Playbox QCBOX User manual

QCBOX USER MANUAL
This guide explains how to use the basic functionalities of the QCBox v 1.2.
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Legal notice
The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the prior written permission of PlayBox Technology UK Ltd.
The software, described in this manual, is owned by PlayBox Technology UK Ltd. It is protected by Copyright Law of England and Wales, as well as by
international copyright treaties, and may be used or copied only in accordance with the license agreement.
PlayBox Technology UK Ltd provides this manual “as is” without any warranty, either express, or implied.
This publication may contain typographical errors or technical inaccuracies. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document,
PlayBox Technology UK Ltd assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages, resulting from the use of the
information, contained herein. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. They will be incorporated in new versions of the manual. Please,
check the PlayBox Technology UK Ltd website regularly for User Manual updates.
PlayBox Technology UK Ltd may introduce changes or improvements in the products, described in this manual at any time, without any special notice.
Please, address your comments or questions to:
Playbox Technology UK Ltd
Brookmans Park Teleport
Great North Road
Hatfield AL96NE
United Kingdom
www.playboxtechnology.com
[e-mail]

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Contents
Legal notice................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Contents........................................................................................................................................................................................3
Preface ..........................................................................................................................................................................................4
StyleConventions ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
GETTINGSTARTED ........................................................................................................................................................................6
QUICK START.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................6
USERINTERFACE ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
THE QCBOX TOOLBAR.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................7
THE FILES SET........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
TEST LOG................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8
MENU BAR ....................................................................................................................................................................................9
FILE MENU..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................9
Auto mode.....................................................................................................................................................................9
New QCT Source (Folder).............................................................................................................................................9
New QCT Source (Playlist)...........................................................................................................................................9
New QCT Source (Set of files)......................................................................................................................................9
New QCT Source (Text file)..........................................................................................................................................9
Clear logs ......................................................................................................................................................................9
Clear Files Set and Logs ...............................................................................................................................................9
Exit.................................................................................................................................................................................9
SETTINGS MENU ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
General........................................................................................................................................................................10
Auto mode...................................................................................................................................................................11
Test presets .................................................................................................................................................................12
TESTS MENU....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
HELP MENU........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
AUDIOLEVELS NORMALIZING...................................................................................................................................................16
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN AIRBOX WHEN NORMALIZING?...................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
PLAYBOX WORKFLOW .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
HOW TO APPLY THE NECESSARY SETTINGS? .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Adjusting QCBox.........................................................................................................................................................17
Adjusting AirBox ........................................................................................................................................................18
APPENDIX –Formula for Success (%) in QCBox........................................................................................................................19
SAMPLE METADATA FILE................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 20

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Preface
Dear PlayBox customer,
Thank you for purchasing our product! We would like to assure you that you have chosen the most cost-effective and versatile TV
automation system on the market. As always, we are trying to stay close to our customers’ needs, making sure they all receive adequate
support and satisfaction. Your opinion about our product is an exceptionally valuable source of information for us. The ease of working
with the PlayBox products results mainly from the suggestions and comments of our current respected customers.
This manual is structured into several sequential chapters, each aiming to ease the installation, fine tuning, and use of our products. We
hope that you will enjoy working with it, and we are anxiously looking forward to receiving your feedback.
Please, send your questions, suggestions, and assistance requests to:
[e-mail]
General feedback:
[e-mail]

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Style Conventions
•File names, software, documents or terms are written in italics
▪The data is written in the settings.ini file.
▪The file is located in C:\Program Files\DMT\AirBox
▪For further information read Shortcuts reference book.
▪The VTR is controlled via RS-422.
•Direct quotations from the computer screen are presented as follows:
▪Menu Items and commands
▪Tab/Page names
▪Column names (i.e. in a playlist or another grid)
▪Field names, check boxes
▪ Buttons
▪Screen readings are written in [square brackets]
▪The keyboard keys are enclosed in <> signs
▪Terms are defined in the Glossary at the end of the manual
•The arrows, used in the setting procedures mean as follows:
▪➔ A menu item follows;
▪ A page(tab) name follows;
▪→ A field name, a check box name, or a value name follows.
Except for arrows, you can distinguish between the relevant menu categories also by the styles, listed above.

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GETTING STARTED
QCBox is a quality control tool, intended to guarantee the successful playout of media files in AirBox. QCBox checks directories, playlists or sets of files.
Content verifications include loudness measurement and/or detection of missing audio/video samples. QCBox stores quality data about each checked
media file to an *.mtd file. AirBox can play or skip a clip depending on that quality data and the user settings.
QUICK START
1. Launch QCBox.
2. Go to Settings > Test Presets. The Tests Settings dialog will open.
3. In the Test settings dialog, select a predefined test from the Test presets field
OR
Define a custom test preset: right-click somewhere in the Test presets field, select Add, and enter a name to the new preset. Select the test
plug-in(s), which will be used to verify the content from the All available test plugins lists and click OK.
4. On the File menu, select a New QCT source. The source can be a Folder, an AirBox playlist, a Set of files, or a Text file.
5. In the New QCT source dialog that follows, specify a Media Source location. This is the location where the media files for tests are stored.
6. Select a Test preset from the drop-down list and click OK. All the files from the specified location will be listed in the Files set area of the
main QCBox window.
7. Go to Tests > Start to start the test procedure.
Congratulations! You have just started QCBox!

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USER INTERFACE
The user interface of QCBox is simple and easy to use. It consists of a Menu bar, a Toolbar, a Media files list and a Test Log.
Menu bar
Toolbar
Media files
Test log
THE QCBOX TOOLBAR
The QCBox Toolbar provides quick access to important QCBox functionalities. Icons on the toolbar match some of the commands, available on the
Menu bar.
New QCT Source (Folder) –select a folder with media files for tests.
New QCT Source (Playlist) –select a source playlist. Media files that match playlist items will be checked. Files can be stored on different
locations. Only files in the *.ply format are supported!
New QCT Source (Set of files) –select multiple files from a single location.
New QCT Source (Text file) –load a text file, containing a list of files for test, including their file paths. The files should be listed in the
following format:

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Clear Logs –clears the test log.
Clear Files Set and Logs –clears the file list in the Files set, and the test log.
Start Tests –starts the test procedure.
Stop Tests –stops the test procedure.
THE FILES SET
The files set contains the list of media files, available on the selected QCT Source. The files set grid includes the following columns:
Media files –names and paths to all files from the selected source
Test pre-set –selected test presets
Success % - files with test success of 100% can be played by AirBox.
Finish time –the time of test completion
TEST LOG
The Test Log at the bottom of the QCBox window displays a list of test statuses and results for all tested files. Each tested file is described with three
entries, on separate rows. The beginning row for each file is colored in blue. The test log also provides information about test start/end time, the name
and path for each media, applied test presets, etc.

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MENU BAR
The Menu bar includes the File, Settings, Tests and Help menus, each containing specific commands for the configuration and operation of QCBox. All
menus are described in detail further in this manual.
FILE MENU
Commands on the File menu include mode selection, file source settings and additional options for clearing QCBox on-screen logs. Each command is
described in details further in this section.
Auto mode
Click Auto mode to run QCBox in automated mode.
New QCT Source (Folder)
Click to select a folder (local or network) as a new source of media files for test. Matches the New QCT Source (Folder) icon on the toolbar.
New QCT Source (Playlist)
Click to select a playlist file as a new source of media files for test. The playlist should be in the native AirBox playlist format (*.ply). Matches the New
QCT Source (Playlist) icon on the toolbar.
New QCT Source (Set of files)
Click to select specific files for test from a location, containing multiple media files. Matches the New QCT Source (Set of files) icon on the toolbar.
New QCT Source (Text file)
Click to select a text file as a new source of media files for test. The media files and their paths should be listed as follows: “D:\AirBox
Samples\NTSC\Video\PlayBox.mpg” (including the quotes). Matches the New QCT Source (Text file) icon on the toolbar.
Clear logs
Click to clear the test logs at the bottom of the main QCBox window.
Clear Files Set and Logs
Click to clear all files for testing from the Files set list and all testing logs at the bottom of the main QCBox window.
Exit
Click to exit QCBox.
NOTE: Auto mode settings are defined from Settings > Auto mode. For more information about those settings, go to the Auto mode section further in
this manual.

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SETTINGS MENU
Commands on the Settings menu include general QCBox options, auto mode settings and options for adding/editing test presets. Each command is
described in details further in this section.
General
The General Settings configuration dialog contains the following sections:
Memory settings
To limit the number of entries, displayed in the test log at the bottom of the QCBox window, enable the Limited number of messages in the list
(recommended) option, and then specify the Maximum number of messages from the spin-box below.
File settings
To save the contents of the test log to a text file, enable the Log to file option. Specify the maximum size (in kilobytes) of the log file from the Log
file max size (KB) spin-box tot the right. The default log file size is 10 MB.
In the Output folder name field below, specify the folder to which log files should be saved. By default, QCBox log files are saved in
C:\ProgramData\PlayBox\QCT\LOGs.
Tests configuration path
In the Folder name field, specify the file path to the QCTTestConfig.xml. This is a configuration file for the tests, performed by QCBox. It contains
information about all test presets, available in QCBox. If you create a custom preset, information about it will also be written to that file.
NOTE: When the log file reaches the specified size, QCBox will start writing the log messages to a new file.