The FBE200 can be used to encode video and stream it across a network in real time.  This allows you to display live TV or live events on your Aerva screens.  To do this, you *must* purchase an FBE200 that supports HLS, such as this one. 

 

PLEASE NOTE:  One of the last steps (9) in this instruction set will likely require the assistance of your IT team/network admins since your media players and encoder need to be put on the same subnet of the local network.


Here's what you will need: 

  • FBE200 Encoder 
  • Video source that can output HDMI such as a cable box, DVD player, videogame system etc
  • A computer to configure the encoder, a laptop will be easiest
  • An ethernet cable and HDMI cable


Here's how to configure the encoder:

  1. Power on the encoder by plugging in the power cable.
  2. Set up your video source- whatever it is you want to stream video from.  Then, connect the video output of your source to the encoder using an HDMI cable (use an appropriate adapter if your source does not output hdmi).  Make sure the video source is on and playing video.
  3. Now you'll need to login to the encoder to configure it.  To do this, first set a static IP on your computer (WIN10, please google for instructions if you're on a different OS):
    1. Access "Control Panel" 
    2. Click Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing Center
    3. Click "Change Adapter" settings on the left
    4. You'll see a list of the wifi and wired network adapters on your computer.  We want to change settings for your ethernet port.  Identify it in the list, then right-click and select "Properties".  If you're not sure which adapter in the list is the ethernet port you want to use, you can connect an ethernet cable to the port and you should see one of the adapters update it's status- that's the one you want to change.
    5. In the Properties panel, select Internet Protocol Version 4, then click Properties.
    6. Click "Use the following IP address", here you will input the static IP settings-
      IP ADDRESS:  Enter the address you want to use.  You must use an address in the 192.168.1.x range in order to connect to the encoder (assuming it's still on factory defaults).  For example, you could use "192.168.1.34".  The last digit can be anything between 2 and 254, you just want to give it an address that isn't already in use by another device on your network.  
      SUBNET MASK: Enter 255.255.255.0 (Corresponds to the above range)
      DEFAULT GATEWAY:  Enter 192.168.1.1

      You also need to enter a couple DNS servers to use.  You can use whatever you'd like, but for this example we'll use Google's DNS servers which is always a good option:
      PREFERRED DNS SERVER: Enter 8.8.8.8
      ALTERNATE DNS SERVER: Enter 8.8.4.4
  4. If you haven't already, connect an ethernet cable from the above port on your computer to the ethernet port on the FBE200 encoder.
  5. Now we're going to login to the FBE200 to configure the video stream.  Open a web browser on your computer and enter the following into the URL field: 192.168.1.168.  This is the IP address of the encoder.  Once you hit enter, you'll be prompted for a user name and password.  The default user AND password for the FBE200 is "admin".
  6. Once logged in, you'll be viewing the Status page for the FBE200.  The first thing to do here is check the software version, as an upgrade may be necessary.  The version is displayed in the top right of the status page (Device version).  This will be a filename with a timestamp ie "HEVC-20170809-HLS".  If the timestamp is 20170809 or later, then you do not need to upgrade the firmware since HLS support for Aerva systems was added in the 20170809 version.  Skip to the next step.  If you *do* need to upgrade the firmware, we'll go ahead and do that now:
    1. First you'll need to download the firmware file, which is available on FMUSER's site here:  http://bbs.fmuser.com/t/fmuser-iptv-encoder-fbe200-last-firmware-upgrade-list-for-download/108
      Note that you'll need to register on their forum to be able to download the files, so please do that now.  Also, you'll only be able to do this on the computer you're configuring the FBE200 from if it's got a second internet connection active (ie a wifi connection).  If not, you probably can't get to the web so you'll want to download the file on a different computer and transfer it, or just undo the static IP settings to download, then re-enable it.
    2. There are several firmwares in the list, you'll need to select the right version- choose E264/5 or HEVC, whichever matches the prefix of the Device version already installed.  As for the specific file, make sure the file name has "HLS" at the end to ensure you're downloading a firmware with HLS support.
    3. Once you've got the zip file downloaded or transferred to the computer that you're configuring the FB200 on, go ahead and unzip it.
    4. To do the actual firmware upgrade, go back to the FBE200 interface in your web browser and click "System".  The upgrade tool is in the lower left.  Click, "Choose file" and browse your computer for the unzipped contents of the firmware.  Select "lib.bin" then click Upgrade directly below it.  Next, reboot the FBE200 using the "Reboot" button on the right to apply the update.  Finally, repeat the same process but choose "app.bin" from the unzipped firmware contents to upgrade (yes you will want to reboot the FBE200 again).  Your FBE200 is now up to date.
  7. Now we need to enable HLS streaming, which is turned off on the FBE200 by default.   To do so, click the "Access" tab, then change "HLS select" to "Main Stream".  Once that's changed, click the "Set up" button to apply the change and then you need to reboot the encoder to enable it.  Reboot it by clicking the "System" tab and then "Reboot.
  8. Once the encoder reboots, it is now outputting the HLS stream!  Click on the "Status" tab and you'll notice there is now an "m3u8" link in the lower right.  This is the URL for the HLS stream.  If you want, you can test it right now by loading that URL as a video stream in a media program on your computer such as VLC.  For now, this will ONLY work on the computer that is connected to the FBE200 because we have not set up the networking for the Aerva players yet.  
  9. ** We now need to set up the Aerva player(s) and/or the encoder on your network so they can talk to eachother.  This will likely involve the assistance of your IT team/network admins, since the specific steps you want to take will depend on how your local network is set up.  We will describe the process broadly.  The goal here is to get the FBE200 encoder and your Aerva media players on the same subnet.  Technically, only the media players that need to run the stream will need to be on the same subnet as the encoder.  Both the network settings on the media players can be changed to achieve this, or the network settings on the encoder, or both:
    1. To change the IP on an Aerva media player:  You'll need to access the media player and plug in a USB keyboard.  Press CTRL+ALT+F1 thru F8 until you see a terminal screen.  Type "config" without the quote to launch the player's configuration menu.  From here, select "Configure Wired Networking", Y for Reconfigure, then enter the desired values.  When done, the player will apply the change and you can press CTRL+ALT+F1 - F8 to return to the content display screen.
    2. To change network settings on the FBE200:  You'll need to login to the encoder as above then just click the "Network" tab.  Here you can manually enter the desired network values.  When done, press "Set Up" to apply the change.  You'll then need to reboot the encoder (System --> Reboot) to enable the change.  NOTE:  if you give the encoder a new static IP, be sure to write it down as you'll need that to login to the device going forward.  If you do forget the IP, there is a factory reset pin-hole button on the encoder.
  10. Now we're all set up!  We can add the stream URL to the Aerva Streaming widget in a Program and display the live video on your screens:
    1. First, copy the HLS stream URL by logging into the encoder and then viewing the Status page in the lower right.  The m3u8 link is the one you need.  If you changed any network settings on the encoder during set up then the stream URL likely also changed, so please double-check if you're not sure. 
    2. Go into AerWave and create a new program.  Add the Aerva Streaming widget.  Double-click on the widget, then open the Parameters tab and paste the URL into the "Stream URL" field.  Also, make sure that the "Stream Type" option is set to HLS.
    3. Save your program, and assign it to one of your Aerva media players via the Network section.  Give it a couple minutes (max) to sync the change, and you'll see live video on the display.