Streaming |
On this tab you can specify all settings necessary for broadcasting a live preview from a WolfVision Visualizer as network stream. For broadcasting a network stream the URL of the stream (combination of protocol, IP address, port and filename) and the content of the stream have to be specified. To make it as easy as possible, pre-defined profiles can be used depending. You can specify if you want to have a video only stream or a combination of video and audio stream. The latter option is only available if there is at least one audio source available on the used computer, e.g. a microphone or a Line In.
To recall the default settings for this dialog tab, click "Reset settings". The other tabs of the "Preferences" dialog box are not affected.
The built-in streaming server supports four different transfer protocols:
HTTP: The stream is broadcasted by using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Almost all media players are capable of displaying HTTP streams as long as the necessary video and audio codecs are present. Unfortunately the Windows Media Player can’t play HTTP streams created by the application. The protocol supports only singlecast streaming which can be used for broadcasting the stream in a local network environment or over the Internet.
MMS: The Microsoft Media Server protocol (MMS) is used to broadcast streams for Windows Media Player (WMP). If you want to use WMP as client, this protocol is the only one which can be received and displayed by WMP. The protocol supports only singlecast streaming which can be used for broadcasting the stream in a local network environment or over the Internet.
RTP: The Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) is the default streaming protocol which only supports multicast streaming which is best suited for applications where the stream is watched by multiple clients (e.g. universities, webcasts) within the same local network environment. The stream can’t be broadcasted over the Internet.
RTSP: The Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is the counter part to the RTP protocol. It supports only singlecast streaming which can be used for broadcasting the stream in a local network environment or over the Internet.
HTTP: All codec combinations are allowed except of using the WMA2 audio codec (WMA2 audio codec is supported by MMS protocol only)
MMS: All codec combinations are allowed but Windows Media Player normally only plays streams with the combination WMV1/2 (video codec) and WMA2 (audio codec).
RTP: All codec combinations are allowed except of using the WMA2 audio codec (WMA2 audio codec is supported by MMS protocol only)
RTSP: MP4V and H264 video codecs in combination with the MPGA, MP3 and MP4A audio codecs are supported only.
The IP address entered in this textbox is used together with the port number to identify the streaming server endpoint used for broadcasting the stream. The combination of selected protocol, IP address, port number and filename make up the complete address of the stream which has to be entered in a suitable media player application (e.g. Windows Media Player, VideoLAN media player, Classic Media Player, etc.) in order to receive the stream.
HTTP: Singlecast IP addresses (0.0.0.0 to 223.255.255.255) are supported only (use the IP address of your PC)
MMS: Singlecast IP addresses (0.0.0.0 to 223.255.255.255) are supported only (use the IP address of your PC)
RTP: Multicast IP addresses (224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255) are supported only (224.x.x.x and 239.x.x.x are reserved and shouldn't be used)
RTSP: Singlecast IP addresses (0.0.0.0 to 223.255.255.255) are supported only (use the IP address of your PC)
The port number entered in this textbox is used together with the IP address to identify the streaming server endpoint used for broadcasting the stream. The combination of selected protocol, IP address, port number and filename make up the complete address of the stream which has to be entered in a suitable media player application (e.g. Windows Media Player, VideoLAN media player, Classic Media Player, etc.) in order to receive the stream. The format of the port number follows the common rules for IP port number (range from 1 to 65535).
Some examples: 8080, 5400, 41859
The filename entered in this textbox is used to identify the stream on the streaming server. It’s not used for the streaming protocols MMS (Microsoft Media Server) and RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol) but mandatory for HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol). The format of the filename follows the common URL rules (no blanks, no special characters, no backslash, etc.).
Some examples: MyStream.avi, Test/This_Is_A_Test_Stream.mp4
For basic streams you can use the pre-defined profiles, which are:
Mulitcast stream (MP4V/MP4A)
Provides video and audio in MPEG-4 format which is used by Apple Quick Time.
Windows Media Player compatible stream (WMV2/WMA2)
Provides video and audio in Windows Media format which is used by Microsoft Windows Media Player.
Lowest network bandwidth requirement (H264/MP4A)
Provides video in H.264 (AVC) format and audio in MPEG-4 format. These formats are used for i.e. broadcasting videos, DVDs and video telephone systems.
Lowest CPU requirement (MJPG/MPGA)
Provides video in Motion JPEG format and audio in MPEG (simple form of MP3) format. These formats are used on some portable video/audio devices.
Additionally you can define personalized new profiles by clicking onto the New button, select the desired settings and save it.
To change the settings of existing personal profiles, just select it and click the Edit button.
In case a personal profile will be no longer used, select it and click the Remove button for deleting.
The name entered in this textbox is used to identify the profile on the drop box of the streaming ribbon. The name should be short and meaning full for easier differentiation afterwards. There is no limitation of length and symbols.
For easy fine adjustment, pre-defined profiles can be taken as template.
Multicast stream (MP4V/MP4A)
Windows Media Player compatible stream (WMV2/WMA2)
Lowest network bandwidth requirement (H264/MP4A)
Lowest CPU requirement (MJPG/MPGA)
The selected video codec controls the compression and format of the video stream. The following codecs are supported:
MP4V: The MPEG-4 video codec is the default codec for video content because of its excellent quality versus bandwidth and CPU requirement ratio. Also MPEG-4 is a widely used stream format which should work with almost all media players. This is also one of only two codec which are supported with the Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) together with H264.
DIV2: DivX 2 (also known as MS MPEG-4 v2) codec
DIV3: DivX 3 (also known as MS MPEG-4 v3) codec
H264: The H.264 video codec is the second best codec for video content. Its compression rate is even higher as MP4V but the codec is not as widely accepted by media players as MP4V. Because of its excellent compression rate this codec also requires the highest amount of CPU performance for encoding the stream. If you use media players capable of decoding H.264, this codec should be used for the stream. This is also one of only two codec which are supported with the Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) together with MP4V.
WMV1: The Windows Media Video 1 codec was introduced with Windows Media Player 7 and is therefore already outdated. It’s only supported for compatibility reasons.
WMV2: The Windows Media Video 2 codec was introduced with Windows Media Player 8 and is the codec primarily used for streaming video with the MMS protocol for Windows Media Player. Only disadvantage of this codec is the higher bandwidth necessary for broadcasting the stream in a reasonable picture quality.
MJPG: The Motion JPEG codec is supported by almost every media player an operating system. Because of its lack of differential compression the bandwidth requirement for a reasonable picture quality is pretty high.
The video bitrate controls the bandwidth necessary for broadcasting the video stream and also the resulting picture quality of the stream. A higher bitrate leads to a better picture quality but also higher bandwidth requirement for broadcasting the stream. The video refresh rate has also an influence on the video bitrate because if you are using a lower refresh rate you also need a lower video bitrate. The third value which has influence on the necessary video bitrate is the video stream size (resolution). For a stream with VGA (640x480) resolution you need a lower bitrate than for a stream with XGA (1024x768) resolution. The bitrate can range from 100 Kbit/s up to 25.000 Kbit/s. The default value is 4.500 Kbit/s.
Typical values for the video bitrate for a 1024x768 (XGA) video stream with 20 frames per second:
MP4V: 4.500 Kbit/s
DIV2: 5.000 Kbit/s
DIV3: 5.000 Kbit/s
H264: 2.000 Kbit/s
WMV1: 5.000 Kbit/s
WMV2: 5.000 Kbit/s
MJPG: 10.000 Kbit/s
The video refresh rate controls the frames per second (FPS) encoded in the video stream. It has also influence on the video bitrate. A higher refresh rate needs a higher video bitrate which leads to a higher bandwidth requirement for broadcasting the steam. The video refresh rate has a range from 5 up to 30 frames per second. Typical values for the refresh rate are 10, 15 and 20 frames per second. The default value is 20 frames per second (FPS).
If there is a suitable audio source (e.g. microphone, line in) available you are free to add an audio stream to your video stream, otherwise these settings are disabled.
When checking the box, the broadcasted video stream will be accompanied by an audio stream.
Select the desired Audio Source. Available sources are depending on computer system configuration.
The selected audio codec controls the compression and format of the audio stream. The following codecs are supported:
MPGA: The MPEG-1 Audio Layer 1 codec (also known as MP1) is the predecessor of MP3 and has therefore some disadvantages regarding compression and sound quality. It is only supported for compatibility reasons.
MP3: The MPEG-1 Audio Layer III codec is a pretty common codec which is often used to encode songs and music. It has a good compression rate while the sound quality stays excellent.
MP4A: The MPEG-4 Part 3 (AAC, Advanced Audio Coding) is the best audio codec for streaming content. It has the highest compression rate while the sound quality isn’t deteriorated. Therefore this codec is also the default codec.
WMA2: The Windows Media Audio codec is primarily used for streams for Windows Media Player. It only works in conjunction with the Microsoft Media Server protocol (MMS).
The audio bitrate controls the bandwidth necessary for broadcasting the audio stream and also the resulting sound quality of the stream. A higher bitrate leads to a better sound quality but also higher bandwidth requirement for broadcasting the stream. Keep in mind that the audio sample rate has an influence on the bitrate because a lower sample rate leads to a lower bitrate requirement. Normally a value of 64 Kbit/s is more than sufficient for an audio stream which uses a microphone as source. The audio bitrate has a range from 8 up to 320 Kbit/s. Typical values for the bitrate are 32, 64, 128, 160, 192 and 320 kbit/s. The default value is 64 Kbit/s.
You can select if your audio stream should be a Mono or Stereo stream. Mono is your choice if you are using a microphone as audio source. Stereo can be used if you use a Line In as audio source which provides a stereo signal natively. The default value is Mono.
The audio sample rate controls the sound quality of the stream and is the main reason for a suitable audio bitrate. A higher sample rate creates a higher amount of audio data which has to be compressed in the selected audio bitrate. If these values don’t fit your audio stream gets choppy. Typical values for the audio sample rate are 8.000, 11.025, 22.050, 32.000, 44.100 and 48.000 Hz. The default value is 44.100 Hz.
In most cases this has one of the following reasons:
The selected video bitrate is too low to contain all necessary video data in it. Therefore some parts of the picture information are not broadcasted which leads to a choppy/malformed video stream picture. Try to increase the video bitrate in 1.000 Kbit/s steps until the stream quality fits your needs. The stream has to be stopped while the video bitrate is changed because the change will not affect an already running stream.
The selected video bitrate is too high. This can result in problems while encoding the stream because there is not enough picture data available to fill the reserved bandwidth. Try to lower the video bitrate in 1.000 Kbit/s steps until the stream quality fits your needs. The stream has to be stopped while the video bitrate is changed because the change will not affect an already running stream.
The CPU requirements for encoding the streams can’t be fulfilled by your computer (CPU usage at 95% or even higher). Try to reduce the picture resolution (on the Live Preview ribbon tab, change the Resolution to a lower value until the CPU usage falls under 90%). The stream has to be stopped while the picture resolution is changed otherwise the application will stop streaming automatically and display a warning message.
In most cases the reason for this problem is a missing audio source. If there is no audio source available on your computer the stream will only contain video. Add an audio source (e.g. a microphone) to your computer to fix this issue.
This problem is often caused by using wrong settings for the video encoding process. If the video encoding process can’t be initialized because of wrong settings, no video stream will be broadcasted. The most common error in configuring the video encoding process is using a video refresh rate which is not supported by the selected video codec (e.g. some codecs only support 25 FPS or no FPS value lower than 15, etc.). Try to use a common video refresh rate (e.g. 15, 20, 25 or 30 FPS) to fix this problem.
The CPU requirements for encoding the streams can’t be fulfilled by your computer (CPU usage at 95% or even higher). Try to reduce the picture resolution (on the Live Preview ribbon tab, change the Resolution to a lower value until the CPU usage falls under 90%). The stream has to be stopped while the picture resolution is changed otherwise the application will stop streaming automatically and display a warning message.
Some media players (e.g. VLC media player) can’t open URLs of MMS streams if they are written in the format ‘mms://<Address of Stream>’. Instead, try the format ‘mmsh://<Address of Stream>’.