VE89 Implementation Guide 2
VE89 Implementation Guide 2
VE89 Implementation Guide 2
Extender System
Implementation Guide
Optimizing Your Network for the VE8900 / VE8950
VE
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. VE8900 / VE8950 Series
3. General Recommendations
4. Network Design
4.1 Choosing the Right Cable
4.2 Choosing a Network Switch
4.2.1 Facilitating Setup with ATEN Network Switches
4.3 Planning Network Architecture
4.4 Network Setup Examples
4.5 Configuring the Network Switch
1. Introduction
The ATEN VE8900 / VE8950 HDMI over IP Extenders deliver visually lossless 1080p/4K AV signals
with low latency over long distance via a standard Gigabit network. The purpose of this guide is to
ensure that installation project managers and site administrators are aware of ATEN’s best practice
guidelines for appropriate network structure and configuration for use with the VE8900 / VE8950
HDMI over IP Extenders. The key elements and recommendations for success, including our
suggestions for selecting a suitable network switch, will optimize your installation experience with our
products and reduce potential problems.
2. VE8900 / VE8950 Series
The VE8900 / VE8950 provides an effective, easy-to-use and economical digital signage solution
with many unique features that directly address the challenges system integrators encounter when
implementing AV over IP systems.
No complicated IP setup:
Users can effortlessly switch input sources via top panel pushbuttons/ID display, so no IT
experience or extra learning is required to set up the relationship matrices.
Engineered to meet the demands of today’s large scale, multi-display 1080p/4K signal transmission
requirements, but designed to be uncomplicated to set up and easy to use, the VE8900 / VE8950 is
suitable for use in a wide range of environments, including trade shows, airports, university
campuses, conference centers, and shopping centers.
3. General Recommendations
The following general recommendations for installing your VE8900 / VE8950 system on a network
have been provided here for easy reference.
Preparation
Build and test the rack and test all hardware components before attending the installation site.
Doing so will find any issues before moving to the hectic and time sensitive environment of the
install itself. Knowing that a unit was working properly before installation makes it far easier to
pinpoint the cause of the problem, saving time and money for your business.
Power
Your installation is nothing without power. Use a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to ensure a
clean, consistent power supply to all components in the rack. Be sure to calculate your total load
and run time requirements ahead and leave enough room in the rack.
All third party hardware also needs to use the latest firmware – particularly switches and TVs.
Upgrade instructions please check with the relevant manufacturers.
Mounting/Installation
All ATEN products should be mounted so that the logo and text printed on the unit is correctly
aligned. This will allow for the optimal airflow through the product. As already stated the vents
should not be obstructed with adequate clearance. Units should be secured using suitable fixings.
The correct mounting of devices, particularly in the unforgiving environment of an AV or IT rack, is
vital to any successful installation and the VE8900/8950.
Source & Display Settings
ATEN VE8900 / VE8950 uses the highest quality encoders available to provide visually
lossless compression over a large number of displays. However, the compression can only
be as good as the source content that is put in. VE8900 / VE8950 uses proprietary
compression and supports HDCP 1.4. Thus, please make sure the source content supports
HDCP1.4 or is without HDCP encryption. (NOT compatible with HDCP2.2) In addition,
please make sure to turn off the video wall function of the display.
720x240P 60Hz
720x288p 50Hz
50/60Hz
480i
120Hz
60Hz
480P
120Hz
1440x480P 60Hz
VE8900 / VE8950
576i 50/100Hz
576P 50/60/100Hz
720P
24/25/30/50/60Hz
(1280x720p/1680x720p)
1080i 50/60Hz
1080p
24/25//30/50/60Hz
(1920x1080p/2560x1080p)
2160p
24/25/30/50/60Hz VE8950
(3840x2160p/4096x2160p)
4. Network Design
Cabling Guidelines
Ensure source components are located next to encoders with HDMI cables that are as short as
possible, as HDMI distances will reduce as content bandwidth increases.
Use trunking so that cables can be easily replaced down the line.
Never seal HDMI cables in the wall as they cannot be re-terminated or replaced easily.
The use of patch panels, wall plates, cable extenders, kinks in cables, and electrical or
environmental interference can have an adverse effect on HDMI transmission limiting
performance. Steps should be taken to minimize these factors (or remove completely) during
installation for best results.
This section provides various general and specific recommendations for switches to use with VE8900
/ VE8950. However, there is no substitute for testing in real world situations. If you are in doubt about
which network switch to use, the safest approach is to select one from the list of recommended
switches below.
The Basics
In general, the network switches deployed in VE8900 / VE8950 installation must support the following:
Gigabit (or faster) Ethernet port
Multicast forwarding or filtering
IGMP v2 Snooping (multicast)
Support for jumbo frames (packets) up to 9216-byte size
IGMP Snooping
IGMP Querier
IGMP Snooping Fast-Leave
High bandwidth connection between switches
Further Considerations
Number of ports: Choose a switch that has enough ports to match the number of VE devices you will
be installing. Switches typically come in 5, 8, 10, 16, 24, 28, 48, and 52-port configurations. If you are
installing 13 VE transmitters and 13 VE receivers, you will need to purchase a switch with at least 28
ports.
Stackable switches can be setup in a ring configuration, so that if a port or cable fails, the stack
automatically routes around the failure, at microsecond speeds. Stackable Switches also allow you
to add and remove stack “members” which are automatically updated and recognized as such.
Recommended Switches
The following models have been tested and found to produce favorable results:
Manufacturer Model
ES0152
ATEN
ES0152P
SG300
Catalyst 2960-X
D-Link DGS-1510
GS724T
Netgear M4300-28G
M4300-52G
XGS2210-28HP
Zyxel
XGS2210-52HP
Simply connect VE8900 / VE8950 transmitters and receivers to ES0152 / ES0152P network switches
to deploy your AV network without the hassles of a complicated setup. With this pre-configured
solution, there is no need to install additional software or configure devices.
VE8900 / VE8950 device auto detection
Supports IGMP Snooping, Fast Leave, Flow Control
Supports IGMP v1/v2/v3 Snooping and IGMP v1/v2 Querier
Supports 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 4 SFP uplink ports (10Gbps)
High-performance Gigabit Ethernet L2 access switch with 176 Gbps switching capacity
ES0152 / ES0152P*
2-Port GbE Managed Switch
Build Strategies
For optimum performance, the VE extenders require high amounts of data to be transferred across a
network; therefore we recommend the following strategies to setup the VE devices. Using our
suggestions will provide better performance and the highest video resolutions possible. Use each of
the keys to ensure the best transmission of data and the highest throughput possible. Prior to setup
we recommended laying out the plans for your VE installation using the following performance guide.
Considerations:
Use a flat cascaded layout (basic line cascaded structure) and avoid a tree or pyramid structure
Limit cascades to two levels
Install network switches as near to each other as possible
Minimize the distance of all connections
Ensure sufficient bandwidth between the switches to eliminate bottlenecks
For optimum performance, the VE8900 / VE8950 units should be on dedicated network
Ensure that all the VE8900 / VE8950 units you want to manage are located within the same
subnet
Determine the Distance:
Distance is an important factor when setting up networks, with a shorter distance and fewer hops
through routers, data can be transmitted more efficiently. So whenever possible decrease the
distance and direct network traffic effectively between subnets that communicate with each other to
increase the data throughput.
The devices will not automatically connect and must first be selected receiver ID number matched
with transmitter ID number to establish the link.
One Transmitter to Multiple Receivers
Using VE8900 / VE8950 for one-to-many installations dramatically decreases the amount of
equipment required at the source location, each transmitter can be located up to 100m/355ft from the
switch.
Note: Please refer to your switch’s user guide as different brands and models many have different names for these
features