Glossary
This glossary provides definitions for common terms used throughout the Senta documentation.
FFmpeg
Section titled “FFmpeg”A complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video. Senta manages FFmpeg processes to handle video stream processing.
Profile
Section titled “Profile”A transcoding profile describes the command line for launching an FFmpeg process. Profiles allow applying the same settings to a group of streams and support variables for customization.
Stream
Section titled “Stream”A video stream process managed by Senta. Each stream uses a profile and sets its own variables for input, output, and other parameters.
Server
Section titled “Server”In a multi-server setup, a remote Senta instance that the main server manages over its API — assigning it streams, starting and stopping them, and reading its status. See Servers.
Transcoding
Section titled “Transcoding”The process of converting a video or audio file from one format to another. This includes changing codecs, bitrates, resolutions, or container formats.
Variable
Section titled “Variable”A placeholder in a transcoding profile (e.g., ${i} for input, ${o} for output) that can be replaced with specific values when creating a stream.
Process
Section titled “Process”An instance of FFmpeg running with specific parameters. Senta manages these processes, including starting, stopping, and restarting them.
Trigger
Section titled “Trigger”A log-line analysis mechanism that automatically runs an action (typically restarting a stream) when a condition is detected in FFmpeg’s log output — either the built-in static trigger (which watches for FFmpeg’s progress reporting to stall) or a custom dynamic trigger matching a substring or regular expression. See Triggers.
License
Section titled “License”Required for the Senta web interface to work at all — without an active or processing license, every page redirects to a “license inactive” screen. Also required to access the Integration API. See Add license.
API Key
Section titled “API Key”A credential used to authenticate requests to the Integration API, sent either as an api_key header or as an Authorization: Bearer token. See API.
A software or hardware tool that compresses and decompresses digital video or audio data. Common video codecs include H.264, H.265 (HEVC), and MPEG-4.
Container Format
Section titled “Container Format”A file format that can contain various types of data, including video, audio, subtitles, and metadata. Common formats include MPEG-TS, MP4, and MKV.
Bitrate
Section titled “Bitrate”The amount of data processed per unit of time in a video or audio stream, typically measured in kilobits per second (kbps) or megabits per second (Mbps).
Resolution
Section titled “Resolution”The dimensions of a video image, typically expressed as width × height in pixels (e.g., 1920×1080 for Full HD).
Aspect Ratio
Section titled “Aspect Ratio”The proportional relationship between the width and height of a video image, commonly expressed as 16:9 or 4:3.