User guide

ETV Portal Server User Guide 1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Topics in this section
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Portal Server Home Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Overview
The VBrick EtherneTV Portal Server is a web-based portal for accessing Live and On-
Demand audio and video files. A key component of VBrick’s EtherneTV Media Distribution
System, the ETV Portal Server provides a simple interface to easily locate available media
assets from Windows PCs, Apple Macintoshes, and IP Receivers. Upon accessing the main
portal page, users can navigate or search for specific videos, select the video, and immediately
begin viewing television quality video. For on-demand videos, users can
Fast Forward/
Rewind and Seek to specific points in the video. Details on the specific functionality are
included later in this document. The EtherneTV Portal Server can be accessed by Windows-
base PCs, Macintoshes, or by the EtherneTV IP Receiver (IPR). For the most part, the
operation of the Portal Server is the same from a Windows-based PC, an Apple Macintosh
(see note below), or an IPR but there are some subtle differences. The majority of this
document is written from a PC perspective, so certain screen shots may be slightly different
on a Macintosh or a IP Receiver. For example, the Macintosh client can be configured to use
QuickTime Player (or the VBrick Player) to display video. With QuickTime, the player
window will look different from the screen shots provided here.
Desktop Requirements
The following requirements show what is required on each end user desktop in order to run
the Portal Server interface. The user interface in the ETV Portal Server is designed for
viewing at a screen resolution of 1024x768. Lower screen resolutions may not display
properly. Note that the Admin Console runs only on Internet Explorer.
Table 1. Desktop Requirements
PC Type Requirements
Windows PCs • Windows 2000, XP (Service Pack 3), or Vista.
• 750 MHz Pentium III processor (Pentium IV required for H.264).
• 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended for H.264).
• SVGA video card 1024x768, video card acceleration and 32 bit color
recommended.
• Minimum 250 MB hard disk space for installation.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher.
• Microsoft Windows Media Player 9.0 or higher.
•Firefox 2.0 or higher.
• DirectX Media Version 8.1 and higher.