other addresses are denied access to the broadcast.

Page 79

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-6 Restrict Viewers by IPAddress

For example if your system is accessible on your local area network (LAN) and you want to make sure only the CEO’s specific desktop, laptop and tablet computers (with IP Addresses 192.168.1.50, 192.168.1.51, and

192.165.1.75, respectively) can connect to the broadcast, construct the following allow list:

Allow: 192.168.1.50, 192.168.1.51, 192.168.1.75

Allow List with a Range of IP Addresses

Sometimes you’ll want a range of computer IP addresses to connect to your system. This may happen when you have one range of IP addresses assigned to desktop computers (i.e. in the range 192.168.1.1 to

192.168.1.100) and another range assigned to boardroom computers (i.e. the range 192.168.1.200 to

192.168.1.250). If you only want the boardroom computers to connect to broadcasts from the system you can specify the range of boardroom IP addresses rather than needing to type in each individual address. The allow list looks as follows:

Allow: 192.168.1.200-192.168.1.250

Note that we could have specified two of the IP addresses in the previous example as a range.

Allow List with a Range of IP Addresses and One or More Specific IP Addresses

Putting the first two examples together, we want to permit access to IP addresses in the range of boardroom computers (192.168.1.200-192.168.1.250) and also want to add the desktop, laptop and tablet computers of the CEO (IP addresses 192.168.1.50, 192.168.1.51, and 192.168.1.75, respectively). Note the first two IP addresses are consecutive, so they can be added as a second range. Add these IP addresses to the list as follows:

Allow: 192.168.1.200-192.168.1.250, 192.168.1.50-192.168.1.51, 192.168.1.75

Your list can have multiple ranges and multiple distinct IP addresses, provided they are separated by commas.

Deny List with Distinct IP Addresses

Another simple allow/deny list is to use the list of known IP addresses to list specific denied IP addresses. All other addresses are allowed access to the broadcast.

For example imagine your system is accessible on your local area network (LAN) and you want to allow any computer on the LAN can access the stream except your publicly-accessible boardroom (with IP address

192.168.1.211). You can use the following deny list (leave the allow list empty) to permit all computers except the boardroom computer:

Page 80

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-6 Restrict Viewers by IPAddress

Deny: 192.168.1.211

As with Allow lists, your deny list can specify a range of IP addresses, and can specify multiple ranges or distinct IP addresses in a comma-separated list.

Allow List with a Range of IP Addresses, Distinct IP Addresses, and an Exception

Building on the previous examples, consider the situation where you want the CEO’s computers (192.168.1.50,

192.168.1.51, 192.168.75) and all boardroom computers (192.168.1.200-192.168.1.250) to access the broadcast, with the exception of the public boardroom computer (192.168.1.211). Use both allow and deny lists to create the rule as follows:

Allow: 192.168.1.200-192.168.1.250, 192.168.1.50-192.168.1.51, 192.168.1.75

Deny: 192.168.1.211

Both lists can have multiple ranges and multiple distinct IP addresses, provided they are separated by commas.

Deny List with a Range of IP Addresses

Converse to the previous examples, consider the situation where you want every computer on the network to access the broadcast, with the exception of the CEO’s desktop, laptop, and tablet computers. Additionally, boardroom computers should not be permitted with the exception of the cafeteria computer (IP address

192.168.1.222).

The deny list is an "exception" list for the allow list. So to craft the rule described above we need to allow all the computers in the local subnet, then deny specific sub-ranges including two groups of boardroom computers ensuring the cafeteria computer's IP address is not in the deny list:

Allow: 192.168.1.1-192.168.1.250

Deny: 192.168.1.200-192.168.1.221, 192.168.1.223-192.168.1.250, 192.168.1.50-192.168.1.51, 192.168.1.75

Page 81

Networked VGAGrid User Guide PART 2: Sources

PART 2: Sources

Now that you know how to connect to the admin interface, you are ready to configure your input sources. The following sections provide an overview of the types of sources you can connect to your Networked VGAGrid and how to configure each source.

The following topics are covered:

l Identify sources

l Configure a video source

l Configure an audio source

l Fine-tune source configuration

Page 82

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-1 Identify sources

2-1

A source can be an image, video, or audio from a camera, a computer screen or any device that provides a VGA, S-Video, DVI or HDMI video signal and audio signal output. For the Networked VGAGrid, sources are remote from the VGAGrid and are connected to VGAGrid HD Encoders.

This chapter covers the following sections:

Identify sources

l Connecting sources

l Previewing captured stream from sources

Connecting sources

You can connect sources to the Networked VGAGrid at any time, either before or after the system is powered on. Similarly you can disconnect a source from a port and even connect a different source at any time.

Changing the source connected to a port that is being streamed or recorded can result in the recording stopping or the stream frame size changing depending on how your channel is configured.

If the frame size changes, viewers may be disconnected and need to re-connect to the stream.

Connect the input sources to the following input ports on the system:

Table 19 Cable and port connections

Cable Input Port

VGA, HDMI or DVl DVI port

composite or S-video source S-Video port

audio Audio Input port

The web interface automatically discovers all input source ports and displays them in the Stream Setup section of the encoder's channel on the VGAGrid web admin interface after the encoder is added as a channel to the VGAGrid. (See Add an encoder to the VGA Grid).

When a source is connected to an encoder, the system automatically detects and adjusts the image capture settings at start up and continues to adjust every 60 seconds during operation (interval is configurable). The system’s goal is to produce the best quality captured image given the source equipment used. Generally no further configuration is needed. Fine tuning is available through the VGAGrid HD Encoder's web interface.

Page 83

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-1 Identify sources

Previewing captured stream from sources

You can preview the images captured from your sources in the web admin interface.

To preview the captured stream/images:

1. Connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder's admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism.

SeeConnect to the Admin Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Ensure a source is connected to the input port, see Table Cable and port connections.

4. From the web interface, click the source name from the Sources menu; the source configuration page

opens.

5. From the web interface, click the Info link; the info page opens.

6. Click screenshot to preview the captured stream.

7. To preview an S-Video stream, go to the Setup page and enable S-Video then repeat the previous two

steps.

Page 84

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-2 Configure a video source

2-2

This section covers the following video source configuration topics:

For topics related to fine tuning for specific problems or for uploading a custom EDID, see Fine-tune channel

configuration.

Configure a video source

l Configure the video source's frame grabber parameters

l Change a source name

Configure the video source's frame grabber parameters

After attaching the source to the VGAGrid HD Encoder, the next steps are to ensure you have set up static networking for the encoder (if desired) and to add the encoder as a channel to the Networked VGAGrid. See

Configure Encoder Network Settings and Add an encoder to the VGA Grid.

Generally the captured stream doesn't require any additional configuration, but if needed, you can log into the encoders web interface to make configuration changes.

To configure a source complete these steps in the VGAGrid HD Encoder's web interface:

The following adjustments cannot be made for S-Video sources.

1. Connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder's admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism.

SeeConnect to the Admin Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. Ensure a source is connected to the input port, see Table Configure a video source.

4. From the web interface, click Frame Grabber from the Configuration menu; the Frame Grabber

Adjustments page opens.

5. Make fine adjustments if required, however in most cases the video is ready to view from a channel and

ready to stream.

DVIand HDMISignals

Although many options can be listed on the .vga (DVI) source configuration page, only certain ones are applicable to DVIor HDMI signals. When you have a digital source connected, the page indicates that most changes are not configurable.

Page 85

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-2 Configure a video source

The following values are configurable for digital sources connected to the DVI port:

Value Description

Interval between VGA signal and autoadjustments (sec)

Rotate This feature is useful when a source captures video that is rotated 90⁰ or is

Enable deinterlacing

When a source is setup, the system automatically detects and adjusts the image capture settings at start up and continues to adjust every 60 seconds during operation. To change the number of seconds between update, enter a value, or 0 to disable the feature, otherwise the default of 60 seconds is set.

displayed upside down. Choose one of the following values to change the video orientation while streaming:

l No rotation

l 90⁰ clockwise

l 90⁰ counter clockwise

l 180⁰

Enable this feature to convert an interlaced source signal to a non-interlaced signal.

VGA Signals (coming in via DVI port)

The following values are configurable for VGA signals coming in via aDVIport.

Page 86

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-2 Configure a video source

Value Description

Use signal from Specify the native color space of the signal source, either RGB or YUV. The

following values are available:

l VGA/DVI signal (RGB) (this is the default setting)

l Component signal (YCrCb)

Configurable for VGA sources only.

Interval between VGA signal and autoadjustments (sec)

Vertical shift When an image is not aligned in the window, use this feature to move an image

Horizontal shift When an image is not aligned in the window, use this feature to move an image

Phase Specifies phase adjustments for VGAsignals. Generally not used unless value is

PLL adjustment Changing the value adjusts the horizontal resolution of the image. Adjust the

up or down on the screen. The values range from 20 (moves the image up) to – 20 (moves the image down).

left or right on the screen. The values range from -999 (moves the image to the left) to 999 (moves the image to the right).

provided by Epiphan support.

Configurable forVGA sources only.

value using small increments until the image is sharper. The value ranges from 0999 to 999.

Configurable for VGA sources only.

Offset The Offset and Gain parameters function as contrast control for an image. The

Offset controls the darker parts of the image and the gain controls the bright parts of the image. Adjust both values to optimize image quality. Adjust the values using small increments until the image is sharper. If you set Offset to a high value, set a high value for the gain to balance the two.

Gain The Gain and Offset parameters function as contrast control for an image. The

Gain controls the bright parts of the image and Offset controls the darker parts of the image. Adjust both values to optimize image quality. Adjust the values using small increments until the image is sharper. If you set Offset to a high value, set a high value for the Gain to balance the two.

Page 87

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-2 Configure a video source

Value Description

Aspect Ratio Sets the aspect ratio of the captured image. The default is 4:3. Set the value to

Wide mode when capturing images that have a wide aspect ratio. Using the incorrect setting causes the image to be distorted or stretched.

HSync threshold Adjust horizontal sync detection.

Configurable for VGA sources only.

VSync threshold Adjust vertical sync detection.

Configurable for VGA sources only.

S-Video Signals

The following options are available for S-Video signals via S-Video ports.

Signal type Specify the video source connected to the S-Video input source. The options are

Default, Composite, S-Video.

Change a source name

Source names are used when adding sources to channels, therefore it is important that you know the name of the source you wish to use. If a channel has only one source, it's name will automatically be the same as its source. Sometimes it's helpful to configure the source name to match the data it's capturing so it's clear what the channel is capturing too. Alternately you can change the channel's name. See Rename a channel.

To change a source name:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, scroll to the Sources menu option.

4. Click the source link; the source configuration page opens.

5. Click the source name at the top of the page; the name turns red.

6. Highlight and delete the existing source name.

7. Type a new source name.

8. Press Enter (on your keyboard) to save the new name.

Page 88

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-2 Configure a video source

You must press Enter to save the new name. The Apply button will not save the source name change.



Page 89

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-3 Configure an audio source

2-3

Use the following sections to configure the audio settings that control the audio input:

Add an audio source to a channel

Configure audio encoding settings

Set audio volume

View audio signal strength

Configure an audio source

All available video formats support audio except Motion JPEG.

Add an audio source to a channel

To add an audio source to a channel complete these steps in the VGAGrid's web interface after adding the encoder as a channel (see Add an encoder to the VGA Grid):

1. Ensure an audio input source is connected to the VGAGrid HD Encoder.

2. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. SeeConnect to the Admin

Interface.

3. Login as admin.

4. From the web interface, click Encoding for the encoder's channel; the Encoding page opens.

5. Scroll to the Audio Settings section.

6. Click Enable audio.

7. Click Apply.

Configure audio encoding settings

To configure audio encoding settings complete these steps in the VGAGrid's web interface:

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, scroll to the channel section and click the channel for which you want to

configure audio settings; the menu expands.

Page 90

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-3 Configure an audio source

4. Click Encoding for the encoder's channel; the Encoding configuration page opens.

5. Scroll to Audio settings.

6. Check Enable audio check box.

7. If the default audio format (PCM 22KHz) is not desired, click the Audio format drop-down menu to

select an audio codec. See Fine-tune channel configuration for help choosing one of the supported audio codecs.

If desired, you can choose Mono to have left and right stereo channels combined and streamed together (i.e. when listening to the streamed audio, the same blended sound will come through both the left and right channels).

8. Click the Audio channels drop-down menu to choose mono (1 channel) or stereo (2 channels).

9. Click the Audio bitrate drop-down menu to choose the audio transmission speed. Increasing this value

produces better sound quality but uses more system bandwidth to transmit the audio signal.

For stereo audio, we recommend 256 kbps or 320 kbps.

10. Click Apply.

Set audio volume

To set audio volume complete these steps in the VGAGrid HD Encoder's web interface (note this is done on the encoder, and not the VGAGrid):

Page 91

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-3 Configure an audio source

1. Ensure an audio input source is connected to an audio input port.

2. Connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder's admin interface using your preferred connection method.

SeeConnect to the Admin Interface.

3. Login as admin.

4. From the web interface, scroll to the Configuration section.

5. Click Audio; the following window opens.

6. Select the Input source from the drop-down menu. Choose Line (default setting), to capture system

audio, or choose Mic to capture audio from a microphone connected to the audio input port.

7. Click the Input Amplifier volume drop-down menu. A list of percentages is displayed. Choose to amplify

the volume by a percentage of the original volume. The default setting is 30%. Decrease the percentage if the output volume is too loud. Increase the percentage if the output volume is not loud enough.

Adjusting the Input Amplifier volume adjusts the recorded and streamed output audio.

8. Enable Microphone 20dB boost to provide additional amplification for the microphone inputs.

9. Click Apply.

View audio signal strength

An audio meter indicates the signal strength of an audio source. If the signal is weak you may experience volume quality issues. You can adjust the output volume on the audio source and/or adjust the capture volume, see Set audio volume.

To view audio signal strength when an audio source is connected to the system:

1. Connect to the VGAGrid HD Encoder's admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism.

SeeConnect to the Admin Interface.

Page 92

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-3 Configure an audio source

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, click the Info link; the info page opens.

4. Scroll to the Input section. The Audio meter is displayed.

5. View the strength of the audio signal. The following example shows an audio input with a strong signal.

Page 93

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration

2-4

In addition to fine tuning channel settings such as frame rate, resolution and bit rate to ensure optimal use of resources while streaming a quality video, there may be circumstance when you must fine tune the video input source.

This section covers the following fine tuning topics:

Fine-tune source configuration

Changing how source images are displayed may cause undesired results, for example experimenting with the PLLsetting may result in the image not being displayed properly. It is a good practice to backup your configuration settings so that you can revert back to a good configuration if the changes that you made are not desirable. See Save and Restore Device

Configuration.

l Video is not centered on the screen (VGAsources only)

l Video is too bright, too dark or washed out (VGAsources only)

l Video looks squished (VGA sources only)

l Remove the combing effect on images

l Force the capture card to use a specific EDID

Video is not centered on the screen (VGAsources only)

The image from the source is displayed too high or low, or too far to the left or right.

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, click Frame Grabber from the Configuration menu; the Frame Grabber

Adjustments page opens.

4. To move the video horizontally to the left or right, scroll to Horizontal shift .

5. Enter incremental values to shift the video image to the left (use a negative value) or right (use a positive

value).

Page 94

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration

6. Click Apply. To view the output, add the source to a channel and click View from the Info page. You may

need to make further adjustments to move the video left or right.

7. Make further adjustments and click Apply after each change to confirm the results.

8. To move the video up or down, scroll to Vertical shift .

9. Enter incremental values to shift the video image down (use a negative value) or up (use a positive

value).

10. Click Apply.To view the output, add the source to a channel and click View from the Info page. You may

need to make further adjustments to move the video up or down.

Video is too bright, too dark or washed out (VGAsources only)

If the video from the source is too light, too dark or washed out, use the offset and gain controls together to optimize image quality. Increasing the gain amplifies weak signals but also increases noise, you must balance offset and gain values to achieve the best quality image.

Adjust these settings by the smallest values possible; compensate for a large change to one by making a large change to the other. Setting both offset and gain to high values can result in poor video quality.

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, click Frame Grabber from the Configuration menu; the Frame Grabber

Adjustments page opens.

4. Scroll to Gain.

5. Enter a small value, for example 1 to 25 in the field to brighten the image.

6. Scroll to Offset.

7. Enter a small value, for example 1 to 15 , to balance the gain setting . The Offset value behaves as a

contrast to the Gain value.

8. Click Apply. To view the output, add the source to a channel and click View link from the Info page. You

may need to make further adjustments to fine tune the brightness and contrast.

Video looks squished (VGA sources only)

The image is squeezed horizontally on the screen. This distortion occurs when there's a mismatch between the aspect ratio the Networked VGAGrid detects and the aspect ratio that is sent from the source signal. To compare the two signal values, you must know the aspect ratio that the source is sending.

Page 95

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, click Info; the info window opens with a list of all configured channels.

4. Compare the aspect ratio from the source with the aspect ratio from the Networked VGAGrid info

window. Confirm if there is a mismatch.

5. If there is a mismatch, go to the Encoding page for the channel and change the frame size to match the

frame size that is sent from the source. See Create and configure channels.

6. If the video is still squeezed horizontally on the screen, follow the steps below.

7. From the web interface, click Frame Grabber from the Configuration menu; the Frame Grabber

Adjustments page opens.

8. Scroll to the Aspect ratio setting.

9. Select Wide mode from the drop-down menu, when the source is wider than what is being displayed in

the preview or Live View.

10. Click Apply. To view the output, add the source to a channel and click View link from the Info page.

Page 96

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration



Remove the combing effect on images

When frames are interlaced, artifacts from one frame may appear on the next frame. This occurs when a fast motion video is interlaced. Since each frame is captured from a different point in time, the action captured in one frame is carried over to the next frame. The result is a blurred image and horizontal lines running across the video.

To convert an interlaced source signal to a non-interlaced signal.

1. Connect to the admin interface using your preferred connection mechanism. See Connect to the Admin

Interface.

2. Login as admin.

3. From the web interface, click Frame Grabber from the Configuration menu; the Frame Grabber

Adjustments page opens.

4. Enable the Enable deinterlace setting.

5. Click Apply. To view the output, add the source to a channel and click View link from the Info page.



Force the capture card to use a specific EDID

Extended display identification data (EDID) is data provided by a video display device (usually a monitor) to describe its capabilities to a video source (usually a graphics or video output card in a PC or another device). The video source uses the EDID to determine the capabilities of the monitor to determine the resolution, color depth and other settings that the monitor can support.

EDID is crucial for DVI sources but mostly ignored by VGA sources.

Like monitors, each video capture card in theNetworked VGAGrid contains an EDID. When you connect a VGA or DVI video source (such as a laptop or video camera), this source sees the Networked VGAGrid's capture card as a monitor and uses its EDID to negotiate which video signal to send.

Generally the capture card's DVI input correctly emulates a monitor that supports your video source. However sometimes, particularly if your source uses a custom set of display properties, you need to help Networked VGAGrid by uploading a custom EDID to force the capture card to report that it emulates a resolution, color depth, etc needed by your laptop, camera or other video source.

Page 97

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration

Upload a new EDID

In most circumstances the factory installed default EDID, is sufficient. However, there may be some cases where a video source uses resolutions that you do not want to use. In that case you can choose an EDID that forces the Networked VGAGrid's capture card to use a specific set of attributes.

The uploaded EDID is permanently installed on your system and this capture card(a "Source" in the web interface) will always share the uploaded EDIDwith the connected video input source.

EDID changes are permanent until you replace them with another EDID or specifically choose to restore the facotry EDID for a given source. Not even a system-level factory reset removes the configured EDIDs.

1. To download a new EDID file, go to the Epiphan support web page. The support page opens.

2. Select the support page for Networked VGAGrid.

3. Scroll to the EDID section.

4. Click on an EDIDfrom the list. The file is saved to your downloads folder on your hard drive.

5. Connect to the admin interface of the VGAGrid HD Encoder using your preferred connection

mechanism. SeeConnect to the Admin Interface.

6. Login as admin.

7. From the web interface, click Frame Grabber from the Configuration menu; the Frame Grabber

Adjustments page opens.

8. From the web interface, Scroll to the Sources section.

9. Click the name of the capture card (source) for which you want to upload an EDID; the

SourceConfiguration page opens.

10. Scroll to the EDID upload section.

11. Click Choose File; a file browser opens.

12. Browse to the location where the custom EDID file was saved and select the file.

13. Click open; the EDID filename is displayed on the screen.

Page 98

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration

14. Click upload, the EDID upload begins; the screen shows a progress inidicator.

15. When the upload is complete the page changes to reflect success or failure.

Page 99

Networked VGAGrid User Guide PART 3: Channels

PART 3: Channels

Channels organize and display content captured from DVI, VGA, HDMI, camera input sources and audio. A channel can be set up to display the content from one input source, or may capture, stream and record content from twomultiple input sources. You can identify your channel by adding a corporate logo, company information, corporate color and time stamps.

Through channel configuration and fine tuning you can maximize your stream quality, minimize your processing requirements and bandwidth and specify how the video is presented and streamed to a sharing destination/viewer.

This section discusses the following topics related to channel configuration:

l Create and configure channels

l Identify a channel

l Preview a channel

l Fine-tune channel configuration

l Customize your channel



Page 100

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 3-1 Create and configure channels

3-1

Channels make your sources available for viewing and recording.You choose how you want to configure your sources to make channels.

Networked VGAGrid gives you a lot of control over how your sources are streamed. You are not limited to creating a Channel list that is a one-to-one reflection of your Sources list.

You can add the same source to multiple single-source or multi-source layout channels.

All channels, even if they re-use a source, can be streamed and recorded simultaneously. Using the example above, you could record any combination of those three channels, and stream one, two, or all three of them using any available streaming methods.

This section covers the following topics for creating channels:

Create and configure channels

For example, you could use the same source in all three of these situations, concurrently:

l as the only source in Channel 1 at 1080p, 30fps, 10,000 kbps;

l as the only source in Channel 2 at 720p, 15 fps, 2,000 kbps;

l and added to Channel 3 as part of a multi-source layout with picture in picture.

l Add an encoder to the VGA Grid

l Create a channel with a DVI or VGAsource

l Create an S-Video channel

l Enable and disable a channel

l Configure picture in picture or picture with picture layout

l Add an encoder as a source for a multi-source channel

l Create a multi-source layout

l Delete a channel

l Rename a channel

While configuring channels, consider opening a live preview of the channel in another tab or browser window so you can see the changes as they are applied, refer to Preview a channel.

Add an encoder to the VGA Grid

VGAGrid HD Encoders are added to the VGAGrid as channels. Follow the steps below for each encoder you want to add to the Networked VGAGrid.

Epiphan Networked VGA Grid User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Product Feedback

Specifications

Warranty

Technical Support

Resolved issues

Limitations and known issues

Welcome

About this Guide

What's in the Box?

Quick Start

Step 1: Physical Setup and Power On

Step 2: Admin Discovery and Login

Step 3: Set a static IP address for the encoder

Step 4: Add the encoder as a channel

Step 5: Configure the Channel

Step 6: Testing the Stream

Step 7: Recording the Stream

What’s Next?

Networked VGAGrid User Guide PART 1: Setup

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-1 Connect to the Admin Interface

Connect via DNS-based Service Discovery

Connect via the Epiphan Discovery Utility

Connect via Persistent Static IP Address

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 User Administration

Understanding User Privileges

Setting and Changing User Passwords

Removing User Passwords

Overcoming Lost Passwords

Configure LDAP

Changing the logged-in user

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-2 View system information

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configure Network Settings

Verify IP Address and MAC address

Configure a Static IP Address

Configure DHCP

Tether to a Mobile Network

Perform Network Diagnostics

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-3 Configuration presets

Configuration presets overview

Configuration groups

Create a configuration preset

Apply a configuration preset

Update a configuration preset

Delete a configuration preset

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-4 Configure Encoder Network Settings

Verify IP Address and MAC address

Set a static IP address for the encoder

Configure DHCP for the encoder

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 1-5 Configure Date and Time

Verify Date and Time Settings

Change the Time Zone

Configure Synchronized Time (NTP, PTP v1, and RDATE)

Configure a Local NTP Server

Manually Configure the Date and Time

Synchronize Date and Time for Encoders and Grid

Examples

Networked VGAGrid User Guide PART 2: Sources

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-1 Identify sources

Connecting sources

Previewing captured stream from sources

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-2 Configure a video source

Configure the video source's frame grabber parameters

Change a source name

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-3 Configure an audio source

Add an audio source to a channel

Configure audio encoding settings

Set audio volume

View audio signal strength

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 2-4 Fine-tune source configuration

Video looks squished (VGA sources only)

Remove the combing effect on images

Force the capture card to use a specific EDID

Networked VGAGrid User Guide PART 3: Channels

Networked VGAGrid User Guide 3-1 Create and configure channels

Add an encoder to the VGA Grid