Zixi Broadcaster/ZEC v18 Docum...
Zixi Broadcaster User Guide
Introduction to Zixi Broadcaster
1min
The Zixi Broadcaster is the central component in the Zixi Video Network. Zixi Broadcaster takes video streams from Zixi Edge Compute, and can process the stream, enabling transcoding, transmuxing, recording, and distribution in multiple bit rates and protocols to any device anywhere. The Zixi Broadcaster is an intelligent and versatile video distribution component that may reside on premise at a customers’ site, on the customer's cloud, or offered by Zixi as a cloud service.
Zixi Broadcaster offers the following features:
- Robust content delivery over IP - communicates with Zixi Edge Compute over UDP-based, video-optimized protocols on private and public IP networks for maximal quality at a predictable latency
- Adaptive Bit Rate - Dynamically adjusts stream rate to adapt to changing network conditions, using unicast or multicast, to meet specific application requirements
- Transcoding - transcodes to a variety of different profiles and bit rates
- Format conversion – supports Internet protocols: HLS/MPEG-DASH/RTMP/FLV/MPEG-TS over HTTP
- Recording - store streams as MPEG-TS files.
- Time-shifting – records the stream to delay its broadcasting
- Secure and rapid file transfer – accelerated and secure file transfers delivered at wire speed and accelerated HTTP delivery including optimized playback of HLS over UDP.
- VOD - stored files can be accessed on demand in multiple formats.
- Clustering and load balancing – supports cluster architectures to provide continuous uptime.
- Transport Stream Analyzer – MPEG-TS ETSI TR 101-290 analyzer (priorities 1 and 2)
- Content Analysis - analysis of the stream's audio and video content, including audio levels, audio silence detection, frozen video detection, and more.
- Monitoring - captures network and content specific statistical information in real-time.
- Supports many to many and any to any - gateway platform between UDP (unicast/multicast), Zixi protected stream (unicast/multicast), RTMP, or other supported formats.
- Network bonding with hit-less fail-over – reunites divided streams coming from multiple network channels into a single stream, enabling simultaneous load balancing between multiple networks and ensuring high availability of the stream.
- Hitless failover - hitless failover for inputs enables undisrupted streaming when switching from one source to another. Zixi's new hitless failover feature is based on the SMPTE 2022-7 standard, which specifies “seamless” or hitless failover between binary-identical streams with synchronized RTP headers.
- IFB Support - a monitoring and cueing system for one-way communication from the director or assistant director to on-air talent or a remote location. IFB support has been implemented in Zixi Broadcaster Pull and UDP outputs, allowing the decoder with Zixi Edge Compute to send audio back to the encoder with Zixi Edge Compute.
- AES stream encryption and decryption - UDP, File and RTMP input streams can be encrypted by Zixi Broadcaster using a fixed key (AES 128, AES 192, AES 256), which can be entered into the input settings or automatically generated. Zixi Broadcaster can also decrypt contribution streams using a matching key, or securely forward encrypted streams without being able to see or analyze the traffic.
- MPTS demuxing - MPTS streams can be demuxed into single SPTS input streams for specific programs.
- SCTE-35 - SCTE-35 markers found in the source input will be used to segment the stream and the #EXT-X-CUE-IN/#EXT-X-CUE-OUT tags will be added to the manifest.
- Low-latency HLS - Zixi Broadcaster supports low latency HLS delivery using chunked transfer encoding, which starts sending an HTTP response as chunks of data when they are ready before the complete response is available. Chunked transfer encoding can be use with transport stream (TS) segments and with fragmented MP4 (fMP4), which is also called Common Media Application Format (CMAF). For low latency HLS and DASH, Zixi Broadcaster must be used as an origin server.
- High Performance Networking – In the High-Performance Networking mode, Zixi bypasses the server’s operating system to allow for 2x to 3x performance gains for UDP, RTP, Zixi, and RIST traffic. The traffic does not go through the CPU or the OS Kernel. It is handled directly by the Zixi Broadcaster, so in addition to the performance gains there is also no traffic limitations per port, no queue per port, no buffer errors, etc.
Key features of Zixi Broadcaster are covered in more depth in the following pages:
Updated 17 Apr 2025
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