Viewing with Session Announcement Protocol (SAP)
When SAP Announce is configured for a stream that uses UDP streaming, the stream is advertised over the local network. Local viewers can view the stream using a software or hardware media player. Viewers are presented with a list of available channels, similar to a television menu. Viewers need only click on a stream and the video is streamed to their desktop, mobile or tablet. To configure SAP announce, go to Stream content using multicast.
Your stream is advertised by the metadata title, if one was configured under Branding, otherwise it is identified by its channel identifier. For a description of how to set the metadata, refer to Add channel metadata.
When browsing from a VLC media player, streams are advertised by their channel identifier and are organized by the group name. When browsing from an XBMC media player, streams are advertised by the stream's metadata title (if configured), otherwise streams are advertised by their channel identifier.
- Ensure the stream has SAP announcement enabled, otherwise, it is not advertised in the media player's playlist.
- Ensure the SAP announcement IP is a multicast IP address.
Some media players, for example Exterity receivers, listen for SAP announcements on a specific multicast address 239.255.255.255. If your audience is using Exterity to view your stream, you must change the SAP announcement IP address to 239.255.255.255.
- Launch a media player. The following steps are based on a VLC media player and may be different for other media players.
- Click View from the menu; a drop-down menu opens.
- Select Playlist. A Playlist window opens. The right-hand panel indicates the playlist is empty.
- From the side menu, click Network streams (SAP). The playlist is populated with all streams in your network that are SAP announcement enabled. If you specified a Group Name when you configured the publish stream the stream will be listed in folder identified by the group name.
In the example below, two streams D2P83658.vga and D2P83658.video are organized in a folder by their group name.
- Click on a live stream; the stream plays in the media player window.
