Compliance & Logging
A core functionality for any compliance solution is the logging, recording, and checking of all data related to a signal. All of this data must be reportable, downloadable, and invoke immediate notifications when necessary.
As the technical requirements and complexities, for broadcast and streaming, have grown, so have the needs for advanced compliance, recording, monitoring, and logging systems.
When this evolution happened in the world of mobile phones, we saw the transition from simple phones to Smartphones. Similarly, Vela has evolved compliance and monitoring solutions from simple loggers (like those provided by Volicon and other earlier systems) to SmartLoggers.
This term SmartLogger has come to mean a new standard of
excellence, functionality, performance, and flexibility.
The benefits of Vela’s SmartLoggers begin with ability to not work with just a single input type or a few common input types, but rather any source connection or protocol used in modern facilities:
ASI
RF/OTA
ATSC 3.0
SDI / HD-SDI
IP (SPTS/MPTS)
HDMI
Composite
SMPTE 2110
ISDB-T
HLS
MPEG DASH
RTMP / RTSP
SRT
UDP
PIM (SSM)
Zixi
Streaming Services
… and more …
Among other things, supporting a variety of sources means Vela’s customers don’t need to purchase extra equipment and deploy cumbersome conversions just to get those sources into the SmartLogger.
Then once connected, SmartLoggers allow for a variety of different types of licenses and monitoring, to easily serve the varied needs of all customers – not just terrestrial broadcast stations or massive playout facilities:
Full-Resolution Recording
Proxy Recording
Recording only on Discrepancies
No Recording (Monitor Only)
Full-Time (24/7) Logging
Cycled Logging
On-Demand Logging
Permanent Licenses
Short-Term (Temporary) Licenses
Ad-Hoc Licenses
Floating Licenses
SaaS Licenses
By providing multiple licensing and modes of operations, all of which can be intermixed, Vela’s SmartLoggers adapt to the needs of the customer and don’t force that customer to adapt to Vela.
As the compliance and logging processes due their work, Vela’s SmartLoggers extend beyond the simple checking done by rudimentary solutions to include numerous tests of many different quality factors:
Audio Levels
Audio Loudness
Audio Comparison
Bitrate Analysis
Constant Tones
SD (608) Captioning
HD (708) Captioning
DVB Subtitles
Teletext
Black on Air
Frozen Images
Video Bitrates
Emergency Alerts (EAS)
Nielsen Audio Watermarks
Program Guide (EPG/PSIP)
Signal Loss
Digital Triggers (SCTE 35/104)
Extended Data Services (XDS)
ETSI / TR101.290
A/78 TS Verification
… and more …
The parameters for each test are configured on a per-channel basis. So SmartLogger customers aren’t forced into one setting for all channels and can tailor the testing to the specific characteristics of their channels and streams.
Once a compliance test triggers a discrepancy, Vela’s SmartLoggers are not limited to simple on-screen blips, but rather provide a host of notification methods:
Visual
Audible
Emails
Text Messages
GPI Closures
SNMP MIBs
REST API
Slack Messages
Microsoft Teams Messages
WebEx Teams Messages
WhatsApp Messenger
Pikolo iTracker Integration
Mobile Device Application
… and more …
To make things more convenient and less disruptive, Vela’s SmartLoggers also provide the ability to configure each notification on a per-channel basis. So, not everybody has to receive every notification for every issue, unless that’s what they want. Plus, notifications can be suppressed as desired – perhaps for specific times of the day/night or for certain shows. When the notifications are suppressed, the issues are still logged and are searchable, within the database; but the users simply don’t receive the emails, texts, and other forms of interrupts.
In addition to the various types of notifications, these SmartLoggers also provide convenient Alarm Graphs which use colored dots, different for each compliance type, to depict the types, times, and frequencies of various issues.
Multiple dots, of the same color, horizontally indicate a problem that’s occurring often. Perhaps a single device needs adjusting or fixing. Multiple colored dots vertically indicate that something bad happened at one time. Perhaps the problem is in the content or there was an event in the equipment room. Engineers no longer need to parse multiple different log files, often from different devices, and attempt to correlate the times together. They simply look at Vela’s Alarm Graph and they know instantly where they need to focus their attention.
Along with seeing alarms, hearing alarms, and receiving notifications, SmartLogger users are also able to download any of the logged data. Numerous file formats are available – such as Comma-Separated Values (CSV), Excel Spreadsheets, and PDFs. Downloading CSV and Excel files are often preferred so that users can make their own charts, graphics, reports, and other documents.
All of Vela’s SmartLoggers provide full compliance and logging functionality, along with many more features and capabilities. Click the following link to get more detailed information.