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Sentinel User Manual

1. Surround Loudness Ancillary Downmix Loudness Downmix Differential Dialog Balance Maximum Downmix Surround True Peak Ancillary Downmix True Peak Timeline Traces P Playback Speed gt Timeline Scale P Timeline Range gt Compact Detailed TT TV V TV V 2x Tah 4x 14 ee 8x 1 16 Last day 16x Last 7 days 32x Last 30 days Readings page 43 44 Timeline Traces selects the data traces displayed on the timeline It allows a choice of measurement traces and compact or detailed dis play format Playback Speed selects rate at which readings are displayed during playback Timeline Scale lets you view the timeline at varying levels of detail from 1 1 where each mark on the timeline represents a single reading to 1 16 where each mark combines 16 readings Timeline Range restricts the range of the timeline scroller bar to the last day of data 7 days or 30 days Timeline scroll bar The timeline scroll bar and its scroller below the timeline traces indi cate the position the visible timeline segment within the readings his tory and allow you to reposition the segment of readings data dis played on the timeline By default the scroll bar spans your full read ings history but for convenience you can restrict its range to 1 7 or 30 days see below Dragging the scroller moves the timeline display Clicking at a position on the scroll bar moves the timeline towar
2. 0 m ze 100 125 Ak 23 E i if 8k 50 mi E 150 i O lt The configuration pulldown menu for the Meters panel allows you to set the Peak Hold Time from 1 to 30 seconds Bandwidth indicators The input channel bargraphs have a graphic below the channel label which indicates signal bandwidth This allows a quick assessment of which channels are dominated by dialog and which have extensive music or effects content The left edge of the graphic is controlled by the low frequency signal content The right edge of the graphic is dependent on the high frequency signal content The color also changes with the low and high frequency energy giving two equivalent methods of interpreting the information Phase indicators The input channel panels for stereo format ancillary programs have a graphic centered below the channel bargraphs which indicates the phase relationship between the channels This provides an indication of inverted channels and of potential downmix compatibility issues Configuration Channel Order gt LF RF CF LFE LS RS LB RB Peak Hold Time LF CF RF LS RS LB RB LFE v 1 second LB LS LF CF RF RS RB LFE 3 seconds CF LF RF LS RS LFE LB RB 10 seconds LF LS CF RS RF LFE LB RB L 30 seconds LF CF RF LFE LS RS LB RB Channel Order selects the order of channels in the multichannel meter display The Surround Format setting set in the Input amp Sources s
3. C n Mea File Format All Files New Folder Cancel Export The log export operation is located in the pulldown menu on the read ings navigation panel at the left of the readings page It presents a file User Manual browser menu that lets you select the name and location for the CSV export file If there are no defined segments the export menu item is disabled The default name provided by the browser menu identifies the starting time of the exported data and the Sentinel which performed the mea surement XXXXXX yyyymmadadhrmnsc csv Where XXXXXKX is the Sentinel serial number yyyy is year mm is month 01 12 dd is day of month 01 31 Aris hour 00 23 mn is minute 00 59 and sc is second 00 59 For example an export file for Sen tinel 200148 for June 21 2010 3 30 would be 20C 148 20100621033000 csv Purging and archiving repository data Each daily log file in the repository holds about 19 5 MB of data a month of data is about 600 MB The strategy for purging or archiving these files is your choice the Sentinel software doesn t delete log files and it provides access to whatever files are in the repository If you want to retain an extended record of repository data but are sensitive to storage requirements the daily log files will compress to a fraction of their original size if placed in a ZIP or similar archive Scheduled downloading of log data In a production environme
4. Phase Phase shift to apply to surround channels when converting to Dolby Digital O or 90 Dolby E only Bandwidth Limit Main Indicates whether to apply lowpass filter to main input channels when converting to Dolby Digital Dolby E only User Manual Bandwidth Limit LFE Indicates whether to apply lowpass filter to LFE channel when converting to Dolby Digital Dolby E only Other Metadata Mix Level Peak sound pressure level used in program creation Room Relative size of mixing environment and equalization used in program creation Large Large room with cinema X curve equalization Small Small room with flat equalization Copyright Indicates whether creator is asserting copyright on bitstream content Original Indicates whether bitstream is original master version not a copy Surround Encoding Bitstream contains Dolby Surround Lt Rt program that requires Pro Logic decoding yes no not indicated EX Encoding Bitstream contains Surround EX program encoded audio has two Surround channels yes no not indicated Headphone Indicates whether program has been processed with Dolby Headphone technology for binaural playback A D Analog to digital conversion used standard or HDCP process ing DC Inputs amp Temperature panel DC inputs amp Temperature DC Input 1 DC Input 2 DC Input 3 DC Input 4 DC Input 5 DC input 6 Temperature 0 88 0 00 0 00 2 41 2 04 0 09 35 5 C The DC Inputs amp
5. OVER The true peak level is above the Overload Level set in the Lev els amp Metering settings panel p 64 UNDER The true peak level is below the allowed threshold set in the Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 HUM There is an AC mains frequency component present above the threshold set in the Channel Analysis settings panel p 70 REPEAT The audio stream repeats a constant value across consecu tive samples exceeding a repeat threshhold set in the Channel Analysis settings panel p 70 These errors are also reported in the Errors panel p 49 where it is possible to simultaneously view all errors regardless of priority True peak meters The numeric displays above the input and downmix channel bar graphs are true peak meters True peak meters interpolate the ampli tude between samples for a more accurate reading of level Rather than display the peak sample value Irue Peak meters display the amplitude which will result when the signal is converted to analog form The units are in dB relative to the maximum input level With Analog inputs this is either 28 or 22 dBu as set in Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 With a digital source dBFS units are used No meter ballistic is applied True peak readings which reach the user defined clip level will produce a CLIP indication on the bar meter of the corresponding input channel Readings page 27 Hz 63 125 250 500 28 2k rr BEE BEE BEE
6. surements for the program to which the ancillary loudness meter is assigned according to the Secondary Meter set in Loudness settings panel p 67 For each trace you can choose either a compact display format suit able for a quick overview or a more detailed format with an expanded vertical axis more suited to detailed analysis The loudness traces display short term loudness The downmix dif ferental trace displays the difference between surround and downmix short term loudness The dialog balance trace displays the difference between dialog loudness and the remaining program content The max imum downmix trace displays the maximum of left and right downmix values within the frequency range configured in the Downmix Compat ibility settings panel p 71 The true peak traces display the maxi mum true peak measurement across channels A programming segment trace appears below these traces It shows the breakdown of the readings into programming segments for inte grated loudness measurements The lower half of the trace indicates program segment measurements it s Shadowed wherever the mea surement was paused The upper half indicates commercial segments Breaks in the traces mark the positions where measurements were reset Readings page 41 42 A summary trace of errors and alarms is also always visible as the last trace It shows a yellow marker at each reading that records an error If the error resulted in an alarm ared m
7. www qualisaudio com The site also provides an archive of older firmware revisions Updates are packaged as zip archives containing documentation and the firmware images required to update the Sentinel Unzip the archive verify its contents Use the unzip command or whatever command you normally use for unpacking Zip archives There are seven separate field upgradeable ROMs in the Sentinel SentinelDSP base SentinelCPU base SentinelWeb base SentinelDINMCU digital input module 8 channel AES or AES SDI only SentinelFPGA digital input module 8 channel AES or AES SDI only SentinelSDI2MCU digital input module 16 channel SDI only SentinelSDIZFPGA digital input module 16 channel SDI only Images are identified by date Make sure you have firmware images for all the ROMs you re planning to update You can check your Sentinel s installed firmware versions on the Config uration settings panel p 78 or on your Sentinel s front panel Firmware revision display p 19 Dates in the firmware image filenames are in yyyymmdd format year month day this differs from the setup and front panel firmware display format which is mm dd yy month day year User Manual Load the Firmware Update page in your browser Navigate to the Firmware Update page http address fwupdate Replace the address with actual address of the Sentinel you re updat Ing The Sentinel will display a pop up menu that prompts you for a User Name a
8. AES In Out connection Discrete PCM or coded audio input channels com patible with VGA monitor cable pinout red green blue h synch 1 Input 1 2 Input 2 3 Input 3 4 Input 4 2 2 o zZ z M M N N W W lt lt OL a The AES In Out jack accepts up to 4 balanced or unbalanced input streams in PCM or coded audio format A PCM stream carries 2 chan nels which may be directly monitored A coded audio stream carries up to 8 channels which may be routed to the internal Dolby decoder The input module automatically adjusts impedance to match either bal anced or unbalanced inputs Unbalanced inputs use standard VGA monitor cables Qualis Audio provides an optional HD15 to XLR cable for balanced inputs Specifications for fabricating custom cabling are provided in AES digi tal audio connections p 88 Input to channel assignment You assign digital input connections to internal Sentinel channels through the user interface Select the channel assignments on the Input amp Sources settings panel p 63 with the Use Input From field When monitoring PCM inputs in AES 3 format any channel from the AES In Out connector can be assigned to any of the internal channels Appendix A Specifications p 95 describes specific input module capabilities in detail Installation 11 When monitoring coded audio streams any channel from the decoder may be routed to any internal channel The description of the
9. Loudness difference Indicator bar and numeric value Meter bar shows dialog loudness relative to remain der of program Dialog balance is a measurement of the loudness of the CF channel rel ative to the total loudness of the remaining program channels gated based on the presence of signal in the CF channel It provides an indi cation of dialog intelligibility It can be used in mixing surround pro grams to keep the dialog louder than other content so it remains intelli gible or to detect mixes without adequate separation The dialog balance is compared to a user defined threshold displayed on the bargraph as a thin red line When this threshold is exceeded for a user specified duration an error is generated When this error con dition exists both the graphical and numeric balance displays will be red If the loudness remains above the threshold the displays will be green Gating level error threshold and duration are set in the Loud ness settings panel p 67 Time amp status panel Displays health and activity status indicators Sentinel identification current time 3 Log repository status icon 4 Real time clock date time timezone and sta tus Icon 1 Serial number 5 Linear time code and 2 Network status icon status icon Status icons are green or hidden when there are no problems yellow to indicate a warning and red to indicate more serious conditions If you move the cursor over a statu
10. Notind Width Not ind Align Level Not ind Ch Mode Notind Ch User Bits Not Ind Auxiliary Bits Not ind Source Lock Reference Hidden Data Not Ind The Digital Interface panel displays signal characteristics and metadata for the signals applied to the digital inputs Input Characteristics The Input Characteristics section displays format rate and length Input Format Discrete AES coded AES or an SDI format For SDI the video format is also indicated Interface Rate Sample rate of each audio channel carried in the inter face for SDI input includes synchronous or asynchronous indi cation Active Length Measured word width for each audio channel carried in the interface Channel Status Metadata Sample Time Time referenced to the start of the recording providing the same function as a recording index counter Time of Day Time of day referenced to midnight during the source encoding of the signal It should remain unchanged during sub sequent operations Source Four character representation of the audio source Destination Four character representation of the intended destination Readings page 53 Common Metadata Format Professional or consumer format interface audio PCM or non audio coded audio content Emphasis Pre emphasis if any applied to the audio signal None 50 15 us ITU T J17 or Not Indicated Sample Rate Audio sample rate Width Active word length Alignment Level Alignment level use
11. Once data is in the repository you can review and display it in the same way as live readings through the Readings Timeline panel p 40 The downloaded data is available indefinitely limited only by storage limits and your archive policies You can download the logged data through the Sentinel s web interface for longer term storage You can also perform this downloading as a separate command independent of the web interface Downloading of log data takes from 1 to 5 minutes per hour of logged data so downloading the full amount of data that can be stored on the sentinel can take from 25 minutes to two hours Windows systems and remote connections have the slower data rates Repository organization The repository is organized as a sequence of daily log files stored in a single directory The directory can be located on any file system to which you have access local or on a shared server Each daily log files starts at 00 00 00 UTC midnight UTC time and is associated with a particular Sentinel This information is coded in the name of the file XXXXXX yyyymmdd0000 qa3 Where XXXXXX is the Sentinel serial number yyyy is year mm is month 01 12 and dd is day of month 01 31 There are two additional files that provide a record of log repository activity XXXXXX repository log XXXXXX exceptions log User Manual The first contains a record of updates to the log repository It includes scheduled updates and othe
12. The sec ond panel displays the downmix program or one of the ancillary pro grams according to the Secondary Meter set in Loudness settings panel p 67 The loudness meter panel is organized around a pair of meter bars continuously updated measurements continuous readings on the left those computed across a specific time segment of the audio signal integrated readings on the right User Manual The measurement gating for the integrated readings may be controlled by hardware signals applied to the rear panel auxiliary signals connec tor or by software control through the buttons at the bottom of the loud ness meter panel Both meters share the same timing The selection of hardware or software control is made in the Loudness settings panel p 67 Continuous loudness measurements The continuous measurements are the Momentary Loudness ML and Short Term Loudness SL The momentary loudness is displayed as a bar and updated 10 times per second The short term loudness is dis played graphically as a line on the bargraph and numerically above it The surround program loudness display shows in addition the down mix loudness as a broken line The short term loudness is compared to a user defined threshold displayed on the bargraph as a thin red line When this threshold is exceeded for a user specified duration an error is generated When this error condition exists both the graphical and numeric short term loud ness d
13. sent Test Enabled Email Actions send SNMP Settings Read Community Name BEE Email Delivery Settings Mask SNMP Trap For ANN Server DNS name of the email server hosting the Sentinel s email ae account Limited to 34 characters User ID User ID usually the email address of the Sentinel s email account on the server Limited to 30 characters Password Password of the Sentinel s email account on the server Lim ited to 16 characters From Sender email address to use for notification messages Limited to 30 characters Port Server port number for sending email 0 to 65535 76 User Manual Delay First Email For The Sentinel will wait this long before sending email notification of any error This allows faults which might cause multiple errors to be combined into a single notification email Mask Repeat Email For Disables repeat emails about the same error for the specified duration This prevents a steady stream of emails from a single fault Test Enabled Email Actions Pressing this button will send a test email to all email addresses To prevent this for some addresses uncheck the corresponding Enable box This button is disabled while modifying settings SNMP Settings Read Community Name Sets the Community Name that must be spec ified in SNMP GET operations interrogating the Sentinel MIB Leaving this field empty will match any community name that is received Mask SNMP Trap For Sets the minimum interval betw
14. 0 59 hour 0 23 day of month 1 31 month 1 12 or names day of week 0 7 or names command name An asterisk indicating any may be specified for any of the time fields For example 30 0 23 Sentinel Logs xxxxxx download sh You install the crontab task using crontab crontab file User Manual Connections and cabling AES digital audio connections 88 Auxiliary connections 89 Breakout adapter 90 87 The Sentinel s audio and auxiliary signals connectors are designed to work with standard cables for typical configurations The following specifications and guidance are provided for those cases where cus tom cabling is necessary AES digital audio connections AES connections appear on an HD15 connector 88 1 Channels 1 2 high 6 Channels 1 2 low 11 Ground 2 Channels 3 4 high 7 Channels 3 4 low 12 Ground 3 Channels 5 6 high 8 Channels 5 6 low 13 Channels 7 8 high 4 Ground 9 Balanced Unbalanced 14 Unused 5 Ground 10 Channels 7 8 low 15 Ground The AES input and input output connectors on the AES audio module and the AES input output connector on the SDI audio module share a common pin configuration and electrical charateristics The AES audio connections by default operate with unbalanced inputs The inputs are terminated in 75 0 and accept up to 1Vpp Pin 9 on the connector must be shorted to ground to invoke balanced operation This changes the input impedance to 120 and pads t
15. 14 10 07 04 16 30 13 53 49 8 Dec 12 13 56 36 00 02 00 13 43 19 The Readings Timeline panel is a summary display of the history of readings from the Sentinel from the latest readings back through the stored log data The timeline panel also allows you to identify and work with programming segments within the readings history The two major components of the panel are the timeline itself which displays a set of signal traces and the segment table The web interface saves a temporary record of readings as it receives them from the Sentinel These readings combined with readings down loaded and saved in the Log Repository p 79 provide a continu ous record limited only by your retention period for the log repository Timeline What is visible on the timeline display is typically only a portion of the history When the user interface is displaying live data the timeline dis plays the most recent readings the right end of the display tracks the current time and older readings move off the left end When brows ing or replaying logged readings the timeline display can be moved through the range of logged data User Manual Signal traces The timeline displays your choice of measurement traces You can select from Surround Loudness Ancillary Downmix Loudness Downmix Differential Dialog Balance Maximum Downmix Surround True Peak Ancillary Downmix True Peak The Ancillary Downmix Loudness and True Peak traces display mea
16. Digital Input Has No Signal If Values Repeat For More Than Sets the number of samples in a row that must have the same value to generate an error The choices are 16k 32k 64k or 128k Downmix Compatibility settings panel emmy The Downmix Compatibility settings panel sets the downmix parame Downmix Parameters Fa a f peek ters and the thresholds used for compatibility checking It controls the Downmix CF At downmix gains used for deriving the downmix channels These down Downmix Surrounds At Aira was LAO mix channels are used for both the meter displays and the compatibility er wer Bim None analysis Compatibility Analysis Downmixed Signals In Error If Within Each Octave Downmix Parameters Level Changes By At or Above 250 H2 LFE Gain Sets the gain applied to the LFE signal when performing TEC EM 4 0 kHz a For Longer Than GEEAE downmix compatibility measurements It does not affect the en al ae LFE meters which always reflect the actual electrical level of For Longer Than the LFE signal not its final reproduction level The choices are O and 10 cB Downmix CF at Sets the gain applied to the center front signal when downmixing to stereo The choices are 3 1 5 0 1 5 3 4 5 6 dB and none Downmix Surrounds at Sets the gain applied to the surround and back channels when downmixing to stereo The choices are 3 1 5 0 1 5 3 4 5 6 dB and none Use Downmix Gains Selects between the sp
17. Dolby Metadata panel p 56 lists channel orders for common channel configurations Auxiliary signals connection The auxiliary signals connection combines the Linear Time Code LTC input loudness meter controls alarm outputs and DC inputs A pair of signals control the operation of the Surround and Ancillary loudness meters in performing integrated loudness measurements both meters share the same timing One input switches between active measurement and the paused state or between measuring pro gram and measuring commercial The other input completes the cur rent measurement and begins a new measurement The four alarm outputs are asserted when the corresponding alarms Occur The six DC inputs may be used to measure DC voltages and by appro priate setting of the input comparison thresholds they may be used to monitor low speed logic signals Specifications for fabricating custom cabling are provided in Auxiliary connections p 89 DC input threshholds configuration Error threshholds can be set for the DC inputs in the DC Inputs amp Tem perature settings panel p 73 Date amp time configuration The Sentinel uses a real time clock to accurately record the timing of measurements in Coordinated Universal Time UTC When times are displayed they are converted to the local timezone and daylight sav ings setting For the Sentinel to be able to store measurement data for later retrieval it is essential that the
18. Is Above parison Or Below AC FF Or Below Sets the minimum DC value allowed on that input before issu ing an error The value may be set between 0 0V and 2 25V in 0 15V steps Set this to 0 0V to disable this comparison Temperature Is Above Sets the maximum temperature allowed before issuing an error The value may be set between 32 C and 62 C in 2 steps Or Below Sets the minimum temperature allowed before issuing an error The value may be set between 4 C and 19 C in 1 steps see Auxiliary signals connection p 12 for details about connecting these inputs Error reporting for each auxiliary input is enabled in the Alarms settings panel p 74 Settings page 73 Alarms settings panel Alarms Alarm Surround Signal Errors Suspend During Pause Under Level Over Level Clipping Hum Program Loudness Integrated Loudness Downmix Compatibility Downmix Differential Balance Channel Swap LFE Under Dnmix BW Dialog Balance Ancillary Signal Errors Suspend During Pause Under Level Over Level Clipping Hum Program Loudness Integrated Loudness Downmix Compatibility Balance Digital interface Errors Input Connections Group Consistency Input Metadata Group Metadata Coded Audio Errors Coded Audio Metadata Other Errors DC Input 1 DC Input 2 DC Input 3 DC Input 4 DC Input 5 DC Input 6 Temperature Linear Time Code Real Time Clock
19. Sets the weighting filter and measurement method used The choices are the ITU R BS 1770 1 standard refer enced by the ATSC and the ITU R BS 1770 2 standard refer enced by EBU Measurement Mode Determines how the loudness measurement con trols are interoreted When set to Measure Pause the Loudness meter control enables or pauses measurement When set to P C New the loudness meter control identifies the audio as pro gram material or commercials Secondary Meter Selects the program measured by the ancillary loud ness meter either the downmix program or one of the ancillary programs Settings page 67 Integrated loudness control Controls Selects the source of loudness meter control and restart inputs Choices are hardware inputs on the rear panel auxiliary signals connector and buttons on the Loudness Meter panels p 34 Measure program Sets the polarity of the rear panel loudness meter control input Restart Sets the polarity of the rear panel loudness meter restart input Loudness errors Error If Short Term Loudness Is Configures short term loudness error detection Above Sets the maximum short term loudness allowed rela tive to the loudness reference level before issuing an error The choices are 2 4 6 and 8 LU For Longer Than Sets the duration that the measured loudness must be above the maximum value for an error to be issued The choices are 0 3 10 or 30 seconds A zero duration gives an immediate indica
20. The choices are 0 3 6 and 9 LU For Longer Than Sets the duration that the difference must remain below the threshold for an error to be issued The choices are 3 10 30 or 60 seconds When Above Sets a minumum CF loudness level for error detec tion presumably dialog is not present below this threshhold Error detection is susoended when CF is below this level the duration doesn t increase but it is not reset The choices are 35 and 45 LU Error If Left Right Channel Imbalance Configures left right balance error detection Exceeds Sets the minimum difference between loudness lev els of a left right channel pair that must be exceeded before issuing an error The choices are 6 9 12 and 15 dB For Longer Than Sets the duration the difference must exceed the threshold for an error to be issued The choices are 10 and 30 seconds Settings page 69 Channel Analysis settings panel x Channel Analysis Hum Error If Stable Tones At Sem 65 dB With Tolerance 20B For Longer Than 8 sec 15 LFE Channel Error if Bandwidth Exceeds For Longer Than 3 sec 144 Front and Surround or Back Swapped If Front Is Softer By For Longer Than 3 sec 1 4 CF and LFE Swapped If LFE Bandwidth gt CF Bandwidth For Longer Than Digital Input Has No Signal If Values Repeat ZT 16k samples 70 The Channel Analysis settings panel sets the thresholds used for hum detection channel swap detection and LFE
21. and serial num ber is the serial number of the Sentinel The serial number is displayed on the Sentinel front panel as the last 6 digits of the MAC address and in the Sentinel web interface on the status line of the main meter panel The UNIX command is similar with adjustments to the format of the directory path Normally you can use the download script as is How ever if you change the IP address of the Sentinel or prefer to use a DNS name or if you move the log repository you will need to edit the download script Or you can delete it and let the Sentinel software cre ate anew script with the modified settings Download schedules The Sentinel stores slightly more than 24 hours of log data internally so a daily download will preserve all logged data However a shorter inter val provides additional protection against data loss and interruptions Hourly downloads are a recommended schedule User Manual Scheduled download on Windows XP systems To perform scheduled downloads on a Windows XP system you create a scheduled task that runs the bat file described above The Scheduled Tasks control panel provides a wizard to create a scheduled task However a daily schedule is the shortest interval allowed by the wizard To set a shorter interval you need to edit the task once you ve created It To edit the task display the created task it should be listed in the schedule Tasks control panel Select the Schedule tab
22. bandwidth checking It controls all channel related measurements that are not level or loudness related Hum Error if Stable Tones at Sets the frequencies used for hum detection measure ments Measurements are made at the fundamental frequency and two harmonics Exceed Sets the level at which a HUM error will be generated This may be set in 5 dB increments from 50 to 85 dBFS With Tolerance Sets the maximum level variation a signal may have before it is considered program and not hum The choices are 2 and 4 dB For Longer Than Sets the duration that a signal must exceed the speci fied limits to generate a HUM error The choices are 4 8 15 or 30 seconds LFE Channel Error If Bandwidth Exceeds Sets the LFE bandwidth above which an LFE BW error will be generated The choices range from 80 to 250 Hz For Longer Than Sets the duration that a signal must exceed the speci fied bandwidth to generate an LFE BW error The choices are 1 3 10 or 30 seconds Front and Surround or Back Swapped If Front is Softer for Longer Than Sets duration that the surround or back channels must exceed the front channels to generate a Front Surround Swap or Front Back Swap error The choices are 1 3 10 or 30 seconds User Manual CF and LFE Swapped If LFE Bandwidth gt CF Bandwidth For Longer Than Sets duration that the LFE bandwidth must exceed the CF bandwidth to generate a CF LFE Swap error The choices are 1 3 10 or 30 seconds
23. can decode from any of the first 3 AES inputs SD 8 SDI AES 8 channel digital input module Input Selection SDI Input Format SDI Channels SDI Word Width SDI Sample Rate Connector A Connector B AES Input Format AES Word Width AES Sample Rate Connector C Cable Compatibility Dolby option Up to 4 channel pairs from combination of AES and SDI inputs SD HD 3G SDI De embeds 4 channel pairs from 2 audio groups 16 to 24 bit 32 kHz to 96 kHz de embedded SDI channel pairs must be synchronous to each other may be asynchronous to AES inputs SDI input on 75 O BNC Re clocked SDI output on 75 0 BNC AES 3 120 0 Balanced or 75 0 Unbalanced 16 to 24 bit 32 kHz to 192 KHz each stream asynchronous to all others 4 AES 3 inputs 8 ch on one 15 pin high density female D sub Unbalanced AES inputs use a VGA to BNC cable Balanced inputs use a custom DB15HD to 4 XLR cable available as an option Option 552 Dolby Decode module if present can decode from any of the first 3 AES inputs or from any of the 4 de embedded SDI channel pairs Option 552 Dolby Decode module Input Selection Input Format Mixed Inputs specifications One coded stream from a selected AES 3 or SDI input channel pair Dolby Digital or Dolby E PCM audio on remaining channel pairs may be used in combination with decoded audio subject to channel count limitation of input module 97 98 Warranty Qualis Audio warrants the Sentinel audio monitor t
24. clock real time 12 17 33 of configuration settings panel 78 CSV data export see log repository D date see clock real time date amp time settings panel 77 dc inputs amp temperature panel 59 dc inputs amp temperatures settings panel 73 device name 18 DHCP 8 dialog balance panel 33 digital interface panel 53 Dolby metadata panel 56 downmix compatibility display 30 downmix compatibility settings panel 71 E email notifications 76 errors panel 49 Ethernet see network connection F firmware revisions 19 78 firmware updates 92 94 front panel 16 H histogram see signal histogram panel input amp sources settings panel 63 installation 6 14 L Icd contrast 19 levels amp metering settings panel 64 Linear Time Code 12 33 log repository 13 33 80 86 data export 82 loudness meter panels 34 loudness settings panel 67 LTC see Linear Time Code mounting 7 N network connection 8 18 33 P password 18 62 93 phase indicators 28 power connection 7 R readings page 22 60 103 104 readings timeline panel 40 real time clock see clock real time S safety information 7 101 segment table 46 serial number 33 settings page 62 78 signal histogram panel 48 SNMP notifications 77 specifications 95 97 spectrum amp downmix compatibility panel 30 spectrum display 30 system requirements 9 T time see clock r
25. clock be set accurately User Manual The Sentinel ships with its clock already set To maintain accuracy it synchronizes the clock to a Network Time Protocol NTP server at 10 minute intervals This NIP server needs to be a high quality time source and in particular needs to be synchronized with its reference time server often enough to avoid accumulated time errors You configure the NTP service and local timezone through the Date amp Time settings panel p 77 The timezone can also be set through the Front Panel menus p 17 and you can manually set the clock through the menus if for some reason you re not able to use an NIP server Log repository configuration The Sentinel logs all sampled audio characteristics and all measure ments It stores slightly more than 24 hours of this data internally How ever measurement data is stored in volatile memory and will be lost in the event of a power failure To preserve and access the data it must be downloaded from the Sentinel to a storage repository which resides in a local directory on your system or in a directory on a shared network filesystem Once data is in the repository it is protected from loss and you can use the user interface to review and display it in the same way as live readings The simplest way to create and update the repository is to let the user interface do it from your browser You can also set up scheduled down loading of data to the repository an
26. is a direct assessment of the change in the program experienced by these listeners The internal Downmix channels are created from the input signals as follows LO Sums LF CF LS and LB or OB in 6 1 mode if present Ro sums RF CF RS and RB or CB in 6 1 mode if present M summed from Lo and Ro The Lo and Ro downmix attenuation values for center Surround and back surround are set in the Downmix Compatibility settings panel p 71 Frequency range filters The frequency at which cancellations occur is Important when assess ing the severity of a compatibility problem Cancellations in the voice band are generally of the highest concern because of their poten tial effect on intelligibility Downmix problems at low or high frequen cies though potentially of concern cause changes in effects or ambi ence and are generally less problematic The horizontally arranged fre quency domain view makes such distinctions immediately evident Calculation of losses by frequency also simplifies application of error conditions to the data The Downmix Compatibility settings panel p 71 provides settings that control what downmix measurements consititute an error Comparisons may be limited at both high and low frequencies and the amount of loss considered acceptable may all be set along with a minimum time that the error must persist before being reported User Manual Dialog balance panel 1 Meter axis Meter units at top 2
27. its segment table entry Defined segments may also appear on the Signal Histogram panel p 48 Defined segments are numbered for identification These numbers are displayed both in the segment table and on the segments bounds cur sors Numbers are assigned consecutively starting at one Adding or deleting segments can cause renumbering Changing a segment s beginning or ending time can change its position in the table which can also cause renumbering Combined measurements for defined segments are displayed as a final entry in the segment table The segment category setting for a defined segment specifies how the segment contributes to these summary measurements Ea Add to summary amp Exclude from surrounding segment E Ignore Segment status The status indicator shows activity for measured segments and flags completed segments with errors Segment calculation in progress animated ir Segment calculation paused amp Completed segment error detected Readings page 47 In addition the integrated loudness and maximum true peak measure ments are highlighted in red if they exceed error limits Signal histogram panel 48 1 Y axis Units are percent Signal Histogram j 13 Jan 12 16 31 51 ages 13 Jan 12 16 36 28 2 X axis Units are full 18 Jan 12 20 07 54 18 Jan 12 20 14 39 scale loudness 3 Histogram traces 4 Segment key The Signal Histogram panel summarizes loudness measurements fo
28. panel tabs For a group consisting of a single panel both regions can be used interchangeably When you ve dragged a panel or group to a position where it will com bine with another group you ll see a blue line highlighting the position Readings page 23 Configuring the readings panels You can configure many of the readings panels to adjust their appear ance to match your preferences For these panels an icon to access a configuration popup menu appears at the right end of the panel tab Clicking the icon causes the configuration menus to appear Persistence of user interface settings Your navigation bar and panel arrangements are tracked from one ses sion to the next as are settings made through the configuration menus associated with the readings panels These preferences are all associ ated with your browser other users accessing the same Sentinel can set their own preferences The web interface saves preferences in your browser s local storage You ll need to reenter the settings if they re lost for some reason If you clear cookies on your browser change browsers or change the IP address of the Sentinel Channel meter panels 24 1 Meter axis Meter units Surround at top meter type at bot tom 2 True peak Indicator bar and numeric value 3 Level bar 4 Channel 5 Bandwidth bar 6 Phase bar Each channel meter panel displays a group of bargraphs for a set of input channels monitore
29. restart at the begin ning of the segment In effect there are two patterns for playing logged readings You can repeatedly play a defined programming segment Or you can work without setting up segments moving the current position and starting and stopping play directly Readings page 45 A segment is an interval of time within the Sentinel s readings history Mea sured segments are cre ated in real time by the sentinel defined segments are created retrospectively through the user interface The segment table displays all defined segments and a selection of measured segments centered on the current timeline position 46 Segment table 28 Dec 12 01 22 38 28 Dec 12 01 38 21 00 15 43 01 08 52 28 Dec 12 01 30 00 28 Dec 12 02 00 00 00 30 00 01 16 16 28 Dec 12 01 31 00 28 Dec 12 01 32 00 00 01 00 01 17 16 28 Dec 12 01 58 00 28 Dec 12 01 59 00 00 01 00 01 44 14 28 Dec 12 01 38 23 28 Dec 12 02 34 24 00 56 01 01 24 36 1 Selected defined seg ment Clicking arrow positions timeline to seg ment 2 Summary Combined integrated measure ments for defined seg ments 3 Segment add remove buttons Define new seg ment or delete selected segment 4 Segment index For defined segments matches segment bounds cursors 5 Segment status Activ ity indicator for current measured segment summary error indication for completed segments 6 Segment category Pro gram commercial for measured segment I
30. settings panel controls the loudness measurement func NETTE 24 LKFS B Error If Dialnorm Target eee tte cele BS1770 2 eld les Prog Comm Secondary Meter Controls Measure Program Error If Short Term Loudness Is Above For Longer Than 3 sec 1 4 Or If Integrated Loudness Is Error If Surround Loudness Differs From er eee te ae 42 0 1 0LU For Longer Than 10 sec 4 Error If CF Loudness Does Not Exceed Program Loudness By ATEL 2 sec LN 35 dB Error If Left Right Channel Imbalance Exceeds For Longer Than 10 sec 4 tions of the Sentinel It controls the measurement method and the error testing parameters Loudness errors are based on comparison of loudness measurements with a reference level The reference may be a fixed target level or may be the dialnorm value extracted from a Dolby Digital or Dolby E encoded stream Both the fixed target and the selection of whether to reference it or the dialnorm are set on the Loudness settings panel If the dialnorm value is not available as occurs if a PCM signal is received the fixed target will be used Loudness measurement Loudness Target Sets a target level to which loudness measurements are compared in determining loudness errors Used when the Relative To setting is Target or when metadata containing dial norm is unavailable Loudness Target is also used as the reference level for loud ness displays Loudness Standard
31. shown on the front panel LCD display User interface configuration and use The Sentinel provides its user interface through your browser It is accessible from wherever you have network access to the Sentinel Connect your browser to the user interface by using the Sentinel s IP address You ll use the interface to verify the installation and to perform several configuration steps Browser compatibility The user interface is compatible with these browsers Chrome v6 0 or later not compatible with Java 7 Firefox v3 5 or later Internet Explorer 8or 9 IE7 Compatibility View off Safari v5 0 or later Your browser must have JavaScript and cookies enabled for the user interface to operate correctly The log data features require the Java SE Runtime Environment 6 or later to be installed and enabled in your web browser settings JRE 7 is supplied only as a 64 bit runtime and is not compatible with 32 bit browsers such as Chrome 8 User Manual If the user interface is unresponsive or the displays are fragmented or corrupted check your browser version and compatibility settings Indi cators on the Time amp Status panel p 33 can also help you diag nose user interface problems The Sentinel user interface performs substantial processing in the browser Browser performance is continually improving and you will find the interface is most responsive with the latest browser versions System requirements As mentioned abo
32. that appear on the Readings page Channel Meter panels p 24 Bargraph displays of mea surements for Surround ancillary and downmix channels Pr Balance panel p 29 Plan view of listening space showing relative loudness of surround input channels EJ Spectrum amp Downmix Compatibility panel p 30 Octave band graphs of the mono downmix channel spectrum and the stereo and monaural downmix compatibility power loss compared to original 1 Dialog Balance panel p 33 Bargraph display of dialog balance Loudness Meter panels p 34 Bargraph displays of con tinuous and integrated loudness measurements for Surround ancillary and downmix channels EJ Readings Timeline panel p 40 Timeline traces of recorded readings Allows you to review and replay readings recorded by the Sentinel E Errors panel p 49 Error and alarm state for all eight inputs downmixes auxiliary inputs Digital Interface panel p 53 Interface characteristics and metadata for AES or SDI input Go Dolby Metadata panel p 56 Metadata for Dolby coded audio User Manual 1 NO oo gt Panel tab Drag to move panel remove it from panel group or move it to another group Panel configuration popup menu Panel group back ground Drag to move panel group or combine it with another group Hide button Click to hide panel group DC Inputs amp Temperature panel p 59 Auxiliary input DC Voltage readings and
33. the measurement must be paused and measure ment must resume when the break is over Therefore to measure both the program and the commercial loudness independently requires two loudness meters one for the program and one for the commercials The control lines for these two meters must be interconnected so that they operate synchronously Dual Stream loudness measurement is Qualis Audio s patent pend ing solution to this problem The Sentinel is designed to handle a pro gram stream with interleaved commercial segments When the instru ment is told that the program being monitored has gone to commercial it pauses the program measurement However it continues measuring and allocates the measured energy to a separate results buffer for the commercial When the instrument receives a reset command it finalizes the readings and begins measuring another commercial If instead it is told that the stream has returned to the original program it finalizes the commercial loudness reading and resumes measuring the program exactly as a conventional meter coming out of pause would do When the program is complete assertion of the reset command will finalize the program measurement and the instrument will immediately begin making a new measurement of program loudness These program and commercial loudness measurements are dis played logged and reported along with the program commercial iden tifier the time and the timecode Each measurement is comp
34. to independent min amp max values Compare to min amp max temperature 25 pin female D sub Balanced AC coupled 22 kO each side to ground 5Vpp max 6 Oto 2 55VDC unbalanced 340 ms sampling interval 4 2 per Loudness meter 0 6V low 2 7V high 5V max input 40 ms minimum width 20 ms debounce after last transition 4 open collector 24V 100mA max 10BASE T Ethernet RJ45 with status LEDs 1 75 H 1U x 17 W x 7 D 8 9 cm x 54 2 cm x 17 8 cm 24V at 0 5 A max from external adaptor 100V 120V 240V 50 60 Hz 15W S 16 SDI 16 channel digital input module Input Format SDI Channels SDI Word Width SDI Sample Rate Connector A Connector B Dolby option SD HD 3G SDI De embeds 8 channel pairs from 4 audio groups 16 to 24 bit 32 kHz to 96 kHz de embedded SDI channel pairs must be synchronous to each other SDI input on 75 0 BNC Re clocked SDI output on 75 0 BNC Option 552 Dolby Decode module if present can decode from any SDI channel pair D 8 AES 8 channel digital input module Input Format Word Width Sample Rate User Manual AES 3 120 0 Balanced or 75 0 Unbalanced 16 to 24 bit 32 kHz to 192 kHz each stream asynchronous to all others Connector Cable Compatibility Dolby option 4 AES 3 inputs 8 ch on one 15 pin high density female D sub Unbalanced inputs use a VGA to BNC cable Balanced inputs use a custom DB15HD to 4 XLR cable available as an option Option 552 Dolby Decode module if present
35. will my program change when reproduced in stereo or mono ELFE bandwidth amp phase compatibility E Spectrum with one octave resolution Overview 3 The Sentinel provides two loudness monitors one for the surround pro gram and another that may be assigned to the stereo downmix or any of the ancillary programs Loudness measurements include m Loudness to ITU R BS 1770 1 BS 1770 2 3 LKFS m Loudness differential between surround and downmixed program Surround monitor only The Sentinel also provides other measurement functions including E Six DC inputs for monitoring external parameters line voltage secu rity sensors transmitter power etc m Internal clock calendar for time amp date reference su LTC for correlating results with program m Internal temperature for monitoring equipment rack conditions User Manual Installation Getting organized 6 Mounting and operating environment 7 Power connection and grounding 7 Network connection 8 User interface configuration and use 8 SDI digital audio connection 10 AES digital audio connection 11 Auxiliary signals connection 12 Date amp time configuration 12 Log repository configuration 13 Getting organized li SENTINEL ud gt www qualisaudio com udio MADE IN USA S N MODULE 2 MODULE 1 L F AA O EE omo E o 0000000000000000 The Qualis Audio Sen tinel monitors a surround audio signal through dig ital inp
36. 74 S3 Alarms are the result of one or more error conditions Four alarms are available numbered 1 4 and each may have any combination of errors assigned to it When an error occurs it triggers any alarms to which it is assigned Triggering an alarm results in actions based on settings in the Alarm Actions settings panel p 76 The Alarms settings panel has a column for each of the four alarms It has a row for each type of detected error Within each column checked boxes indicate the errors assigned to the alarm Surround and Ancillary Signal Errors Suspend During Pause Disable reporting of signal errors when metering IS paused Under Level Enables reporting of under level errors Over Level Enables reporting of levels exceeding the specified operat ing level Clipping Enables reporting of channel clipping Hum Enables reporting mains hum errors Program Loudness Enables reporting of short term loudness exceeding the maximum allowed Integrated Loudness Enables reporting of integrated loudness being outside the allowable tolerances Downmix Compatibility Enables reporting of stereo and mono downmix compatibility errors Downmix Differential Enables reporting of the differential between sur round and downmix loudness being outside the allowable toler ances Balance Enables reporting of surround channel balance errors Channel Swap Enables reporting of interchanged channels Surround only LFE Under Downmix Bandw
37. Audio Module 2 not present 78 The Configuration settings panel displays configuration information for the Sentinel hardware and lists the revisions of the firmware compo nents installed in field upgradeable ROMs on the device Revision dates are in mm dd yy format month day year the same as on the front panel firmware revision display The panel displays warning icons and messages when inconsistencies are detected in the hardware or firmware configuration Firmware com ponents are flagged if they do not match the expected revision for the overall software version Inout modules are flagged if they have incom patibilities with the installed software version Main Overall software version number CPU DSP Boot and Web firmware revisions Audio Module 1 2 Installed audio input module types MCU and FPGA firmware revisions for digital modules User Manual Log Repository Log repository setup in the user interface 81 Exporting repository data 82 Purging and archiving repository data 83 Scheduled downloading of log data 83 19 80 The Sentinel logs internally slightly more than 24 hours of readings data The data includes all audio characteristics sampled by the Sen tinel and all measurements To save space logged data is saved at approximately 1 4 second intervals a 4 to 1 merging of the original readings data To access and preserve this data you need to download it from the sentinel to a storage repository
38. Default Follows the Meter Type setting Overload Level Any level above this value for a channel produces a Overload error and an indication on the channel s bargraph meter Only applies if Overload Ref above is User Supplied For analog inputs settings are 1 dBu increments starting 2 dBu below the Maximum Analog In For digital inputs settings are 1 dBFS increments below 2 dBFS This setting provides an indicator that can be calibrated to your system maximum level For example a modulation index or an A D converter s digital full scale value For Longer Than Sets the duration an Overload condition must be present before it represents an error Settings range from 1 to 30 seconds Alignment Ref Sets the reference source for the Alignment level User Selected Allows you to set the Alignment Level The two proprietary meter types always use this setting Meter Default Follows the Meter Type setting Metadata User digital only Determines the level from meta data in the digital input signal if present if not uses the Alignment Level you set Metadata Meter digital only Determines the level from meta data in the digital input signal if present if not follows the Meter Type setting above Alignment Level Channel bargraph meters change color to yellow when they exceed this level Only applies if Alignment Ref above is User Supplied or Metadata User For analog inputs settings are 2 dBu increments starting 12 dBu below the M
39. Following menu items are tailored to match the selected module s type Coded Source Selects which input channel pair is used as input to the Dolby decoder Appears only if the selected input module includes a Dolby decoder Pie eed disabled Input channel sources Channel Source Selects the source of signal for the indicated channel Channel is one of LF RF CF LFE LS RS LB RB It is possi ble though not advised to assign the same numeric channel to more than one surround channel some combinations of channel sources may not be allowed due to limitations of the input module in use If this occurs dis allowed source selections are flagged with a warning icon For Settings page 63 more information see Appendix A Specifications p 95 which describes specific inout module capabilities in detail Levels amp Metering settings panel D Levels amp Metering The Levels amp Metering panel selects the metering ballistics and signal Meter Type levels used in metering and error detection MEN Ntt 22 dBu TAN EEE 22 dBu Excessive Level Error If Above Dawet Meter Type Selects the ballistics used for the bargraphs and for detec For Longer Than 1 sec tion of OVERs in the program Also sets the displayed meter Alignment Ref scale and unit All commonly used metering standards are pro vided along with two proprietary meters Meter Setting Surround Program Under Level If ja ae Fast Dec
40. Sentinel internal temperature ra Signal Histogram panel p 48 Summary graphical display of selected ranges from recorded readings EJ Time amp Status panel p 33 Health and activity status indi cators Sentinel identification current time E Settings page p 61 Panels for configuring Sentinel mea surements and error reporting Arranging the panel navigation bar You can reorder the contents of the navigation bar by dragging ele ments to reposition them When you ve dragged an element to a new position in the navigation bar you ll see a blue line highlighting the position Arranging the readings panels Panel positioning controls allow you to group position within the display window and hide or reveal the Sentinel s display panels A panel group at its simplest consists of a single panel You can com bine multiple panels alongside or above below each other to form a compound panel group The individual panels appear as non overlap ping tiles within the group The controls to hide and display panels operate on panel groups all the panels in a group hide or display as a unit This applies to the panel entries in the navigation panel and the hide button on the group itself You arrange panels into panel groups and position panel groups by dragging The draggable region of a panel is the labelled tab at the top of the panel For a panel group it is the background area at the top of the group the area not covered by
41. Temperature panel displays readings from the Sentinel s six auxiliary voltage inputs These inputs are updated approx imately 3 times per second so a transient whose duration is less than 330 ms may be missed This panel also includes a reading of the Sentinel internal temperature in degrees Centigrade This will typically be a few degrees above that of the rack in which the Sentinel is installed This allows monitoring tem perature of the equipment rack at a remote facility and triggering an alarm if the temperature exceeds allowable limits The DC voltage and temperature readings are compared to upper and lower limits set in the DC Inputs amp Temperature settings panel Readings page 59 60 p 73 The results of that comparison are shown to the right of each reading using status icons Reading is within limits m Reading is outside limits see Auxiliary signals connection p 12 for details about connecting these inputs User Manual Settings page Input amp Sources settings panel 63 Levels amp Metering settings panel 64 Loudness Settings panel 67 Channel Analysis settings panel 70 Downmix Compatibility settings panel 71 DC Inputs amp Temperature settings panel 73 Alarms settings panel 74 Alarm Actions settings panel 76 Date amp Time settings panel 77 Configuration settings panel 78 61 62 On the left of the Settings page is a navigation panel that lets you select which settings panels are vis
42. When an alarm occurs the Sentinel will assert an open collector output BB 8m lly A ili i ro hing grec sit on the rear panel auxiliary signals connector and will display a visual warning on its front panel It may also be programmed to sound an ees audible alarm or send an email or SNMP notification Alarm Action set Community Name tings panel has a row for each of the four alarms specifying the actions Beep BB Manually Assert Email To taken when that alarm occurs ss oo MR Alarm Actions Community Name te cao Beep Check the box for an audible indication at the Sentinel chassis location ees Manually Assert Forces the auxiliary alarm outputs to a low state useful Ba dna for testing connections This overrides the alarm controls eep anually Asse u Email To Email To Check the box to enable email notifications of this alarm Enter addresses to receive emails about this alarm Separate multi SNMP Trap To NN ole addresses with commas or semicolons Limited to 124 Community Name oe NN characters ma elivery Settings upi i f smtp landl com X SNMP Trap To Check the box to enable SNMP notifications of this alarm ee Enter the IP address to receive the notifications and the Com BEI test qualisaudio com munity Name to be sent with the notification Leaving the Com Port 25 i Delay First Email for MINI munity Name blank will cause the default public name to be Mask Repeat Email For
43. and set the task schedule to Daily and the Start time to 12 00 AM Then click the Advanced button select Repeat task and set the repeat interval and duration Scheduled download on Windows 7 systems To perform scheduled downloads on a Windows 7 system you create scheduled task that runs the bat file described above To create the scheduled task select the Create Task option from the Actions supanel of the Task Scheduler control panel The Task Sched uler is one of the Administration control panels You set the download times by creating a Trigger from the Triggers tab Set the Trigger to begin the task on a daily schedule In the advanced settings section set the task to repeat every hour for the full duration of the day If you set the option to stop the task if it runs longer than 55 minutes it will keep a slow or stalled download from overlapping with the next sched uled download Scheduled download on UNIX systems On UNIX systems you can perform scheduled downloads using cron In general terms you create a crontab file that specifies the task and schedule and then install the task using the crontab utility The follow ing notes provide additional detail There is considerable variability among UNIX systems so you ll need to consult local documentation in addition to these notes Log Repository 85 86 In the crontab file tasks are specified by lines that have a sequence of tab separated fields minute
44. ared to the specified loudness limits and alarms are issued if required Readings page STA 38 Configuration Meter Scale P v 27 LU Range Result Hold Time gt 54LU Range 1 second 80 LU Range v 3 seconds 10 seconds v Relative LU Scale 30 seconds L Absolute LKFS LUu Scale Meter Scale sets the scale used to display the loudness measurement bargraphs and selects between relative and absolute display units The bargraph scale may be set to either of the EBU required ranges of 27 or 54 LU or an 80 LU range The larger ranges allow monitoring of wider dynamic range material at the expense of display resolution The 27 and 54 LU EBU meter ranges are positioned relative to the loud ness reference with 1 3rd of the scale above the reference and 2 3rds below The reference may be a fixed target value or the dialnorm value from the Dolby metadata The reference selection is set in the Loudness settings panel p 67 The 80 LU meter range has its maximum at 5 LKFS The numeric loudness values may be displayed in either relative or absolute units Except loudness range which by definition is a relative value The relative display shows measurements in loudness units LU relative to the loudness reference Result Hold Time sets the time for which the panel displays the results of completed integrated loudness calculations The hold time may be set to 1 3 10 or 30 seconds The integrated loudness
45. arker appears above the yellow Cursors 1 Current position cursor 2 Left bound cursor Appearance changes 3 Right bound cursor to indicate play paused 4 Right position flag state paused shown appears when cursor is dragged 18 Dec 12 13 56 36 LTC 13 45 19 Trace cursors consist of a single current position cursor which is always present and zero or more pairs of segment bounds cursors Current Position cursor Displays the current play position When the cursor is positioned at the Current time the display shows live readings and the cursor position advances automatically Dragging the cursor away from current time changes to paused state freezing the motion of the meter and timeline displays Dragging when replaying saved readings changes the replay position and replay continues when the cursor is released The readings at the current position are displayed on the meters and secondary readings panels When displaying live data these are cur rent readings as they are received from the Sentinel at other positions in the timeline saved readings are displayed When dragging the cur rent position the readings update as the cursor moves The current position cursor always stays within the visible portion of the timeline display When repositioning of the display would move the cursor out of view it sticks at the end of the displayed range that is it moves to the position within the display area that is closes
46. at Date Set Time Format Time Set DST Setup UTC Zone Set Date Format MM DD DD MM Set Date XX XX 20XX 12 Hr 24 Hr Use Dynamic IP On Off DHCP Assigned View Address View Sub Mask XX XX XX XX Set DST Mode On Off Set UTC Zone XX XX XXXXXXXXX Static IP Setup IP Address Subnet Mask Default Gateway Primary DNS Secondary DNS MAC Address hhhhhh hhhhhh Set IP Address 192 168 000 127 255 255 255 000 Default Gateway 192 168 000 001 Primary DNS 192 168 000 001 Secondary DNS 192 168 000 001 View Gateway View DNS1 View DNS2 Webpage date MainCPU date Boot DinMCUn date D FGPAn date CAT552n version date LCD Contrast Date amp time setup These menu items set the Sentinel s real time clock the date and time formats for the front panel display timezone and daylight savings time The Sentinel does not automatically switch to or from daylight savings The date and time entered via the Front panel menus are in local time and converted to UTC time internally by the Sentinel It is important to Front Panel 17 set the time zone and daylight savings time first before entering a date or time setting As an alternative to setting the date and time manually the Sentinel can also be synchronized to a Network Time Protocol NTP server The NTP service is configured from the user interface using the Date amp Time set tings panel p 77 T
47. aximum Ana log In For digital inputs settings are 2 dBFS increments below 12 dBFS A typical setting for an analog Broadcast or Pro audio system is 4 dBu For Consumer equipment with the Max Analog In set to 22 dBu the Alignment Level is typically Settings page 65 66 at 10 dBV 8 dBu Common digital settings are 20 dBFS SMPTE RP200 2002 or 18 dBFS EBU R68 2000 Surround Program Under Level If A Surround is Below Sets the minimum surround channel true peak level allowed before issuing an under level error The choices are 0 80 90 and 100 dB Unless Format Is Stereo Suppresses comparison of surround channels when stereo format is detected Or A Front Channel is Below Sets the minimum front channel true peak level allowed before issuing an under level error The choices are 0 80 90 and 100 GB For Longer Than Sets the duration that the front channel true peak level must be below the specified minimum to generate an under level error The choices are 2 5 10 or 20 seconds Ancillary Program Under Level If A Channel is Below Sets the minimum ancillary channel true peak level allowed before issuing an under level error The choices are 0 80 90 and 100 dB For Longer Than Sets the duration the channel true peak level must be below the specified minimum to generate an under level error The choices are 2 5 10 or 20 seconas User Manual Loudness Settings panel Seren The Loudness
48. ay Os attack 0 1 s decay Unless Format Is Stereo regnen Slow Decay Os attack 1 5 s decay For Longer Than 5 sec 3 The following meter types reference the Alignment Ancillary Program Under Level If Level setting below RE VU lt 300 ms attack 300 ms decay IEC 60268 17 O VU at For Longer Than 10 sec the Alignment Level IEC I Nordic PPM 5 ms attack 1 5 s decay DIN 45406 IEC Ila BBC PPM Oto 7 numeric scale otherwise the same as IEC IIb IEC llb EBU PPM 10 ms attack 2 8 s decay IEC 268 10 DIN German PPM 1 ms attack 1 5 s decay Levels Max Analog In Sets the gain of the analog input thereby setting the maximum input signal level Using the lowest possible value maximizes the signal to noise ratio 28 dBu Recommended for professional equipment 22 dBu Recommended for consumer or other equipment with out the ability to exceed 22 dBu output Clip Level Any level above this value for a channel produces a Clip error and an indication on the channels bargraph meter For analog inputs settings are 1 dBu increments below the Maximum Ana log In For digital inputs settings are 1 dBFS increments below 64 User Manual O dBFS This setting has no effect on a digital input Clip level indication always O dBFS Overload Ref Sets the reference source for the Overload indication User Selected Allows you to set the Overload Level The two proprietary meter types always use this setting Meter
49. b pages from its cache the resulting errors can be quite confusing For Firefox go to the Tools menu select Clear Recent History and make sure the Time range to clear is set to Everything and Cache is checked Other browsers have similar options For Chrome use the Clear Brows ing Data in the Tools menu For Internet Explorer use the Delete Browsing History in the Tools menu For Safari use Empty Cache in the Safari menu User Manual Specifications Analysis Surround Format 5 1 6 1 7 1 stereo Ancillary Format stereo monaural Metering VU Nordic PPM BBC PPM EBU PPM DIN PPM proprietary 85 dB Standards range meters 12 updates second Peak Amplitude True peak responding with 4x interpolation 340 ms update rate Dialog Balance CF loudness relative to total loudness of other channels gating based on presence of signal in CF channel 680 ms update rate Downmix Computes energy lost during downmixing to both stereo and mono Compatibility formats Analysis performed in 1 30th octave resolution displays L R M results in octave bands 680 ms update rate Channel Balance Channel loudness relative to the loudest channel 340 ms update rate LFE Analysis Measures LFE BW LFE downmix loss Channel Detects front surround reversal by level comparison detects CF LFE Interchange interchange by bandwidth comparison Spectral Analysis Measures program energy in octave bands 680 ms update rate Interchannel Phase M
50. ctions shield or ground pins or through the auxiliary signals connector Do not depend upon or attempt to use the enclosure as a safety ground This product is not intended to be serviced by the user Do not attempt service unless you are a qualified technician operating under the direc tion of the factory If qualified and you are authorized to service the unit please keep the following in mind at all times This product is designed to operate from an external low voltage power supply Although this means there are no mains voltage hazards in normal operation it is possible for the signal connections to present a safety hazard if they are connected to voltage sources which present a safety hazard Consequently All signal input and output connec tions should be removed before opening the cover Do not make any modifications to this product Do not replace any components with brands types models or part numbers other than those originally used when manufactured Doing so may create a safety hazard and will void the warranty 101 102 Index A alarm actions settings panel 76 alarms settings panel 74 audio connection AES digital 11 88 SDI digital 10 auxiliary signals connection 12 89 B back panel 6 balance panel 29 bandwidth indicators 28 breakout adapter 90 browser compatibility 8 cookies 24 C cable types see audio connection channel analysis settings panel 70 channel meter panels 24
51. culation paused v Final values loudness is within specified tolerance Final values loudness is outside specified tolerance Conventional and Dual Stream loudness measurements The Sentinel can measure integrated loudness exactly as specified in the ITU R BS 1770 1 BS 1770 2 and BS 1770 3 standards These stan dards along with the ATSC and EBU variants require the ability to run pause stop and reset the loudness measurement The Sentinel rear panel auxiliary signals connector provides two GPI pins for this pur pose One serves as a RUN PAUSE control and the other as a RESET control over the measurement There are also equivalent soft buttons on the Loudness Meter panels and network accessible software com mands for the same functions The conventional mode of operation specified in these standards was developed with measuring a single program or commercial being pro duced or broadcast The pause feature allows the portions of a pro User Manual gram during commercial or other break periods to be ignored and an accurate measurement of the program obtained In a broadcast stream there is no pause When a program is paused the time is occupied by a commercial or other interstitial content The loudness of these interleaved segments is just as important possibly more so as the program However the way the loudness measure ments are defined it is not possible to measure the individual pieces of a program separately
52. d RB or CB in 6 1 mode if present M sums Lo and Ro The gain coefficients applied to the center front surround and back channels when summing into the Lo and Ro downmix are selectable They are set in the Downmix Compatibility settings panel p 71 These downmix gains are also used when performing the Compatibility measurements After summing an overall attenuation or normalization scaling may be applied A setting on the Downmix Compatibility settings panel p 71 controls this scaling The downmixed channels may be unscaled scaled so the peak amplitude of the downmixed channels will not exceed full scale or scaled so peaks may exceed full scale by up to 3dB as recommended in ATSC A 52b Readings page 25 26 If digital inputs are used the gain coefficients may be automatically set using information contained in the metadata if present If automatic set ting is selected and the metadata downmix coefficients are set to Not Indicated or if the metadata is missing the manually set values will be used Bargraph ballistics The input and downmix channel bargraph levels are measured with user selected metering ballistics The Meter Type in use sets the dis played scale and units See Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 for descriptions of meter types Display colors As is common for bargraph level meters the indicator color changes with level From top to bottom Red Signal is at or above Overload le
53. d by the Sentinel There are separate panels for the channels of the main surround program each of the ancillary programs and the downmix channels created by the Sentinel Each channel bargraph includes a numeric display which shows the true User Manual peak level of that channel Channel bargraphs for the surround pro gram also include an indicator which shows the approximate signal bandwidth for the channel The pairs of channel bargraphs for stereo ancillary programs include an interchannel phase indicator Surround and ancillary input channels The Sentinel accepts 8 or 16 input channels depending on input mod ule configuration From these channels are selected for a 5 1 6 1 7 1 or stereo format surround program Additional channels may be assigned to up to five stereo or monaural format ancillary programs The surround format and input channel sources as set in the Input amp sources settings panel p 63 determine the channels for which bar meters are displayed The surround format determines which channels appear in the surround panel program and the input channel source assignments indicate which ancillary programs are present and their format The configuration pulldown menu for the Meters panel allows you to change the Channel Order of the bar meters Downmix channels The internal downmix channels are created from the input signals as Lo sums LF CF LS and LB or CB in 6 1 mode if present Ro sums RF CF RS an
54. d that position You can also move the timeline using mouse scroll wheel movements or touch ges tures on the scroll bar or timeline itself if your system support them Transport control buttons Located in a cluster at the right of the timeline panel the transport con trol buttons let you control the play of live or logged readings gt Play Pause button If paused starts play if playing live or logged readings pauses play Button appearance alternates between play and pause graphics If play is started within a defined programming segment it begins at the beginning of the segment amp Skip backward button Moves current position to closest pre ceding beginning segment bound If the current position is at User Manual a beginning bound moves to the previous one does nothing if no bound precedes the current position If clicked while dis playing live or logged readings it pauses the display C Skip forward button Moves current position to closest follow Ing beginning segment bound If the current position is at a beginning bound moves to the next one If no bound follows the current position it moves to the current time and resumes play of live readings Replaying of logged readings continues until it reaches a segment bound or the current time If replay reaches the current time it then switches to displaying live readings If it reaches a segment bound it pauses Pressing the play button will cause play to
55. d this has several advantages over relying on the user interface to update the repository The downloading of data is time consuming when the amount of down loaded data is large Scheduled downloads to a shared repository can minimize delays in displaying logged data in the user interface In a production environment where you require a continuous record of sentinel measurement data relying on the user interface to update the repository is not a robust solution For reliable record keeping you must set up scheduled downloading Installation 13 In the user interface configuration options for defining the log repos itory and scheduling downloads are located in the pulldown menu on the Time amp Status panel p 33 Create a log repository using the Select Repository option and set save Log Continuously to to let the user interface store data in the repository Log Repository p 79 provides additional information In particular it describes how to schedule the downloading of log data separately from the user interface User Manual 3 Front Panel Front panel displays and controls 16 Front Panel menus 17 The Qualis Audio Sentinel is intended to be controlled over a network connection from a standard Javascript enabled browser However some of the settings are only accessible from the front panel princi pally those relating to network operation All settings affecting instru ment operation alarming and reporting a
56. d tolerance and duration as set in the Loudness settings panel p 67 IL The integrated loudness differs from the loudness target by a tolerance specified in the Loudness settings panel p 67 MIX The short term downmix loudness differs from the short term surround loudness by more than a specified tolerance and duration as set in the Loudness settings panel p 67 Shown only on surround program row CF The CF channel loudness differs from the loudness of the remainder of the program by more than a specified tolerance and duration as set in the Loudness settings panel p 67 Shown only on surround program row Interchannel Errors The Interchannel Errors section displays errors which involve multiple channels These errors and their sources are Downmix Errors are asserted when any of the downmix compatibil ity measurements within a specified range of octave bands exceed a threshhold and duration as set in the Downmix Com patibility settings panel p 71 L Cancellations on Lo Left channel exceed the limits R Cancellations on Ro Right channel exceed the limits User Manual Swap M Cancellations on M Monaural channel exceed the lim its LFE Cancellations on LFE channel exceed the limits Errors are asserted when there is a Suspected interchange of channels persisting longer than a duration as set in the Chan nel Analysis settings panel p 70 F S Probable swap of front LF and RF and surround chan nel
57. d when creating the audio signal Not Indicated 18 dB As specified in SMPTE RP155 20 dB As specified in EBU R68 Reserved Metadata is setto an undefined bit pattern Channel Mode Usage of the two audio streams carried on the interface Not Indicated 2 Channel Streams are independent channels 1 Channel Only one stream is used Primary Secondary Streams are a primary and related sec ondary channel Stereo Streams are a stereo pair 1 Channel 2Fs Streams are interleaved samples of a single channel at double the interface frame rate L Channel 2Fs Streams are interleaved samples of left channel content at double the interface frame rate R Channel 2Fs Streams are interleaved samples of right channel content at double the interface frame rate Multi Channel Streams are part of a multichannel more than two signal User 5 User6 Streams are a non standard user defined format Reserved Metadata is set to an undefined bit pattern Channel Number Channel identification number used only in the multi channel mode listed above User Bits Format of the interface user U bit stream Not Indicated 192 bit Framed synchronous to the channel status S bits remaining formatting undefined AES 18 Follows AES 18 standard User Manual AES 52 Follows AES 52 standard IEC60958 Follows IEC60958 standard IEC62537 Follows IEC62537 standard User Defined Reserved Metadata is set to an undefined bit pattern Auxiliary Bits Allocation of 4 least significant bits of th
58. designed to plug into any standard outlet strip and occupy only one space This avoids the fit problems typically encountered when attempting to use multiple external supplies in one system Out side North America units are shipped with a universal power supply which has replaceable blades for all major mains power outlets This instrument is not grounded through its power supply Grounding of the metal enclosure will occur through the equipment rack audio con nections shield or individual pins or through the auxiliary signals con nector Do not depend upon or attempt to use the enclosure as a safety ground A strain relief is provided for the power supply cord to prevent acciden tal removal of power After plugging the low voltage power cord into the Sentinel power input connector loop the cord through the supplied Strain relief Installation 1 Network connection The Sentinel provides a 10BASE T Ethernet network interface through an RJ45 connector on the rear panel By default the Sentinel determines its TCP IP network settings using the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP This requires a DHCP server on your network to supply the settings Alternatively you can configure static network settings through the net work setup section of the Front Panel menus p 17 Static settings are stored in non volatile RAM so they are preserved if power Is inter rupted The configured IP address dynamic or static is
59. e 24 audio bits in each sample Not Indicated Audio All 24 bits represent the same audio sample Talkback Bits are part of a 12 bit one third sample rate talkback channel User Defined Bits are not associated with the remaining 20 bits in each sample Reserved Metadata is set to an undefined bit pattern Source Lock Indicates whether source is locked to a master reference clock Locked or Not Indicated Reference Identifies digital audio reference DARS signal These sig nals do not carry audio and are used solely as a sample rate and time alignment reference Not Indicated No Signal is not DARS Grade 1 1 ppm accuracy reference re AES 11 Grade 2 50 ppm accuracy reference re AES 11 Reserved Metadata is set to an undefined bit pattern Hidden Data Indicates whether LSB of the audio contains hidden infor mation as specified in AES 55 Present or Not Indicated Configuration Channel Display P v All Channels Sequentially LF Only RF Only CF Only LFE Only LS Only RS Only LB Only RB Only Channel Display sets the Channel Display to display data for a particu lar channel or to cycle through all channels sequentially Readings page 55 Dolby metadata panel Dolby Metadata Format Rate Frame Rate Stream Configuration Coding Mode Errors Diainorm Dyn Range Compression Standard LoRo LtRt DC Filter Surround Lev BW Limit Mix Level Copyright Surr
60. e loudness of the audio stream This is a nominal value set when the program is encoded and it may not correspond to the actual loudness of the stream Downmix metadata The gain coefficients applied to the surround channels when downmix ing to a 2 channel or mono format are displayed as a table with two columns CF for the center front channel LsRs for the surround chan nels Rows indicate each coefficient Standard Present in all Dolby packets used by decoders which do not support Dolby Digital Plus and by all decoders when process ing Dolby Digital data Used only when downmixing to LoRo format fixed values of 3 dB are used when downmixing to LtRt format LoRo Present only in Dolby Digital Plus packets used by Dolby Digi tal Plus decoders when downmixing to LORo format LtRt Present only in Dolby Digital Plus packets used by Dolby Digi tal Plus decoders when downmixing to LtRt format The LoRo or LtRt row may include a pref indicator to designate the rec ommended downmix method This indication is present only for Dolby Digital Plus packets and does not appear if the LoRo and LtRt coeffi cients are not present or if the metadata does not specify a preference Filters Pre emphasis Attenuation Overmod Protect Indicates whether encoder used pre emphasis when calculating compression values used in RF mode HPF Indicates whether encoder applied a DC blocking filter Surround Level Surround channel attenuation 0 or 3 dB
61. e set in the DC Inputs amp Tem perature settings panel p 73 Unlike other errors there is no duration setting associated with the DC inputs or tempera ture If one of these exceeds threshold the error will be asserted immediately However these inputs are tested approximately 3 times per second so a transient whose duration is less than 330 ms may be missed Alarm Outputs Any of the errors outlined above may be used to trig ger an Alarm condition as set in the Alarms settings panel p 74 The state of the four Sentinel alarms is shown at the bottom of the Errors panel Unlike the error indicators these are not subject to the Hold Time setting Their state is directly reflected in the indicators Configuration Error Hold Time gt 1 second v 3 seconds 10 seconds 30 seconds Error Hold Time sets the time for which the panel indicators display a recent error This setting only affects errors displayed on this panel not on other panels or the bargraphs It also does not affect the Alarm Out status display at the bottom of the panel The hold time may be set to 1 3 10 or 30 seconds User Manual Digital interface panel Digital Interface Input Format Discrete AES SURROUND Interface Rate 48023 Hz Active Length 20 Channel Status Metadata Sample Time 00 00 00 Time Of Day 00 00 00 2 Source Destination Common Metadata o Format Consumer Audio Emphasis None Sample Rate
62. e these are octave centers the 2 kHz selection includes frequencies through approximately 2 8 kHz the 4 kHz selection will extend to approximately 5 6 kHz etc For Longer Than Sets the duration that a signal must exceed the speci fied level to generate a downmix error The choices are 1 3 10 or 30 seconds LFE Phasing Error If Level Changes By Sets the error threshold for changes in the low fre quency program content when the LFE is summed with the surround channels aS occurs when reproducing surround in typical size rooms If the level between 20 Hz and 200 Hz is User Manual reduced by this amount or more an error will be generated The value may be set between 4 and 15 dB in 1 dB steps For Longer Than Sets the duration that LFE phasing problems must exist to generate an error The choices are 1 3 10 or 30 seconds DC Inputs amp Temperature settings panel CTT Tice The DC Inputs amp Temperature settings panel sets the limit thresholds ee for the 6 DC inputs and the internal temperature sensor These have Or Below no duration setting if a threshold is crossed an error is immediately DC In 2 Is Above egal asserted DC In 3 Is Above Or Below DC In 4 Is Above Report An Error if me Bacar DC In Is Above Sets the maximum DC value allowed on that input Or Below before issuing an error The value may be set between 0 30V ae jene and 2 55V in 0 15V steps Set this to 2 55V to disable this com Temperature
63. eal time time amp status panel 33 true peak meters 27 W warranty 99 User Manual Qualis Audio Inc Lake Oswego Oregon ualis udie We re Listening
64. easures average correlation of ancillary channel pairs 680 ms update rate Loudness analysis Measurements Momentary Short Term Integrated Loudness Loudness Range Standards ATSC A 85 ITU R BS 1770 1 BS 1770 2 3 EBU R 128 tech 3341 tech 3342 Classification Signal may be classified as program or commercial allowing one meter to continuously monitor a broadcast stream segment Duration 3 2 seconds minimum Channel Allocation Up to 16 channels depending on input module configuration allocated between surround and ancillary meters Control 2 hardware signals shared by both loudness meters Surround and ancillary Channel analysis Channel Loss Compares individual channel loudness to user specified threshold and duration Excessive Level Compares individual channel levels to user specified threshold and duration Hum Detection Detects stable 50 100 150 Hz or 60 120 180 Hz tones and harmonics 95 96 Digital analysis Interface Data Metadata Other analysis DC Inputs Temperature Auxiliary signals Connection LTC Input Auxiliary Inputs Control Inputs Alarm Outputs Miscellaneous Network Chassis Power Power adaptor Measures sample rate Detects loss of lock parity errors Detects cross interface inconsistency Detects digital zero and digital clipping Measures bit activity active word length Detects cross channel inconsistency Analyzes status bit metadata Detects metadata inconsistency Compare
65. ecified downmix gains and the values specified in the metadata If the metadata is missing or if the values are not indicated the software will revert to the values set above And Scale Levels To Selects scaling applied to downmix levels The Choices are Settings page 71 12 None Peaks Prevents downmixed levels from exceeding full scale when all input channels are at full scale Peaks 3dB ATSC A 52b standard recommendation Downmixed Signals In Error If Within Each Octave Controls the way 1 30th octave bins are combined and compared to the level threshold Peak uses the worst case signal loss for any bin Average uses the average loss within each octave Level Changes By Sets the error threshold for changes in the program when downmixed If the level in any included octave band is reduced by this amount or more an error will be generated The value may be set between 4 and 15 dB in 1 dB steps At or Above Sets the lowest octave included in the compatibility anal ysis Downmix compatibility problems are assessed in this octave and above The choices are 63 125 250 and 500 Hz since these are octave centers 500 Hz will include frequencies beginning at approximately 350 Hz 250 Hz will include compo nents as low as 175 Hz etc Up To and Including Sets the highest octave included in the compati bility analysis Downmix compatibility problems are assessed in this octave and below The choices are 2 4 8 and 16 kHz Sinc
66. een SNMP notifica tions Allowed settings range between 1 and 60 seconds Sentinel Identification Device name The device name is used in alarm email messages to identify the Sentinel from which the alarm originated Limited to 16 characters Date amp Time settings panel D Date amp Time The Date amp Time settings panel configures the network time service ame ap di and time zone settings Timezone DST The Sentinel has an internal real time clock used to accurately record Front Panel Display Format the timing of measurements To provide an unambiguous reference Date P o M times are recorded in Coordinated Universal Time UTC and the Sen tinel can synchronize the clock to a Network Time Protocol server UTC times are converted to local time for display using configured timezone settings Settings page TA Server DNS name of the NTP server that will supply time information to the Sentinel An IPv4 address is also allowed An empty name disables NTP clock synchronization Limited to 34 characters Timezone Local timezone for the Sentinel DST Checked if Daylight Savings Time is in effect for the local time zone The Sentinel does not automatically switch to or from day light savings Configuration settings panel Configuration Main Version 1 32 Audio Module 1 CPU 02 15 13 DSP 02 08 13 Boot 05 11 11 Web 02 20 13 16 Channel SDI Rev 1 MCU 02 19 13 FPGA 02 12 13 Dolby 2121
67. es automatic downloading of log data from the Sentinel to the repository while the user interface is active The save Log Now performs an immediate download of all new log data to the repository Set Save Log Continuously to ensure all logged data is available for display The downloading of log data by the web interface operates only while the web interface remains active For alternative strategies that provide reliable archiving of continuous log data in a production environment see the repository maintenance notes below Repository status There is a status icon that provides an active indication of log reposi tory problems This small folder shaped icon is located on the left of the main meter panel Time amp Status panel p 33 Exporting repository data NN You can export data from the log repository in CSV format The export operation saves data for all defined segments See defined segments p 47 for information on using the readings timeline to define these segments Export Log Data Select Log Repository Save Log Now Scheduled Log Save P File 207745 20110929075834 csv Export Log Data E 82 Si Sentinel Logs Name Date Modified 207745 201105310000 gal Tuesday May 31 2011 10 40 PM 207745 201106010000 gal Wednesday June 1 2011 5 31 PM P 207745 201106020000 gal Thursday June 2 2011 5 31 PM 207745 201106030000 gal Friday June 3 2011 5 33 PM an77ace nn nenannnn anI eee A an
68. ess to black The display automatically adjusts to give a proper indication regardless of the average loudness down to 70 LKFS Below this point the brightness of the loudest channel will decrease until all icons are black at 90 LKFS The loudness computations used to drive the balance display are shared with the program loudness measurement Consequently the surround channel balance display is frequency weighted according to the same ITU standard However the LFE channel icon is driven from an unweighted loudness computation with its gain adjusted for accu rate relative loudness assessment As per international standards the LFE is not included in the overall loudness measurement Readings page 29 Spectrum amp downmix compatibility panel Spectrum display Shows Downmix the spectrum of the a mono downmix channel E in octave bands Downmix compatibility display Shows stereo and monaural downmix compatibility power loss Zr ee eae compared to original in octave bands LFE compatibility dis play NO ee Spectrum display The spectrum display shows the surround program spectrum in octave Spaced band center frequency values The display is updated at and averaged over 0 68 second intervals This display has several important applications lt allows verification that the signal spectrum is consistent with the type of program being monitored For example there should not be signifi cant high or low f
69. et tings panel p 63 constrains which channels are actually dis played If the Surround Format is 5 1 LB and RB are not shown for 6 1 LB is replaced by CB and RB is not shown Peak Hold Time sets the time for which the graphical peak level indica tors on the bargraphs display a recent maximum It does not the affect the True Peak meter numeric displays The hold time may be set to 1 3 10 or 30 seconds User Manual Balance panel Balance Balance panel Displays a plan view of the listen ing space with listener at center surrounded by loud speakers The LFE chan nel is an additional loud speaker to the right 2 Balance 1 5 1 format 2 6 1 format 3 7 1 format 4 stereo format 5 5 1 format with stereo signal format detected The brightness of the loudspeaker icons on the balance display changes in proportion to the relative loudness of the audio signals on their respective channels with the loudest channel brightest This creates an intuitive view of the sound space balance For example a phantom monaural sound appears as equal brightness in both the left and right front soeaker icons The arrangement of speaker icons in the balance display matches the channel layout of the surround format If the Sentinel determines that the signal is actually stereo it will shrink the speaker icons in the unused channels The brightness changes in 1 25 dB steps giving a 20 dB range from full brightn
70. he Commercial state to the Program state 2 A Reset of a Program segment occurs when the P C control line makes a transition to the Program state while the RESET control line is True The loudness control lines must be asserted for a minimum width of 40 ms and are debounced for 20 ms following the last transition The polarity of each control line can be defined in the Loudness settings panel p 67 Loudness gating control buttons Located at the bottom of the loudness meter panel the loudness gating control buttons let you control integrated loudness measurement GB Program Commercial button Slider that switches between program and commercial segment measurement Button appearance alternates between program P and commercial C graphics gt Measure Pause button Pauses or resumes measurement But ton appearance alternates between measure and pause graph ics This button replaces the program commercial button when the Sentinel is in measure pause mode Readings page 39 eo Restart button Restarts loudness measurement Readings timeline panel shown NO table 3 Timeline scroll bar 4 Play Pause button 5 Skip backward button 6 Skip forward button 40 Readings timeline Loud ness program commer cial error alarm traces Programming segment Readings Timeline v I 18 Dec 12 13 56 36 ba LTC 13 45 19 7 Dec 12 16 45 02 00 00 15 16 33 43 pc 12 14 10 07 21 25 04 13 48 18 c 12
71. he amplitude to accommodate 5Vpp signals Both modes are transformer isolated allowing operation without concern for ground loop issues User Manual Auxiliary connections Auxiliary connections appear on a DB25 connec tor Ss UN oo YO P CAN a nfo a a O O O O O O 9 ONOORWND N 1 Sur loudness control 14 Sur loudness restart 2 Ground 15 Reserved 3 Reserved 16 Ground 4 Alarm output 3 17 Alarm output 4 5 Ground 18 Alarm output 1 6 Alarm output 2 19 Ground 7 DC input 5 20 DC input 6 8 Ground 21 DC input 3 9 DC input 4 22 Ground 10 DC input 1 23 DC input 2 11 Ground 24 Linear Time Code high 12 Linear Time Code low 25 Ground 13 3 3V 50mA limited Qualis Audio supplies a Breakout Adapter p 90 which converts the 25 pin connector to 24 screw terminals This provides a convenient way of connecting auxiliary signals The LTC input is a differential inout that may be wired for either bal anced or unbalanced operation The input impedance is 22 kO each side to ground allowing bridging operation in most applications The alarm outputs are rated to switch up to 24V at a maximum current of 50 mA each 200mA total A current limited 3 3V supply is provided on pin 13 of the connector This may be used to power pull up resistors for the DC inputs useful for sensing contact closures or for the open collector outputs useful when interfacing to logic le
72. his setup panel also lets you set the date and time formats timezone and daylight savings time Network setup These menu items let you allow the Sentinel to determine its TCP IP net work settings automatically using DHCP services or to configure it with static settings There are also menu items to display the network set tings in use and the Sentinel s Ethernet MAC address By default the Sentinel will use DHCP for network settings When entering an IP address use the left right buttons to select an octet and use the knob to scroll through values Password setup The web access password must be entered from the user interface in order to change Sentinel configuration settings Up to fifteen characters can be entered The default password is audio Use the knob to scroll through characters Entering the _ character truncates the password string without having to set subsequent charac ters to blanks Device name setup The device name is used in alarm email messages to identify the Sen tinel from which the alarm originated lt may also be set from the user interface using the Alarm Actions set tings panel p 76 User Manual Use the knob to scroll through characters Entering the _ character truncates the device name string without having to set subsequent characters to blanks Firmware revision display Displays revision dates for the field upgradeable ROMs in the Sentinel Dates are in mm dd yy format mo
73. ible It also lets you make changes to the settings and save them and switch to the Readings page p 21 lala 1 ale lel I JE u Modify Save settings Unlocks the settings panels so settings can be modified A dia log box will appear requesting a password default is audio and the button will change to Save Settings To save changes press the Save Settings button otherwise your changes will be discarded Readings page p 21 Panels displaying Sentinel readings Switching to the readings panels will discard any unsaved changes to settings Input amp Sources settings panel p 63 Selects input con nector signal format surround format and assignment of inputs to surround and ancillary channels Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 Selects meter ballistics and scale reference level clio threshold and overload level Loudness settings panel p 67 Sets parameters for loud ness measurement loudness target limits for loudness error checking and minimum levels for dead channel indication Channel Analysis settings panel p 70 Sets hum error threshold LFE bandwidth threshold digital repeated sample error threshold front surround and CF LFE swap thresholds Downmix Compatibility settings panel p 71 Sets parameters for downmix compatibility analysis and thresholds for error checking DC Inputs amp Temperature settings panel p 73 Sets upper and lower limits for error checks on DC inputs and inter
74. idth Enables reporting of LFE under level downmix and bandwidth errors Surround only Dialog Balance Enables reporting of dialog balance errors Surround only User Manual Digital Interface Errors Input Connections Enables reporting of digital input link errors Group Consistency Enables reporting of cross channel format inconsis tencies Input Metadata Enables reporting of individual channel metadata errors Group Metadata Enables reporting of cross channel metadata inconsis tencies Coded Audio Errors Enables reporting of packet coding errors Coded Audio Metadata Enables reporting of errors in the coded audio metadata Other Errors DC Inputn Enables reporting of DC Input n being out of bounds Temperature Enables reporting of temperature errors Linear Time Code Enables reporting of linear time code errors Real Time Clock Enables reporting of errors in synchronizing the real time clock with the Network Time Protocol NTP server If the Sentinel detects a synchronization error that indicates the NTP server is potentially providing an incorrect time value it disables NTP synchronization to avoid corrupting logged mea surement data with invalid times If this occurs you must reboot the Sentinel to clear the real time clock error and re establish NTP synchronization To avoid losing log data synchronize your log repository before rebooting Settings page 75 Alarm Actions settings panel Q Alarm Action B
75. ion SDI SD or HD input stream 10 Audio input modules that support SDI input provide two BNC connec tors for SDI signals SDI In accepts an SD or HD input and SDI Thru outputs a reclocked version of this input SDI In and Thru connections 2 Q zZ br N W lt The SDI Input accepts both SD and HD signals up to 2 97 GB The receiver automatically locks to the applied input and creates a reclocked version which drives the output The SDI input and reclocked output both use high performance BNC connectors Particularly when monitoring HD SDI signals it is essential to use high quality 75 Q BNC cables Input to channel assignment You assign digital input connections to internal Sentinel channels through the user interface Select the channel assignments on the Input amp Sources settings panel p 63 with the Use Input From field There are input modules supporting both 8 and 16 channels of input The resulting 8 or 16 channels can be assigned to any of the internal channels Appendix A Specifications p 95 describes specific input module capabilities in detail When monitoring coded audio streams any channel from the decoder may be routed to any internal channel The description of the Dolby User Manual Metadata panel p 56 lists channel orders for common channel configurations AES digital audio connection Audio input modules that support AES input provide an HD15 connec tor for audio connections
76. isplays will be red If the loudness remains below threshold the displays will be green This threshold is set relative to the Target loud ness value in the Loudness settings panel p 67 The short term loudness corresponds to a listeners perception of pro gram loudness The ability to set an upper limit on this measurement allows an early warning of listener dissatisfaction with loudness control The short term loudness is also displayed graphically on the Readings Timeline panel p 40 Integrated loudness measurements The right hand meter bar displays integrated loudness readings The displayed readings depend on which loudness standard is configured indicated at the bottom of the meter axis Readings page 35 36 The display provides an indicator bar for an integrated loudness level an indicator bar for a maximum loudness level and a pane that shows the loudness range The background of the bar shows the loudness error range as con figured in the Loudness settings panel p 67 The numeric accu mulated loudness value is displayed above the bar Numeric values for maximum true peak and loudness range if defined are displayed below the bar Integrated loudness measurements require a minimum segment length of 3 2 seconds Loudness integration status indicator The loudness integration status indicator shows the state of integrated loudness measurements Loudness calculation in progress animated Ir Loudness cal
77. l is above the Overload Level set in the Lev els amp Metering settings panel p 64 Under The true peak level is below the allowed threshhold set in the Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 There is an AC mains frequency component present above the threshold set in the Channel Analysis settings panel p 70 Bandwidth The LFE channel bandwidth exceeds the maximum set in the Channel Analysis settings panel p 70 Repeat The audio stream repeats a constant value across consecutive samples greater than the threshhold set in the Channel Analysis settings panel p 70 The VALIDITY bit is asserted in the bitstream carrying audio data This usually indicates the interface carrys coded audio such as Dolby Digital or Dolby E encoded data Supressed if Coded Audio mode is selected for the channel Hum Valid Readings page 49 50 Loudness Errors The Loudness Errors section displays errors related to program loud ness The first row shows errors in the surround program and a sec ond row shows errors in the ancillary program These errors and their sources are UND Program channels are under level based on thresholds and durations as set in the Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 SL The short term loudness differs from the loudness target by a specified tolerance and duration as set in the Loudness set tings panel p 67 L R The loudness levels for a left right pair of channels differ by more than a specifie
78. loudness range maximum momentary loud ness and the maximum true peak amplitude are all measured during a defined time period with definite beginning and end events Although the measurements are updated in real time they are not final until the end time is reached In a real time measurement application another measurement follows immediately after a completed measurement The hold time gives an operator a chance to read the values before they disappear and a new measurement begins User Manual Hardware loudness gating control In the Dual Stream measurement mode there are still just two control signals one to select the measurement context called P C and one to reset the meter called RESET The same control line is used for RUN PAUSE and for P C its function changes with the mode The polarity of each control line is defined on the Loudness settings panel p 67 This is also where the selection of conventional or Dual Stream mode is made along with selection of hardware or soft ware control In Dual Stream mode there is interaction between the P C control line and the RESET control line A Reset event finalizes an Integrated Loud ness measurement and starts a new measurement An explicit Reset event occurs whenever the RESET control line transitions from False to True An implicit Reset event occurs under the following conditions 1 A Reset of a Commercial segment occurs when the P C control line makes a transition from t
79. nal temperature Alarms settings panel p 74 Selects which errors are routed to which alarms Alarm Actions settings panel p 76 Selects notification actions for each alarm Includes setup of email server User Manual Date amp Time settings panel p 77 Configures network time service and time zone Configuration settings panel p 78 Displays hardware and firmware configuration information Input amp Sources settings panel neon The Input amp Sources settings panel selects the surround and ancillary Surround Format aa program formats input module configuration and channel mapping WETTE Module 1 OEE disabled Surround Format Selects the format for the surround program and the Sur LF Source Arsh LA presence or absence of additional channels The choices are SITZ ET AES Ch 1B 5 1 Ch 5 Surround channels with LFE SIA lite AES Ch 2A aes ANN AES Ch 2B 4 6 1 Ch 6 surround channels with LFE iaka AES Ch 3A 7 1 Ch 7 Surround channels with LFE SIS SES AES Ch 3B Anc OL Source ars ch TUK stereo 2 stereo channels PR Nate AESCh 4B Umass disabled Pan disabled Input module configuration PUT disabled NYA ENI disabled 4 Use Inout From Selects the input module to use for measurements The i module in the slot closest to the side of the Sentinel is Module SSR disabled 1 in the middle is Module 2 The menu only allows installed modules to be selected
80. nclude exclude ignore for defined segment 7 Begin End times and duration Editable for defined segment 8 Begin LTC 9 Integrated measure ments Loudness max imum true peak and loudness range for sur round and ancillary loud ness metering segments specified intervals of time within the Sentinel s readings his tory are of two kinds measured segments and defined segments The segment table displays both types of segments in chronological order Measured segments Measured segments are created in real time by hardware or software inputs to the Sentinel The associated loudness measurements are gen erated by the hardware and displayed on the loudness meter panel as they occur These measurements their beginning and ending times along with their context program or commercial are stored in the log data The segment category setting for ameasured segment is either EJ Program segment Commercial segment User Manual Defined segments You create defined segments through the user interface Loudness measurements for defined segments are calculated within the user interface from saved log data and are recalculated when the segment s bounds change so they update in real time Each has a corresponding pair of bounds cursors displayed on the readings timeline You can change a segment s beginning and ending times by moving its bounds cursors or by editing the begin time end time or duration displayed on
81. nd Password Authentication Reguired A username and password are being reguested by http 192 168 16 102 The site says Protected User Name Password Cancel OK Leave the User Name blank the default password is audio Once you are authenticated the Sentinel will display the Firmware Update page Select the firmware image to update Sentinel Firmware Update Browse d Update 4 Use the Browse button to select the firmware image file then press the Update button to upload the file to the Sentinel The Sentinel will display a message indicating the Firmware Update is in progress Wait for the Sentinel to update the ROM and restart When the update completes the Sentinel will restart and the Sentinel Firmware Update page will again appear Firmware updates 93 94 If you are updating multiple firmware images select and update the next image Normally you will repeat the update process for each image file provided in the zip archive If the update fails due to a corrupted firmware image the Sentinel will display a Firmware Update File Invalid message If you see this mes sage you ll need to get a new copy of the image file Restart your browser and clear its cache If you ve updated the SentinelWeb firmware you ll need to quit and restart your browser and clear the browser s cache when you restart it Otherwise the browser will use stale copies of the Sentinel we
82. nt you will want to schedule downloading of data to the log repository rather than relying on the browser to update the repository The download service can be invoked independently without the browser being active This allows you to perform the download in scripts or include it in scheduled batch operations It provides reliable archiving of continuous log data in a production environment This separate download operation uses the same Java applet as is used to provide access in the Sentinel web interface However in this case it is invoked using Java Web Start JavaWS JavaWS is a stan Log Repository 83 84 dard part of the Java Runtime Environment and it handles the trans fer of the application to your computer for execution and caches it for future use Invoking the download operation When you configure a new log repository the Sentinel software creates a script file that performs the repository download operation The script name has the form XXXXXX download where XXXXXX is the Sentinel serial number The file type varies depending on system type bat on Windows systems sh on UNIX systems The script itself is also tailored to the system type On a Windows sys tem It looks like this javaws wait Xnosplash http address logrepository jnlp open directory path serial number Where address is the IP address or DNS name of the Sentinel direc tory path is the full path to the log repository directory
83. nth day year There are separate listings for the two digital input module ROM slots M1 and M2 Only occupied slots are listed LCD contrast setup Adjusts the LCD contrast on the front panel Use the knob to scroll through values Front Panel 20 Readings page Channel meter panels 24 Balance panel 29 Spectrum amp downmix compatibility panel 30 Dialog balance panel 33 Time amp status panel 33 Loudness meter panels 34 Hardware loudness gating control 39 Loudness gating control buttons 39 Readings timeline panel 40 Timeline 40 Timeline scroll bar 44 Transport control buttons 44 Segment table 46 Signal histogram panel 48 Errors panel 49 Digital interface panel 53 Dolby metadata panel 56 DC Inputs amp Temperature panel 59 21 22 The main Sentinel display in your browser is the Readings page where allthe measurement data collected by the Sentinel is displayed A sep arate Settings page p 61 allows you to view and modify settings The Readings page is organized as a collection of panels each panel showing a group of related measurements On the left ofthe page a navigation panel lets you select which measurement panels are visible and also lets you switch to the Settings page By default the navigation panel is always visible but it can be hidden to save screen space The hidden panel slides into view when the cur sor is moved to the left edge of the window Here briefly are the panels
84. o be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of three 3 years from the date of shioment During the warranty period we will at our option either repair or replace any product that proves to be defective To exercise this warranty within the United States contact Qualis Audio directly Outside the United States contact the distributor from whom you purchased the product You will be given prompt assistance and return instructions Send the product transportation prepaid to the indicated service facility Repairs will be made and the product returned transportation prepaid Repaired or replaced products are warranted for the balance of the original warranty period or at least 90 days Limitation of Warranty This warranty does not apply to defects resulting from misuse or prod uct modification THIS WARRANTY IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE THE REMEDIES PROVIDED HEREIN ARE BUYER S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDIES 99 100 Safety information Use this product only as described in this manual Any other use or application may damage the instrument void the warranty or pose a safety risk to personnel This product is intended for indoor use in a non condensing environ ment This product is not grounded through Its power supply Grounding of the metal enclosure is obtained through the audio conne
85. ould they apply to you The instructions that follow provide more detail E Static IP address By default the Sentinel gets its network address automatically using DHCP services You may prefer a static address you use the address to access the Sentinel and a static address won t change on you You will need to contact your network adminis trator to determine appropriate settings for your network User Manual m Auxiliary signals Linear Time Code input loudness controls alarm outputs and DC inputs are grouped together on a single connection To gain access to any of these you will need to fabricate a custom connector Io make this easier an adaptor which brings these con nections out to screw terminals is included with the Sentinel m Log repository The Sentinel downloads its measurement data to a log repository If you are using this data as an archival record you may need to consider procedures for managing the data Mounting and operating environment The Sentinel is designed for rack mounting and comes with integral rack ears The instrument dissipates relatively little heat under 10 Watts for digital inout units No special cooling is required for operation within the specified temperature range However the instrument should always be used indoors in a non condensing environment Power connection and grounding AUXILIARY SIGNA The Sentinel is supplied with a universal input voltage external power supply It is
86. ound Enc Headphone 56 D 32 bit 192kbps 48kHz Not E 8 ID res Use stereo LFE 27 dB 0 9 dB 1 dB CF Ls Rs 3 dB 3 dB off 0 dB Phase 0 Main off LFE 105 Room yes Original yes EX Enc A D The Dolby Metadata panel displays metadata information carried in each Dolby Digital or Dolby E data packet Format metadata Format Indicates whether stream is PCM Dolby Digital or Dolby E encoded If Dolby encoded shows how data is packed into the audio samples D 32 bit Dolby Digital encoded data in both channels D 16 bit Ch 1 Dolby Digital encoded data in only the first left channel D 16 bit Ch2 Dolby Digital encoded data in only the second right channel D 16 bit Ch 1 amp 2 Two Dolby Digital encoded signals one in each channel F 24 bit Dolby E encoded data packed in all 24 bits of both channels F 20 bit Dolby E encoded data packed in the 20 most signifi cant bits of both channels F 16 bit Dolby E encoded data packed in the 16 most signifi cant bits of both channels PCM Not Dolby encoded PCM or other coding Rate Bitrate of data in Dolby packets Frame Rate Rate of data words in the interface Stream Number Stream from O through 7 being decoded A standard 2 channel 24 bit 48 kHz digital audio stream can contain up to 8 Dolby E encoded streams ID Version of Dolby stream format Configuration Assignment of audio channels up to 8 within the bit stream into individual p
87. r programming segments selected using the Readings Timeline panel p 40 The display updates as you add or remove segments from the timeline or adjust their limits Bars of the histogram represent the proportion of readings in 1 dB inter vals arranged along the X axis of the histogram from lowest measured loudness to highest The height of a bar is the percentage of the read ings in its interval User Manual Errors panel Loudness Surround Ancillary Downmix Swap Digital In Measured Metadata Aux In Alarm Out SURROUND UND SL UR IL TPK WIDTH CODING ANC 1 LF RF CFLFELS RS L R Clip Over Under Hum Bandwidth Repeat Valid MIX CF The Errors panel provides a concise view of all potential errors mea sured by the Sentinel Unlike the warnings overlaid on the bargraphs there is no prioritization applied to the error summary These are the icons used to indicate error conditions No active error a Active error w Recent error Hold time set in the configuration pulldown menu for the Errors Panel Channel Errors The Channel Errors section displays a matrix of per channel errors There is a column for each channel in the configured surround and ancillary programs and a row for each error The displayed errors and their sources are Clip The true peak level is above the User Clip Level set in the Lev els amp Metering settings panel p 64 Over The true peak leve
88. r updates from the command line but does not include updates performed through the user interface The second contains a record of unexpected exceptions in the log han dling and is a source of diagnostic information if failures occur For example the log file for Sentinel 20C 148 for September 21 2012 and the associated activity logs would be 20C148 201209210000 g9ga3 200148 repository log 200148 exceptions log Repository access Log data downloading and log repository access are managed by a Java applet loaded from the Sentinel For this to work correctly you should have Java SE Runtime Environment 6 or later installed on your system and you need to have Java applets enabled in your browser Log repository setup in the user interface To allow access to logged data you need to configure the Sentinel web interface with the location of the log repository Normally you will also configure the web interface to download data from the Sentinel to the log repository so that all logged data is available for display Configuration Select Log Repository Save Log Now v Save Log Continuously Export Log Data Configuration options for defining the log repository and scheduling downloads are located in the pulldown menu on the Time amp Status panel p 33 The Select Repository option presents a file browser that lets you select the location of the log repository Log Repository 81 Save Log Continuously enabl
89. re stored in non volatile RAM to ensure proper operation after power failure Front panel displays and controls Orc udio MUTE C3 ALARM Buttons and knob are used to navigate the configura tion menus and change settings Backlit labels identify each control s func tion and operability lit when functional off when inoperative 16 1 LCD display Dur ing operation shows date and time and IP address On input line 1 shows the selection title line 2 shows the setting 2 Up Down Scroll through choices in current line 2 list 3 Left Right Step through values or fields of cur rent line 2 setting active value is under lined User Manual 4 Select Enters configura tion menus confirms set ting of current selection Back Moves back in menu hierarchy Dis cards setting unless SELECT is pressed first Knob Rotate to change active setting value or field Press to confirm setting of current selec tion 7 Mute Silences audible alarm 8 Alarm Lights when one or more alarms are active cycles through active alarm numbers Front Panel menus Main Settings Date Time Set Network Setup Password Set Device Name Set Firmware Rev LCD Contrast Network Setup DHCP Mode Setup View DHCP Addr Static IP Setup View MAC Adar Web Password XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Device Name XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Firmware Revision MeasDSP date Date Time Setup Date Form
90. requency content in a program that is supposed to be dominantly dialog It enables assessment of the relative level of spectral components which are experiencing downmix cancellation If the downmix com patibility display shows significant cancellation at 4 KHz but the 4 kHz octave band is 20 dB below the 1 KHz octave the cancellation is likely to be unimportant However if the dominant spectral components are the ones showing cancellation then a smaller degree of cancellation may be cause for concern Downmix compatibility display The downmix compatibility display shows stereo and monaural down mix compatibility in octave soaced band center frequency values Octave band power measurements are made for each input channel and each of the downmix channels The input channel measurements 30 User Manual used for a specific downmix are summed and compared to a downmix channel measurement The loss in each octave is displayed in a manner similar to a frequency response graph where the rolloff represents the signal loss at each octave band The graph may be interpreted as the frequency response of downmixed content If there are cancellations which drop the level in a particular frequency range It is equivalent to passing the audio through a filter which attenuates that range There are separate indicators for left and right stereo channels and monaural Monaural downmix loss Left stereo downmix loss Right stereo downmi
91. rograms defined only for Dolby E streams Inout channels may be grouped into up to eight sep arate mono stereo or surround programs each with its own metadata User Manual Use Here are the assignments of input channels to program chan nels program number and channel name for the more com mon configurations 1 2 3 4 5 6 i 8 5 1 TEF TRF TCF TLFE TES 1 RS 5 1 2 TLF TRF TER TLFETLS Whe 2 LF 2 AR 5 1 2x1 TLF TRE TCF PE IES 1RS 20F SEE 7 1 1LF 1CF 1LS 1LB 1RF 1LFE1RS IRB 7 1 screen 1LF 1CF 1Lc 1LB 1RF 1LFE1RS 1 Rc 2x2 1LF 1RF 2LF 2RF 3x2 ILE MRF SLE SRF 2LF 2RF 4x2 LEF ERF 3LF RE ALF ARP ZLE ZRF Type of main or associated audio service contained within the bitstream CM Complete Main ME Main Music amp Effects VI Associated Visually Impaired HI Associated Hearing Impaired D Associated Dialog C Associated Commentary E Associated Emergency VO Associated Voice Over Coding Mode Indicates which channels are present in the bitstream LFE Errors Readings page 1 1 dual mono mono CF stereo LF RF LCR LF CF RF LRS LF RF Surround LCRS LF CF RF Surround LRLsRs LF RF LS RS LCRLsRs LF CF RF LS RS all standard surround channels Indicates whether low bandwidth channel devoted to low fre quency effects is present within the bitstream Number of received coded audio packets containing errors The count rolls over at 255 or 58 Normalization Dialnorm Indicates the averag
92. s LS and RS Asserted if the surround loudness exceeds the front F B Probable swap of front LF and RF and back channels LB and RB in 7 1 mode Asserted if the back loud ness exceeds the front CF LFE Probable swap of CF center front and LFE channels Asserted if the LFE bandwidth exceeds the CF band width Digital Errors The Digital Errors section displays errors involving the digital input channels and digital metadata Digital In Columns 1 4 show the receiver lock status for each of the four 2 channel PCM inputs Column 5 shows the receiver lock status for coded audio Interchannel Errors The sample rate and word width number of active bits are measured for each channel of the surround program and the values are checked for differences between channels Channel metadata is extracted and checked for differences in similar fashion This metadata is also checked for differences with measured values for each channel The differences are displayed in tabular format with columns for sample rate and word width There are rows for differences between measured values and between measured and meta data values Readings page 51 52 Auxiliary O The Auxiliary I O section displays the status of the signals on the rear panel auxiliary signals connector Auxiliary Inputs These indicate errors on each of the six DC inputs and the Sentinel internal temperature measurement The upper and lower comparison thresholds ar
93. s icon a detailed description of the status condition will be displayed The log repository status icon is animated with a moving dot when data is being downloaded from the Sentinel to the repository Readings page 33 When the user interface is displaying live readings the displayed time and linear time code are the latest values reported by the Sentinel When paused or displaying logged data they are recorded values that indicate the time at which the displayed measurements were taken See the Readings Timeline panel p 40 for more details Configuration Entries in the Time amp Status configuration pulldown menu pertain to log repository handling They are described in more detail in Log repository setup in the user interface p 81 Loudness meter panels 34 Left meter bar displays erg Right meter bar displays loudness measurements KI integrated measurements continuously updated from computed across an the audio signal extended time segment 1 Short Term loudness 2 Downmix loudness Sur round program only 3 Loudness reference level 1 Integrated loudness 2 Maximum momentary loudness 3 Loudness range 4 Loudness integration 4 Momentary loudness indicator eye 5 Maximum true peak Range 6 Integration restart but P ton 7 Program commercial segment select button There are two loudness meter panels Loudness measurements for the surround program are always displayed in one panel
94. surround sound audio monitor User Manual Version 2 5 July 2013 surround sound audio monitor User Manual Version 2 5 July 2013 Qualis Audio Inc Lake Oswego Oregon Orc udie We re Listening Copyright 2011 2013 Qualis Audio Inc All rights reserved Dual Stream is a trademark of Qualis Audio Inc SEN IUM 130701 Qualis Audio Inc PO Box 731 Lake Oswego OR 97034 1 503 635 9376 voice 1 503 635 3851 fax www qualisaudio com support qualisaudio com Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Contents Overview 1 Installation 5 Getting organized 6 Mounting and operating environment 7 Power connection and grounding 7 Network connection 8 User interface configuration and use 8 SDI digital audio connection 10 AES digital audio connection 11 Auxiliary signals connection 12 Date amp time configuration 12 Log repository configuration 13 Front Panel 15 Front panel displays and controls 16 Front Panel menus 17 Readings page 21 Channel meter panels 24 Balance panel 29 Spectrum amp downmix compatibility panel 30 Dialog balance panel 33 Time amp status panel 33 Loudness meter panels 34 Readings timeline panel 40 Signal histogram panel 48 Errors panel 49 Digital interface panel 53 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Dolby metadata panel 56 DC Inputs amp Temperature panel 59 Settings page 61 Input amp Sources set
95. t to its prior position This can have the side effect of pausing the display To resume showing live readings you can press the Skip Forward button to advance the position to the current time User Manual Segment bounds cursor pairs segment bound cursor pairs indicate the bounds of programming seg ments Each pair corresponds to an entry in the segment table Both bounds cursors display the segment number which also appears on the segment table entry Bounds cursor pairs are created and deleted as segments are added and removed from the segment table using the segment add remove buttons provided by the segment table p 46 You can also remove a pair and its associated segment by dragging either cursor off the timeline vertically Dragging the left bound of a pair moves both cursors maintaining their separation Dragging the right bound does not move the left In other words you position a segment by dragging its left bound and change its duration by dragging its right bound Bounds cursors move independently when dragged except that neli ther cursor can be dragged past the other and instead pulls the other cursor along with it The cursors are adjacent when a new segment Is created you can separate them by dragging one back and forth Dragging when playing logged readings changes to paused state Dragging while playing live readings does not change state and live play resumes when dragging stops Configuration
96. tings panel 63 Levels amp Metering settings panel 64 Loudness Settings panel 67 Channel Analysis settings panel 70 Downmix Compatibility settings panel 71 DC Inputs amp Temperature settings panel 73 Alarms settings panel 74 Alarm Actions settings panel 76 Date amp Time settings panel 77 Configuration settings panel 78 Log Repository 79 Log repository setup in the user interface 81 Exporting repository data 82 Purging and archiving repository data 83 scheduled downloading of log data 83 Connections and cabling 87 AES digital audio connections 88 Auxiliary connections 89 Breakout adapter 90 Firmware updates 91 Specifications 95 Warranty 99 Safety information 101 User Manual 1 Overview The Qualis Audio Sentinel Surround sound audio monitor performs a comprehensive suite of audio measurements It uses advanced signal processing algorithms to directly answer broadcast user s fundamen tal questions rather than merely displaying information requiring further analysis by experienced personnel It logs all measurement data Its metering displays can view both live and logged measurements pro viding equal convenience for active and unattended operation Connectivity audio control signals alarm signals network user interface SNMP alarm notifications alarm emails The Sentinel accepts audio input from either SDI SD HD or AES sources or Dolby encoded inputs from these sources depending on configura
97. tion It is designed to operate in a networked environment for local or remote access to its graphical user interface by multiple users and for archival storage of its logged measurement data When errors occur it can provide audible or visual alarms or deliver notifications by email or SNMP User Manual Measurement Features surround loudness Dolby decode Digital amp E formats optional surround metering 5 1 6 1 7 1 stereo stereo detect audio inputs AES SDI SD HD de embed varies by model downmix metering stereo mono ancillary loudness up to 16 input channels ancillary O metering stereo mono up to 16 input 8 Dolby channels ancillary 4 metering stereo mono downmix 5 ancillary programs The Qualis Audio Sentinel monitors a surround program in 5 1 6 1 7 1 or stereo format and up to 5 ancillary stereo or monaural programs for a total of up to 16 monitored input channels The Sentinel also derives stereo and monaural downmix programs from the surround program Measurements common to all programs include m Individual channel signal levels with user selectable ballistics m True peak levels to ITU R BS 1770 3 E Over level conditions m Dead channel detection m Hum detection of fundamental plus 2 harmonics Measurements of the surround program also include m Dialog balance m Surround balance m Downmix Compatibility directly answering
98. tion if the loudness exceeds the maximum Or If Integrated Loudness Is Configures integrated loudness error detection Errors are issued at the completion of an integrated loudness measurement Above Sets the maximum integrated loudness allowed relative to the loudness reference level before issuing a loud ness error The choices are 1 2 3 and 4 LU Or Below Sets the minimum integrated loudness allowed rel ative to the loudness reference level before issuing a loudness error The choices are 1 2 3 and 4 LU Relative To Selects either the Loudness Target or the Dolby dialnorm setting as the preferred loudness reference level Dialnorm is available only for Dolby coded audio source that specifies dial norm in its metadata If dialnorm is preferred but not available the Loudness Target will be used Error If Surround Loudness Differs from Downmix Loudness Configures downmix loudness error detection 68 User Manual By Sets the maximum difference between surround and downmix loudness before issuing an error The choices are 1 5 0 5 2 0 1 0 2 5 1 5 and 3 0 2 0 LU For Longer Than Sets the duration that the difference must exceed the tolerance for an error to be issued The choices are 3 10 30 or 60 seconds Error If CF Loudness Does Not Exceed Program Loudness Configures dialog balance error detection By Sets the minimum amount CF loudness must exceed the remaining program loudness before issuing an error
99. uts A networked instrument it provides its user interface through your browser and delivers alarms via email and SNMP notifications 1 2 3 4 5 1 Power Input from univer 3 Network RJ45 connec 4 Audio Module 2 sal input voltage external tor for 1OBASE T Ether Optional second audio power supply net LEDs indicate con input module 2 Auxiliary Signals Linear nectivity and network 5 Audio Module 1 Primary Time Code input loud activity audio input module 16 ness control input pair 6 channel SDI 8 channel DC inputs 4 contact clo SDI AES or 8 channel sure outputs AES To install the Qualis Audio Sentinel you mount it where it will be used connect it to power network audio source and auxiliary signals and configure it for operation For a basic installation you can typically make the connections using standard cabling and you can configure the Sentinel through its user interface on your browser You ll need to view the Sentinel s front panel to determine its network address you can also use the front panel to view configuration settings and modify network time and security set tings If this is the first time you have installed a Sentinel we suggest you per form a basic installation to confirm that your unit is working correctly and to gain familiarity with its operation Once you re comfortable with the basics finish your permanent installation Pay particular attention to these configuration steps sh
100. ve the Sentinel user interface performs substantial processing in the browser Your choice of workstation or laptop can make a significant difference in the smoothness and responsiveness of the user interface faster current generation systems will perform bet ter While differences in processor architectures make it difficult to give specific numbers 2 5 GHZ or greater dual or quad core processor with 4 8 GB memory is baseline for acceptable performance of the full user interface Storage requirements for the Sentinel log data are 19 5 MB per day 7 GB per year Modifying settings The user interface is divided into two main pages The Readings page p 21 initially visible displays measurement panels The Settings page p 61 displays settings panels where you can view and mod ify settings On the left of each page is a navigation panel that lets you select which information panels are visible and lets you switch pages Briefly to modify settings you 1 Switch to the Settings page click Show Settings in the navigation bar 2 Unlock the settings click Modify Settings in the navigation bar respond to the security prompt with a blank username and your Sentinel s password audio is the default 3 Select panels and change settings as required 4 Save changes click Save Settings in the navigation bar Installation 5 Return to the Readings page click Show Readings in the navigation bar SDI digital audio connect
101. vel Yellow Signal is above Alignment Level and below Overload Level Green Signal is below Alignment Level The Alignment Overload and Clipping Levels are set in the Levels amp Metering settings panel p 64 For most meter types these param eters are defined in the appropriate standards document In all cases these standards based values may be overridden with user selected values Warning Messages A red vertically written error message appears over the bargraph if certain errors are detected in that channel They are not displayed for downmix channels When multiple errors are present the highest prior ity error is displayed The possible errors from highest to lowest priority are UNLOCK The AES or SDI receiver has lost lock This is usually due to a missing signal a signal below the minimum amplitude required by AES or SMPTE specifications or interfering noise of a level which prevents proper decoding of the bitstream User Manual LINK There is a parity or encoding error on the AES audio stream This is usually caused by excessive cable length or interfering noise on the interface VALID The VALIDITY bit is asserted in the bitstream carrying audio data This usually indicates the interface carrys coded audio such as Dolby Digital or Doloy E encoded data Supressed if Coded Audio mode is selected for the channel CLIP The true peak level is above the User Clip Level set in the Lev els amp Metering settings panel p 64
102. vel inputs The loudness meter control inouts have internal pull up resistors and do not need an external pull up to function Connections and cabling 89 Breakout adapter 90 1 DB25 connector 2 Pull up resistor networks 3 Screw terminals pins 14 25 1 12 on back 4 Strain relief holes The Qualis Audio screw terminal breakout adapter avoids the soldering normally involved with making DB25 connections It routes all pins to screw terminals and provides a pair of pull up resister networks It is the most convenient way to make connections to the auxiliary sig nals connector It also provides a convenient way of adapting the ana log audio connector to plenum cable or other fixed installation applica tions The socketed resistor networks may be used to pull any or all of the pins to 3 3V If some pull ups are desired and others are not the leads of the unwanted ones may be clipped and the network reinserted into the socket The adapter shell includes a place to note the presence or absence of a resistor network User Manual 8 Firmware updates 91 92 As with any product with heavy software content the Sentinel on occa sion requires updates This may be to add or enhance features or to correct problems The Sentinel is designed to allow firmware updates over the network from a web browser The process is as follows Obtain the updates The latest updates can be obtained from the Qualis Audio web site
103. x loss As these go down away from the O dB line it means that the signal has cancelled more completely and more is missing from the mono or stereo mix The display changes color as the loss increases green when there is little loss yellow when loss is within 3db of the downmix error thresh hold red when it equals or exceeds the threshhold The downmix error threshhold is set in the Downmix Compatibility settings panel p 71 Downmix compatibility calculations in detail The Sentinel takes a radically different approach to quantifying com patibility from that used in other products Other products characterize interchannel phase relationships and show these to the user as multi dimensional Lissajous patterns They typically produce complex mul ticolor shapes which must be studied and require much experience to correctly interpret Instead the Sentinel measures the program channels to approximately 1 30th octave resolution It also performs downmixing and measures the downmix channels in the identical manner The frequency domain power measurements of the individual channels are summed and com pared to the frequency domain power of the downmix channels They Readings page 31 32 should be equal However if there are cancellations in the stereo or mono downmix signals their power will be reduced This reduction is exactly the amount of signal which will be missing from the program heard by stereo or mono listeners The result

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