WSS Configuring

Note: the description is valid for software versions 1.7.62 and higher.

WSS (widescreen signaling) is the special signal included to the TV signal, serving to switch a TV receiver to the correct mode of displaying Aspect Ratio. WSS signal is placed in the 23rd TV line (for 576i format) and contains 14 bit of information. Visually WSS looks like this (see picture):

Configuring WSS generation is implemented from the server control panel - Administrator Control Panel. Login to the console is implemented locally from the server or from any computer in the network at http://server_ip:7901. Login the console as an administrator.

After the login to the control console, click Manage at the left menu. Select the Video IO Boards tab, press Edit in the corresponding Playout service window, then proceed to editing the output signal parameters. Activate the Output WSS parameter in the Configure Service window. To save settings, click Apply Changes at the top of the server control console. Now the output signal will constantly contain WSS data.

You can check WSS generation from the Status menu item of the control web console. In the Format field of the corresponding window displaying the Playout service status, you can set 4×3 or 16×9 format and see the TV-receiver/monitor reaction.

Analogue low-frequency signal CVBS-PAL from the server output or a signal received after conversion of SD SDI from the server output to CVBS (PAL/SECAM) should be sent to the control TV-receiver. As TVs do not support WSS decoding within HDMI, you should not use SDI-HDMI conversions for checking (the line with WSS will be visible, but the switching will not be implemented).

The TV receiver should have the mode of WSS receiving activated (for Philips TVs, for example, the “Auto zoom” displaying mode activates the function of switching formats according to WSS data).

Automatic Generation of WSS-Information

SL NEO platform allows automatic change of WSS data according to the information about aspect ratio, contained in media-clips placed in the server database. You can see the aspect ratio information in the Media Browser window of Air Manager by the right-click on a selected clip: Show Info tab, Aspect column. Aspect ratio information is transferred to the server database while importing the corresponding media file, or formed while recording, in accordance with recorder settings.

For WSS data auto generation, create two rules (Action) for generating aspect ratio data according to the information contained in the media-material.

The first rule is setting the 16x9 output format in case if the original material (clip) has the 16x9 parameter

The procedure is implemented from the Status menu item of the control web console. Select Default in the Format field of windows displaying the Playout service status and the Program Channel service status.

Open the Program Outputs tab in the Manage menu. Find the Actions tab in the selected program channel, then the General Events tab and click Add Action. In the opened window, enter the parameters of a rule for managing the Playout service output format.

In the Edit Action window, find the Name field and enter a random name for the rule, then select “1” in the Layer field. Specify the server IP address in the Address field or leave the field empty, if the value is localhost. In the Service field, by the button … select the service to manage from the list. In our example, it is the output playout channel #1 (Playout_1 on the list).

By the button … in the field Action select the command for execution - Set Format. In the Condition field, select a rule for the command execution - Media Aspect Ratio 16:9. In the Param 1 field, specify the output format in case of triggering the rule - 16:9.

The second rule is setting the 4:3 output format in case if the original material has the 4:3 parameter

Configuring the second rule is similar to the procedure described above. To save the configuration, click Apply Changes at the top of control console window. You can control the change of formats in the Status tab of the control console. The 16:9 or 4:3 values will change in the Format field of the corresponding window displaying the Playout service status, the output signal WSS data will change too.

In case, when graphic design is formed by the server, you may need creating rules for the program channel as well (Program Channel), to exclude geometric distortions of graphics and logo.