BirdDog BDP100B Eyes P100 1080p Full NDI PTZ Camera User Guide
- June 4, 2024
- BirdDog
Table of Contents
- About BirdDog Eyes P100
- Getting to know your P100
- Booting up your Bird Dog Eyes P100
- Operating EYES P100
- Password management
- A/V
- Network settings and device naming
- PTZ
- NDI NETWORK SETTINGS
- Advanced Controls
- Firmware update
- Receiving NDI streams
- References
- Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
- Download This Manual (PDF format)
BirdDog BDP100B Eyes P100 1080p Full NDI PTZ Camera User Guide
About BirdDog Eyes P100
BirdDog Eyes P100 is a remotely controllable PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom) camera based on BirdDog’s unique Full-bandwidth NDI A/V transfer protocol. It is equipped with many features to ensure the quality of images and control is kept to the highest standards as well as being fully compatible with industry standards.
Key features of this product
Bird Dog P100 has the most complete feature set for a HD production PTZ camera, including some advanced control functions to ensure the camera excels even in the most challenging conditions
- Sony Image module
- BirdDog NDI Processing
- Simultaneous HDMI, SDI and NDI outputs
- Video resolutions up to 1080p60 including non-integer rates such as 59.94 and 29.97fps
- Native VISCA-IP and NDI Protocol support for 3rd Party control applications and interfaces
- Stereo Audio input/output with Mic and Line level
- BirdDog Com ms audio communications software compatible
- Excellent image properties for low light and challenging lighting conditions
- NEW! Advanced Color Matrix colour controls
- NEW! Advanced Gamma/Exposure controls
- NEW! Unified communications platform for all camera settings.
About NDI
Network Device Interface (NDI) is a high performance standard that allows anyone to use real time, ultra low latency video on existing IP video networks.
NDI® harnesses the power of Software, Computers, and Networks to make video
creation and sharing accessible and fun for millions, helping fuel the
software defined visual storytelling revolution. NDI makes video a standard
part of every computer network, from common IT implementations to mobile
environments and has changed the picture- giving everyone access to easy-to-
use, high-quality video using the equipment they have today NDI® moves live
digital media around with your existing software applications, computing
devices, and networks using what you already have.
NDI® empowers even small teams of creatives to achieve big show results, as
there are no limitations from
specialized upgrades, networks, or hardware.
For more information about NDI please visit: bird-dog.tv/ndi
Getting to know your P100
Thanks for purchasing BirdDog Eyes P100. Please take some time to read this document to allow you to get the most out of your purchase and familiarize yourself with the features available in the unit.
Physical connectors
Powering Eyes P100
P100 is equipped with a sophisticated system allowing power from various sources:
PoE+ (Power over Ethernet)
PoE+ is a convenient way to power P100 as it allows both data and power to be
sent through the same standard Ethernet cable. To take advantage of PoE+, the
network switch that P100 is directly plugged into must support PoE+ (802.3at).
Different network switches are capable of providing differing amounts of total
power to all connected devices. P100 uses approximately 14 watts in PoE mode
DC
Located at the rear of the P100 is a DC connection port. This power input socket is capable of accepting 12vDC power. P100 should only be powered by the included AC adaptor.
Thermal management
Eyes P100 has been engineered to be passively cooled, no fans are required. In
order to achieve this the entire enclosure of P100 is designed to dissipate
heat. The main processor is capable of operating up to 100º C / 212º F.
Some factors affect how much heat BirdDog will produce, and it is normal for
it to feel warm to the touch.
In extreme circumstances (a hot day/direct hot sun) it is advised to power
P100 via DC as this produces less heat than PoE
**BirdDog has been tested in extreme environments.
**
Booting up your Bird Dog Eyes P100
Indication of system boot process As soon as BirdDog P100 detects a power input signal the left hand ‘power/fault’ light will light up green.1
On the ethernet/NDI connector on the rear.
After initial boot up is complete your P100 unit will be visible as a source
on any NDI compatible devices on the SAME ethernet subnet. For further
networking architecture instructions including routing please consult either
your system administrator or the support page at bird-dog.tv
Operating EYES P100
Web configuration panel
In this release, the web configuration panel allows you to alter key
settings of P100, specifically A/V settings, and video frame rates, restarting
the video processing engine, changing networking parameters, recalling PTZ
presets and applying firmware update
Access via web browser (URL
To access the web configuration panel please point your computer web
browser to: http://birddog-xxxxx.local/ “xxxxx” is the serial number of the
P100, the serial number is printed on the box and on the main unit. Note the
web address is case sensitive and should be all lower case. Your computer will
need to have ‘Bonjour’ services loaded in order to access the unit via it’s
‘friendly’ name described above.
Apple devices come pre-installed with Bonjour, while Windows devices need a
small plugin available here:
support.apple.com/kb/dl999?locale=en_AU
Note: only the last 5 digits are required for accessing the web
interface.
Accessing P100 via an IP address
P100 is configured to automatically receive a network (IP) address from the
computer network via DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).Most
corporate, education and home networks have a DHCP server present on the
network to allow this to occur. Usually your Internet Router provides this.
If P100 receives an IP address automatically from this server (DHCP) the IP
address can be discovered in several ways, including Bird Dog Central Lite
available from: http://www.bird-dog.tv/
Accessing P100 on a network without a DHCP server
Some standalone or private networks may not have a DHCP server. After 30
seconds of searching for an automatically assigned IP address P100 will fall
back to a default address which is: 192.168.100.100
In order to access the web configuration panel on a network which is
configured to a different subnet, change your computers IP address to match
the BirdDog unit. Once you gain access to the BirdDog web configuration panel
choose your IP address to match the rest of the devices on your network.
For instructions on setting your computers IP address please consult your
computer operating system manual or IT support resources.
Password management
Once you direct your web browser to the web configuration panel you will need
to log in to change any settings.
Default password
The web configuration panel is secured by a user-select able password. The
default password is:
birddog (one word, lower case).
To change the password simply login using the default password, navigate to
the network tab in the web interface, and select change password.
It is recommended to change this password in a network environment where P100 is shared with other users (e.g. not private). By entering this password, the user is granted full access to the P100 configuration settings and could interrupt a live program..
A/V
Bitrate Management
Birddog Devices allow you to set your target NDI output bitrate. This allows
you to select a compression ratio that is more efficient on your networking
infrastructure (lower bandwidth) or higher image quality for critical footage.
The scale allows you to select anywhere from 60mbps to360mbps.
By setting Bitrate Management to NDI MANAGED, the BirdDog device will manage
the target bitrate in accordance with the NDI® standard. By selecting MANUAL
you are able to manually select a target bitrate.
NDI Video selection
Eyes P100 is capable of outputting independent video formats for both NDI and SDI/HDMI. This setting affects only the NDI video output. Please note that the video rate you select here must be of the same family as the SDI/HDMI video output set in Part 1 of the P100 Manual. ie. 720p50 aligns with 1080i50/1080p50 but will not co-exist with any 29.97/30fps based camera setting.
NDI Group Enable
NDI v 4.5x supports NDI groups. This allows you to set the BirdDog Eyes P100
camera to only announce it’s availability to other devices that belong to the
same NDI group. By default this setting is DISABLED. When enabled the receiver
device needs to also be set to the same identical group name. Commonly this is
done using the NDI Access Manager application provided by NewTek free of
charge.
NDI Groups can be very useful in larger environments to control visibility and
access amongst various groups.
NDI Audio Selection
BirdDog Eyes P100 has the ability to route the incoming audio from the 3.5mm audio input socket to either be embedded in the main NDI® stream, or to behave as an audio comms end-point. If you operate the BirdDog Comms application you can then use the P100 as an output for IFB communications.
Failover Source
BirdDog Eyes P100 can inform any receiving device of a failover scheme. This means if their BirdDog NDI stream is interrupted for any reason the receiver can automatically switch to a pre-determined alternative NDI stream. This is particularly useful for live ‘on air’ productions where there can be no risk of still frames or black being broadcast should any source no longer be available. Select an available NDI source for the failover function from the dropdown list in ‘Available NDI sources’. You can update this list by pressing Refresh source list in either Chrome or Firefox web browsers.
Network settings and device naming
Device naming
When P100 is first powered on it defaults to the naming convention as
described in the web configuration panel section of this manual.
It is possible to change the name along with the network settings to better
suit your environment.
In the web configuration panel, navigate to the network section.
http://birddog-xxxxx.local/
IP configuration method
You can configure P100 to operate on the network with a dynamic (DHCP) IP
address or a fixed address.
For smaller networks DHCP networking is generally suitable, however larger
networks with managed operations will often determine each device needs to
have a dedicated and static IP addres
DHCP IP address
DHCP is set as the network configuration by default for P100
Static IP address
To enable a static IP address, change configuration method to static and fill in the details required in Address, Mask and Gateway. Particular attention should be paid to the Address and Mask fields as incorrect information entered will result in P100 not being visible on the network and a factory reset will be required in order to recover the unit
IP address recovery
In the event that the P100 is not visible on the network, the network has changed, or the static IP address details have been lost, reset the BirdDog back to its default settings by following the factory reset procedure.
BirdDog name
You can name each P100 with a friendly name that makes sense for each
production (Camera 1, Camera 2, etc). This name will appear on any NDI
receiver when it looks for video coming from P100 over the network. The name
must not include any special characters and can be any combination of ‘a-z,
1-0, and –‘.
Note: no uppercase characters are valid.
On NDI receiving devices, P100 will present as a source as follows:
birddog-name [CAM] when the unit is set to automatic input
PTZ
Control
You are able to save and recall presets from the Web Dashboard using the
Select Preset option. To operate this, simply press the Preset number you wish
to recall or save followed by APPLY PRESET or SAVE PRESET
Settings
The P100 communicates with the camera head via a serial interface, these
settings should remain as per default:
VISCA ADDRESS: 1
VISCA BAUDRATE: 9600
PT Max Speed
When controlling the P100 over NDI you can limit the maximum speed of PTZ movements by affecting this option, the higher the number (18) the faster and more sensitive the movements will be on the P100.
OSD
In the initial release of P100 the OSD is very important for adjusting the
camera image settings since this is the primary control mechanism. To adjust
all cameras settings please press the OSD ON/OFF button to illuminate the OSD.
The OSD is visible on both the NDI output and SDI/HDMI and can equally be
accessed via the included remote control.
Please take note that the PTZ will not operate normally (control of movement)
until the OSD menu is closed again.
NDI NETWORK SETTINGS
BirdDog Eyes P100 operates with the latest NDI Libraries. There are several options to configure the P100’s behavior in an NDI network. Each configuration has its benefits, however it is recommended to utilise the default TCP transmit method unless you have reason to change. Transmit Preferred Method
TCP
TCP is the default transmission method for NDI, it operates well within
local networks with predictable latency and limited jitter. BirdDog recommends
that TCP be used for typical applications, and only using alternative
transports for specific reasons.
UDP
UDP is recommended for networks where there is extended latency from one
end to the other. The nature of UDP means that it does not need to receive a
confirmation of each packet being received successfully – vastly improving
performance on distance WANs. UDP can have some consequences f there are other
issues on the network such as jitter or lost packets as it will not inherently
re-sent a lost packet.
Multicast
Multicast is especially useful for use-cases that require a single source
to be received on multiple receivers simultaneously. Utilizing Multicast
offloads the distribution of the NDI A/V packets from the BirdDog Flex 4K to
the network infrastructure. You should take care to ensure your network is
specifically configured to support
Multicast as using it on an ill-prepared network can create unintended network
problems
MultiTCP
Multi TCP is a new NDI transport method that allows users to send NDI video
over poor network topography such as WAN (Wide Area Networks) without
experiencing issues such as packet loss and lost frames. In the past in order
to send NDI video over a WAN the UDP transport was the only option available.
UDP solved some issues of WAN applications by allowing the NDI video to travel
without dropping masses of frames but results in dropped packets being missed
which could cause unstable video. UDP also places more performance demands on
devices sending and receiving the signal.
Multi TCP employs a new method of sending TCP packets whereby it opens a mass
of TCP connections over the WAN and uses them in a ‘round robin’ manner, this
allows each individual TCP connection enough time to acknowledge the receiving
packet, confirm nothing is lost and prepare for the next one before it’s sent
the next
TCP packet in the round robin. This is similar to a RAID setup in traditional
storage.
Advanced Controls
BirdDog Eyes P100 now supports some advanced controls to enable greater fine-
tuning of image properties for either matching images with other cameras in
your production or pushing the overall dynamic performance of the camera for
more true to life and sharper images.
These advanced controls are placed into three distinct setting sections:
Colour Matrix, Colour Enhancement and Image Enhancement
Colour Matrix
The Colour matrix section allow you to fine-tune the cameras performance for
individual colours across the spectrum.
You can see in this figure that the color spectrum is divided into six
sections, theses being Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow
The Colour Matrix control allows individual fine-tuning of each of these
colour sections without affecting the response of other colour components. The
controls allow for adjustment of Gain (Intensity) and Hue (offset) of each
colour..
Colour Gain
The Gain control of each colour component defines how intense that colour is
represented in the image that is produced by the camera. The default level
(32) is a moderate gain which shows an even bias between all pixels that
contain the colour. I.e. a dark red with have the red component shown as
vividly as a bright red, this generally gives a balanced look to your colour
representation.
By increasing the gain value, the camera will add additional intensity to all
parts of the image pertaining to this colour. For example, if you increase the
Red gain value to 64 all pixels that are red in the image will have a boost of
colour compared to other colours in the image resulting in a more vivid
representation of this colour. Conversely reducing the colour gain will take
some intensity out of the target colour. This can be useful in some lighting
conditions where certain colours appear over saturated to the camera
Colour Hue
The Colour Hue option adjusts the temperature or phase in which any colour
is represented. When looking at the colour spectrum, beyond the true colour
points for each of the main colour adjustments in the camera (Red, Green,
Blue, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow there are areas where the colours transition to
their neighboring colour point.
In P100 Colour Matrix controls you can adjust the colour offset in a negative (counter clockwise) or positive (clockwise) direction, effectively moving the cameras response to any colour towards its neighbouring colour transition point.
Adjusting individual colour Hue can assist dramatically in matching colour representation from the camera to true-to like colours or matching the P100 to other cameras in your production.
Recommended practice for using Colour Matrix controls
It is recommended to utilise a colour chart or colour chip chart when
adjusting the Colour Matrix controls. These charts are available readily and
have colour chips for each of the colours that the camera can adjust. By
utilising a colour chip chart you are more easily able to see the impact of
any adjustment you are making Using a colour chip chart such as the Data-color
Spyder Checkr can be beneficial to fine-tuning adjustments in the P100 Colour
Matrix.
Firmware update
P100 is update able via the web interface. Please check the below address regularly to ensure you have the latest firmware available for your device.
After downloading the latest firmware release, navigate to the settings tab on
the P100 web configuration console click on Choose file… select the firmware
update file and press the update button.
Having the latest firmware ensures you have all the latest features and
performance updates to get the most out of P100: bird-dog.tv/firmware-
updates
The screen will update the status of the update procedure, once complete it
will reboot the main processor.
Please wait for 30 seconds and refresh your browser to access the unit again.
Receiving NDI streams
There are many applications that support receiving the NDI signal that P100 produces. Each application will vary slightly on how you choose your source.
NewTek Studio Monitor
NewTek provide a free Studio Monitor application that allows you to monitor
many NDI sources on a standard Windows computer. Once Studio Monitor is
launched on your computer, simply right click anywhere in the interface and
select your P100 from the drop-down list.
Once connected to the P100 you will notice a configuration cog appears on the
bottom right-hand side of the video display, this is a shortcut to access the
P100 web configuration panel.
NewTek TriCaster Series
NewTek TriCaster series devices allow several NDI sources to be received
simultaneously, the amount of simultaneous connections varies by what model
TriCaster you have. Consult your TriCaster user manual to determine how many
connections are available on your device.
To select P100 as a source on your TriCaster, simply click on the
configuration cog below your desired source location, this will bring up the
Input Setting dialog, select from the drop-down list your P100 source.
Once connected to the P100 you will notice a configuration cog appears next to
the source drop down window, this is a shortcut to access the P100 web
configuration panel.
References
- bird-dog.tv
- Downloads – BirdDog
- BirdDog
- Dog Tv | Home
- Download Bonjour Print Services for Windows v2.0.2 – Apple Support (AU)
- BirdDog – Welcome to the future.
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
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