Control Panel
Explains key concepts and operation of the cloud-based Control Panel.
The cloud-based Control Panel is designed for remote management of multiple locations of publishers and receivers. Operation is similar to that of VT Publisher and VT Receiver: it is possible to publish feeds, set up a stream between locations, and grab the Web Preview link.
The Control Panel works both with VT Publisher and VT Receiver, but is also capable of working with the UI-less version – VT Server. Although, we do not recommend you to simultaneously run VT Publisher and VT Server on the same machine.
The Control Panel requires a VT license to operate. If you don't have a license, simply follow the signup instructions. Once you've signed up, you can always download your license from the Control Panel.
Navigating the Control Panel
First, make sure that you have instances of VT Publisher, VT Receiver or VT Server running under your current license.
Go to the VT Control Panel and enter the email and password that you received with your license. Click "Sign in".
The Control Panel will load.
The UI will display all VT instances that are currently running under the same license.
Control | Function |
1 | Location name (can be set manually). |
2 | Count of inbound and outbound streams. |
3 | Outbound streams panel – shows active feeds that are being sent out. |
4 | Published feeds – shows feeds that have been published and are available to receivers. |
5 | Inbound streams panel. |
6 | Sources available at the location. |
7 | Hide all/ Hide preview controls |
Publishing streams
The "All" panel shows all sources that are available at this location. If you want to transport a source, you must first publish it. To do so, hit "Publish":
Confirm by hitting "Start publishing". With this, the source will move to the "Sources" panel, where you can control it.
Select the stream from the "Sources" panel and hit "Stream to".
Control | Function |
Destination | Destination of the stream – this is the location to stream to. |
Output name | Select from the available output options (the Control Panel knows what output options are available on the selected receiving side). You can select options: Custom - this is the NDI output option, and you can assign a custom name for the output feed List of the devices - select the device where you want to output your stream |
Bitrate | Choose the max bitrate of the stream |
Latency | Select the Latency buffer size. More detailed information is available in the VT Receiver documentation. |
Configure the settings and click "Stream".
Now, the stream with the specified name is on the "Out" panel on the publishing location and in the "In" on the receiving location.
A source can be sent to any number of receiving locations. All streams are sent with the SRT-HEVC encoding option.
Configuring transport parameters
Protocol and bitrate can be changed dynamically for each of the active streams:
To change the protocol, select it in the control available for the stream in the "In" panel.
To change the bitrate, select the new option in the control available for the stream in the "Out" panel.
Bitrate can be changed dynamically for each of the active streams. Just click on the bitrate drop-down list of the stream and select the desired value.
Also, you can select the value called Custom and enter the desired value (counts in Megabits per second)
Stream monitoring
In the Control Panel, you can preview your stream on the encoder (1 on the picture below) location and on the decoder(2 on the picture below) location.
On the next picture, you see the Sources section preview thumbnail.
| Control | Command |
|---|---|
Person symbol (1) | Open modal window with the Web Guest link |
Preview symbol (2) | The Preview Button. Opens preview. |
Key symbol (3) | Allows you to alter stream security settings. Read about here. |
Stream to | Open the dialog when you can select where to stream. |
Get ID | Copies the Stream ID in case if you want to use it with the VT Guest scenario for example. |
Statistics above "Stream" to button | from left to right: Source stream, input format, actual framerate of the source |
If you click the Preview Button it will open the Publisher side Preview like on the picture below.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
Chain symbol (1) | Opens modal dialog with the Web Preview link |
Close preview symbol (2) | Closes preview |
Player controls(3) | From left to right: Pause/Start button, time since you start watching this preview, sound on/off, fullscreen mode, the additional menu which contains only PIP function. |
Stream information statistics (4) | From left to right: source resolution and framerate, count of audio channels, current bitrate, and current fps. |
Details of the encoder (5) | From left to right: Number of current Web Preview viewers, VT mode, number of available VT Gateways, count of the connection warnings, count of the current receiver connections, type and address of the Publisher connection, current bitrate, encoder type, max possible FPS of the video |
The IN section preview is slightly different:
You can set the Latency here from the dropdown list on the down left corner. Click the Preview button and it will open the Receiver side Preview.
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
Chain symbol (1) | Opens modal windows with the Web Preview link |
Close preview symbol (2) | Closes preview |
Player controls(3) | From left to right: Pause/Start button, time since you start watching this preview, sound on/off, fullscreen mode, the additional menu which contains only PIP function. |
Stream information statistics (4) | From left to right: source resolution and framerate, count of audio channels, current bitrate, and current fps, lost audio and video chunks, Latency(RTT). More info on the stats. |
Details of the decoder (5) | From left to right: Number of current Web Preview viewers, VT mode, number of available VT Gateways, count of the connection warnings, count of the current receiver connections, type and address of the Receiver connection, current bitrate, encoder type, max possible FPS of the video |
Stream security settings
This menu is summoned by clicking the Key symbol over the Sources section preview thumbnail. Allows you to alter stream security settings. Actually, it is a web counterpart of the Security Settings in VT Publisher. All of the changes that you've made here will be reflected in the apps and vice versa.
Here is how it looks by default:
The "Allow anonymous access" switch is on by default and you need to switch it off to restrict the stream access to designated accounts.
Let's create a security account.
Click on the "Add" button to create new login credentials to access the stream.
The system will automatically suggest the name of the account and generate a random password. You can change it as you will. Then you need to set the start and expiration time. If you will not set a Start time account will be active till the Expiration time. If you will not set Expiration time account will have perpetual access.
Active switch is supposed to enable or disable the account.
The account you've created will appear in the list.
Here is the description of security settings controls:
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
Account Status (1) | Yes - account is active, No - account is disabled |
Login name (2) | Login name |
Copy login (3) | Copies login to the clipboard |
Password field (4) | Password field. Password is hidden by default |
Show password button (5) | Show password button. Acts like a switch |
Copy password button (6) | Copies password to the clipboard |
Start time (7) | Time when from account is allowed to login |
Expiration time (8) | Time after that account will be expired |
Edit button (9) | Open dialog to edit account details: Login name, Password, Start time, Expiration time, Account status |
Delete account button (10) | Deletes the account. It is very important that this button acts without any permission or dialog from your side. So you have to be sure when you click on it. |
Web Guest link (11) | Opens the modal window with the Web Guest link with embedded account login. |
Web Preview (12) | Opens the modal window with the Web Preview link with embedded account login. |
Allow anonymous access (13) | Switch. When enabled Web Preview/Guests can be anonymous and don't require login and password. |
Add (14) | Add new account button |
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