Scheduling live content into your playout channel is essential for engaging viewers with timely events—whether you want to broadcast a live sport match, a breaking news story, or create a special pop-up broadcast. Using Live Inputs in Zype Playout, broadcasters and content publishers can seamlessly integrate live feeds into their linear channel lineup, ensuring that viewers have immediate access to live, dynamic content precisely when it matters most. This capability can not only enhance the viewer experience but also enables broadcasters to create appointment viewing events that keep audiences coming back.
Zype Playout offers both Live Push and Live Pull Inputs to create live assets that can be easily scheduled onto your playout timeline as live events. Using Live Inputs, you can configure a livestream input source—a dedicated URL for broadcasting your live stream—and convert it into a Live Asset that appears in your Playout video library. This asset can then be effortlessly dragged and dropped into your channel’s timeline via the Playout Scheduler UI or API, just like any other media asset. Zype Playout supports up to 2 Live Push Inputs per channel and allows you to configure as many as 10 Live Pull Inputs per channel, providing broadcasters with an extensive array of options to switch between multiple live input sources.
In this article, we’ll dive into the difference between Live Push and Live Pull Inputs in Zype Playout, and how you can configure them to best suit your streaming use case.
Live Input Options: Push vs. Pull
Zype Playout offers users the ability to create live inputs, which are categorized into two main types: push and pull.
- Push live inputs are streams that are pushed from an encoder or live MCR directly to Zype Playout. This type of live input is typically used for events that are being streamed live from a switcher or other video source, often used as upstream contribution feeds or as inputs into other systems.
- Pull live inputs are streams that are pulled from a remote server by Zype Playout. This type of live input is typically used for events that are being streamed live from a website, live camera, or other online source.
Push Live Inputs
In the case of a Push Live Input, when the encoder actively sends the stream to Zype Playout, Zype can accept a variety of protocols, including: RTMP, RTP, RTP-FEC, SRT, and Zixi.
RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol), RTP and RTP-FEC
RTMP, which stands for Real-Time Messaging Protocol, is a widely used protocol for live video and audio streaming. Its broad compatibility with a range of encoders and software makes it a versatile choice for live streaming setups.
The Server URL, rtmp://18.210.94.123:1935/ZypePlayout, and the Stream Key, f5da-719a-61c0-8387-677e, are displayed after creating the Live Input. These values combine to form the Server URL
Zixi-Push
Zixi Push is a powerful tool that enables users to easily and reliably push live video streams to Zype Playout using the Zixi protocol. With Zixi Push, you can securely and efficiently transmit high-quality live video content from various sources, including encoders, cameras, and streaming software, to Zype Playout for further distribution and playback.
SRT Listener
SRT listener is a protocol that opens a specified IP address and port using the SRT protocol. This allows users to push their live stream directly to that designated location. Zype Playout utilizes this protocol by opening an IP and port, enabling users to configure their encoder to send the stream to that location. This establishes a secure and reliable connection, ensuring smooth and efficient live streaming.
Establishing a Push Live Input with Zype Playout
To guarantee the successful ingestion and processing of your live stream by Zype Playout for subsequent distribution or playback, it is essential to correctly configure your encoder or streaming software. This configuration primarily involves directing the video and audio data output by your encoder or software to the specific IP address that has been provided by Zype. Ensure that the settings within your encoder or streaming software accurately reflect this IP address to establish a successful connection with Zype Playout. This will enable the seamless transfer of your live stream content for further handling and delivery by the Zype Platform.
Captions within a Push Live Input
Closed captioning can be incorporated into your live stream by sending captions through Push Live Inputs. This method ensures that viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing can still access the content. However, it's crucial to ensure that the captions are formatted correctly before they are sent. The required format for captions sent through Push Live Inputs is EIA-608. This standard is specifically designed for closed captioning in television broadcasts and is widely compatible with decoders and display devices. By adhering to the EIA-608 standard, you can ensure that your captions are displayed accurately and are accessible to the widest possible audience.
High Availability Push Live Inputs
The provided screenshot above displays two potential URLs. However, the secondary URL is unavailable because the channel being tested is a Single Channel. This configuration means that if the server responsible for delivering your content experiences an outage, your channel may also become unavailable.
To prevent this downtime and ensure greater reliability, you have the option to configure your channel as an HA (High Availability) channel. HA channels typically employ redundant servers or network paths. This redundancy allows for seamless failover in the event of an issue with the primary server, ensuring uninterrupted content delivery and minimizing the risk of downtime for your channel.
If you're interested in learning how to transition your channel to High Availability (HA), you can find detailed instructions and guidance in our comprehensive documentation. The article will walk you through the process of enabling HA for your channel, ensuring enhanced reliability and minimizing potential downtime.
Real Life Example
For this example, I will utilize Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), a widely-used and free open-source streaming and recording program, to capture and transmit a video feed directly from my computer. OBS offers a versatile platform with a range of features, including the ability to capture video from various sources (such as webcams, capture cards, and display capture), mix audio sources, add overlays and transitions, and encode the stream for delivery to platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook Live.
Pull Live Inputs
Pull live inputs are those where Zype Playout actively fetches the stream from the encoder. This can be done using a variety of protocols, including HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and SRT Listener (Secure Reliable Transport).
HLS (HTTP Live Streaming)
To establish an HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) pull live input within the Zype Playout environment, you will need to provide specific configuration details. These details include the primary HLS source URL, which is the main address from which the Playout system will pull the live content stream. Additionally, a secondary (fallback) HLS URL is required to ensure redundancy and uninterrupted playback in case the primary source encounters any issues.
Furthermore, it is recommended that we specify the number of buffer segments for Live Input, otherwise the system will buffer 4 segments by default. Buffer segments are used to store a portion of the live stream, allowing for smooth playback and preventing disruptions due to network fluctuations. The number of buffer segments you choose will affect the latency and stability of the stream.
Finally, you must indicate the source of the SCTE35 markers. SCTE35 markers are used to signal ad breaks and other important events within the live stream. These markers are essential for proper ad insertion and content management. The source of the SCTE35 markers can be embedded within the HLS stream itself or provided directly within the HLS manifest. The system will detect and propagate either method upon ingestion.
By providing these configuration details – the primary HLS source URL, the secondary (fallback) HLS URL, the desired number of buffer segments, and the source of the SCTE35 markers – you can successfully establish an HLS pull live input within Zype Playout and ensure a reliable and seamless live streaming experience.
Captions within a Pull Live Input
In addition to Push Live Inputs, Zype Playout has the capability to manage captions that are included within the HLS stream using the EIA-608 or EIA-708 standard. This means that if your live stream already contains closed captioning data encoded in EIA-608 or EIA-708 format, Zype Playout can seamlessly pass this information through to the output stream, ensuring that viewers have access to the same captions that were present in the original broadcast. This feature simplifies the captioning workflow and eliminates the need for separate captioning solutions when using Zype Playout for live streaming.
High Availability Pull Live Inputs
The provided screenshot demonstrates the ability to configure two input URLs for a channel. The primary Source URL is the default input for the channel's content. However, in the event that the Source URL experiences an outage and the channel is configured for High Availability (HA), the system will automatically failover to the Secondary URL. This failover mechanism ensures that there is no expected downtime for the channel, as the encoder will seamlessly switch to the secondary input source if the primary source becomes unavailable.
If you're interested in learning how to transition your channel to High Availability (HA), you can find detailed instructions and guidance in our comprehensive documentation. The article will walk you through the process of enabling HA for your channel, ensuring enhanced reliability and minimizing potential downtime.
Real Life Example
Let's illustrate how to duplicate content from another live channel. We'll achieve this by utilizing an HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) URL. The source of this HLS URL can be another Zype Playout channel or any valid HLS URL that you have access to.
This approach offers flexibility, allowing you to mirror content from various sources within your Zype Playout workflow. Whether you're looking to simulcast a live feed from a different channel within your Zype ecosystem or integrate an external HLS stream, this method provides a seamless solution.
Remember that the HLS URL you use must be a valid and accessible stream. Ensure that the source channel is actively broadcasting and that you have the necessary permissions to access the HLS stream.
Conclusion
In summary, Zype Playout empowers broadcasters to easily schedule and integrate live content into their linear channels using both Live Push and Live Pull Inputs. This flexibility allows you to quickly respond to live events and maintain a dynamic, engaging linear channel programming lineup that’s 100% live or a mix of live and VOD content. With support for up to 2 Live Push Inputs and 10 Live Pull Inputs per channel, Zype Playout ensures you have the scalability and redundancy needed to deliver a broadcast-quality experience to your viewers. If you’d like more information on using Live Inputs in Zype Playout, book a demo with our team and learn more about how Zype’s software can transform your live streaming workflows.