Multicast video in the Local Area Network benefits from having automatic Program Guide (when you install VBrick System's standard StreamPlayer software), so users need not enter URL's manually. But video in a web page provides great flexibility...you can easily customize the graphics that might wrap around a player, add text and links, adjust the size, and perform advanced functions.
It is easy to view high quality video via multicast over your local area network or the Internet2 directly from a VBrick appliance! In this brief tutorial, we will use VBrick's StreamPlayer embedded in a web page.
For embedded video, StreamPlayer is not a "player" at all -- it is a special plug-in ("source filters and decoders") for Windows Media Player. When you embed Windows Media Player and open a VBrick URL, the MPEG video plays. In fact, as long as a viewer's computer has the plug-in installed, you can use most of the Windows Media Player methods, including .asx play lists.
The plug-ins illustrated here do not include a MPEG-2 decoder because there is always a royalty fee associated with it. Thankfully, VBrick's StreamPlayer uses whatever MPEG-2 decoder your Windows computer may already have, such as the decoder that came with your DVD player. You can purchase a MPEG-2 decoder license from VBrick. If you have this license, you can include another plug-in that automatically installs the decoder (not shown in these examples).
The first thing you must do is ensure the viewer's Windows computer has the necessary VBrick plug-in. Simply include the following on any web page that will display MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video:
The above will cause the VBrick component to be installed on the viewer's
computer. The user's IE browser must be set to allow signed ActiveX
controls to be installed and run. If the user's computer already has the
plug-in installed, nothing will happen. If they don't already have it, it
will be installed. Download time is just a few moments, depending on
connection speed. Windows Media Player does not support standard MPEG
multicast streaming.
The VBrick plug-in adds this capability. You will use "vbricksys://ip=multicastgroupaddress&port=port"
to view the video. Cut and paste the following to your
web page:
In this example, we assume you have VBrick MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 audio/video being
multicast on 239.1.1.1 on port 4444. Change this address as needed. If you
want to display closed captions, add "&cc=on_ovl" to the URL. You can easily script the player, allowing the user to select videos, set
preferences, etc. Here is an example of a player with external buttons and
a dropdown selection list. Cut and paste this into a web page: This example allows the viewer to select from two different MPEG-1 or MPEG-2
multicast video streams. The best way to troubleshoot your web page code is to first ensure you can
actually receive the multicast video! Do this by simply opening Media Player and
entering "vbricksys://ip=ipaddress&port=port" as the URL. If
you don't get the video, you either don't have the plug-in installed, or your
computer does not have multicast access. License If you are using MPEG-2 and have a license for VBrick's MPEG-2 decoder,
include "&license=" followed by the full path name to your license
file. For example, "&license=http://yourserver/liceense.lic"