Full screen still graphics may cause encoding issues for original Cube / Bond and 600 series Cube / Bond models – Teradek

Applies to:

1st or 2nd generation Cube encoder
Original Bond, Bond II or Bond Pro
Cube 600 series encoder (starting serial number of 605 or 655)
Bond 600 series (starting serial number of 657 or 659)

NOTE: this does not apply to Cube 700 series or Bond 700 series encoders

Overview

Video input material that has a full screen still image (e.g. computer or digital graphics source / PowerPoint slides / off-air notices / station logos) could cause an issue for the hardware encoder chip in the 1st or 2nd generation Cube encoder, original Bond, Bond II or Bond Pro units, or the 600 series Cube and Bond encoders, where the device may stop encoding video or it may stop responding.

The cause of the issue is that the hardware codec may try to process and encode the digital graphic content at too high of a quality and become unresponsive.

This issue may not happen every time that full screen graphics are present on the input, and may be more likely to occur the longer the full screen graphic or slide is present on the input.

This issue does not happen with:

Input that is a mix of still image graphics content and content with motion (such as a picture-in-picture display with video in one area of the screen, or a lower thirds text crawl).
Input from a camera video source which is pointed at a static / unchanging scene; there is a small amount of noise from the camera sensor which changes the signal sent to the hardware encoder and the encoded content (even if that sensor noise is not visible to the eye).

Workaround

Change the Quantization Parameter (QP) minimum value from the default of 0 to 25 to prevent this issue from happening, as the hardware codec will be prevented from using encoding values which could cause it to reach this state.

This setting is accessible through the Web User Interface of the encoder with the below instructions.

1st / 2nd generation Cube, Bond, Bond II, Bond Pro

From the Web UI of the unit go to Video Setup, Encoder Settings, under Rate Control Options change Rate Control Mode to Manual then change the QP Min value from 0 to 25.

Leave the QP Max and other Rate Control settings unchanged, then Apply.

Restart the video encoding process or reboot the unit.

600 series Cube or Bond Encoder

From the Web UI of the unit go to Encoder, Rate Control, change Mode to Manual then change the QP Min value from 0 to 25.

Leave the QP Base and QP Max and other Rate Control settings unchanged, then Apply.