Play is an Appspace extension that allows users to create, manage and
playback IPTV applications. Users are able to manage their Play applications and
contents through Appspace and display them on the Cisco Edge 340 digital media
player.
Content
Content is the most crucial component of any Play application. Content can be
divided into channels and on demand, which will be covered briefly below.
Channels
Channels are live video feeds that are encoded and delivered in the form of IP
streams. Streaming format support for channels is device dependent. Users are
required to define and configure channels with the IP stream together with its
associated EPG data, logo and channel display name, which will be covered in the
later sections.
High Level Specifications:
- UDP/HTTP/RDP unicast or multicast
- Support for XMLTV EPG data format or CSV file
- Support for authenticated FTP and HTTP EPG data retrieval
- Standard image formats supported include JPG and PNG (For Channel Logo)
On Demand
On demand content refers to content that resides in the Appspace Library
or various external sources. Users are required to define and configure on
demand folders containing on demand contents together with its associated folder
icon and folder name.
High Level Specifications:
- Support for videos, images and external content
- Standard video formats supported include H.264, MPEG-4, WMV 3/ VC-1
- Standard image formats supported include JPG and PNG (For Channel Logo)
Subscriptions
The next building block of any Play application is its subscriptions.
Subscriptions are combinations of specific channels and on demand content that
can be quickly provisioned to a subscriber’s account. The Play application will
be configured to view a specific subscription or a combination of multiple
subscriptions for more viewable content.
High Level Specifications:
- Subscriptions can be applied at the device and/or application level
- Support for channel and on demand content listings
Application Themes
The Play application’s theme acts as the interface between the user and the
predefined content packaged into subscriptions. Designers are able to create
customized themes that can be applied across different devices to drive unique
user experiences.
High Level Specifications:
- Supports HTML5/CSS and WebGL presentation
- Video presentation layer utilises the VLC engine
- Default theme targets the Cisco Edge 340 as the playback device
- Universal support for IR remote control scan code mappings
Devices
The final building block of any Play application is the end-point device. Through
the Play extension, administrators are able to manage and monitor all Play
devices. The Appspace Play application is currently only supported on the Cisco
Edge 340 digital media player.