miniCASTER mobile hardware User manual

user manual
version 1.0

Table of Contents
1) Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
2) Connections.................................................................................................................................................... 4/5
3) Production Scenarios ..................................................................................................................................... 6
4) Technical Specications ............................................................................................................................ 7/8
5) Encoding & Recording ...................................................................................................................................9
6) Remote Management ..................................................................................................................................10
6.1) Manage Prole .......................................................................................................................... 11
6.1.1) LAN Prole ...............................................................................................................................12
6.1.2) WiFi Prole ...............................................................................................................................13
6.1.3) 2G/3G Prole .......................................................................................................................... 14
6.1.4) Input Prole .............................................................................................................................15
6.1.5) Encoding Prole .....................................................................................................................16
6.1.6) Output Prole .........................................................................................................................17
6.1.7) Delivery Prole .......................................................................................................................18
6.2) Manage Users .............................................................................................................................18
6.2.1) Create User ..............................................................................................................................19
6.2.2) Edit User Rights.........................................................................................................................19
7) Edit device .........................................................................................................................................................20
7.1) Web interface .............................................................................................................................21
7.1.1) miniCASTER® Status ........................................................................................................... 21
7.1.2) Selected proles .................................................................................................................. 21
7.1.3) miniCASTER® to VLC ............................................................................................................ 21
7.2) Device menu ............................................................................................................................. 22
8) Firmware update ........................................................................................................................................... 23
9) Support .............................................................................................................................................................. 23
9.1) Documentation .........................................................................................................................23
9.2) Email support..............................................................................................................................23
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3
miniCASTER®
1. Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the miniCASTER. This User Manual will show you how to handle
the device.
What is miniCASTER®?
miniCASTER® is a truly mobile hardware based H.264 live encoder that converts any camera
or video source signal into an IP based H.264/MPEG4 Live stream and delivers it via landline,
WiFi, satellite or cellular networks to the leading Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) , Wowza
and Adobe Media Servers and live video platforms like USTREAM.tv.
Through a built-in lithium-ion battery it is possible to work stand-alone. miniCASTER®
generates one HD and one SD Stream in parallel and is able to record on SD-Card in the
device itself at the same time. The mobile live encoder in pocket size comes in three dierent
versions (SDI-in, HDMI-in, Composite-in) and can be operated in real-time via a web-based
remote management portal and/or local interface. The HDMI and SDI version come with a
DE-Interlacer on board. So your interlaced signals get a smooth look. Since miniCASTER® is
passively cooled it can get quite warm. This is normal and should not bother you at all.
The On-Board menu
Memory Paging backward Paging forward
Power
on/o
Enter
Info
Display
Backlight
Start/Stop Streaming

4
One-to-One Broadcasting
Bottom side (Analog SD model)
1. S-Video Input
2 Tripod mount
3. Optional Analog Audio Input
4. Power Input (Micro USB)
Top side (All models)
1. LAN Connector
2. For future use
3. USB Slot (for WiFi, 2G/3G Stick or Memory Stick)
4. Reset button
132
1 3
2
4
4
Why not start with a local LIVE stream straight to your PC/VLC Player?
*Please note that Delivery mode TS is only available from Firmware 1.3.1 or higher. (The port number could be 7000 or
10000. You will nd further infos for this scenario in chapter 4.1.7 Delivery Proles)
With miniCASTER® you can establish a quick and
cheap One-to-One connection between your PC/
Notebook and your miniCASTER®. Please make
sure to use a port that is not used on the pc and
not blocked by a rewall. Then choose TS as
Delivery Mode Prole. This prole needs the Host
address of the PC and up to three free ports.
After that you are able to decode the stream on
your PC with the VLC player. Therefore please start
the player, click on „open network stream“ and
type in a URL like: udp://@:<portnumber>*.
Connections
2. Connections

5
Left side (All models)
1. SD Card slot for Recording
Connections
1
Bottom side (SDI SD/HD model)
1. SDI Input
2. Optional Analog Audio Input
3. Power Input (Hi-Rose)
13 2
* via break-out cable
Bottom side (HDMI® SD/HD model)
1. HDMI® Input
2. Optional Analog Audio Input
3. Power Input (Hi-Rose)
1
3
2

6
Production Scenarios
3. Production Scenarios
Thank you for purchasing the miniCASTER®. This User Manual will show you how to handle
the device. miniCASTER® enables you to stream to a single destination or to many viewers
and this is what your set-up should look like for these production scenarios:
For streaming to a single destination you need a decoder, where the miniCASTER® pushes
the stream to. For streaming to many, you need a server like a Wowza Media Server or a
Adobe Media Server in between. Companies nike Akamai and Limelight oer a full streaming
service.
Before you can start with any miniCASTER®, every device must be registered under
my.minicaster.com rst.
One-to-One One-to-Many
You are only 6 steps away from going LIVE!
1. Connect your miniCASTER® to the power supply unit
2. Connect your miniCASTER® to your network via LAN cable
(DHCP must be available)
3. Push the Power-Button and wait until the boot sequence has ended
4. Press the Info-Button , go to “Show network status” and press . Flip through the
menu by pressing the buttons and double check your valid IP address
5. Press the Info-Button , go to “Show system info” and press . Flip through the menu
by pressing the buttons and note the displayed and unique registration code
6. Go to https://my.minicaster.com. Create an account* and register your miniCASTER®.
You are all set!

Technical Specications
4. Technical Specications
miniCASTER® is a MPEG-4 AVC H.264 SD/HD mobile encoder family – it comes in three
dierent versions: miniCASTER® analog, miniCASTER® HDMI® and miniCASTER® SDI.
Supported Features
SD Resolutions (Analog, HDMI®, SDI models)
HD Resolutions (HDMI®, SDI models)
Composite Video Input/RCA connector* (Analog, HDMI®, SDI models)
S-Video Input / mini-DIN connector (Analog model)
HDMI® Input (HDMI® model)
SDI Video Input w/ embedded Audio / BNC connector (SDI model)
Stereo Analog Audio input / RCA connector* (Analog, HDMI®, SDI models)
Rechargable Battery Li-Ion (Analog, HDMI®, SDI models)
Hardware De-Interlacer and Image Enhancer (HDMI®, SDI models)
Signal-Input Specications:
SD/HD/3G-SDI: 0.8 VP-P, 75 Ohm (BNC, embedded audio support / SMPTE259M, SMPTE292M, SMP-
TE424M)
HDMI: Type C, HDMI specication 1.1
Composite: 1 VP-P, 75 Ohm
S-Video: 1 VP-P (Y), 0.3 VP-P (C – Pal), 0.286 VP-P (C – NTSC), 75 Ohm
Video standards:
PAL, NTSC / Video resolutions:
1920x1080p 30/29.97/25Hz, 1920x1080i 60/59.94/50Hz, 1280x720p 60/59.94/50/30/29.97/25Hz,
720x576i 50, 720x480i 59.94
Audio Inputs:
Stereo: unbalanced, AC coupled,
Audio nominal level: -10 dBV (0,316Vrms),
Maximum level: 2 VP-P, Microphone nominal level: -60 dBV (1mVrms)
SDI embedded Audio 2CH: SMPTE 272M, SMPTE 299M
HDMI embedded Audio 2CH: HDMI 1.1. compatible audio interface
Encoding Specications:
H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC Part 10; ISO/IEC 14496-10)
Supported proles: Baseline, Main-, High-; supported levels: 1.- 4.1.
De-Interlacing:
HDMI-in + SDI-in models come with a intergrated De-Interlacer and image enhancer
Video Encoding Bitrates:
250Kb/s – 8 Mb/s, CBR, low latency enabled
Audio Encoding:
MPEG-4 AAC LC (ISO/IEC 14496-3)
7

8
Technical Specications
4. Technical Specications
Supported Sample Rates:
16/22.05/32/44/48 kHz (analog Audio) / 48kHz(SDI Audio, 16Bit Sample Rate, 16-128 kbit data rate
Stream Output:
MPEG2-Transportstream (ISO/IEC 13818-1) encapsulated in RTP (RFC 3550) including Audio (AAC) and
video (H.264) or RTMP with limitations in bandwith (appr. 2 Mbit/s)
I/O Specications Network:
10/100TX Ethernet, RJ45, half/full duplex, auto-sensing
Streaming Trac:
Unicast and Multicast trac supported
USB:
1x USB 2.0 (on board Connector), High Speed, Type A socket
Management:
Full monitoring, Updates and maintenance over web based repository service
(https://my.minicaster.com)
Environmental Agency Approvals:
CE, FCC , RoHS
Humidity:
Up to 90%, non-condensing
Temperature:
0 to +35°C environment temperature, fanless
Weight:
260 grams (SD Analog), 360 grams (SD/HD SDI or HDMI)
Dimensions (H/W/D):
75mm x 125mm x 33mm
Power:
5V DC / 2.1 A (SD Analog – Micro USB), 8-24V DC / 2A (SD/HD SDI/HDMI – Molex locking connector)

9
Encoding & Recording
Resolution Bandwith Frames H.264 Level Recorded
768x432 3 Mbit/s 25 4.1 High or < YES
640x360 1.5 Mbit/s 25 4.1 High or < NO
512x288 750 Kbit/s 25 4.1 High or < NO
Resolution Bandwith Frames H.264 Level Recorded
768x432 2 Mbit/s 25 4.1 High or < YES
640x360 1 Mbit/s 25 4.1 High or < NO
Multi Stream Table I
Multi Stream Table II
5. Maximum Encoding Values
Resolution Bandwith Frames Network Delivery Record 3 Streams parallel 2 Streams parallel H.264 Level
1280x720 6 Mbit/s 25 WiFi RTP/TS NO NO NO 4.1 High
1280x720 4 Mbit/s 50 WiFi RTP/TS NO NO NO 4.1 High
1280x720 3.5 Mbit/s 25 WiFi RTP/TS YES NO NO 4.1 High
1920x1080 3 Mbit/s 24 WiFi RTP/TS NO NO NO 4.1 High
768x432 2.5 Mbit/s 25 WiFi RTP/TS NO NO NO 4.1 High
768x432 2 Mbit/s 25 WiFi RTP/TS YES NO YES 4.1 High
768x432 1 Mbit/s 25 WiFi RTP/TS YES NO NO 4.1 High
1920x1080 6 Mbit/s 25 LAN RTP/TS NO NO NO 4.1 High
1280x720 4 Mbit/s 25 LAN RTP/TS YES NO NO 4.1 High
768x432 3 Mbit/s 25 LAN RTP/TS YES YES YES 4.1 High
1280x720 2.5 Mbit/s 25 LAN RTMP NO NO NO 4.1 High
768x432 2 Mbit/s 25 LAN RTMP YES NO NO 4.1 High
768x432 1 Mbit/s 25 3G RTMP Valu NO NO 4.1 High
* Only one quality can be recorded at the same time!
* 3G: Depends on quality of your Provider-Network

10
Remote Management
After logging in to my.minicaster.com, you will enter this page. Now you are able to manage
proles or users, browse and edit your devices and add a new miniCASTER to your Account.
For editing your miniCASTER® please click „Edit device“ right under your device. You will
nd further informations on this in chapter 5.1. This page also shows you all your registered
miniCASTER’s and their actual connection status.
6. Remote Management
my.minicaster.com - Your web based real time operating platform.
The rst thing to to, before you can start working with the Remo-
te Management website is to create an account. After this is done,
you can log in to my.minicaster.com and start registering your
miniCASTER®. You can regsiter more than one device with one
account.