TABLE OF CONTENTS
Ensure your Prism is running firmware 2.23 or later, as SCTE 104/35 support requires this version or higher.
What is it used for?
SCTE 104/35 refers to a pair of related standards used in digital television broadcasting for ad insertion and program signaling:
SCTE 104 is the "Automation System to Compression Equipment Communications API" standard. It defines how automation systems (traffic and billing systems) communicate with video compression equipment to insert cue messages and control ad insertion timing.
SCTE 35 is the "Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message" standard. It specifies the format and syntax of cue messages embedded directly into MPEG transport streams to signal when commercial breaks, program boundaries, or other events should occur.
Together, these standards enable:
- Dynamic ad insertion - Allowing different ads to be inserted for different viewers or regions
- Program splicing - Seamlessly switching between network feeds and local content
- Blackout management - Replacing restricted content in certain geographic areas
- Emergency alert insertion - Overriding regular programming for emergency broadcasts
The typical workflow involves sending SCTE 104 messages from automation systems to encoding equipment, which then embeds SCTE 35 cue tones into the video stream. Downstream equipment (like cable headends, streaming platforms, or broadcast stations) can then detect these SCTE 35 markers and take appropriate actions, like inserting targeted advertisements or switching to alternate content.
This technology is widely used across cable TV, satellite TV, IPTV, and increasingly in streaming video services to enable sophisticated content management and targeted advertising capabilities.
What Does It Do?
The SCTE 104/35 license allows the following on Prism devices
- Ingest SCTE 104 triggers and encode them into the MPEG Streaming types (MPEG TS, SRT) as SCTE 35 triggers
- Decode SCTE 35 triggers and embed SCTE 104 onto the SDI.
Installing the SCTE 104/35 License
1. Before you begin, you must purchase the SCTE 104/35 license from Teradek. If you don't have a license, contact [email protected] to purchase one.
2. Enter your Prism device’s IP address in a browser to open the web UI.
3. From the web UI, navigate to Licenses > Enter License Key and input your SCTE 104/35 license key.
3. Open the Metadata settings and enable DPI (SCTE 104/35).
3. To verify, send a test SCTE message to confirm the license is active and signaling correctly.
