Stream Processing
Zixi Broadcaster can transcode a single input stream using multiple profiles. The transcoder supports the following options:
- Video Decoding – MPEG2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, Raw
- Video Encoding – MPEG2, H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, Raw
- Audio Decoding – AAC, MPEG-1 Audio Layer I / II / III, MPEG-2 Audio Layer I / II / III, AC-3 (Dolby Digital), Opus.
For AC-3, which can contain up to six discrete channels of sound, the transcoder only supports the left and right channels and will ignore the other channels.
- Audio Encoding – AAC, AAC-HE (High Efficiency) and AAC-HEv2; Pass through (no encoding) – any audio codec (MPEG1/2 / AAC / AC-3, E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus), Opus.
Live stream inputs can be stored as MPEG-TS files to a local disk drive or mounted drive.
Multicast streams can be received or be sent by the Zixi Broadcaster. Zixi Broadcaster serves as a gateway between Unicast and Multicast streams, while allowing reliable streaming over multicast.
Zixi Broadcaster can create an adaptive group, subsequently editing, recording, or playing it in conjunction with DASH, HLS, HDS or Zixi. You can also set a Pre-roll video/screen that will be played before the live streaming begins.
Zixi Broadcaster supports VOD (Video on Demand) playback of stored files in multiple formats such as TS, MP4, HLS, FLV.
Billing codes are used to identify and differentiate traffic on a Zixi Broadcaster. A billing code can be added to Sources, which represent inputs to a Broadcaster, and to Targets, which represent outputs from a Broadcaster. When a billing code is added to a Source or Target, Zixi can track the traffic on that Broadcaster input or output separately from other inputs and outputs on the same Broadcaster.
Typical use-cases for using billing codes are:
- Differentiating Between Clients - If you are receiving video content from different contributing clients or sending video content to multiple external organizations, you can designate distinct billing codes for each of your clients. You can then assign the client’s billing code to each Source or Target associated with that client. Your organization will then be able to bill each of their clients according to their usage.
- Charging only for Billable Usage - When Zixi traffic is sent between distinct organizations, situations may arise in which the usage of only one of those organizations is billable. For example, if the contributor is using a Zixi Broadcaster to send outputs as if it were ZEC, then only the receiving organization should be billed for that traffic. In that case, the receiving organization can request a billing code and assign it to their Targets. They can then ask the contributor to assign the identical billing code to each of the Sources that they are sending. In this way, Zixi will know to bill only the organization that is receiving the traffic.
Billing codes are created by Zixi personnel on the Zixi Customer Portal for a particular organization. Zixi can create multiple Billing codes for an organization, enabling them to apply different codes to different traffic. All billing codes are password protected. If you would like to use billing codes in your workflows, please discuss it with your Zixi representative.
Adding a billing code to a stream will not restart the stream.
