Z3 Technology Z3-HE4K-01 User manual

User’s Guide
4K2K Encoder and Decoder
Model Name: Z3-HE4K-01
DOC-USR-0056-02
Manual Version 2.01.47
Software Version 2.01.47
November 3, 2014
Before attempting to connect or operate this product, please read these instructions carefully and save the manual
for future use.
This document contains proprietary and confidential information of Z3 Technology, LLC ("Z3"). This document may
not be used, reproduced, disclosed, or disseminated to anyone without the prior written approval of an authorized
representative of Z3.
Z3 Technology, LLC incorporates HDMI® technology. The terms of HDMI and HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface, and
the HDMI Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC in the United States and other countries.

Revision History
Version
Date
Change Note
Author
0.00.01
07/25/2014
Original Document
KA
2.01.47
10/31/2014
Added Quick Start Section in Section 2.0. Added note on serial cable
and HDMI cable in Section 3.0. Updated features in Section 4.0 to
reflect current release. Added LEDs, note that serial port for debug
only, note that HDMI Out for future use, and broke out USB1/2 in
Section 5.0. Rewrote Section 6.0 to reflect current operation. Added
Section 8.0 on Changing Password. Added Section 9.0 on Summary of
Options Available. Added Appendix A on Troubleshooting. Updated
screenshots. Made document more robust.
RC
“Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These
limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates uses and can
radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct
the interference by one or more of the following measures:—Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.—Increase the separation between the
equipment and receiver.—Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.—Consult the
dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.”

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CONFIDENTIAL DOC-USR-0056-02
____________________________________________________________________________________
Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION................................................................................................. 5
1.1 Preface ................................................................................................................. 5
2.0 QUICK START GUIDE ..................................................................................................... 5
2.1 If you’ve received a system from Z3 with the software preloaded............................................ 5
2.2 If you already have a system from Z3 and need to update the firmware..................................... 5
3.0 INCLUDED PARTS LIST ................................................................................................... 6
4.0 FEATURES ................................................................................................................. 6
5.0 OPERATING CONTROLS.................................................................................................. 7
6.0 RUNNING THE Z3-HE4K-01 4K ENCODER .............................................................................. 8
6.1 Prepare the 4K source................................................................................................ 8
6.2 Connect the Z3-HE4K-01 ............................................................................................. 8
6.3 Turn on the Z3-HE4K-01.............................................................................................. 9
6.4 Find the Z3-HE4K-01 on the Network using ZFinder ............................................................. 9
6.5 Configure the Encoder to Write to File and Start the Encoder................................................11
6.6 Play Back the File....................................................................................................13
6.7 Stream via UDP.......................................................................................................14
6.8 Stream via RTP .......................................................................................................16
7.0 PERFORMING A FIRMWARE UPDATE ..................................................................................18
8.0 USING THE PASSWORD FEATURE......................................................................................19
9.0 SUMMARY OF OPTIONS .................................................................................................21
9.1 The System Setup Tab...............................................................................................21
9.2 The User Presets Tab................................................................................................22
9.3 The Status Tab .......................................................................................................22
9.4 The MPTS Tab ........................................................................................................23
9.5 The CH1 Tab ..........................................................................................................24
9.6 Values Appearing at the Bottom of All Tabs .....................................................................26
APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING .........................................................................................27

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Parts Included with the Z3-HE4K-01 ........................................................................... 6
Figure 2 Z3-HE4K-01 Front View........................................................................................... 7
Figure 3 Z3-HE4K-01 Rear View ........................................................................................... 7
Figure 4 Encoder Connections for Z3-HE4K-01 .......................................................................... 8
Figure 5 Turning the Z3-HE4K-01 On...................................................................................... 9
Figure 6 ZFinder with Z3-HE4K-01 Listed ................................................................................ 9
Figure 7 ZFinder with Z3-HE4K-01 Selected ............................................................................10
Figure 8 System Setup Tab ................................................................................................10
Figure 9 CH1 Tab (Top Part) ..............................................................................................11
Figure 10 Configuring the 4K Encoder to Write to File................................................................12
Figure 11 Configuring the 4K Encoder to Stream via UDP ............................................................14
Figure 12 VLC Open Network Screen for UDP ..........................................................................15
Figure 13 Example of Z3 Video Streaming to VLC (UDP)..............................................................15
Figure 14 Configuring the 4K Encoder to Stream via RTP.............................................................16
Figure 15 Example of Z3 Video Streaming to VLC (RTP) ..............................................................17
Figure 16 Updating the Device Firmware ...............................................................................18
Figure 17 Selecting “Set Password” .....................................................................................19
Figure 18 Changing the Password ........................................................................................19
Figure 19 Password Entry Screen.........................................................................................20

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CONFIDENTIAL DOC-USR-0056-02
____________________________________________________________________________________
Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
1.0 GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 Preface
The Z3-HE4K-01 is an H.264 encoder solution supporting HD resolutions up to 2160p at 30 frames per
second (4K Ultra HD). This system offers real time 4K Ultra HD encoding and decoding capabilities while
still consuming less power than a PC-Based system. The Z3-HE4K-01 quickly allows 4K coming in through
HDMI to be streamed via UDP or RTP or to be saved to a .ts file through USB. It is configured through an
easy-to-use HTTP-based GUI. The Z3-HE4K-01 is a network-enabled, cost-effective system that is the
ideal 4K solution for industrial video, video distribution, digital signage, security and remote monitoring.
2.0 QUICK START GUIDE
2.1 If you’ve received a system from Z3 with the software preloaded
To start working with the encoder, you can go straight to Section 6.0, “RUNNING THE Z3-HE4K-01 4K
ENCODER,” on page 8. This section describes how to quickly stream 4K to a .ts file or through the
Ethernet via UDP or RTP. Adding password protection is described in Section 8.0, “USING THE
PASSWORD FEATURE,” on page 19. Finally, a summary of each parameter that can be configured in the
GUI is given in Section 9.0, “SUMMARY OF OPTIONS,” on page 21.
2.2 If you already have a system from Z3 and need to update the firmware
You can update the firmware via the web GUI interface by following the instructions in Section 7.0,
“PERFORMING A FIRMWARE UPDATE,” on page 18.

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CONFIDENTIAL DOC-USR-0056-02
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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
3.0 INCLUDED PARTS LIST
*Note: The serial cable and gender changer are included for debugging purposes and are not needed by
the typical Z3-HE4K-01 user.
*Note: The HDMI cable is an HDMI 1.4 cable. This is required for 4K support.
4.0 FEATURES
The Z3-HE4K-01 is a 4K Ultra HD network-enabled media encoder with the following features:
Encode at 3840 x 2160 at 30fps H264 + AAC
29.97, 25, 23.98fps capture also supported
4K HDMI Input
Output to MPEG-2 TS or RTP stream through GigE Ethernet
Multicast or Unicast streaming
Optional output to ts file on USB
Bit rate and frame rate changes without stopping/restarting encoder
Web based configuration software for user-friendly configuration, control, and update
Operating temperature: 0 to 40 degrees C at 20-80% relative humidity
Storage temperature: -10 to 50 degrees C at 20-80% relative humidity
Measurements: 145mm x 130mm x 34mm
Weight: 608g
Z3-HE4K-01
Figure 1 Parts Included with the Z3-HE4K-01

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
1
2
3
4
5
6
5.0 OPERATING CONTROLS
FRONT VIEW
REAR VIEW
*Note: SATA is currently not supported. Contact Z3 Technology for more information.
1
2
1. Power Switch
2. Power LED
3. LED1
4. LED2
5. Serial Port (for Debug
Only)
3
4
5
1. HDMI In
2. HDMI Out (for future use)
3. GigE Ethernet
4. USB1 (top) and USB2 (bot)
5. SATA*
6. 12V Power
Figure 3 Z3-HE4K-01 Rear View
Figure 2 Z3-HE4K-01 Front View

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____________________________________________________________________________________
Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
6.0 RUNNING THE Z3-HE4K-01 4K ENCODER
To encode 4K video, complete the following steps:
6.1 Prepare the 4K source
(1) Set the video source to 4K2K30 (3840x2160 at 30fps) and connect an HDMI 1.4 cable to it.
-29.97, 25, and 23.98fps also supported.
6.2 Connect the Z3-HE4K-01
For these steps, please refer to Figure 4.
(2) Take the HDMI 1.4 cable from step (1) and connect it to HDMI In on the Z3-HE4K-01.
(3) Connect an Ethernet cable to the Ethernet jack on the Z3-HE4K-01. Connect the other end of the
Ethernet cable directly to a PC. You will use this PC to control the Z3-HE4K-01.
(4) Take a USB 3.0 drive that the encoder will write to and connect it to USB1 (the top USB port). USB
3.0 is recommended to ensure that it is fast enough to write the encoded data.
*Note: The drive must be formatted in either FAT32, NTFS, VFAT, EXT3, or EXT4 format. exFAT is
not currently supported.
(5) Connect the 12V power supply.
(1) Connect Video Source
to HDMI In
(2) Connect
Ethernet
(3) Connect to
USB1 (top)
(4) Connect to
12V power
Figure 4 Encoder Connections for Z3-HE4K-01

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
6.3 Turn on the Z3-HE4K-01
(6) Turn on the power switch.
(7) You should see the power LED turn on. After about 5 seconds you should see LEDs 1 and 2 blink on
and off for a few seconds. 4K initialization and setup then starts. After about 40 more seconds,
you will see LED 2 turn green. This indicates the Z3-HE4K-01 is ready to run (note: If LED 2 is
blinking, this indicates the encoder has autostarted and is currently encoding).
6.4 Find the Z3-HE4K-01 on the Network using ZFinder
(8) Make sure your Windows PC is connected to the same network in which the Z3-HE4K-01 is connected
to.
(9) Run the “ZFinder” PC Utility on your Windows PC. The ZFinder window appears. ZFinder does a scan
of the network and lists the location of all Z3 systems connected to the network. In this case, the
Z3-HE4K-01 appears:
Figure 6 ZFinder with Z3-HE4K-01 Listed
(1) Turn on
switch
(2) Power LED
Turns
(3) LED1 and LED2 blink
for a few seconds
(4) LED2 turns green
Figure 5 Turning the Z3-HE4K-01 On

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
(10) Click on the Z3-HE4K-01 entry in the window to select it. This will cause the “Edit Device,” “Open
Device” and “Flash LEDs” boxes to activate:
(11) Click on “Open Device.” An Internet browser window is opened (default browser is Firefox) and the
Web GUI appears starting with the System Setup tab:
(12) Confirm that the mode is “Encoder Ultra HD.” If it is not, select “Encoder UltraHD” as the operating
mode in the lower right corner.
Figure 7 ZFinder with Z3-HE4K-01 Selected
Figure 8 System Setup Tab

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
(13) Click on the CH1 tab to bring up the encoder settings:
6.5 Configure the Encoder to Write to File and Start the Encoder
(14) Set “Output Format” to “TSFILE”
(15) In “Dest Address” type in the name of the file to save to
(example: /media/sda1/test_4k2k.ts to save to file “test_4k2k.ts” on USB1)
(16) Check if the encoder has already autostarted (the encoder will autostart if it senses a valid input
and 20 seconds have elapsed since the Z3-HE4K-01 came up). If it has autostarted, click on “stop.”
The status will then change to “STOPPED.”
(17) Click on “start” to begin encoding. You will see LED2 start to flash. This indicates the encoder is
running.
Click here
Figure 9 CH1 Tab (Top Part)

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
(18) At this point, the menu should look like the following:
(1) Change Output Format to “TSFILE”
(2) Enter name of file
to write to
(3) If status is “RUNNING”, click on “stop”
(4) Click on “start”
Figure 10 Configuring the 4K Encoder to Write to File

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
6.6 Play Back the File
(19) When you are finished, click “stop.”
(20) Make sure LED2 has stopped blinking to indicate the encoder has stopped. Then wait at least one
second before removing the USB drive.
(21) Remove the USB drive from the Z3-HE4K-01 and connect to a PC.
*Note: The PC should be at least a quadcore or 8-core PC. If the PC is too slow, frame skips and
possibly video artifacts will be observed upon playback.
(22) On the PC, open VLC (version 2.1.3 or newer)
(23) Select “Media – Open File”. Select “test_4k2k.ts” on the USB drive.
You should now be able to see encoded 4K video playing on the PC.

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
6.7 Stream via UDP
The Z3-HE4K-01 also supports streaming a 4K stream via UDP. To do this, complete the following steps:
(24) Change “Output Format” to “UDP.”
(25) Change “Dest Address” to the IP address of the PC you are streaming to (for example, a typical
default value is 192.168.0.6).
(26) Change “Dest Port” to 5004.
(27) Click “start.”
(28) After your changes, the “CH1” tab should have the following settings:
(1) Change Output Format to “UDP”
(2) Change Dest Address to
IP address of PC being
streamed to
(3) Change Dest Port to
5004
Figure 11 Configuring the 4K Encoder to Stream via UDP

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
(29) Run VLC on your PC (version used in testing at Z3: 2.1.3).
(30) Select Media –Open Network Stream. In the box, type “udp://@192.168.0.6:5004”, where
“192.168.0.6” is the IP address of your PC.
(31) Press “Play.”
(32) You should now see 4K video streaming to VLC:
Figure 12 VLC Open Network Screen for UDP
Figure 13 Example of Z3 Video Streaming to VLC (UDP)

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
6.8 Stream via RTP
The Z3-HE4K-01 also supports a 4K stream via RTP. To do this, complete the following steps:
(33) Click “stop” to abort any previous encoding runs.
(34) Change “Output Format” to “RTP.”
(35) Change “Dest Address” to the IP address of the PC you are streaming to
(For example: a typical default value is 192.168.0.6).
(36) Change “Dest Port” to 5004.
(37) Click “Start.”
(38) After your changes, the “CH1” tab should have the following settings:
(1) Change Output Format to “RTP”
(2) Change Dest Address to
IP address of PC being
streamed to
(3) Change Dest Port to
5004
Figure 14 Configuring the 4K Encoder to Stream via RTP

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
(39) Run VLC on your PC (version used in testing at Z3: 2.1.3).
(40) Select Media- Open File. Select the sdp file “z3-netra.sdp” that comes with this release.
(41) Click “Open.”
(42) You should now see 4K video streaming to VLC via RTP:
Figure 15 Example of Z3 Video Streaming to VLC (RTP)

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
7.0 PERFORMING A FIRMWARE UPDATE
(1) Run the Web Interface (Steps (1)-(12) in Section 6.0).
(2) In the System Setup Tab, click “update device firmware”:
*Note: If “update device firmware” is greyed out, it is because the encoder is running. If you click
“Stop” at the bottom of the screen, then “update device firmware” will become active and you can
then click it.
(3) This brings you to the Software Updater screen. Click “Browse” and browse to the image file you with
to update to.
(4) Click “Open.”
(5) Click “Upload and Update.” You should see a “FLASH Update now in progress” message. Once it is
finished, it will go back to the main menu.
(6) You should now be able to run using the updated image.
Click here
Figure 16 Updating the Device Firmware

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
8.0 USING THE PASSWORD FEATURE
The Z3-HE4K-01 includes an optional password to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the Web GUI.
The steps for using it are shown below:
(1) In the system Setup tab, click on “go” next to “Set Password”:
(2) Once you click on “go,” the change password options appear. Enter the new password twice and click
“change.”
Click here
Figure 17 Selecting “Set Password”
Enter new password
twice
Click “change”
Figure 18 Changing the Password

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Z3 Technology, LLC ♦100 N. 8th St. STE 250 ♦Lincoln, NE 68508-1369 USA ♦+1.402.323.0702
(3) Wait for the password option to disappear. This indicates that the password has changed.
(4) Retype the IP address in the web browser. You should then see a prompt for a user name and
password. Use “admin” for the user name and the value you had chosen before for the password:
(5) You should now be able to access the web GUI.
Figure 19 Password Entry Screen