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VideoLogic CaptivatorPro User Manual

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  • Page 1: User Guide

    & User Guide Contents 1...
  • Page 2 Refer to Appendix D for information about radio and TV interference, EMC, product service, warranty information, and details of the software license agreement. REDITS This manual was written by Huw Geddes. It is a product of VideoLogic Limited, Home Park Estate, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire WD4 8LZ, United Kingdom. Printed in Singapore...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Introduction ............... 5 About Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV ............5 About this guide ....................5 About the Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV hardware ........6 About the Captivator Pro/TV software ..............7 System requirements................... 8 What you should know ..................9 Conventions used in this guide ................
  • Page 4 How to display the Captivator Pro/TV Tuner dialog ...........39 How to tune in TV channels ................40 Troubleshooting ..............43 Error messages ....................47 Appendix A - VideoLogic Captivator Pro/TV MCI command set ... 49 Appendix B - Captivator Pro/TV technical details ......53 Specifications ....................53 Connectors ......................54 Base address settings ..................55...

  • Page 5: Introduction

    It is available in three variants which provide support for major TV broadcasting systems. Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV can be connected to any VM-Channel enabled graphics card, such as VideoLogic’s 928Movie or PCI Movie. About this guide This guide explains how to install Captivator ProTV and use the software.

  • Page 6: About The Captivator Pro And Captivator Protv Hardware

    About the Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV hardware The layout of Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV is displayed below. VM-Channel connector base address jumper serial number phono connector 4-pin DIN connector Captivator Pro 16-bit ISA bus connector VM-Channel connector base address jumper internal audio connector TV tuner RF connector...

  • Page 7: About The Captivator Pro/Tv Software

    About the Captivator Pro/TV software The Captivator Pro/TV software, which you use with Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV, includes a Setup program that installs the following program items in the VideoLogic VM-Channel Options program group: • Video Control Panel—which you use to configure Captivator Pro/TV for your input and to adjust the video picture.

  • Page 8: System Requirements

    33 MHz 386 SX processor or better, 4 MB of RAM, and a spare 16-bit ISA bus slot. You must have a graphics card with a VM-Channel connector, such as VideoLogic’s 928Movie or PCI Movie, installed in your computer. To capture video clips we recommend that you use a PC with a 66 MHz 486 processor or better and a VL bus 928Movie or PCI Movie graphics card.

  • Page 9: What You Should Know

    What you should know If you have never installed a card in your computer before, you may need to refer to the documentation supplied with your computer for instructions on removing the cover. This guide assumes that you already have some knowledge of Microsoft Windows 3.1 and are familiar with the Windows User’s Guide.

  • Page 10: Handling Captivator Pro/Tv

    Returning the registration card All VideoLogic products come with a registration card. Please complete and return this as soon as possible so that we can provide you with the best possible support and up-to-date product information.

  • Page 11: Installing Captivator Pro/Tv

    Installing Captivator Pro/TV Run the supplied Setup program from Windows before fitting Captivator Pro/TV inside your computer. See page 12 for detailed information on the Setup program. Before you start Check the ReadMe file on the Setup disk before you install Captivator Pro/TV.

  • Page 12: Captivator Pro/Tv Setup

    Captivator Pro/TV Setup Captivator Pro/TV is provided with a Setup program that: • scans your computer system to make sure that Captivator Pro/TV will not conflict with any other components. • tells you what, if any, adjustment to make to the jumper setting on your card.

  • Page 13: Running The Setup Program

    Running the Setup program Do not install the Captivator Pro/TV card before you run Setup. If Captivator Pro/TV is installed first, Setup will not be able to scan your system for free base address and interrupt settings. Setup must be run from Windows. Before running Setup, close any other applications that you have running as you will need to switch off your computer after you have installed the software to fit the Captivator Pro/TV card.
  • Page 14 When Setup has installed the software, it scans your system. The program displays a dialog box showing you the correct position of the jumper for the current base address. Remove the Captivator Pro/TV card from its envelope, taking care to discharge any static electricity from your body and clothing beforehand.

  • Page 15: Installing The Captivator Pro/Tv Card

    Installing the Captivator Pro/TV card Warning: Always switch off your computer before removing the cover and observe the warnings specified in its documentation. 1. Exit Windows and switch off your computer, monitor and any other peripheral devices, such as printers, connected to your computer.
  • Page 16 5. Align Captivator Pro/TV with the slot you have chosen. Firmly press the card into the slot. You may need to use some pressure to push the card into place, but do not use excessive force. Captivator ProTV VM-Channel enabled graphics card (e.g.
  • Page 17 7. Connect Captivator Pro/TV to your VM-Channel graphics card using the VM-Channel cable supplied. Make sure that you do not twist the cable. VM-Channel cable VM-Channel enabled graphics card Captivator Pro/TV VM-Channel connectors 8. If you want to connect your Captivator ProTV’s internal audio output connector to the CD-in connector on your sound card, do so now.

  • Page 18: Connecting The External Cables

    Connecting the external cables Warning: Permanent or temporary hearing loss or impairment may result from incorrectly running sound systems with headphones. Before putting on a set of headphones, you should set the volume while holding them away from your ears to avoid injury from unexpected noise.

  • Page 19: Changing Captivator Pro/Tv's Hardware Settings

    Changing Captivator Pro/TV’s hardware settings This section explains how to reconfigure Captivator Pro/TV’s base address and interrupt settings. Read this section if your computer does not boot, Windows does not start, the Captivator Pro/TV software is behaving in an unpredictable way, or if you have installed another card which appears to conflict with your Captivator Pro/TV.
  • Page 20 1. In the Control Panel window, choose the Drivers icon. The Drivers dialog box appears. 2. In the Installed Drivers list, select [MCI] VideoLogic Captivator Pro/TV 1.0. 3. Choose the Setup button. The Captivator Pro/TV Setup dialog box appears. This dialog box shows the current base address and interrupt settings.
  • Page 21 4. Click the Suggest button. The Captivator Pro/TV Address Scan dialog box appears. This dialog box allows you to exclude base addresses from the scanning process by unchecking the corresponding check box. If you know that a particular base address is being used by another device, uncheck the box for that address.
  • Page 22 Setup displays details of any device that occupies each of the base addresses scanned, and chooses a base address and interrupt setting that is suitable for your Captivator Pro/TV. Although very reliable, the Scan option is not 100% accurate as the configuration of your computer is not designed to be read using software.

  • Page 23: Displaying Live Video

    Displaying live video This chapter describes briefly how to display live video in a resizeable floating window and how to adjust the picture quality. If you have a Captivator ProTV and are using a TV input, you will need to refer to Tuning in TV channels on page 39. Use a display mode with 65 thousand colors or more.
  • Page 24 3. Start the Video Control Panel by choosing Control Panel from the Options menu. 4. Select the Video Source radio button in the bottom left corner of the Video Control Panel to display the Video Source dialog box, which you use to configure Captivator Pro/TV for your input.
  • Page 25 6. If you are using a TV input, choose the TV Tuner command from the Video Window Options menu to display the Captivator Pro/TV Tuner dialog box. Tune in the TV channels—see Tuning in TV channels on page 39. If you are using a video source connected to the Phono or DIN connector, click on the Detect Video button to automatically configure Captivator Pro/TV for your video source.
  • Page 26 9. Select the Video Display radio button in the Video Control Panel to display the Video Display dialog box, which you use to adjust the video picture. People generally find it easier to adjust their picture when displaying a stilled image with flesh tones. To set up the video image: Display an image with some white, some black, and some middle tones.
  • Page 27 10. The Both Fields check box allows you to display both fields of each frame in the video image. If your video has a lot of movement, it should play more smoothly if Both Fields is unchecked. If your video is displaying a talking head or still image it will look more natural if this option is checked.
  • Page 28 14. Use the OK or Cancel button to close the Video Control Panel. Choose OK to save the current settings on exit. Choose Cancel to abandon changes on exit. To close the Video Window and Captivator Pro/TV Tuner dialog box, double- click on the Video Window Control menu box or choose the Close command from the Control menu of the Video Window.

  • Page 29: Capturing Video For Windows Clips

    Capturing Video for Windows clips The Captivator Pro/TV software includes a Video for Windows capture driver which can be used with a Video for Windows ™ capture application, such as VidCap , to record AVI movies. For information on how to capture video clips refer to the documentation supplied with your Video for Windows application.

  • Page 30: Capture Performance

    Captivator Pro/TV capture driver to capture live video at a smaller size—such as 160 x 120—at full frame rate, and then use the acceleration and SmoothScale features on VideoLogic’s 928Movie or PCI Movie to play the clip at full screen and frame rate.

  • Page 31: Mixing Video And Graphics

    Mixing video and graphics The video information that is passed across the VM-Channel is mixed with the graphics and then displayed on your monitor. Therefore what you see on your monitor is what is captured in the movie. For example, the video clips you capture are recorded with the same amount of colors as the display mode you are using;...
  • Page 32 32 Captivator Pro & Captivator ProTV User Guide...

  • Page 33: Snapping Video Stills

    Snapping video stills TV Snap is a simple application that allows you to snap still images from live video and TV input, which can be edited and included in multimedia presentations or publications. Still images up to 640 x 480 can be snapped in 24-bit, 16-bit or 8-bit format and saved to a variety of file formats—see page 38.

  • Page 34: Using Tv Snap

    Using TV Snap 1. Make sure that you have a TV or video source connected to Captivator Pro/TV. 2. Double-click on the TV Snap icon in the VM-Channel Options program group to start the application. The TV Snap window is displayed with a live video window. You can resize either window by dragging the corner or border.
  • Page 35 Select the Source radio button that matches your input. 4. If you are using a TV input, choose the TV Channels button to display the Captivator Pro/TV Tuner dialog box. Tune in the TV channels—see Tuning in TV channels on page 39. If you are using a video source connected to the Phono or DIN connector, click on the Detect Video button to automatically configure Captivator Pro/TV for your video...
  • Page 36 Select the Both Fields and Dither check boxes. Select the Mirror Video check box if you want to reflect the image horizontally. 7. Choose Image Format from the Options menu. Choose Half Video or 320 x 240 from the Image size list box. Set the Capture Format list box to 8-bit Palettized.
  • Page 37 are reserved for the default Windows colors. If you are snapping 16-bit or 24-bit images you do not need to set a palette. 8. Choose Palette from the Options menu. Type 236 in the colors box. Select the Frame button to set a palette from the current frame.

  • Page 38: File Formats Supported

    Note: You cannot snap an area of the live video window. File formats supported and Save Region As You can save commands images that from the File you snap to menu: one of the TIFF uncompressed following file BMP uncompressed formats using the Save As TARGA...

  • Page 39: Tuning In Tv Channels

    Tuning in TV channels Captivator ProTV can be connected directly to a TV aerial or cable decoder, allowing you to watch live TV on your PC. The Captivator Pro/TV software includes a TV Tuner function that you use to tune in TV, satellite and cable channels for the local area, select preset channels, and adjust the audio volume.

  • Page 40: How To Tune In Tv Channels

    How to tune in TV channels 1. Open a live video window by double-clicking on the Captivator Pro/TV Video Window icon in the VM-Channel program group. If you do not have a window open, you will not be able to see which TV channel you are tuning. 2.
  • Page 41 5. Choose the Scan button to automatically scan for TV channels. The Tuner finds all the local channels and stores them in the Channel name list box in the Tuner dialog box, with their Channel ID numbers. After the channels have been tuned in you can change the Channel name of each channel, assign each a Button number, fine tune a channel, or delete any that you do not want—see steps 7 and 8.
  • Page 42 Use the Fine tuning slider if necessary to adjust the tuning— the meter to the right of the Fine Tuning slider shows the signal strength. The signal is strongest when all four blocks are green. Choose the Save Channel button to save the settings. 8.

  • Page 43: Troubleshooting

    Troubleshooting This chapter is divided into two sections which identify the most common problems that can occur with Captivator Pro/TV. The first section covers installing the Captivator Pro/TV card, displaying live video and capturing clips and stills. The second section lists errors that may appear when you use the Video Control Panel.
  • Page 44 Problem Live video window is black. Condition Video input is very dark. Solution Change the brightness, contrast, saturation, and gamma sliders until the video is visible. Condition VM-Channel cable is connected incorrectly to your graphics card or Captivator Pro/TV, or damaged. Solution Select the Video Display radio button in the Video Control Panel.
  • Page 45 Problem Live video is displayed in color, but captured clip/still is in black and white. Condition The Video format is set to 8-bit Palettized and a palette has not been set for the clip/still. The Windows grayscale palette is used by default.
  • Page 46 Problem Video clip was recorded without dropping many frames, but does not play back smoothly. Condition The data rate of the clip is too high for your system. Solution Compress the video clip using a software compressor—such as ™ ™ ™...

  • Page 47: Error Messages

    iv. If the error message appears when you capture large video images using Microsoft VidCap, reduce the size of the video image using the Video Format dialog box. Problem ‘Capture driver is not installed’ or ‘Cannot open capture driver. Driver is not installed.’ error message when starting a Video for Windows application.
  • Page 48 [DMSDDLL] Driver=c:\vlpower\vlvidctl.dll where c:\vlpower is the directory where the Captivator Pro/TV software was installed. If it is not present, use the text editor to add the section and line to the file, save the file, and then restart Windows. “Error: 0x0117, VDI_ERR_CANT_LOAD_PPSCALE” i.

  • Page 49: Appendix A - Videologic Captivator Pro/Tv Mci Command Set

    Appendix A - VideoLogic Captivator Pro/TV MCI command set This Appendix is a quick reference to the MCI video overlay commands supported by the MCI VideoLogic Captivator Pro/TV driver. Some of the MCI commands, marked with an asterisk *, have been extended for use with Captivator Pro/TV.
  • Page 50 close alias configure alias freeze alias [noupdate*] info alias {file | product | still algorithm | usage | version | window text} list alias {still algorithm {count | number n} | still quality algorithm {algorithm | current} count | video source {count | number n}} load alias filename open overlay...
  • Page 51 | video source [number | standard*] | window [handle | maximized | minimized | visible]} unfreeze alias update alias [at rectangle] [hdc hdc] [paint] where alias {destination [max] | source [max] | video [max]} Appendix A - VideoLogic Captivator Pro/TV MCI command set Contents 51...
  • Page 52 window alias {handle [handle | default] | state [hide | minimize | minimized | no action | restore | show | show maximized | show minimized | show min noactive | show na | show noactivate | normal] [text caption]} 52 Captivator Pro &...

  • Page 53: Appendix B - Captivator Pro/Tv Technical Details

    Appendix B - Captivator Pro/TV technical details Specifications Dimensions 158 x 106 mm Hardware interface 16-bit ISA bus VM-Channel Software interface MCI video overlay driver Video for Windows capture driver Power requirements Captivator Pro +12 V -12 V +5 V Typical 0.96 W 4.5 W...

  • Page 54: Connectors

    Connectors Video input Captivator Pro and Captivator ProTV accept video in Composite and S-Video format in the NTSC, PAL, or SECAM video standard. Only one of the inputs can be used at one time. The phono connector accepts video in Composite format only.

  • Page 55: Base Address Settings

    Signal Left channel Ground Ground Right Channel External audio connector The 3.5 mm jack on Captivator ProTV can be connected to an amplifier, powered speakers, or ‘Walkman’ type headphones. TV tuner Captivator ProTV is available in the following variants using the Philips 1200 series TV tuner.
  • Page 56 56 Captivator Pro & Captivator ProTV User Guide...

  • Page 57: Appendix C - Technical Support

    3. Contact our bulletin board service at 617 494 4960 (up to 9600 baud, 8-N-1) in continental America, or +44 1923 271 301 (up to 14400 baud, 8-N-1) elsewhere. Alternatively, you can drop in to our CompuServe forum (GO VIDEOLOGIC) for the latest drivers, software versions and product news updates.

  • Page 58: Captivator Pro/Tv Checklist

    Captivator Pro/TV checklist Captivator Pro/TV serial number ..............Software version number ..............Graphics card ..............Purchased from ......................................................................Purchase date ..............Computer make and model ..........................................Monitor make and model ............................Hard disk capacity ..............RAM ..............

  • Page 59: Appendix D - Notices

    All VideoLogic products carry a 12 month warranty. with the limits for a Class B digital device, in accor- If you have a problem with a VideoLogic product, dance with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are contact your Reseller or place of purchase first. Au-...

  • Page 60: Software License Agreement

    2. to modify the Software or merge it in machine other syntax contained therein) are and shall remain readable form into another program, any merged the sole property of VideoLogic and its suppliers. program to be subject to this License 3. to copy the Software for back-up purposes...

  • Page 61: Index

    Index Symbols 928Movie cable TV input audio connector Captivator Pro software version Captivator Pro/TV configuring conflicts about the guide connecting inputs accelerating movies on playback 29 connecting to your graphics card 17 adjusting installing 11, 15 base address jumper reconfiguring input area Captivator ProTV Always on Top...
  • Page 62 CompuServe 9, 57 configuring, Captivator Pro/TV19, 25 FaxBack number conflicts with other cards file formats, TV Snap connecting the external cables fine tuning channels connectors, pin outs frame rate vs colors contrast 26, 35 frequency ranges, TV tuner conventions used further reading copyright correcting unstable images...
  • Page 63 marquee satellite TV input MCI video overlay commands saturation 26, 35 Mirror video saving part of a snapped image multiple VM-Channel cards scanning accuracy base addresses naming a channel for interrupts No Title system lock up NTSC - color distortion TV channels your computer 12, 20...
  • Page 64 TV Snap 7, 33 file formats No Title TV tuner dialog box live video window setting up video window, interference VideoLogic Captivator Pro/TV TV tuner dialog TV Tuner MCI commands driver installing Captivator ProTV frequency ranges VM-Channel graphics cards variants...

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