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This chapter describes how to use IP/TV Viewer. Topics include the following:
You can display detailed information about any scheduled or on-demand program either from the IP/TV Viewer main window or from the viewer window when watching a program. Program information includes the following: program description and administrator information, associated web files, schedule and subscription information, and video, audio, SlideCast, Question Manager, diagnostic, and SDP information.
To display the Program Information window, perform the following steps:
Step 1 On the IP/TV Viewer main window, highlight the program name whose information you want to view.
Step 2 Click View>Program Information. Or, after highlighting the program name, click the right mouse key to display a popup menu and click Program Information. The Program Information window appears.
The Description tab on the Program Information window displays the program description. If the program has a predefined URL, it is displayed in the URL field. Click Web Info to launch your default Web browser and jump to the URL location. The URL location is typically a web page that contains additional information about the program.
Click More to display more detailed information about the program. The detailed Description tab (see Figure 5-2) displays information such as the program administrator's name, phone number and E-mail address, if available.
Click Send Mail to send E-mail to the address displayed in the E-mail field.
System administrators who want to view program video, audio, and SlideCast information click Advanced (see Figure 5-2) located on the detailed Description Tab window. The Advanced Information window appears with the Video tab on top (see Figure 5-3).
To view audio information, select the Audio tab (see Figure 5-4).
Video, audio, and SlideCast information is described in Table 5-1.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Src IP: | The IP address of the media server. |
SRC Port: | The port number of the media server. |
Dest IP: | The multicast IP address to which the media is sent. |
Dest Port: | The port number associated with the Dest. IP. |
TTL: | The "Time To Live" value. |
Encoding: | The type of codec used. |
Default FPS: | The default frames per second (video only). |
To view Question Manager information about a program, select the Question Mgr tab on the Advanced Information window (see Table 5-2). The Moderator: field contains the moderator's web page address.
The system administrator enters the maximum bit rate value while creating the program using the Content Manager. This value is used by the IP/TV Server as an upper boundary of the network resources it is permitted to use for the total combined streams associated with the program. Types of streams include video, audio, and SlideCast bandwidth resources.
If you have a slow connection, you may want to know what the bandwidth required by the program in order to decide which media streams to receive.
To view a program's maximum bandwidth, select the Misc tab on the Advanced Information window (see Figure 5-5).
This tab also indicates if the program is a local intranet program.
To view the program's SDP file information, click the SDP tab on the Advanced Information window (see Figure 5-6).
You can view schedule and subscription information about a scheduled program. Do this by clicking the Schedule tab on the Program Information window (see Figure 5-7).
Schedule and subscription information is described in Table 5-3. Refer to the "Subscribing to a Program" section for information about how to subscribe to scheduled programs.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Current Time: | The current system time. |
Previous Start Time: | The previous time the program was scheduled to begin. |
Next Start Time: | The next time the program is scheduled to begin. |
Length: | The length of the program in terms of days, hours, minutes. |
Repeat Schedule | Date and times the program is scheduled to play. |
Initial Start Time: | First time the program played. |
Final Start Time: | The last time the program will play. |
Subscription: | The user's current subscription to this program. Values are: None, All, or a specific date and time. |
You can play a scheduled program by selecting it from the Program Listings pane or subscribing to it. You can play an on-demand program by selecting it from the Program Listings pane or the OnDemand Playlist window. You can also play both types of programs by selecting them from the Favorites window.
Figure 5-8 shows a scheduled program being played. Figure 5-9 shows an on-demand program being played. Both program windows contain identical Change Program lists, toolbar buttons, and status bar information. The Change Program list, lists all the programs that you have assigned to the Favorites window. Use this list to quickly find your favorite programs.
Note, however, that the program windows have different Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) controls. VCR controls let you stop or play the program, control the audio, and in the case of on-demand programs set the position of the video. See the "Controlling Audio and Video" section for more information on VCR controls.
You can control the audio and video portions of a program while it is playing by using the VCR controls located at the bottom of the viewer window. You can also control the media streams that are received by the program, however, you must select them before playing the program.
Adjust the volume on both a scheduled and on-demand program by moving the slider to the right or left. The Mute Audio button mutes (a red slash through the icon) or resumes (no red slash) the audio portion of the program (see Figure 5-8).
Control the position of the video for an on-demand program while you are watching it by using the following on-demand VCR controls:
The Jump To Beginning button positions the video back to its beginning with a time offset of zero. Refer to the "Menu Bar and Tool Icon Reference" appendix for a graphic and description of the VCR controls.
The Jump Back button positions the video back in time 10 percent of the overall duration of the program. If there is less than 10 percent preceding the current position, the program is set to position zero.
The Jump Forward button positions the video forward in time 10 percent of the overall duration of the program. If there is less than 10 percent remaining from the current position, the program is set to its end.
The Jump to End button positions the video to its end.
The Position Control slider bar lets you seek forward or rewind video segments while watching the program. Slide the bar to the right to fast forward, or slide it to the left to rewind. The highest possible precision of the slider is measured in seconds. Whenever you move the mouse over the Position Control slider bar, the Position button appears above the control. This button shows the time (hh:mm:ss) in terms of video location. Moving the slider bar updates the time shown on the Position button. Releasing the slider bar causes the program to seek that new location in time.
To set the position of the video in terms of time, click Select Position to display the Change Play Position dialog box (see Figure 5-10).
To set the position of the video, click the Time tab and enter valid entries by hours, minutes, and seconds into the hh.mm.ss fields and click OK. The video's position is changed to the selected time and the dialog box closes.
The Bookmarks tab appears only if the author of the program used an .asf file that contains markers (see Figure 5-11). A marker is a pointer to a specific time in an .asf file. Markers allow you to move through an .asf file any way you want. You can go ahead or go back to a previous marker to view a portion of the video. To change the position of the video, select the desired marker and click OK.
The Select Stream command lets you control the streams that are received by a given program. Media streams can be video, audio, SlideCast, or Web Presenter.
To select the media streams for a program, select the program whose streams you want to set. Then select the Select Stream command from the View menu on the IP/TV Viewer main window. The Select Streams dialog box appears (see Figure 5-12).
Select the Audio check box to enable audio, select the Video check box to enable video. To save memory or bandwidth you can clear the Audio checkbox if you only want to watch a program, or clear the Video checkbox if you only want to listen to a program.
If you want to enable the SlideCast feature, then select the Slidecast check box if available. You may want to clear the Slidecast check box if you only want to watch or listen to a program. See the "Playing a SlideCast Program" section in this chapter.
To enable the Web Presenter feature, select the URL Flipping check box if enabled. For more information, see the "Playing a Web Presenter Program" section.
If the program is scheduled and you want to subscribe to it, click Subscribe. The program is automatically listed on the Subscriptions window. For more information about subscribing to programs see the "Subscribing to a Program" section.
Two reception quality indicators, located on the Reception toolbar on the viewer window, indicate reception quality levels (see Table 5-4).
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
| Shows the level of reception quality on your computer as detected by IP/TV Viewer. |
| Shows the level of reception quality as detected by other workstations on the network that are viewing the same program. This receptor applies only to scheduled programs and not on-demand programs. |
These indicators change colors to reflect varying reception quality (see Table 5-5).
| Color | Meaning |
Green | Reception quality should be good. Video should be smooth and audio clear. If not, then the problem is usually the local machine or the content itself. |
Yellow | Reception quality is fair. Video may be slightly jerky and audio may not be clear. |
Red | Reception quality is poor. Video may be very jerky and audio may not be clear. |
Gray | Insufficient data has been reported for IP/TV to display quality levels. This indicator turns gray for a few seconds after a video window is opened, or if transmission is interrupted. |
If these tips do not resolve the problem, contact your system administrator for assistance.
You can watch a program in one of three viewing modes: normal view, minimal view, and full screen view.
The first time a program is selected, the program appears in a viewer window that is in normal view mode. This viewer window includes the menu bar, toolbar, VCR controls (on-demand programs only), and status bar, along with the video image area. Figure 5-8 is in the normal view mode.
You can click System menu to display the system menu commands. In normal view mode, the system menu contains only standard Windows commands such as: Restore, Move, Size, Minimize, Maximize, and Close.
In minimal view mode, only the video image is present in the viewer window. The menu bar, toolbar, VCR controls, and status bar are hidden (see Figure 5-13).
In this mode, the System menu button contains additional commands that are only accessible through the menu bar, toolbar, and VCR control bar.
Select Restore on the Window menu to return to normal view mode, or press the Page Up keyboard key.
To watch a program in full screen view, select the Full Screen command on the View menu or press the Ctrl+PgUp keys. The window borders will disappear. To return to normal view mode from full screen, click the left mouse button anywhere on the screen or press any key on the keyboard.
IP/TV supports multiple viewer windows for both scheduled and on-demand programs. You may navigate among active IP/TV Viewers by clicking the window or pressing the
Alt+Tab keys. The audio will follow the active window.
Up to four viewer windows that are open at the same time are supported. However, IP/TV does not limit the number of viewer windows you can open at one time. If you have subscribed to more than four programs that run simultaneously, you will only receive four programs at one time. When one program ends and you close that viewer window, another program will begin playing.
IP/TV Viewer performs best on faster machines, and when receiving data through less congested networks. When these conditions are not met, IP/TV gracefully degrades to a lower quality reception.
If video you are watching appears jerky and you notice that your computer has a lot of disk activity, your computer may be running low on memory.
Here are a few suggestions on how to get the best performance from IP/TV Viewer on your computer:
When you play a program that contains a web presentation, the viewer window launches and plays the audio or video file. The Presenter Client window, which displays Web pages, also appears at the same time.
The web-based slides are HTML pages that are flipped in a designated sequence and at a designated time. The web-based slide presentation portion can be real-time web browsing, which is controlled by the person who is flipping the URLs. Or, the presentation can consist of a recorded .asf file that contains URL markers.
The viewer window behaves in the same way as it does when you are watching any type of scheduled or on-demand program. If desired, you can open your default browser in another window by clicking the Default Browser button.
IP/TV Viewer lets you play SlideCast presentations, which provide the following features:
Figure 5-15 shows an IP/TV Viewer with both audio and video.
Figure 5-16 shows an IP/TV Viewer with SlideCast and Audio.
Figure 5-17 shows IP/TV Viewer with audio and alternating video SlideCast.
The SlideCast window contains two toolbar buttons: Stop and Play button and the Pause and Restore button. Their functions are identical to the viewer window toolbar buttons.
The easiest way to launch a scheduled program that is not currently playing is to subscribe to that program. When you subscribe to a program, IP/TV Viewer saves the information about the program you want to view and automatically launches a viewer window when it is time for the program to begin.
To subscribe to a scheduled program:
Step 1 From the IP/TV Viewer main window, display scheduled programs on the Program Listings pane.
Step 2 Select the program you want to subscribe to and click the right mouse button to display the right popup menu. Select the Subscribe command. The selected program is now listed on the Subscriptions window. You can also click View>Select Stream>Subscribe.
A viewer window automatically launches and begins to play the program according to its play schedule.
To learn if the program has scheduled repeated showings and to subscribe to one or more of the repeated showings:
Step 1 Select the scheduled program you want to subscribe to on the Program Listings pane.
Step 2 Click Program Information to display the Schedule tab (see Figure 5-7).
In the Repeat Schedule section of this tab are the date and times the program is scheduled to play. The initial and final start times of the program are also listed.The Repeat Schedule list displays a list of all repeats. Use the date range control arrows to move through the entire list.
Step 3 To subscribe to one repeat showing, select the desired repeat date from the list and click Subscribe to one. To subscribe to all repeats, click Subscribe to all.
You can create a customized list of favorite programs you watch frequently, and define a personal playlist of on-demand programs to play in succession.
All scheduled and on-demand programs you assign to the Favorites window will be listed on the Program Change list on the viewer window when watching a program. Use this list to quickly access your favorite programs.
To create a list of your favorite scheduled and on-demand programs:
Step 1 From the IP/TV Viewer main window, click Favorites. The Favorites window appears.
Step 2 Drag the desired program from the Program Listings pane directly to the Favorites window. You can add as many programs as you want to this window. You can drag both scheduled and on-demand programs (see Figure 5-18).
Step 3 To remove a program from the list, highlight the program you want to remove and click Remove.
To create a list of on-demand programs that you want to play in succession:
Step 1 From the IP/TV Viewer main window, click OnDemand Playlist. The OnDemand Play List window appears.
Step 2 Make sure that the on-demand programs you want to add to the playlist are displayed on the Program Listings pane.
Step 3 Drag the desired programs, one by one, from the Program Listings pane to the OnDemand PlayList pane (see Figure 5-19).
Step 4 Select the program you want to watch and click Watch Now. Only programs that appear below the selected program on the list will play in succession. Use the up and down arrows to change the order of the programs in the list.
Step 5 To remove a program from the list, highlight the program you want to remove and click Remove.
The IP/TV Viewer search feature lets you find a program listing by searching for selected keywords by field. The search feature is useful when you want to quickly locate a scheduled program and avoid scrolling through the program listings, or locate an on-demand program when you do not know under which category it is listed.
To search for a scheduled or on-demand program listing:
Step 1 On the IP/TV Viewer main window, click Edit>Find. The Search Programs dialog box appears with the What, Where tab on top.
Step 2 Enter a string in the Find What: field.
Step 3 Select the Content Manager categories you want searched in the Look in: field. You can search all or only specific categories.
To select all programs, leave the Look in field as is. The default is All Programs. Or, to select a specific program category, click Browse. The Content Manager dialog box appears (see Figure 5-21). Select the desired program server and click OK.
Step 4 Select the Fields tab. Check the fields where you want to search for a matching string. All field information originated at the time the program was created in the Content Manager (see Figure 5-22). Click Check All to select all fields. Click Clear All fields to clear all fields (see Table 5-6).
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
Session Name | The program name as set up in the Content Manager. |
Session Description | Description of the program as set up in the Content Manager. |
Session Keywords | The session keyword as set up in the Content Manager. |
User Name | The user name as set up in the Content Manager. |
The program administrator's e-mail address. | |
Phone Number | The program administrator's phone number. |
URL | The URL path name, if specified in the Content Manager. |
Copyright | The copyright as set up in the Content Manager. |
Administrator | The program administrator's name. |
Step 5 Select the Advanced tab (see Figure 5-23). Check the Match Case option if you want to match a string with specific capitalization. Check Match whole word only to match the whole string and not a subset.
Step 6 Click Search Now. All programs that match the string are listed by name, media type, and description.
Step 7 You can watch a program, display program information, or select media streams by selecting the desired program listing and choosing one of the commands from the View menu.
Question Manager is an integrated feature that lets you interact with the moderator of an IP/TV program. It is useful for environments such as distance learning and training. It allows remote users to participate in the Question and Answer portion of the presentation. Question Manager lets you send questions to a moderator, but does not return answers to you.
The moderator can view the questions that apply to the program over the intranet, sort the questions, answer the questions as part of the presentation, export the questions to be stored, or delete the questions after the presentation.
To use Question Manager while viewing a program, the Question Manager must be enabled. The Ask a Question toolbar button is active when enabled, and grayed out when disabled (see Figure 5-24).
To use Question Manager, do the following:
Step 1 While viewing a program that has the Question Manager enabled, click Ask a Question on the IP/TV viewer window. The Ask a Question dialog window appears next to the viewer window with your user name if entered previously in the Options dialog box.
Step 2 Enter your topic in the Subject: field and your question in the Question: field.
Step 3 The e-mail address and user name that you entered on the IP/TV Viewer User Information dialog box is received by the moderator. If no e-mail address or user name was entered, then the moderator will receive the question from anonymous.
Step 4 Click Submit. The question is sent to the Question Manager moderator.
System administrators can choose from a list of DirectShow Filter Property windows and set operating parameters, perform advanced diagnostics, or adjust FlashWare options that can affect IP/TV Viewer performance. The list of properties windows is available when a program is playing and differs depending on the codec used.
On the viewer window, click Edit>Advanced Options. The DirectShow Filter Property windows for filters that are installed with IP/TV are described. Property windows for other third-party filters, such as a hardware MPEG decoder, also will be shown.
Click Controls>Advanced Options. The DirectShow Filter Property windows for the filters that are installed with IP/TV are: MPEG Video Decoder, MPEG Audio Decoder, and the Flashware Source Filter. Property windows for other third-party filters, such as a hardware MPEG decoder, will also be shown:
Posted: Thu Oct 28 16:59:22 PDT 1999
Copyright 1989-1999©Cisco Systems Inc.
