Requirements for pipeline locking - MediaLive
Channel requirementsOutput typesEpoch locking and SCTE 35

Requirements for pipeline locking

Channel requirements

The channel must be a standard channel. The channel can have multiple inputs attached. In other words, the channel can implement input switching.

Output types

Pipeline locking works only with the following types of output groups:

  • HLS

  • MediaPackage

  • Microsoft Smooth

  • UDP

The channel can contain output groups other than the supported ones. MediaLive will not perform pipeline locking on those output groups. This means that in those other output groups, there is no guarantee that the two pipelines will be frame-accurate with each other.

Epoch locking and SCTE 35

There are constraints for using epoch locking in an HLS or MediaPackage output group.

HLS output group

It's not possible to enable SCTE 35 passthrough or manifest decoration in an HLS output group in a channel that uses epoch locking. You will get a validation error when you save the channel. You must decide how to resolve this conflict:

  • Don't enable epoch locking in the entire channel: You can set the mode to regular pipeline locking in the entire channel, and keep SCTE 35 passthrough in the HLS output group.

  • Disable SCTE 35 passthrough in the HLS output group: You can keep epoch locking but disable SCTE 35 passthrough and manifest decoration in the HLS output group. You can still enable SCTE 35 passthrough in other output groups.

MediaPackage output group

For a MediaPackage output group, constraints apply if the input includes SCTE 35 messages:

  • When epoch locking isn't enabled in the channel, MediaLive automatically passes through any SCTE 35 messages from the input and automatically enables manifest decoration.

  • When epoch locking is enabled, MediaLive automatically disables SCTE 35 passthrough and manifest decoration in the MediaPackage output group.

You should decide which feature you want to keep. You can keep the SCTE 35 messages (in which case you must disable epoch locking in the entire channel). Or you can enable epoch locking but lose passthrough of the SCTE 35 messages. Note that there is no advantage to setting up the output as an HLS output group, because similar constraints apply, as described above.