®

DiviCom Multi-channel Encoders Release Notes

Multi-channel DiviCom® Encoders:

DiviCom® Ion™
DiviCom® Electra™ 1000
DiviCom® Electra™ 5000
DiviCom® Electra™ 5400
DiviCom® Electra™ 7000
DiviCom® Electra™ 8000
DiviCom® Ion™ AVC SD
DiviCom® Ion™ AVC HD
DiviCom® Audio Encoder

Harmonic Inc. U.S.A.

4300 North First Street Release 9.4.4.134
San Jose, CA 95134 Revision (2)
+1.800.286.1600
+1.408.944.6700
FAX +1.408.944.6705 October 15, 2010
http://www.harmonicinc.com/

This document contains information that is proprietary and confidential to Harmonic Inc. and is
intended for the specific use of the recipient for the express purpose of operating the Harmonic
broadcast encoding system. This document is provided to the recipient with the expressed
understanding that the recipient will not divulge its contents to other parties or otherwise
misappropriate the information contained herein.
Copyright 2010 Harmonic Inc. All rights reserved. All information is subject to change without
notice.

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Table of Contents
®
1.0 DiviCom Standard and High Definition Multi-channel Encoder Introduction ................................ 3
1.1 Product Description ....................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Accessing Online Help .................................................................................................................. 6
1.3 Viewing Manuals in PDF ............................................................................................................... 6
2.0 Changes, Issues and Limitations ............................................................................................. 6
2.1 Electra 09.04.04.134 / NMX 5.4.4.0.141 is a maintenance patch release .............................. 6
2.2 Electra 09.04.03.127 / NMX 5.4.3.0.134 is a maintenance patch release .............................. 7
2.3 Electra 09.04.02.120 / NMX 5.4.2.0.132 is a maintenance patch release .............................. 7
2.4 New Features & Enhancements in Electra 09.04.01.116 / NMX 5.4.1.0.127 release ............ 7
2.5 New Features & Enhancements in Electra 09.04.00.109 / NMX 5.4.0.0.xxx release ............. 7
2.2 Resolved issues in this release .................................................................................................... 9
2.3 Known Issues .............................................................................................................................. 12
2.4 Open Features ............................................................................................................................ 28

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1.0 DiviCom® Standard and High Definition Multi-channel Encoder

Introduction
This document provides release information for the following Harmonic Standard Definition (SD)
®
and High Definition (HD) DiviCom multi-channel encoders for both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 Part
10/ITU-T H.264 (AVC) compliant encoding:
 Embedded software version a_09.04.04.134 for Audio encoders
™
 Embedded software version c_09.04.04.134 for Ion AVC SD encoders (MPEG-4
Part 10 (AVC) only).
™
 Embedded software version h_09.04.04.134 for Ion AVC HD encoders (MPEG-4
Part 10 (AVC) only).
™
 Embedded software version e_09.04.04.134 for Ion encoders (MPEG-2 only).
™
 Embedded software version x_09.04.04.134 for Electra 1000 encoders (MPEG-2
only).
™
 Embedded software version x_09.04.04.134 for Electra 5000 encoders (MPEG-2).
™
 Embedded software version n_09.04.04.134 for Electra 5400 encoders (MPEG-4
Part 10 (AVC) only).
 Embedded software version r_09.04.04.134 for Electrav 7000 encoders (MPEG-4
Part 10 (AVC) only)
™
 Embedded software version d_09.04.04.134 for Electra 8000 encoders (MPEG-2
and AVC encoder)
™
 NMX Digital Service Manager software version 5.4.4.0.141 release.
This document only contains information specific to these software releases. Refer to the
DiviCom® Ion™ Multi-channel Encoder Guide, DiviCom® Ion™, AVC SD Multi-channel Encoder
Guide, DiviCom® Ion™ AVC HD Multi-channel Encoder Guide, DiviCom® Electra™ 1000 Multi-
channel Encoder Guide, DiviCom® Electra™ 5000 Multi-channel Encoder Guide, DiviCom® Audio
Encoder Guide, and NMX Digital Service Manager™ on-line help for installation, configuration, and
operation information.

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1.1 Product Description

DiviCom Ion™ AVC HD
The Ion AVC HD is aimed at cost effective deployments of High Definition video. It supports
MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) compression. The Ion AVC HD encoder incorporates a fixed configuration
of four high-quality encoders in a single rack-unit (1-RU) chassis that is managed via Harmonic‟s
NMX Digital Service Manager™ network management software. With a restricted feature set
(embedded audio or AIC, no VBR statistical multiplexing, no capped VBR, and limited filtering), the
Ion AVC HD enriches Harmonic‟s DiviCom line of encoders.
DiviCom Ion™ AVC SD
The Ion AVC is aimed at cost effective deployments of Standard Definition video. The ION AVC
supports MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) compression. The Ion AVC encoder incorporates a fixed
configuration of four high-quality encoders in a single rack-unit (1-RU) chassis that is managed via
Harmonic‟s NMX Digital Service Manager™ network management software. The Ion AVC SD has
a restricted feature set (embedded audio or AIC, no VBR statistical multiplexing, no capped VBR,
and limited filtering no Digital Program Insertion support) as compared to the Electra family of
encoders.
™
DiviCom Ion
Supporting both constant bit-rate and DiviTrackMX™ variable bit-rate MPEG-2 encoding, the
DiviCom Ion enables operators to deploy cost-effective digital television services.
DiviCom® Ion encoders can operate in standalone mode using the web interface which facilitates
full configuration of the platform, ports, input streams, output transports, and PSI. See the online
help for more information about configuring Ion encoders.
DiviCom Electra™ 1000
The DiviCom Electra 1000 is a multi-channel standard definition MPEG-2 VBR encoder. It is a
high-density encoding solution with outstanding performance and video quality. Based on seven
generations of MPEG encoding platforms, Electra optimizes compression efficiency with up to four
variable bit-rate (VBR) encoders and ten stereo audio pairs in a single rack-unit (1-RU) chassis
that is managed through Harmonic‟s NMX Digital Service Manager™. With its standard IP
interfaces, Electra 1000 is designed for Harmonic‟s DiviTrackIP™ closed-loop statistical
multiplexing solution.
DiviCom Electra 5000 MP2
Harmonic‟s DiviCom Electra 5000 encoder delivers the ultimate compression flexibility for existing
and emerging applications. With four broadcast quality video encoders per one rack unit (1-RU)
chassis, the Electra 5000 supports MPEG-2 compression standards.

DiviCom Electra 5400

The high performance DiviCom Electra 5400 Encoder is Harmonic‟s third generation MPEG-4 AVC
(H.264) standard definition (SD) encoder and the industry‟s first SD product based on ASIC
processing technology. The Electra 5400 allows operators to quickly and efficiently launch
constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit rate (VBR) SD services while providing the highest-quality
viewing experience. Its encoding flexibility enables operators to deliver up to four simultaneous

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AVC channels in full standard definition and low resolution formats, increasing revenue per
program and enhancing customer satisfaction by flexibly delivering multiple services to any device.
DiviCom Electra 7000
Harmonic‟s DiviCom Electra 7000 Encoder is the world‟s first 1-RU high definition (HD) encoder
with multi-service capability, flexibly delivering multiple full HD and low resolution services to a
range of devices. Designed to address the ever-increasing demand for advanced video and audio
services, the high performance Electra 7000 provides up to four channels of superior quality
constant bit rate (CBR) or variable bit rate (VBR) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video. It is the industry‟s
first HD encoder based on ASIC processing technology and provides a full 30 – 40% compression
gain over the first generation of DSP-based AVC HD encoders.
DiviCom Electra 8000
Harmonic‟s new Electra 8000 is the world‟s first encoding and transcoding platform capable of
either SD or HD support MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) and MPEG-2 compression, up to 1080p 50/60
(when available, through a future firmware upgrade), . The Electra 8000‟s native capability to
decode and encode both MPEG-2 and AVC enables operators to accommodate both existing and
future architectures using a single hardware platform. The Electra 8000 includes an enhanced
compression engine with a unique multi-pass architecture, integrated statistical multiplexing “in the
box” with Harmonic‟s DiviTrackMX™, or support for DiviTrackIP™ over LAN or distributed WAN
systems. The Electra 8000 series is available in 2 hardware versions: the Electra 8100 (hardware
capable of one high quality encoder per video card) and the Electra 8200 (hardware capable of up
to two high quality encode per video card, as well as built-in broadcast quality up/down converter.
Please contact Harmonic for feature availability and timeframes)
DiviCom Audio Encoder

While the encoding and delivery of high-quality compressed video is paramount for digital
television service providers, offering a compelling line-up of audio services is also important.
Harmonic, a recognized leader in advanced digital video solutions, offers a purpose-built
product focused on audio-only services, the DiviCom® Audio Encoder. This system delivers
an efficient and high density audio encoding solution, with up to ten stereo or twenty mono
channels of audio in a single rack-unit (1-RU) chassis.

DiviCom FLEX™ Decoding Module

The DiviCom FLEX is a decoding module for re-encoding solutions. Designed to work with the
Harmonic Electra, ION AVC SD and ION AVC HD encoder product lines, a single FLEX module is
able to decode up to two (2) incoming programs. An appropriately configured Harmonic encoder
can handle decoding of four (4) programs in a single rack-unit (1-RU) chassis. Harmonic‟s
DiviCom FLEX dual decoder is a versatile module, capable of decoding MPEG-2 video and
MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video in either SD or HD formats, as well as MPEG1 Layer II audio, and
1
Dolby Digital audio. It also has the capability to passthrough MPEG1 Layer II audio, Dolby Digital

1
Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby E, Dolby, and AC-3 are all trademarks of Dolby
Laboratories.

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audio and MPEG2/4 AAC/HE AAC audio. The host encoder is capable of re-encoding all of these
2
audio formats , as provisioned by the user, assuming proper licenses have been purchased.

RF Input Card
The DiviCom FLEX decoding module is being joined by an RF Input Card, which hosts 4 8VSB
tuners. Each tuner is capable of delivering one ATSC Transport Stream to a FLEX module. One
RF Input Card can thus feed two FLEX modules. The output of the card is an MPEG-2 TS per
ATSC A/53 Part 3.

1.2 Accessing Online Help

Online help files provide detailed information on how to configure and manage DiviCom Ion,
DiviCom Electra , and DiviCom Audio encoder encoders. You can access the online help files by
clicking the Help button in the Status pane in Encoder Configuration Manager. Please refer to
NMX Digital Service Manager release note for information about online help and user manuals
included with the NMX Digital Service Manager release.
A Standalone Encoder GUI guide is also now available for non NMX users.1.3

1.3 Viewing Manuals in PDF

® ®
The encoder‟s software CD includes applicable product manuals as Adobe Acrobat PDF files,
located in the „User Manuals‟ directory. You must have Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or greater to
view the PDF files. Acrobat Reader 6.0 installation file is available on the CD in the „Support
Software\Acrobat‟ directory.

2.0 Changes, Issues and Limitations

2.1 Electra 09.04.04.134 / NMX 5.4.4.0.141 is a maintenance patch release

This maintenance release has been created to deal with a hardware variance due to supply issue
with one of the hardware components. One of the “S3” FPGAs used on the compression boards of
the Electra 8100 & Electra 8200 series of encoders encountered supply issues. Due to the restricted
supply Harmonic developed an alternative “S4” replacement FPGA variant. The FPGA HW change
necessitated the use of updated embedded SW build to provide support for both S3 and S4
equipped Electra 8000 encoders. This updated embedded SW build will recognize and support
both S3 and S4 versions. The S3 and S4 equipped Electra 8000 encoders are operationally
equivalent* to each other and can be identified as follows:

2
Harmonic encoders support audio encoding supplied by either Dolby or Fraunhofer.

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S3 Equipped Part
Number
ELC8100 ELC-81x0-HW-AC/DC-L-02 or older
ELC8200 ELC-82x0-HW-AC/DC-L-04 or older
S4 Equipped Part
Number
ELC8100 ELC-81x0-HW-AC/DC-L-06
ELC8200 ELC-82x0-HW-AC/DC-L-06

*Note: The S3 and S4 equipped Electra 8000 encoders are operationally equivalent with the
following minor exception. This code has an impact to the WSS Line Killer feature (625 line
applications). There are two modes of operation with the WSS Line Killer feature, when enabled all
S4 units will overwrite the WSS video lines with lines with black video data. The S3 will behave
similarly with NMX 5.6 code but with NMX5.5 and earlier version the WSS Line Killer will overwrite
the WSS video lines with the video line directly below the lines containing WSS data.

Also note that the S4 encoders will not be correctly identified if non-patch code is loaded onto the
encoder. The patch code is therefore a must for S4 encoders

2.2 Electra 09.04.03.127 / NMX 5.4.3.0.134 is a maintenance patch release

2.3 Electra 09.04.02.120 / NMX 5.4.2.0.132 is a maintenance patch release
2.4 New Features & Enhancements in Electra 09.04.01.116 / NMX 5.4.1.0.127
release

In this release the Electra 8000 is capable of encoding Standard Definition (SD) resolution MPEG-4
AVC video in CBR or in VBR (DiviTrackMX or DiviTrackIP). The supported profile is High Profile
Level 3.

2.5 New Features & Enhancements in Electra 09.04.00.109 / NMX 5.4.0.0.xxx

release

Feature Encoder Models

Supporting
Video section

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Feature Encoder Models

Supporting
Audio section
AHC-561 card support for transcoding of a single pre-
compressed Dolby AC3 into Dolby Digital Plus (the stream Encoders supporting
can be either one 5.1 multichannel or one 2.0 stereo) AHC-561
(Electra 1000, 5000,
5400, 7000 and 8000)
Ancillary Data section (VBI/VANC)
525-line closed caption processing: 608 to 708 conversion.
Electra 1000, 5000 and
8000
In this release the encoder is able to translate Line 21 CEA-
608 data into CEA-708 data. The 608 input data can come ION MPEG
only from digitized line 21
ARIB B39 Audio Mode Change and Aspect Ratio signaling in
VANC Electra - 8000
ARIB B39 Dynamic audio track/source change via VANC
Electra - 8000
ARIB B39 VANC- Audio mode rate mapping
Electra - 8000
ARIB Stream syntax for HD AVC video encoding
Electra - 8000
BT.709 Colorimetry signaling for HD MPEG2 with VANC
aspect ratio per ARIB B32 Electra - 8000
Japanese Subtitles (per ARIB STD-B37, ARIB TR-B23, ARIB
STD-B40) Electra - 8000
FLEX section
FLEX Dolby AC3 decode options, choice of RF mode or line
mode. All Electra and Ion
Encoders supporting
FLEX
FLEX video decoding option: when detecting a loss of the
input video PID, the encoder is able to switch the video output All Electra and Ion
PID to NULLs (instead of current behavior of sending black Encoders supporting
video). This behavior is user configurable. This feature is FLEX
intended to enable downstream slate / EAS insertion on a
device such as the ProStream 1000.
DPI section
Misc section
Faster encoder provisioning or parameter. In this release the
encoder is able to accept a new configuration (change of Electra - 8000
encoding resolution, GOP settings or format such as SD/HD)
without going thru a card reset phase.

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Feature Encoder Models

Supporting
IOM option : A/B Power Input Switch card
All Electra and ION
encoders
The A/B Power Input Switch card is a dual-height IOM card
that can only be installed in slots 1 and 3. It receives two
separate AC main input sources (to support redundancy),
monitors the voltage, and selects the good voltage to provide
one AC output for input into the power supply. The A/B Power
Input Switch card automatically changes from the line A input
to the Line B input (or the reverse) upon loss of power on the
active line.
Configuration Manager web GUI : support for enabling IRIS
reporting All Electra and Ion
Encoders

2.2 Resolved issues in this release

Following is a list of the significant problems solved in this release.

Report Description
No. /
Build No.
78536, FLEX DPI PID pass-through does not support splice immediate
79495,
79151 &
79118
77022 Potential counter wraparound issues after 207 days can cause A1 crash
77832 Macro blocking after 414 days
77497 Macro blocking issues with HD MPEG-2 encoding”
78996 HD/SD AVC/SD MP2 - Periodic Glitches (blocking) seen in video encoding
51047 Password protection option for Configuration Manager on the Alcestis
75823 Russian and Finnish descriptors cannot be seen or chosen in drop down menu
76837 Disable PID missing alarm doesn't work
76867 AC-3 descriptor cannot be enabled in Electra 7000 Configuration Manager
77227 Electra 7120 FLEX-card fails, video goes to black
77513 FLEX pass-through subtitles not showing on the STB output [SCTE-27]
78049 Electra 5000 VQ blocking when using DiviTrack
78335 FLEX module - If the ASI input transport rate is higher than 80 Mbps, you may
notice cc errors
79253 Electra 5000 - e2 Video quality issue
79902 HD VANC Aspect Ratio Control timing issue in Electra 7000
81638 Audio Video Synch issue
80328 Electra 8000:SD H.264: Closed Captions are garbled when RFD is enabled on
movie content

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Report Description
No. /
Build No.
81678 MPEG-2 Closed GOP is not truly closed on ELC8240

9.4.1.116
61876 Horizontal shifted on the top half and the bottom half of the video on Electra 7000

9.4.1.116
81939 DPI server interop issue - Issue with handling bursty DPI requests.

9.4.1.116
79668 Closed captioning corrupted on Numa output

9.4.1.116
83281 Electra 5400 and 7000: Capped VBR bit-rate does not vary

9.4.2.120
82283 PAN SCAN SEI issue (Aspect Ratio)

9.4.2.120
83069 Electra 8000 SD AVC High Profile: signaling Level 4.0, it should be 3.0

9.4.2.120
84856 In standalone mode the Gui will not allow PSIP configuration unless multicast is
changed, and encoder is reset.
9.4.3.127
83935 Electra 7000 and Electra 5400: Fixed additional software counters in video
compression firmware to prevent service disruptions after 414 days of continuous
9.4.3.127 service.
78330 Electra 8000: Fixed software counters in video compression to prevent service
disruptions after 207 days of continuous service.
9.4.3.127
82456 Timeout on Electra 8210: need power cycle to retrieve nominal state

9.4.3.127
79346 Set top box cannot decode the subtitle when OP 47 is managed by Electra 7000

9.4.3.127
81412 On Electra 5400 very long GOPs can cause extreme video artifacts when AFD is
enabled.
9.4.3.127
82304 After upgrading from NMX 4.9 to NMX 5.2.2 AFD will stop working after a few
hours of operation
9.4.3.127

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Report Description
No. /
Build No.
87421 After Power Cycle - Unit does not reboot properly, VPC #4 cycles in loop of "Card
Busy/Card Reset"
9.4.4.134
87321 Unable to disable the ISO 639 Language descriptor from the encoder output

9.4.4.134
84573 FLEX does not forward AFD data to compressor (50Hz Video Index AFD)

9.4.4.134

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2.3 Known Issues

Following is a list of significant known problems for this release

PR 82243 – Profile changes to main video will cause PIP profile to be inconsistent with
provisioning
Changing the M value on main video on Electra 7000 or Electra 5400, will cause the main video to
reset. LRV will also reset, but when previously provisioned with closed captioning (and captions
are flowing), closed captioning will be lost after this operation.
This also applies to aspect ratio and closed GOP settings.
Workaround is to change this profile setting and change it back to the desired value

PR 81894 – Electra 5400, no closed captions are present on the output of the encoder if
"VANC-708/CEA-708 ATSC (SMPTE 334/A53)" is selected.
No workaround

PR 81143 – Extreme jitter (of 1 second jitter for 20 second period) on IP network might
cause FLEX-based encoder to exhibit audio video sync problem of 100 msec.
This problem happens very rarely and under extreme network condition.
Workaround is to reset FLEX card.

PR 79666 – A/V sync is out of range (higher than 50 ms) when downsampling the audio to
24 KHz (MPEG HE-AAC low bitrates compression)
For MPEG-4 HE AAC and MPEG-2 HE AAC encoding with low bitrates (under 144 kbps), the A/V
sync might be slightly off depending on the audio card used, video format, platform used. (between
50 ms to 100 ms)
MPEG-4 AAC and MPEG-2 AAC does not have this issue
Work around is to use the delay adjustment in the audio properties page to adjust A/V Sync.

PR 80319 - Electra 8000 only supports Border pre-processing on top line but not Bottom,
Left, and Right border.
Electra 8000 only support top line preprocessing, to suppress input WSS or AMOL data in the
active picture area.
Workaround; Always turn off Bottom, Left and Right border filtering

PR 80454 - Flex audio decode: AAC vs MPEG mismatch is not detected

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If the user provision the flex encoder with AAC audio streams and set the audio decode mode on
the GUI to be MPEG1-L2, no alarm will be raised to warn the user of the format mismatch.
Workaorund - The right format should be set when doing flex audio decode.

PR 80462 – Flex audio decode: bad duplicate group/pair handling interrupts the flex
video/audio output when changing parameters
When having a duplicate group/pair scenario (meaning several audio decode pids are configured
to be re-embedded in the same group/pair), changing any parameters on one of the conflicted
audio streams (compression mode, delay, pid etc) will affect the existing video and audio streams.
In other words: Service might be affected if the user creates a new audio decode stream (which
will default to group 1/pair 1) and already has an audio decode stream which is embedded to
group 1 pair 1.
No work around. User should know that adding an audio decode stream might be service affecting
in previous described case.

PR 80463 – (flex audio decode) missing alarm when trying to decode the same audio input
pid
If trying to decode the same audio input pid multiple times, no alarm will be raised on NMX 5.4
release.
This feature is not yet supported on NMX 5.4 release. No work around.
Workaorund: The user should decode different audio pids as this is not a supported feature on
NMX 5.4.

PR 78545 – FLEX module - No "Sustained Mpeg2 Packet loss" alarm is asserted when
passing data PID without PES header with PTS Data re-stamping enabled
If user provisions PTS Data re-stamping enabled and the stream does not have PTS, the packets
will be dropped with no alarm
Workaround: if you do not see data on the output, uncheck PTS Data re-stamping

PR77501 - FLEX ASI Input failing after swapping to backup encoder.

Doing a maintenance redundancy using offline or manually throwing the input switch connection
on the switch can cause provision errors.
Workaround: In NMX, on the encoder icon, disable maintenance redundancy on all encoders
(primary and backup). This will make the maintenance redundancy slower.
If the backup encoder is active and the user tries to manually switch the inputs to the backup
encoder this issue will still occur. Do not switch the inputs to an active backup encoder.

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PR 73620 – FLEX audio decode: some provisioning corner cases can lead to the inability to
create more than 2-3 audio decode streams on a FLEX card.
WorkAround: To switch between the mode where audio decode is available only on port1 to the
mode where audio decode is available on both ports, either:
1) Delete all audio decode streams, then create the desired audio decode streams
2) Deactivate the service configuration or the output transport stream make the audio stream
changes, and activate the service configuration or the output transport stream

PR 74297 - FLEX audio decode: CC errors keep being asserted sometimes on some audio
decode streams (output pid: re-encoded audio).
In some cases when there are more than 15 audio streams (pass through + decode) with high/low
bitrates and different sample frequencies, different formats... disabling / enabling programs or
audio streams can sometimes result in CC errors that keep getting asserted on only one of the
stream (generally the one with the lowest bitrate).
WorkAround: Disable / Enable the audio stream that causes an issue should resolve this.

PR 75610 – “Dropped MPEG packets due to IP datagram error” alarm with duplicate time
stamps.
It has been seen on some rare cases involving change of bitrates (disable the transport stream,
disable any video/any streams) that the following alarm gets asserted: Dropped MPEG packets
due to IP datagram error

Workaround: deactivate service configuration, wait about 10 seconds for the alarm to get remitted.
Reactivate service configuration.

PR 76658 – FLEX audio decode: noisy audio when doing a format mis-configuration
If the user configures the FLEX decoder to decode MPEG1-L2 mono decode but has an AC-3 5.1
input, a noisy audio will be audible on the FLEX sdi output. Some other mis-configuration can
result in a noisy audio.

Workaround: The user should specify the right audio decode format, and desired coding mode.

PR 76810 - FLEX audio decode: decoding and re-encoding AC-3 5.1 raises an input stream
provision failure alarm: AC-3 5.1 encoding is not supported on on-board
When configuring the encoder to do AC-3 5.1 encoding on on-board audio card, the alarm raised
will be: Input Stream Provision Failure.

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Workaround: Do not encode AC-3 5.1 on on-board

PR 74796 – automatically clear alarm when performance limitation is resolved

The system will assert alarm when user provisions too many streams with dynamic audio
adjustment. The alarm will be asserted on the last provisioned steam. If user resolves the problem
by changing provisioning on the "not-alarmed" stream, the alarmed stream will remain in alarmed
state.
Workaround: Resolve the conflict and re-provision the alarmed stream

PR 76678 - FLEX audio decode:“Stopped audio decoding - Multichannel detected but down
mix not enabled” alarm get raised for a format configured properly.
If the user incorrectly formats the audio configuration (for example MPEG1-L2input and configure
the FLEX decoder to do AC-3 stereo decode), a misleading alarm can be raised. (such as:
downmix is not enabled)
Workaround: The user should properly configure the system.
PR 74838 - FLEX audio decode: Under rare circumstances, enabling one or more programs
that include a high count of audio passthru / decode streams may trigger an unexpected
reset of the FLEX card.
Workaround: The card will recover by itself

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting Audio Decode with FLEX

PR 66934 - How to create the SD encoding (Electra 8000 only) using CONFIGURATION
MANAGER with FLEX
To configure decoding without a template:
1. Go to video/audio encoder page, create SD encoding video stream first
2. Go to FLEX video card, select one of the ASI/RF ports or existing IP transport (or create new
IP transport) to create a decoding video stream for the same channel
3. Configure decoding to SD format
or
To configure decoding with a template
1. Start by creating input transports on GbE-input if using a Polaris Pro input card. If using RF
input see RF Input Configuration and RF Input Port Configuration.
2. Delete the HD encoding stream then re-create a new SD encoding stream

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Encoder impacted Electra 8000 supporting FLEX

PR 72986 – There is a risk of getting a CC error on AC-3 Pass through with low Bitrates, if the
PTS value is too far away the encoder will fix the PTS and mark one CC error telling the
decoder to re-sync

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting FLEX

PR 72999 – FLEX Audio Decode: Disabling the audio decoding PID only will not disable the
re-encoding audio PID. The audio PID on the output of the FLEX encoder will still be present
(although silent)
Workaround: An audio decode stream is completely disabled by disabling both the audio decoding
and respective audio re-encoding streams

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting FLEX

PR 73460 – FLEX audio decode: The alarm ” Input Stream Provision FAILURE” will be raised
if the user tries to select re-encode audio stream on port 3 or port 4 after creating an audio
decode stream on port 2 and re-encoding it as Multichannel with the on-board audio card,
Workaround: delete the stream that has been in conflict with the already used audio port

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting FLEX

PR 72772 - (FLEX DPI) Encoder does not pass thru the SCTE-35 messages that are bigger
than a single TS Pack
If the incoming SCTE-35 message is larger than one TS packet, the payload cannot be properly
validated and the splice will be skipped.
Workaround: The only current workaround is to ask the content provider or reconfigure the source
equipment to use smaller SCTE-35 messages.

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting FLEX

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PR 73149 - (FLEX DPI Pass thru) Encoder does not reject multiple DPI pass thru
If the input source has multiple DPI PID‟s, only one DPI pass thru stream should be added to the
output program. Current Electra encoders only support one DPI stream: either pass thru or
encoding only DPI.
Workaround: Delete multiple DPI output PID‟s from the output program before activating the
service configuration or delete multiple DPI input PID‟s before adding the program to the output will
avoid the provisioning error.

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting FLEX

PR 63796 – (FLEX) Audio pass through, NMX/Stand Alone GUI does not alarm when doing
sampling frequency mismatch between the source input and the FLEX audio pass through
parameter.
The user should set the exact sampling frequency when doing audio pass through. No alarm will
be raised if there is a mismatch and audio will not be clean.

Encoder impacted All encoders supporting FLEX

PR 61404 – While using the Configuration Manager (Stand Alone GUI) both MPEG2 and H.264
video source, Input discovery displays "H.264 Profile: Main"
Workaround: make sure your configuration is correct.

Encoder impacted All Electra Encoders with FLEX

PR 63818 – While using Configuration Manager (Stand Alone GUI) Polaris IP input does not
work for any IP TS source with FEC enabled

Encoder impacted All Electra Encoders with FLEX

PR 67019 – Doing clear configuration does not update Configuration Manager (Stand Alone
GUI) with a new page.
Workaround: Hit F5 after making changes to update the screen

Encoder impacted Electra 8000

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PR 63813 – Users should not configure more the 40 Mbps out of the box, or more than 24
Mbps per video,

Encoder impacted All Electra Encoders with FLEX, except Electra 8000

PR 63811 – DiviTrackMX allows user to set the nominal bit rate larger than the maximum bit
rate or smaller than the minimum bit rate
User has to configure the system properly: Nominal should be between min. and max values
selected by the user.

Encoder impacted All Electra Encoders with FLEX

PR 61997 - Destination Multicast of “0.0.0.0:0” is not a valid configuration parameter. This

will cause socket failures on the Polaris GbE.

Encoder impacted All Electra Encoders with FLEX

PR 64024 – With FLEX you may get the following stuck alarm on Input Transport "Polaris
GbE Socket SRC STC Freq Offset Error"
This may occur after recovering from a bad input source, this alarm can remain for a long period of
time (up to 2 hours) If this should occur use an analyzer to verify the input stream.

Encoder impacted All encoders using FLEX

PR 67068 – When having AFD signal received via FLEX, the aspect ratio change by the
encoder may not be frame accurate.
Workaround – None (Customer could use WSS (in Europe only), or follow input).

Encoder impacted All encoders using FLEX

PR 58480 – (CONFIGURATION MANAGER) In the Electra 7000 CONFIGURATION MANAGER,

HD input source "480p-360Mbps (SMPTE294M)" is not a valid option even though it shows as
an option

Encoder impacted Electra 7000

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PR 58979 – (CONFIGURATION MANAGER) Default names of a newly created audio stream

from AVC card and AIC card are same for CONFIGURATION MANAGER in Electra 5400 and
Electra 7000

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 59042 – (CONFIGURATION MANAGER) Transport format is not automatically enabled

when selecting a coding mode extension other than MPEG2-AAC (for Electra 5400 and
Electra 7000)

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 59484 - (CONFIGURATION MANAGER) a positive audio delay results in the audio stream
ahead of the video stream in Electra 5400 and Electra 7000. (Contrary to NMX)

Encoder impacted All encoders using FLEX

PR 61114 – Carrier Frequency offset/drift of more than 185ppm causes demodulator to hang
(RF input Card)
Workaround - need to retune channel if frequency drifted a lot or was mis-configured by a large
margin

Encoder impacted All encoders using FLEX

PR 61677 – Video PID does not flow if data PID is misconfigured to the same PID value.
Work around - after fixing the data PID value, change the video PID value as well, and then change
back.

Encoder impacted All encoders using FLEX

PR 63905 - We currently do not support different delays from the encoders to the primary
and backup multiplexers with the NEW DiviTrackIP.
Primary and backup ProStream 1000 must be co-located.

Encoder impacted All encoders

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PR 66699 – (CONFIGURATION MANAGER) Upgrading Ion embedded software from Electra

6.3 to Electra 8.0 via CONFIGURATION MANAGER, extra DPI streams are displayed and
DiviTrackMX is disabled automatically.
Workaround is to enable DiviTrackMX and DPI

Encoder impacted ION

PR 66956 - LRV not buffer compliant for certain configurations with black to noise input
video
Under certain video transitional sequences like black to noise, the LRV bit stream may temporarily
not be buffer compliant (underflow) if the GOP settings are M=3 and fixed GOP. Typically, the LRV
is sent as a baseline profile so M=1 is the preferred setting.
There are two possible workarounds, depending on the customer‟s needs. The customer can run
with M=1 which is the normal baseline profile and the compliance issue will not occur. Likewise, if
the customer desires M=3, they should not choose fixed GOP. Both solutions been tested to
resolve the problem.

Encoder impacted ION AVC SD ION AVC HD Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 61118 – The following resolutions are not supported even though NMX allows the user to
set them SD H.264 LRV horizontal resolution 176, 320, 352, and HD H.264 LRV horizontal
resolution 320,

Encoder impacted Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 60790 - Loss of audio sync alarm on CAT-561 audio card

After deactivation activation of the service stream, on rare conditions, the card will reset itself.

Encoder impacted Electra 7000

PR 60394 - Active/Asserted alarms are not cleared / remitted when circuits are de-provision
from device
Performing a RESET will clear all the alarms shown in NMX, but a few input stream alarms will
remain active

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Encoder impacted Electra 1000 Electra 5000

PR 60372 – If using FLEX, changing encoding group in NMX when the service is still
activated will cause "video wrong format" and "loss of Signal"
Workaround is to reset the encoder

Encoder impacted Electra 7000

PR 60036 – Using FLEX with NMX - If the IP source has FEC enabled, IP input extraction
cannot extract any TS information.

Encoder impacted All encoders with FLEX

PR 60001 - (FLEX) ASI extraction failed after repeating ASI extraction at chassis/port level
over 5~6 times, FLEX 4 channels all report "PSI Discovery complete, state = 2”
If problem occurs, ASI extraction fails to discover input transports and all streams being decoded
fail. Workaround is to reset the chassis

Encoder impacted All encoders with FLEX

PR 58376 - If after configuring the FLEX encoder in an ASI input/output configuration and
then the encoding group numbers are changed, extra PIDS may flow to the ASI output
causing a Port Overrun alarm on the MAIA and no video output.
Workaround: A reset of the encoder will resolve this problem
PR 58020 – With FLEX input extraction does not support elementary stream details of AVC
video and AAC audio

Encoder impacted All

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PR 57658: Gbe input for a FLEX decoder requires 188 byte packets. If a source is captured
in 204 byte mode and streamed to the Gbe card on FLEX in 204 byte mode, a socket error
will be reported. To resolve, have the sending device must send 188 byte packets.

Encoder impacted All

PR 59737 – LRV will only work with Main video on Electra 7000

Encoder impacted Electra 7000

PR 54320: ION with CONFIGURATION MANAGER does not support Video Input Source “Test
Signal”

Encoder impacted Ion

PR 55734: In alarm mode, aspect ratio in the sequence header changed to default value 4:3
when user change some NMX settings.
In WSS "send alarm" state, with 14:9 sources, the aspect ratio in sequence header will be reset to
initial value 4:3 if user changes certain NMX settings (i.e. resolution).
In WSS "send alarm" state, with 14:9 sources, the aspect ratio in sequence header generally
remains at previous valid value but changing certain NMX settings will reset it to default value 4:3.

Encoder impacted Electra 1000 Electra 5000

PR 38736: Activity LED may continue blinking on un-provisioned device.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 5000

In cases that “clear” template is applied to a fully provisioned multi-channel encoder, the activity
LED may continue blinking. After reset to the device the LED will stop blinking.

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PR 38990: GbE primary output fails when the active channel is set to 'both' and the GbE
backup port is not configured.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

To ensure smooth service flow, configure both IP data output ports, before enabling traffic on those
ports.
PR 40705: VITC PAL line allows entering of 22

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 5000

The stand-alone web interface allows entering line 22 as a 625-line (“PAL”) VITC source. The valid
line numbers are 6 to 21 only.
PR 40738: Multi-channel encoder package upgrade via NMX TFTP server fails

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

Multi-channel software upgrades from NMX are being performed using a web server on the NMX
server machine. As backward compatibility for old Ion versions, the upgrade will fall back to TFTP
mode in case the HTTP download fails. The embedded software is packaged differently for each of
the download modes: the standard build is used for web downloads, while the „base‟ build is used
for TFTP. If the system falls back to TFTP mode, the encoder will still try to download the standard
package and fail. To work-around the problem, change the desired software version on the device
to the „base‟ version. While the TFTP download mode may work as a temporary solution, we
recommend that the underlying network issue be resolved so that HTTP (web) downloads will occur
successfully.
PR 42171: Test signal pattern may not flow when video packetization is set to DCT-2000
compatibility mode.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000

Setting the video to both test signal and DCT-2000 mode may cause the multi-channel encoder to
alarm on MPEG packet loss. This problem is random and can be worked-around by changing the
video properties back and forth to this configuration.
PR 42213: Details on file download failures show only in the error log.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

When files download from NMX to the multi-channel fails, the device does not alarm with the exact
details of the failure. The user is notified about the problem via card-busy alarm on the device. In
such a case the details can be seen by fetching the error-log from the device, where the details of
the problem will show.

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PR 42831: Missing alarm on PAL / NTSC mismatch for SDI inputs.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000

When the video input type does not match the running configuration on the multi-channel encoder,
the device should alarm “Video not locked”. This alarm does not function properly on this release.
Customers should validate their configuration and video outputs to avoid mismatched
configurations.

PR 42958: Silent failure when changing from unsupported DiviTrackMX configuration.

Encoder impacted Ion

DiviTrackMX is not supported when the null packet insertion is enabled for SPTS IP output. When a
user has had null packet insertion enabled on an SPTS output, and then makes that encoder a
member of the DiviTrackMX pool, the device will assert multiple alarms. If the user then disables
null packet insertion on the output transports, this will cause the alarms to remit but will not resolve
all associated failures. The encoder needs to be reset after the configuration is fixed in order to fully
recover the system.
PR 43232: Low battery alarm may assert erroneously and never remit.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

In rare cases, device may alarm on having a low battery, and the alarm will not remit. To remit the
alarm, the encoder has to be reset. If after the reset the alarm shows again, please contact
Harmonic‟s customer support.
PR 43703: Aspect Ratio selection is not supported in PiP (LRV).

Encoder impacted Electra 5000

When under CONFIGURATION MANAGER control, the PIP aspect ratio is identical to the main
channel and under NMX control, main and PIP each has their own control.
PR 44752: GbE cable disconnect does not remain asserted.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

After GbE port redundancy due to cable disconnect, the alarm on the primary port may remit. This
can give a false positive indication that the port connection is fine. Users should physically double
check that the primary port is connected before switching back to the primary GbE port.
PR 44812: Device does not recover automatically when power cycled during software
upgrade.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

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If a multi-channel encoder is powered down in the middle of software upgrade (Zap command), it
will not recover automatically when powered up again. The device will keep alarming about busy
cards. To recover from such a state, zap the device again.
PR 46033: Rare cases of continuous packet drop on the encoder output.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

In very rare cases, an encoder may get into a state where it will have periodical drops on its output.
In such cases, alarms and error logs on the encoder will indicate the problem. If such drops keep
recurring, the encoder has to be power cycled to recover.
PR 46283: Changing LRV closed GOP state may not work.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

Changing low resolution video (PiP) to closed GOP may not take effect. To work around this
problem, change the GOP length setting (M & N numbers) and then change the open/close state.
PR 46478: LRV on-the-fly bit rate change may cause occasional bit stream errors.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

When encoding low resolution video at 96x96 with difficult video content, changing bit rate from 245
Kbps to 100 Kbps may cause errors in bit stream.
PR 46996: Changing LRV (low resolution video) profile may not be seamless.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

When changing the PiP video resolution, and possibly bit rate, the updated video stream may break
up on the decoder. To recover from this state, perform additional configuration change to cause re-
provision of the stream, such as changing the GOP settings of the video.
PR 47436 – Redundancy switch to a backup encoder with a different PES mode may take an
additional 30 second to provision backup encoder. This is due to the PES Mode code may
not be preloaded on the backup encoder

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 47426 – with an Electra 5400 running VBR and FEC mode, changing the L/D values is not
seamless.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

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PR 48781: If there is no main channel flowing on the encoder, there will be no video
disconnect alarm on the LRV channel.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 49080: If an encoder has a provision error for an extended period of time, greater than a
few minutes, check the error log. If the following errors are found in the error log:
**** PCI slot 10X :- error in ROMA_TARGET_BAR0 (VENDOR=FFFF)
Card 10X : PCI Fail on validation
Power cycle the encoder to recover.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 49554: If using the video input format auto switch (HD 1080i/720p )feature, auto switch
may not occur after loading a profile and immediately changing the input format.
The Electra 7000 may not auto switch if loading a saved profile with auto switch enabled and
immediately changing the input format. The encoder behaves as if auto switch is disabled, but the
xml reports HdAutoswitch as enabled. If this should occur reset the video card.

Encoder impacted Electra 7000

PR 49585 - Observe AFD User data “triple-jump”

It is possible that when Electra encoder switches aspect ratio, following an AFD signal, that the
output video will jump between aspect ratios.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400

PR 49689: - CVBR may get stuck at max after reset.

If the device is configured for CVBR and the source of the signal is noisy, you may observe CVBR
output stuck at maximum rate after a reset.

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000

PR 49886 - Onboard audio levels for AC-3 Down mix is 4 dB lower than AIC audio levels AC-
3 Down mix.

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Embedded audio routed to both Onboard and AIC with AC-3 compression settings
(Dialnorm,DynamicRangs,etc) exactly the same on both cards. The audio from AIC is +4dB higher
than Onboard audio. User should set different values for dialnorm with each audio adapter.
.

Note: When setting the decoder to passthrough the AC-3 stream then both AIC and Onboard have
the same audio levels. Its only when the decoder is set to decode the AC-3 stream to PCM (down
mix) that the audio levels from OnBoard is 4dB lower than AIC.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

50380 – Changing the entire device configuration on an encoder requires de-provisioning of

nd
first encoder configuration before enabling the 2 encoder configuration.
An example is moving the encoder between two different setups

Encoder impacted Ion Electra 1000 Electra 5000 Electra 5400 Electra 7000

PR 51485 – On a four channel Electra with a RAC, if the Distribution Amplifier is power
cycled the encoder may get a loss of input alarm and lose audio after the DA is powered
back on.
If this should occur offline then online the port of the RAC card, to clear the alarm and enable audio
services.

Encoder impacted Electra 5400 Electra 7000

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2.4 Open Features

Following is a list of features which show on the NMX user interface, but are not fully verified yet.
 Service Monitoring
On NMX-controlled systems it is possible to utilize backup encoders to monitor services and
sources flowing through active encoders. Even though NMX allows such configuration on
multi-channel encoders, users should refrain from using it.
 Electra 7000 Video test pattern
Video test pattern is not currently supported on the Electra 7000 platform
 DPI - One second duration captures are not supported on the encoder (PR 60502 )

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