# Enabling blackout in the output
Blackout

In a MediaLive channel, you can enable blackout to blank out the content for an SCTE 35 message that is of type *other event* (as defined by the mode in [Getting ready: Set the ad avail mode](getting-ready-set-the-ad-avail-mode.md)). For example, chapters and programs.

(A similar feature is described in [Enabling ad avail blanking in the output](enable-ad-avail-blanking.md).)

Blackout involves the following processing:
+ Replace the video content associated with the event with an image that you specify or is with a black image.
+ Remove the audio that is associated with the event.
+ Remove the captions that are associated with the event.

**Comparison to manifest decoration and passthrough**

Blackout applies to all outputs. You cannot choose to black out for some outputs (for example, the HLS output) and not black out for others (for example, the Microsoft Smooth output). It is an all-or-nothing decision. 

Manifest decoration and passthrough have a smaller scope: they apply only to outputs that support these features. 

**Important**  
Take note of this fact, because if you do *not* do passthrough and do *not* do manifest decoration in a specific output (because they are not supported or because you choose not to) but you do implement blanking, there will be no "markers" for where the blanked content occurs. The only way of identifying where this blanking is occurring will be to look for the IDR i-frames that identify where the SCTE 35 message used to be.

**Topics**
+ [

# Enabling blackout
](procedure-enable-blackout.md)
+ [

# Triggers for blackout
](triggers-for-blackout.md)
+ [

# Blackout restriction flags
](blackout-restriction-flags.md)

# Enabling blackout


Follow this procedure if you want to enable the blackout feature in a MediaLive channel.

**To enable blackout**

1. In the channel that you are creating, in the navigation pane, choose **General settings**. 

1.  Set the ad avail mode, if you have not already done so. See [Getting ready: Set the SCTE 35 source—segments or manifest](scte35-getting-ready-source.md). The mode identifies which of all possible events are treated as triggers for blackouts, which determines [when video is blacked out](triggers-for-blackout.md). 

   

1. Still in **General settings**, in **Blackout slate**, in **State**, choose **Enabled**.

1. For **Blackout slate image**, choose the appropriate value:
   + **Disable**: To use a plain black image for blackout.
   + **Avail blanking image**: To use a special image for blackout. In the **URL** field, enter the path to a file in an Amazon S3 bucket. For integration with MediaLive, the bucket name mustn't use dot notation, which means it mustn't use . (dot) between the words in the bucket name. The file must be of type .bmp or .png. Also enter the user name and Systems Manager password parameter for accessing the S3 bucket. For information about this key, see [About the feature for creating password parameters](requirements-for-EC2.md#about-EC2Password).

1. If you want to enable network end blackout (in other words, black out content when network transmission has ended and remove blackout only when network transmission resumes), continue reading. If you don't want to enable it, you have now finished setting up. 

1. For **Network end blackout**, choose **Enabled**.

1. For **Network end blackout image**, choose the appropriate value:
   + **Disable**: To use a plain black image for blackout.
   + **Network end blackout image**: To use a special image for network end blackout. In the **URL** field, enter the path to a file in an Amazon S3 bucket. For integration with MediaLive, the bucket name mustn't use dot notation, which means it mustn't use . (dot) between the words in the bucket name. The file must be of type .bmp or .png. Also enter the user name and Systems Manager password for accessing the S3 bucket. See [About the feature for creating password parameters](requirements-for-EC2.md#about-EC2Password).

1. For **Additional settings**, in **Network ID**, type the EIDR ID of the network in the format 10.nnnn/xxxx- xxxx- xxxx- xxxx-xxxx-c (case insensitive). Only network end events with this ID will trigger blackout.

# Triggers for blackout


The blackout feature is triggered only by time\$1signal messages of segmentation type **Other**. It is not triggered by splice\$1insert messages of any segmentation type, and is not triggered by time\$1signal messages of any type except **Other**. 

SCTE 35 messages of type ID "splice insert" and messages of type ID "time signal" can both include "Other" time\$1signal messages. Therefore, when enabling blackout, the [ad avail mode](getting-ready-set-the-ad-avail-mode.md) is not relevant. Blackout works the same with either mode.

The segmentation ID triggers blackout based on events, as shown in the following table.

[\[See the AWS documentation website for more details\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/medialive/latest/ug/triggers-for-blackout.html)

For example, if the blackout feature is enabled, then blanking always occurs when a Program Start message is encountered and always ends when a Program End message is encountered.

Note that the triggers for blackout on a Network event are different from the other events:
+ With Network, blanking starts when the Network *End* instruction is encountered.
+ With other events, blanking starts when the "Event *Start*" instruction is encountered.

**End event trigger hierarchy**

Events have the *strength hierarchy* shown in the following table. A blackout can be ended only by an event of equal or greater strength than the event that started it.

For example, if the blackout is started by a Program Start, it can be ended by a Network Start, an Unscheduled Event End or a Program End. It cannot be ended by a Chapter End. MediaLive ignores the "end blackout" instruction implied by the Chapter End.


| SCTE 35 segmentation type | Strength | 
| --- | --- | 
| Network | 1 (Strongest) | 
| Unscheduled Event | 2 | 
| Program | 3 | 
| Chapter | 4 (Weakest) | 

# Blackout restriction flags


This section provides information about the restriction flags that you can set in a MediaLive channel, when you set up for blackout.

**Restrictions in the input**

The segmentation descriptors in messages that are blackout triggers always include two types of flags. These flags provide additional information as guidance for blackout in specific situations:
+ web\$1delivery\$1allowed\$1flag
  + True means that there is no restriction on including the event’s content in a stream that is intended for web delivery. There is no need to black out content in streams intended for web delivery. 
  + False means that there is a restriction. The content should be blacked out. 
+ no\$1regional\$1blackout\$1flag
  + True means that there is no restriction on including the event’s video in a stream intended for regional markets. There is no need to black out content in streams intended for regional markets. 
  + False means that there is a restriction. The content should be blacked out.

If both flags are present (which is usually the case; it is unusual to have only one flag present), then a "false" for one flag takes precedence over a "true" for the other flag. Blackout should occur.

Typically, in any message in the input only one of these flags is ever set to false, so only one restriction is ever in place. There would typically never be both a regional delivery restriction and a web delivery restriction. This is because if content is considered restricted for regional delivery, then it would not also be considered restricted for web delivery (where the concept of a region makes no sense).

**Representation of these flags in MediaLive**

There are two fields in MediaLive that let you control how MediaLive responds to these flags. See [Enabling blanking](procedure-to-enable-ad-avail-blanking.md). Typically, you set the two fields to Follow (the default), to instruct MediaLive to follow the behavior implied by the value of the flag.