Broadcasting & Network Automation

8/9/2019 Broadcasting & Network Automation

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SUMMER TRAINING REPORT SUBMITTED TOWARDS THE PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF BACHOLERS OF TECHNOLOGY (ECE)

SUBMITTED BY:Divya BassiB.TECH (ECE) 2008-2012Roll No: 80906108087

Industry Guide Faculty Guide

Mr. Arunava Konar Er. Anurag Sharma

Senior Manager

SWAMI VIVEKANAND INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY,BANUR, DIST. PATIALA, PUNJAB

Broadcasting & Network Automation


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SWAMI VIVEKANAND INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY,

BANUR, DIST.

PATIALA, PUNJAB

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Divya Bassi, a student of B.Tech. (ECE),Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology, Banur, Patiala

has worked on the Broadcasting & Network Automation, under the abledesignationtrainee, CompanyDISHTV India Limited.

The period for which he was on training for6 weeks, starting from28thJune10 to 09th August10. This Summer Training report has the requisitestandard for the partial fulfillment the Bachelor in Electronics &Communication Engineering. To the best of our knowledge no part of this

report has been reproduced from any other report and the contents are based

on original research.

I wish him all success in his life.

Date: 09 AUGUST 2010

(Signature of the Internal Guide) (Signature of Student)


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction of completion of any successful task is incompletewithout mentioning the name of people who made it possible and whoseconstant guidance and encouragement crowned our efforts with success.

I have a pleasure in submitting the project report and I take this opportunityto express my sincere gratitude to all those who have helped me in this

organization.

I express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Arunava Konar Senior Manager, who gave the vital inputs and necessary information regarding the project and organization. I would also like to thank my project guide for giving me theopportunity constant encouragement, support and guidance and for impartingtheir views regarding the project. I wish to place on record my sincere thanks

to people of DISH TV India Limited team for their contribution and cooperation.

I am grateful to Mr. Ravi Bhushan Puri (C.T.O DISH TV), This projectreport could not have been completed without his guidance.

I also wish to express my gratitude toEr. Anurag Sharma and all those whohave directly or indirectly given assistance in making this project easier and possible.

Signature

(DIVYA BASSI)


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BROADCASTING & NETWORK AUTOMATION

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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC 2 - 31.1 Broadcasting 2

1.2 Television 2

1.2.1 Analogue television systems 2

1.3 Basic Understanding Under Analogous Television System 3

1.3.1 Frames 3

1.3.2 Viewing technology 3

1.3.3 Over scan 3

2. RELAIVE WORK DONE & BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE REPORT 5 - 102.1 Device Controller 5

2.2 Time Code Reader Card 6

2.3 GPI Card 7

2.4 RS422 Serial Card 82.5 Housekeeper 82.6 Browse Server 92.7 Browse System 10

3. LABORATORY REQUIREMENTS 12163.1 Devices 12

3.2 Device Drivers 12

3.3 Device Status 13

3.4 Resource Manager 13

3.5 Serial Devices 14

3.6 Video Servers 15

3.7 Logomotion & Iconmaster) 16

4. TRANSMISSION 18 - 294.1 Introduction 184.2 Navigating the List 184.3 Transmission 19

4.3.1 Populating the list 194.3.2 Using drag and drop 19


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4.3.3 List controls 204.3.4 List control bar buttons 204.3.5 Running a playlist 214.3.6 List toolbar 214.3.7 Edit Mode 214.3.8 List menu options 214.3.9 Event fields 224.3.10 Editing layout 224.3.11 Event start types 234.3.12 Start type summary 244.3.13 Event end types 244.3.14 Fixed events 244.3.15 Understanding +/- 254.3.16 +/- Fields 254.3.17 Danger of small gaps 25

4.4 Controlling Secondarys 264.5 GPIs 264.6 Search and Replace 264.7 Timers 274.8 List Properties 284.9 List Media Usage 294.10 Periscope Timeline 23


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1.0 Introduction of The Topic:1.1 Broadcasting:

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals whichtransmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public

or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults.

The original term "broadcast" referred to the literal 'sowing of seeds' onfarms, by scattering them over a wide field. Broadcasting forms a very

large segment of the mass media. Broadcasting to a very narrow range of

audience is called narrowcasting.

1.2 Television: Television (TV) is a widely used telecommunication medium for

transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic ("black

and white") or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also

refer specifically to a television set, television programming or televisiontransmission. The word is derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots,

meaning "far sight": Greek tele far, and Latin visio, sight (from video, vis-

to see, or to view in the first person).

1.2.1 Analogue television systems:

All but one analogue television system began life in monochrome. Eachcountry, faced with local political, technical, and economic issues, adopted

a color system which was effectively grafted onto an existing monochrome

system, using gaps in

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals whichtransmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public

or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults.

The original term "broadcast" referred to the literal 'sowing of seeds' onfarms, by scattering them over a wide field. Broadcasting forms a very


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large segment of the mass media. Broadcasting to a very narrow range of

audience is called narrowcasting.

the video spectrum (explained below) to allow the color information to fit inthe channels allotted. In theory, any color system could be used with anymonochrome video system, but in practice some of the original

monochrome systems proved impractical to adapt to color and were

abandoned when the switch to color broadcasting was made. All countries

use one of three color systems: NTSC, PAL, or SECAM.

1.3 Basic Understanding Under Analogous Television System: Frames Viewing technology Over scan Audio Modulation

1.3.1 Frames:

Ignoring color, all television systems work in essentially the same manner.

The monochrome image seen by a camera (now, the luminance component of a

color image) is divided into horizontal scan lines, some number of which make up

a single image or frame.

1.3.2 Viewing technology:Analog television signal standards are designed to be displayed on a

cathode ray tube (CRT), and so the physics of these devices necessarily controls

the format of the video signal.

1.3.3 Over scan:Television images are unique in that they must incorporate regions of the

picture with reasonable-quality content, that will never be seen by some viewers.


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4

Relative Work Done &Brief Description of The

Report


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2.0 Relative Work Done & Brief Description of The Report:2.1 Device Controller:

The controller communicates with and controls broadcast devices viaRS422 serial connections and, in some cases, via network connections.

GPI contacts can also be issued for the more simple devices.

Controller features

Easy case access (two thumb screws to remove the lid) Single or dual PSU options Support for up to four 8 port RS422 cards, allowing control of 32 serial

devices

Supports multiple 8 relay, 8 input GPI cards Control of up to 20 different devices Support for up to 16 playlists


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Inside the controller chassis:-

2.2 Time Code Reader Card: Reads and generates both LTC and VITC Will continue outputting time code in the absence or loss of either LTC or

VITC The board has one LTC input, one Video input, one LTC output and one

video output.


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Checking the card status

The card status can be checked from within windows Device Manager. Can be useful if you think you have problems with your time code feeds

2.3 GPI Card: The GPI card is an Advantech PCI-1760 The automation will accept as many GPI cards as there are available PCI

slots


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2.4 RS422 Serial Card: The device controller uses PCI RS422 serial cards to control devices Each board has eight serial ports Each port is selectable as a master (controller) or slave (device) For a device controller all switches on the card should be set to the on

position

2.5 Housekeeper: The Housekeeper is responsible for the non-real time functions of the

system, such as

As-run logging


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User action and system logging Managing the system database. It also acts as a file server from which playlists can be saved or

loaded. Its primary function is as a database server, holding records of all content

and

associated metadata know to the automation

2.6 Browse Server:

A browse encoder device is employed to take an input SDI stream and

generate a low resolution version of broadcast content. This content is

stored on the browse server.

Browse content will contain VITC information. Browse versions of content can be used as enablers for things like desktop

editing.


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2.7 Browse System:


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LaboratoryRequirements


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3.0 laboratory Requirements:3.1 Devices:Neptune has the capability to interface and control a variety of devices. Devices

can be controlled by serial, GPI or network communication.

When a system is installed, the devices are configured for control byautomation and are shown in the Neptune explorer tree.

In this example, there is a video server, two standalone VTRs, a cartmachine with two internal VTRs, browse server, Clarity, Subtitle and GPI

secondary devices, and a Router.

Secondary devices are represented by the yellow dot

3.2 Device Drivers:

Each device that Pebble Beach controls may use a custom driver orstandard protocol to communicate

Pebble Beach use the following drivers with standard protocols: VDCP GVGM2100 CII2


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3.3 Device Status: All devices which are controlled via serial or network are shown in the

device status of the client (shortcut F3).

The device status shows how each device is connected and if it iscommunicating with the automation.

For non-secondary devices it also shows status information, for example,whether in play, cued etc.

For secondary devices, a separate UI is provided for status information bydouble-clicking on the device in the explorer tree.

This is a very useful tool to check if you are having trouble with yourdevices.

Device Status display

3.4 Resource Manager: To view which resources are allocated where, we can use the Resource

Manager.

The resource manager is primarily an engineering tool. It provides a viewof which devices are available to the system and how they are being used.

Resources can be acquired or released at any time.

Be careful! You do not want to acquire a stream used by the list.


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3.5 Serial Devices: Each serial device will have a COM port associated with it. Devices are usually connected to an RS422 serial card within the controller. Each serial card has 8 COM ports. The first COM port available on the first serial card will be numbered 3. This

is because there are two RS232 COM ports board.

Network Devices

Devices that are controlled via network communication, may have astorage collection in which Pebble Beach can access by specifying a

directory path within the configuration.

Such devices are: character generators subtitlers servers

Network controlled devices can be either a main or slave device.GPI Devices

Such devices require only a simple on/off command For example, these are:


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aspect ratio converter audio processors logo generators regional opt-outs.

GPI inputs can be used to trigger playlist functions such as Play, Next, PlayNext, Cue Next and Recue.

With each GPI card, there are 8 outputs and 8 inputs

Manual Control

GPI outputs can be controlled manually by using the GPI interface. This canbe accessed by double-clicking on the GPI symbol in the Neptune

explorer tree.

3.6 Video Servers: A video server is controlled by serial communication and uses VDCP (Video

Disk Control Protocol).

Using VDCP allows Pebble Beach to have direct communication with thedevice.


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A video server may contain ports that are capable of either playout oringest, and in some cases both. All server ports whether an encoder or

decoder are denoted by the icons shown to the right. Each server port

connects to one serial communication port.

3.7 Logomotion & Iconmaster: The logoMotion is controlled using RS422 serial communication. The IconMaster is connected to the automation via serial control and uses

the GVGM2100 protocol.

Both devices are set up as secondary devices and can be scheduled in list

as a secondary event.


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Transmission


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4.0 Transmission Of PBS (Pebble Beach Systems):4.1 Introduction:

The transmission client provides a user interface to enable the transmissionoperator to control the playback of material using playlists.

Transmission clients share the same software as Ingest clients, thoughfunctionality of the client may differ depending on the system

configuration.

4.2 Navigating the List: To open a transmission list, click on the + sign next to the Transmission

folder to expand the branch in the Neptune explorer tree.

Playlist:


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4.3 Transmission: Each channel a broadcaster transmits that is under automation control will

have associated with it a playlist.

A playlist is a schedule of events run by Neptune. An event in a list isrepresented by either a media event, such as a program or a commercial, a

live event or an event comment.

Both media events and live events may have secondary events associatedwith it. For example, logos, Keyers, GPI triggers, subtitles etc. Comments

are editable data fields that allow the operator to make notes, enable list

looping or add markers in the list.

4.3.1 Populating the list

Transmission lists are populated by loading a pre-scheduled playlist or bymanually creating and modifying events.

When loading a playlist the operator can choose between the followingoptions:

Open a List. This will create a new playlist and overwrite an existingplaylist.

Append a List. This will add a new playlist to the end of the existingplaylist.

Insert a List. The operator may specify where in the transmission list,the playlist is to be inserted.

4.3.2 Using drag and drop

Events can be moved or copied by drag and drop from one position toanother in the same transmission list or from one transmission channel to

another

Events can also be copied from a content window to a transmission list. Forexample, storage device or database content.


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4.3.3 List controls

Starting a List the list can be started by selecting the CUE button andthen pressing the PLAY button

Stopping a List the list can be stopped by selecting either the UNCUE orRECUE button

Selecting RECUEwill stop the list running, recue the event that hadbeen playing to air and keep the list cued.

Selecting UNCUEwill stop the list and take it out of the cued stateSkipping the event If you need to skip to the next event immediately select the

NEXT button.

4.3.4 List control bar buttons

Control bar can be edited to remove, add or rearrange different controlbuttons. Note, CUE and UNCUE cannot be edited.

The table below summarises those available:


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4.3.5 Running a playlist

Once a playlist is running, the events may be coloured to show fourdifferent statuses:

Green event is On Air Yellow event is cued or in preroll Red media is unavailable Dark Green event is in postroll

4.3.6 List toolbar

The list toolbar has a number of shortcuts to event property windowswithin the list.

The table below shows a summary of the shortcuts available:

4.3.7 Edit Mode

Before any changes can be made to the list, whether editing an event oropening a playlist edit mode must be enabled.

Selecting F4, double-clicking in the control bar using the toolbar shortcutwill place the list in edit mode.

Edit mode has a timeout. By default, this is set to 1 minute. When in edit mode, the control bar will be highlighted red

4.3.8 List menu options

The list dropdown menu provides the user with a variety of usefulfunctions. It can be accessed by right-clicking over the playlist area.


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4.3.9 Event fields

You will notice that associated with each event in a list are quite a largenumber of fields.

Because so many fields are available they cannot all be displayed on thescreen at the same time.

Those that are out of view can be accessed by using the horizontal scrollbar located at the bottom of the list.

4.3.10 Editing layout

This function is accessible by right clicking on a list and from the right-clickmenu and selecting the Layout option. This will display the layout

configuration tool.


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4.3.11 Event start types

Start types that are available are: Sequential Fixed Manual

Each start type is shown in a different background colour so that operatorscan be alerted when their input or attention is needed.

A sequential start will not need any operator input so has a whitebackground colour. The fixed start type is shown with an orange

background colour and the manual start type a red background colour to

indicate operator input is required.


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4.3.12 Start type summary

The table is a summary of the event start types available for the list.

4.3.13 Event end types

The live event source is selected from a dropdown menu of configuredsources, available in SRC column of the event.

Live events can be configured with either a known (Normal) duration Nor an unknown duration U. Live events with an unknown duration will

play until a user manually exits the event by clicking the list Next button.

4.3.14 Fixed events

When selecting a fixed event, the operator must consider the Time andDate fields in a list. If a fixed start type is selected the Time and Date fields

are automatically populated with data. By default, this data is shown as if

the event was a sequential start i.e the time and date follows from the

previous event.


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4.3.15 Understanding +/-

The +/- field in a playlist will indicate to the operator if the playlist isrunning as scheduled.

The Time and Date fields can be used to keep track of how the list isrunning. These fields will allow the operator to see if a playlist is running

early or late, or if there is a gap or an overlap between events.

4.3.16 +/- Fields

The various states are described as follows: Early. If a time is entered in the Time field, Earlywill be displayed

only on a sequential event, when the estimated start time for the

event is earlier than the scheduled time.

Late. If a time is entered in the Time field, Late will be displayed onlyon a sequential event, when the estimated start time for the event is

later than the scheduled time.

Gap. This will be displayed only on fixed events, where the end of theprevious event will finish before the start time of the fixed event. The

size of a gap can be from 1 frame to 99 hours.

Overlap. This will be created only on fixed events, where the starttime of the fixed event is due to begin before the end of any previous

event.

4.3.17 Danger of small gaps

Small gaps can appear in a playlist when using fixed start events.Ordinarily, a fixed start event should be used so that an event can play at a

fixed start time, and replace whatever the current clip on air is.

The danger of using fixed starts is that you have a gap between the playingsegment, and the time of the fixed start.

If the gap is a large gap, you will see black, or the first frame of the nextclip.


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If this gap before the fixed event is very small (less than 3 seconds) theconsequences become a lot more serious. If we assume a gap of 10

frames, the video server will drop its playbit. When this is done, the video

server will not have time to cue the event, and the event will be dropped,with the dev aborted message.

4.4 Controlling Secondarys: Neptune supports many types of secondary event. A secondary event can

occur at the same time or at an offset from the primary event to which it is

associated. Some examples of slave events include CG, DVE, GPI, Logoinserters etc.

Secondary events are managed by the Secondary EventProperties panel inthe list. The properties panel can be toggled on/off using the relevant

shortcut icon in the toolbar.

4.5 GPIs: GPIs can be triggered by entering a pre-defined macro set for each list. Each GPI macro is pre-configured in the controller registry A GPI is scheduled as a secondary event or as a macro within the playlist

4.6 Search and Replace: The search and replace tool enables the user to search through the playlist

for events and choose to replace them individually or all at once.

Secondary Event List

Secondary Event Properites


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The tool can be opened by right-clicking within the list and selecting Searchand Replace or by selecting the icon in the toolbar.

4.7 Timers: Timers monitor any event in a transmission list including media, live or

marker events.

Timers will show a dynamic count from the current on air event to anyevent in the playlist that is tagged with a timer or to the first of any event

type.

The timers are updated each frame and take into account any user actions,such as a skip or schedule changes.


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4.8 List Properties: For each list, there are some configurable properties. Right-clicking on the

list from the explorer tree will reveal this property window

4.9 List Media Usage: List Media Usage is a table which lists all media currently in use by all the

transmission lists in the system.

It is dynamically updated as the media changes status i.e. cued, on-air etcand is listed in the order of most needed first.


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4.10 Periscope Timeline: The timeline displays multiple lists across one screen in a pictorial fashion

Documents

Broadcasting & Network Automation