Remote User Interface

Connecting to ARC

As previously mentioned, certain settings and configurations can be accessed and performed using the front panel buttons and screen, but ARC is designed to be connected to a network and operated through its HTML-5 web-based interface.

Important: Please refer to the Installation and Initial Setup section or see the System Menu > IP Menu section below for important information on proper network configuration.

No special client software is required, and the HTML-5-based GUI is device-, operating system-, and browser agnostic. We recommend using Google Chrome or Apple Safari. The computer or tablet should be on the same network and subnet as the ARC.

Once ARC and your computer are connected to your network, enter the IP address of the ARC to which you want to connect in the URL field of your browser. Once connected, the Home Screen will appear.

As you navigate through the user interface, clicking on the ARC logo (A) in the top left corner will always return you to this screen.

Multiple users can connect to the same ARC hardware simultaneously. Anyone connected to the unit will be able to see the information on this screen including the unit’s name (B) and physical location (C).

Additionally, all users can access the Meters screen (D) which shows loudness measurements and input/output levels for both programs. See the section “ARC Home Screen When Logged In” below for detailed information.

The Locate Unit feature (E), which causes the front panel display of the unit to flash for easy identification in a crowded rack, can also be activated without logging in.

Additional information about installed options, clock sync, network status and IP address, power supply status, software and FPGA versions, and unit uptime are displayed to the right of the screen (F).

User Accounts and Logging In

Making modifications to ARC’s configuration, signal routing, or audio processing parameters via the remote user interface requires logging into the unit. At this time, only one user account with one password and one level of access is supported.

By default, the password is 1234. The ability to change the password will be included in an upcoming software update.

ARC Home Screen When Logged In

Additional menus become visible once you are logged in. These include detailed metering, loudness measurements and controls for the APTO® processing for both Program 1 and Program 2 (A), the I/O menus (B), detailed system-wide information and configuration settings including IP, sync, and QoS (C), and detailed I/O and program metering (D).

Note: This section is primarily an overview of the user interface to provide an explanation of the various menus and screens. It is not intended to provide step-by-step instructions for setting up or operating ARC. Where applicable, references to applicable sections will be made where you can find more detailed instructions for specific controls.

Program 1 and Program 2 Menus

Each processing path – Program 1 and Program 2 – has its own page with controls for the APTO loudness processing as well as detailed loudness metering. For illustration purposes, we’ll use Program 1 here.

The Program screen is divided into four basic sections: Input meters (A), Output meters (B), Routing status (D), and APTO loudness processing (C).

Details on APTO are described in detail in the sections on Basic and Advanced APTO processing and will therefore not be covered here.

Input Meters

The Input Meters are based on the ITU-R BS1770-4 and EBU-Tech3341 standards. While visually rather simple and easy to read at a glance, the input meter section contains a wealth of level and loudness information.

The meters on the left side of the Input Meter section (A) contain the following information:

• The wide blue bars show the RMS audio levels for the left and right channels

• The fine blue horizontal lines that float over the bar graph meters are true peak hold indicators

• The numeric values at the top of the meter scale indicate the maximum true peak recorded since the Input Meter was last reset

• The fine white line with a triangle shows the maximum allowable true peak level (as set by the Maximum True Peak control)

In the center of the Input Meter section, you’ll find the following numeric readouts:

• At the top, the Average Integrated Loudness display (D) shows the average loudness measurement since the last input meter reset

  • Either LUFS or LKFS will be indicated depending upon the current profile

• In the middle is the Dialog Loudness display (C) which shows the average loudness measurement of the program dialog only

• At the bottom, the True Peak display (B) shows the highest recorded peak on either channel since the last Input Meter reset

• Beneath the True Peak display are the Pause and Reset buttons

  • Clicking on the Pause button (F) will temporarily stop loudness measurements on the Input Meter; clicking it again will un-pause the meter and resume loudness measurement

  • Clicking on the Reset button (G) restarts loudness measurements on the Input Meter

The meters on the right side of the Input Meter section (E) provide the following information:

• The wide blue bars indicate input loudness measurements in three different integration times: Momentary (M), a 400ms reading; Short Term (ST), a 3s reading; and Mid Term (MT), a 10s reading

• The numeric values at the top of the Momentary, Short Term, and Mid Term meters indicate their respective maximum short-term levels since the Input Meter was last reset

• The fine white line with a triangle shows the target output level (as set by the Target Loudness control)

Output Meters

Like the Input Meter, the Output Meter is based on the ITU-R BS1770-4 and EBU-Tech3341 standards and is designed to be easy to read at a glance while providing a host of detailed information about the output audio.

The meters on the left side of the Output Meter section (A) contain the following information:

• The wide blue bars show the RMS audio levels for the left and right channels

• The fine blue horizontal lines that float over the bar graph meters are true peak hold indicators

• The numeric values at the top of the meter scale indicate the maximum true peak recorded since the Input Meter was last reset

• The fine white line with a triangle shows the maximum allowable true peak level (as set by the Maximum True Peak control)

The center of the Output Meter section contains the following numeric readouts:

• At the top, the Average Integrated Loudness display (D) shows the average loudness measurement since the last input meter reset

  • Either LUFS or LKFS will be indicated depending upon the current profile

• In the middle is the Dialog Loudness display (C) which shows the average loudness measurement of the program dialog only; this value should be referenced when Dialog Normalization is enabled

• At the bottom, the True Peak display (B) shows the highest recorded peak on either channel since the last Output Meter reset

• Beneath the True Peak display are the Pause and Reset buttons

  • Clicking on the Pause button (G) will temporarily stop loudness measurements on the Output Meter; clicking it again will un-pause the meter and resume loudness measurement

  • Clicking on the Reset button (H) restarts loudness measurements on the Output Meter

The APTO Loudness Adaptation Bar (E) shows the amount of real-time adaptation being applied to achieve the specified target output value. Positive values represent gain increase; negative values indicate gain reduction.

The meters on the right side of the Output Meter section (F) provide the following information:

• The wide blue bars indicate output loudness measurements in three different integration times: Momentary (M), a 400ms reading; Short Term (ST), a 3s reading; and Mid Term (MT), a 10s reading

• The numeric values at the top of the Momentary, Short Term, and Mid Term meters indicate their respective maximum short-term levels since the Output Meter was last reset

• The fine white line with a triangle shows the target output level (as set by the Target Loudness control)

Routing Status

The Input field (A) shows the source of the audio being routed to the Program 1 or Program 2 APTO processing engine. The Output field (B) indicates the output path(s) to which the processed audio is being routed. Actual Input and Output routing is configured in the I/O menu.

I/O Menu

The process for setting up input and output configuration is covered in detail in the section on Detailed Setup and Configuration and will not be duplicated here, however, an explanation of the information found on the main I/O page is provided below.

Input Status

At the top of the main I/O page is the Input Status section (A). Each input source – SDI, AES67, and AES-3 – includes a signal Status indicator to show whether or not a signal is present, and if present, if it has locked to the selected Reference Clock.

The SDI section also displays whether the incoming signal is standard or high definition, and shows the resolution and frame rate.

Processor Inputs and Outputs

The middle section of the I/O screen is devoted to the Processor Inputs and Outputs.

Which input audio program - selected from among all available SDI, AES-3, and AES67 sources in the dropdown menus – is routed to the Program 1 and Program 2 APTO processing engines is selected in the Processor Inputs menu (A).

Processor Outputs (B) is a status screen that shows where the processed audio from both the Program 1 and Program 2 processing engines is being routed. Actual Output Routing is configured in the SDI, AES67, and AES-3 menus as described in the section on Detailed Setup and Configuration.

Reference Clock

The Primary and Secondary Reference Clock sources are set in the Reference Clock menu (A). The elapsed time since the last reference change is indicated here as well.

Important: At the risk of stating the obvious, proper reference is critical for trouble-free operation. This is true for ARC and every other digital audio device in your plant. Improper clocking is one of the most common causes of clicks, pops, audio dropouts, and other anomalies, and is at the root of a high percentage of support inquiries.

Details about clocking and reference are outlined in the I/O, Clocking and Reference section. A moment spent reading and understanding this information now will save you time and grief down the road.

System Menu

The System Menu is home to the System status screen. It also contains the menus and controls for configuring the Control and AES67 Ethernet ports.

The main system screen contains a wealth of technical status information about the device hardware and software (A). Some of it relates to the overall health of the unit (such as Power Supply status and unit uptime) but most will only be required during the course of troubleshooting an issue with our support team or performing software updates.

The Unit Name and Location (B) are entered on this screen. These are “friendly” fields to be used in any way that makes sense for your particular operation. See the Detailed Setup and Configuration section for more details.

Clicking on the Master Unit Bypass button (C) engages a hard relay bypass that removes all internal circuits and processes from the signal path and connects each input directly to its corresponding output. This button will turn red when ARC is in bypass mode. Note that this same hard relay bypass automatically engages when the unit is powered down.

Clicking on the Locate Unit button (D) will cause the front panel of this particular ARC to change color, making it easy to identify it amongst the dozens of them we hope will populate your racks. A second click will stop the light show. Note that enabling Locate Mode will not affect the audio.

It should come as no surprise that clicking on the Reboot Unit button (E) – wait for it – reboots ARC and engages the hard relay bypass for the duration of the reboot process.

Important: During the reboot process – which typically takes less the one minute – no loudness control will take place. Depending upon your I/O configuration, a complete loss of audio may occur.

Clicking on the Reset Unit to Factory Defaults button (G) resets all parameters to the factory default state with the exception of IP settings which will be retained so that you can remotely connect to ARC even after performing a reset.

If you wish to reset IP settings as well, enable the Include IP Settings in Reset button (F) prior to the reset.

Important: Performing a factory reset will erase all APTO user profiles, I/O routing, and loudness logs. This information cannot be reclaimed once you reset ARC, even by contacting customer support or conjuring it up through supernatural ceremonies involving bones and an Ouija board.

Software Updates

ARC has two software banks. Both can be populated with different software versions, but only one version can be active at any given time. The Active bank (H) is indicated in red. Instructions for uploading and selecting different software versions are provided along with the software when you either download it from the customer portal or website or it is provided by our customer support team.

IP Menu

The IP menu provides control over DHCP, shows network activity, and includes fields for entering static IP addresses, subnets, and gateways for both the Control and AES67 Ethernet ports.

Setting IP Addresses

By default, ARC is set up with DHCP enabled and will automatically receive an IP address when its Control Ethernet port is connected to a network with a DHCP server.

Important: Both the Control and AES67 connections must be connected to 1000BASE-T (Gigabit) switch ports. If a port will not be used, it should not be connected to a switch but does require a specific configuration described below. If both the Control and AES67 ports are used**, each must be on a different subnet**.

To use a fixed IP address, first click the Edit button (A) to unlock the settings for each Ethernet port. Click on the Use DHCP button (B) to disable DHCP. The text of the NET Address, Net Mask, and Gateway fields (D), which is grayed out when DHCP is enabled, will turn white and become editable. Once the information is entered, click on the Apply button (or the Cancel button to back out without making any changes). Verify that you have a good network connection by looking for a green dot and the word Active in the status window.

Setup is identical for both the Control and AES67 ports.

If either of the two Ethernet ports will not be used, do not connect the unused port to a network switch, and set “Use DHCP” to “Yes” for the unused port.

Sync, QoS, and PTP Menu

As explained earlier, whenever ARC is set up to use AES67 audio either on the input, the output, or both, it must slave to an external PTP clock for reference.

Note: Additional PTP-related settings are included but grayed out and reserved for future use.

The Slave Only button (A) must be enabled and the Domain Number must be set for the correct PTP domain. Valid values are 0 – 127. The AES67 PTP profile uses 0; the SMPTE PTP profile uses 127.