Video Streaming Device: AverCaster Combo & AverTV Box PVR

You can use this device for distributing high quality video contents from digital, analog TVs etc to an unlimited number of users over the same network simultaneously. This content can be streamed to various devices, including PCs, IP-STBs, Kiosks, digital signage and hospital infotainment devices.

In case you're planning to stream content from a digital TV connection, then you'll need to check whether the content is right protected or not. If it is, then it won't be able to stream the content, and you'll need a converter like the AverTV Box PVR, which costs an additional Rs. 7,800.

Device Setup and Installation

For hardware configuration, you can use the quick guide which comes with the product. We used Avercaster Combo and Aver TV Box PVR for streaming videos on the labs network. Input signal was taken from the set top box to the TV Box, and then its output was connected to Avercaster Combo, which in turn was connected to the Labs network.

The LED indicators show connection status. The blue light shows that power is on and the device is connected to the
network. A glowing green LED confirms that the device is ready for content streaming.

After the hardware connections, we configured the device for IP streaming. The steps for configuration are as follows:

- Install the Avercaster Manager
- Activate the Avercaster Manager to detect the Avercaster Combo on the same LAN network.

- After the AverCaster Combo is located, use it find the IP address of the AverCaster Combo on the Device Info tab. Click the IP adress of the AverCaster Combo or enter the IP address of the AverCaster Combo on the URL box of the browser to log on to the Web Management page.

- Set up IP Streaming. You can capture digital TV, analog TV and video signal from the external AV input source. For TV signals, it is required to set up the country option and scan for channels before configuration. Next select the channels for streaming.

Content streaming

You will have to do the source settings in order to multicast videos. We used source as ‘Composite', type as ‘PAL' and other recommended settings. Next save the settings and you are done with the streaming configuration. For receiving videos on client devices, you can use VLC player and stream via network.

You can use both ‘RTP and UDP ' protocols for multicasting and unicasting the streams. Our mode of evaluation was RTPmulticasting on the network. We streamed the video on five different machines with same settings at a time and didn't find any type of time lag or latency while the multicast was on. So, in a way, we support the claim of Avermedia of supporting a large audience for multicasting videos (though 5 machines are very few in order to come to a concrete conclusion). AverCaster Combo supports bit rates from 1.5 to 8 Mbps for video and 128 kbps to 384 kbps for audio which are manually configurable.

At a time, one tuner can stream only one program whereas a maximum of 10 DVB-T programs can be streamed separately at the same time and under the same frequency. Although it depends on the bit-rate of the video stream.