Appear TV Release Notes

Appear TV Encoder and Transcoder

Version 3.8

 Appear TV AS Tel: +47 24 11 90 20

PO Box 8 Lilleaker Fax: +47 24 11 90 21
NO-0216 Oslo Email: support@appeartv.com
Norway appeartv.com

Doc. Name : Release notes

Revision : 3.8
Date : 17.12.2012
 Appear TV

1 Table of Contents
1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................. 2
2 REVISION HISTORY ...................................................................................................................................... 2
3 GENERAL ......................................................................................................................................................... 2
4 NEW FUNCTIONALITY IN VERSION 3.8................................................................................................... 3
4.1 ENCODER........................................................................................................................................ 3
4.2 TRANSCODER ................................................................................................................................. 3
5 CHANGE HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................ 3
5.1 VERSION 2.8.22480 (13.12.2012) ................................................................................................... 3
6 KNOWN LIMITATIONS AND ISSUES ......................................................................................................... 3
7 MMI DEPENDENCIES .................................................................................................................................... 4
7.1 VERSION 3.8 22480 (14.12.2012) ................................................................................................... 4

2 Revision History
Version Date Name Comment
1.0.0 27.09.2012 Annette Hopland Initial version
1.0.1 03.10.2012 Annette Hopland Updated for IDR/RAI and HVQHD PIP
1.0.2 29.10.2012 Annette Hopland Update for GUI changes, HVQ Audio and Video Index
1.0.3 30.10.2012 Annette Hopland Update for Transcoder
1.04 03.12.2012 Annette Hopland Update for 3.8.22251 and 3.8.22269
1.05 13.12.2012 Tom Erik Hagen Update for 3.8.22480

3 General
This document describes new functionality, bug fixes, limitations and known issues related to SW release for the
Appear TV platform.

Date released : Q4 2012

Product : ATV Coder software

Main SW release : 3.8

Author : Annette Hopland

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Current release consists of the following modules and corresponding versions.

Module Software FPGA Boot Date released

Encoder : 2011.12-
3.8.22480 3.8.4 29.10.2012
1xHVQHD, 2xHVQSD, 2xHD, 4xSD 15932
Transcoder : 2011.12-
3.8.22480 3.8.1 13.12.2012
1xHVQHD, 2xHVQ SD, 2xHD, 4xSD 15932
SWIP MMI version 3.8.22480 3.8.1 29.10.2012

Appear TV reserves the right to change functionality, user interface etc without prior notice.

4 New Functionality in Version 3.8

4.1 Encoder
 Audio: Added up to 12 stereo channels MPEG-1 encoders per board or up to 4 stereo channels AAC-LC
encoders per board. The audio encoders can be distributed between video channels. Both ADTS and
LATM containers are supported. Up to maximum 10 audio encoders per video (HD).
 Audio: mono encoding and down mix are supported. Dual mono is supported when the embedded pair
has two different languages (audio streams).
 Video: High Video Quality version of the HD encoder board and SD encoder board, 1xHVQ HD and
2xHVQ SD.
 Video format: Added US formats - 480i59.94, 720p59.94, 720p60, 1080i59.94 and 1080i60.
 Digital Program Insertion: Convert from SCTE-104 to SCTE 35.
4.2 Transcoder
 Audio: Up to 12 stereo channels encoders per board for MPEG-1 encoding. Up to 4 stereo channels
encoders per board for LC-AAC encoding. Input can be MPEG-1, LC-AAC, HE AAC-v2, HE AACv2. Both
ADTS and LATM containers are supported. Up to maximum 8 audio transcoders per video (HD/SD).
 High Video Quality version of the HD encoder board and SD encoder board. 1xHVQ HD and 2xHVQ SD.
 Video format: Added US formats - 480i59.94, 720p59.94, 720p60, 1080i59.94 and 1080i60.
 Video format – added transparent resolution.
 PCR PID: PCR can follow the incoming PID or be configured to Video PID or a separate PID. Default PID
value for separate PCR PID is 8180 if it is not already used in the SPTS.

5 Change History
5.1 Version 2.8.22480 (13.12.2012)
 Initial general releases
 Transcoder: Stability and robustness improvements.

6 Known Limitations and Issues

Encoder:
 Audio: Pass-through: only AC-3 is supported. (List of bitrates in GUI is not correct. Use 640 kbps)
 Audio Pass-through – up to maximum 2 streams per video for HD and one stream per video for SD.

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 Audio: AC-3 encoding is not supported.

 Audio: Asynchronous compressed AC-3 audio input may give a warning because it can cause buffer
issues.
 Video: 720p60 not fully supported. May have artifacts.
 Video: GOP structure IP is not supported in Main profile if all h264 tools for Main profile are off, but this
can be configured in GUI.

Transcoder:
 When Aspect Ratio is set to “transparent” in GUI, an AR change in the input stream will cause
interruption of service while aspect ratio in output is changed.
 Transport stream: changes and errors in the input signal can cause the decoder to stop. A video monitor
process will restart the transcoder.
 Audio: AC-3 decoding and encoding are not supported.
 Audio transcoding to mono is not supported. Mono input is supported in “as source” mode.
 Audio transcoding of 5.1 AAC input is not supported
 Video input aspect ratio: 1x1 and 2.35x1 are not supported. Aspect Ratio in transparent mode will not
work if the input is one of these input aspect ratios.
 PIP can get different delay than main stream and this will cause delay buffer overflow. Workaround is to
turn PIP off and on again.
 PIP is not supported for more than one output board.
 PIP: If PIP is in use on an output board and the main service is no longer transcoded, the transcoder will
be marked as unavailable until the PIP service is removed.
 Video: GOP structure IP is not supported in Main profile if all h264 tools for Main profile are off, but this
can be configured in GUI.
 Alarm: Delay Buffer Alarm may be flagged when there is a disturbance in the input signal such as CC
error, PCR glitch etc. When Aspect Ratio is set to transparent, a change in input aspect ratio may also
cause a Delay Buffer Alarm.

7 MMI Dependencies
7.1 Version 3.8 22480 (14.12.2012)
 Latest tested version.

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