IP-VFC ST 2110 Network Video Configuration

The IP-VFC card can natively output an ST 2110 network video signal in one of the fixed formats described here. In this mode the IP-VFC will have an IP address assigned and send a video stream to a network multicast address which receivers can listen to.

The following needs to be configured via the Feed View UI in Designer to output an ST 2110 video signal:

• The GPU output.
• A network address for the IP-VFC port.
• A multicast address for the video stream.

Configuring ST 2110 video output

Follow these steps to configure the card for ST 2110 video output:

Step 1: Hardware Setup

1. Insert the Card and SFP

1. Insert the IP-VFC card into the back of the machine (like a standard VFC card).
2. Insert a supported 25Gb Network SFPs into Port 1 (labelled Eth0).

Note

IP-VFCs must be configured with SFPs connected — setup will not work without them.

Step 2: Initial Recognition and Basic Configuration

1. Validate Recognition in Designer

1. Open Designer and go to Feed View.
2. Check that the IP-VFC is detected by the machine.

2. Project Settings Configuration

1. Set the correct refresh rate in your Project Settings.
   • It must match one of the IP-VFC card’s supported framerates.

Step 3: Configuring the VFC Card

1. Configure the GPU settings

1. In Feed View, right-click on the VFC slot to configure IP-VFC settings.
2. Set EDID Emulation to either:
   • If Connected, or
   • Always
3. Set the Split Mode to either:
   • Quad to create 4 video streams with a resolution totally 4K DCI, or
   • Mirror to create a single video stream up to 4K DCI resolution This ensures changes apply correctly when you click Apply Feed Settings.

2. Configure IP Address (Eth0 and Optional Eth1)

1. Open the Eth0 details dropdown.
2. Select the IP Mode:

• DHCP: Uses a DHCP server to auto-assign an IP.
• STATIC: Manually set the following using IPv4 addresses:
  • IP address
  • Subnet mask
  • Gateway
  • (Optional) Hostname or DNS if your network requires it.

For Eth1 redundancy, repeat these steps using the redundancy configuration guide.

Step 4: Validating the SFP and Adding Colour Settings

1. Check SFP Type

Use the SFP Types dropdown to confirm the correct SFP is installed.

• You should see: 25G SFP under SFP 0 (Eth0).

2. Colour Settings

Under Colour > Colour Conversion Profile, choose: Auto.

Step 5: Output and Streaming Settings

1. Configure Output Resolution

1. In Feed View, right-click the Port to open the Port Editor. In Mirror mode there is 1 port per slot, in Quad mode there are 4.
2. In Display Mode, select one of the pre-configured resolutions. Check the table of supported resolution/framerate formats to make sure you’re using a supported configuration.

2. Configure Multicast Streaming (Eth0)

In the Eth0 Multicast dropdown for each Port, set:

• IP: - IPv4 multicast address to sent the video stream to.
• Port: - Port to sent the video stream to.
• RTP Payload Type ID: - Indicates that we are sending a video stream (Don’t change this).

• All IP-VFCs can use the same multicast address if your receiver supports source-specific multicast. Otherwise, use unique addresses per card. In Quad mode you will need to set different multicast targets as all 4 streams all come from the same source IP.

• These settings generate an SDP file on the card, which can be used to receive video on receivers.

Step 6: Enabling Genlock Synchronisation and Applying Feed Settings

1. Enable Genlock

For genlocking (via PTP or EXT sync), see the Genlocking with the IP-VFC guide.

While it is technically not required to use genlock with the IP-VFC card, it is recommended for the lowest possible latency on the card and the most reliable functionality.

2. Apply Settings

Click Apply Feed Settings.

• This applies settings to both the GPU and the IP-VFC card.
• This may take some time.

There is a known issue with the IP-VFC card, specifically on the ** VX 4 and VX 4+**, where the first time Apply Feed Settings finishes, it may not succeed. You may find that the card will output “No Signal” or report an “Underrun”. In this case, pressing Apply Feed Settings again will correct it.

Once successful:

• The Port box in Feed View turns green to indicate that the settings in Designer now match the settings applied to the GPU and IP-VFC card.
• If orange, click the Port to see what differs between the configuration in Designer and the GPU or IP-VFC card configuration.

If the Slot or Port does not turn green you can follow our IP-VFC troubleshooting guide to resolve the problem.

Receiving video from the IP-VFC card

Different network video receivers are configured differently, but all receivers need to know what multicast and port to subscribe to to find the video stream.

Generally they discover streams in 3 ways:

• Manually by taking specific IP addresses and ports.
• Semi-manually by reading an SDP file available on the network.
• Automatically by implementing NMOS.

Receiving video with manual configuration

Some network video receivers will have the capacity to directly type in a multi-cast address and receive a stream. For these devices you can copy the multicast address directly out of the Designer interface.

Receiving video by reading an SDP file

Once the IP-VFC is configured correctly for output above, it makes an SDP file available over the network for all receivers to see. The path to this file can be manually copied using the Copy SDP path to clipboard button in the Port editor under the Eth0 Multicast info dropdown.

Some network video receivers will require that you manually give them this path so they can read the SDP file and setup the stream.

Receiving video with the help of NMOS

The SDP file is also used by an NMOS server which runs on the IP-VFC itself which makes the stream discoverable to any receivers that have NMOS configured.

Receivers that support NMOS should automatically discover the stream once it’s been configured and provide you with an interface to select it.

Specifically the IP-VFC supports:

• NMOS AMWA IS-04 Discovery & Registration
• NMOS AMWA IS-05 Connection Management

Configuring Redundancy on the Eth1 port

The 2nd port on the IP-VFC is called Eth1 and is designed to provide a fully redundant video stream using the 2022-7 Seamless Protection Switching standard. This allows the receivers to sit at the end of a noisy network and have packet-level redundancy, so if either the main or backup stream delivers at least 1 of every packet the stream will appear seamless.

To configure it you must insert an SFP in to the Eth1 port and follow the same steps outlined here, addressing Eth1 instead of Eth0.

The rest of the configuration should be done on the receiver to ensure it’s setup for packet-level redundancy.