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Visual Circuits ReelTime 2 User Manual

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ReelTime 2

User Manual

Visual Circuits Corporation

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Summary of Contents for Visual Circuits ReelTime 2

  • Page 1: User Manual

    ReelTime 2 User Manual Visual Circuits Corporation...
  • Page 2 The Visual Circuits logo is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries. All other products, services or company names mentioned herein are claimed as trademarks and trade names by their respective companies. Visual Circuits, 1999-2000. All rights reserved. No portion of this manual may be copied by any means without the prior consent of Visual Circuits.
  • Page 3 WARNING: Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment.
  • Page 4 The CE mark is affixed to this Visual Circuits Corporation product to confirm compliance with the following European Community Directives: Council Directive 89/336/EEC of 3 May 1989 on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility. Council Directive 73/23/EEC of 19 February 1973 on the harmonization of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment...
  • Page 5 Introduction ........1 Genlock Options ......2 Audio/Video Distribution .
  • Page 6 Server Setup Check ......27 Getting Started ......28 BIOS Settings .
  • Page 7 Contacting Technical Support....43 What You Should Have Ready When You Call ..43 What You Can Expect When You Call... .44 Technical Support Contact Information for the Value Added Reseller (VAR) or Distributor Only .
  • Page 9 The Visual Circuits ReelTime 2 is a PCI bus board that can play back up to two MPEG2 or MPEG1 video and audio files simultaneously. The ReelTime 2 supports composite video, S- video, or interlaced RGBS video (Red, Green, Blue, with combined H/V sync).

  • Page 10: Audio/Video Distribution

    The RT Daughter card is an additional option for the ReelTime 2. The connectors on the daughter card attach to the two rows of pins on the RGB baseboard. The daughter card does not require an additional PCI slot. The daughter board supports the ability to genlock to an external composite video source.
  • Page 11 1. Mini AV Breakout Box: This box brings out four BNC composite video connectors, four S-video connectors and four mini-phonejack stereo audio connectors. The box connects directly to the DB-25 pin connector on the board and occupies only one slot width on the back of a PC chassis. S-video and composite video are simultaneously available on each channel.
  • Page 12 The source code for the Vidserve demo program is provided for developers as an example of how to access the driver. The current version of the driver uses a C API interface, but does not currently support, ActiveMovie or Direct X. Applications can use the driver by calling the dynamic link library 4REELAPI.DLL.
  • Page 13 The Visual Circuits Corporation ReelTime 2 decoder board is a half sized PCI card. The card is secured using an IO mounting bracket secured to the chassis. This bracket is affixed to the 25-pin female D Sub output of the board.
  • Page 14 CAUTION To install the card, carefully slide the board into the selected PCI slot of the mainboard. Ensure that the bracket is aligned with the IO opening of the chassis and that the outer edge of the card rests securely according to the chassis’ design. Consult with the chassis manufacturer for specific guidelines.
  • Page 15 1. Back the set-screws off fully before attaching the cable. Do not use the attaching screws to “pull” the cable onto the female D Sub connector of the board. 2. Orient the D Sub on the cable properly and apply slight even pressure while connecting the D Subs.
  • Page 17 The following figures show the default jumper settings for the ReelTime 2 board. These jumper settings are for normal operation. The exception is the voltage jumper. This jumper can be set as follows: Right position: Use 3.3V power on the bus for reduced...
  • Page 18 Now that your card is installed: Be sure all software applications are closed. Run Vidserve, the playback application located under Visual Circuits’ programs. Browse to the MPEG file desired and open it. Click Load and wait for the position counter to stop moving.
  • Page 19 VccReg.exe is a driver editing utility designed specifically for editing the VCC4Pro driver settings.
  • Page 20 There are four tabs containing different parameters, descriptions of these parameters, and driver default settings. The four tabs in VccReg.exe are General, Performance, Audio/Video and Special and are located on the left side of the window. The right side of the window contains the Value, Default, Range and Description fields.
  • Page 21 Genlock 0 = Genlock daughterboard is not present. 1 = 4ReelTime Pro with Genlock daughterboard is present. (Older revision of decoder board. Not related to ReelTime 2 board.) 2 = ReelTime Plus board or RT daughter card is present. GreenBarFix 0 = May show green on the bottom of overscan monitors.
  • Page 22 OldBoard 0 = Driver will detect whether the board is an RGB (ReelTime 4/ ReelTime 2/ ReelTime Plus). May cause color bars on older 4ReelTime Pro boards on startup. 1 = Forces the driver to treat the board as a 4ReelTime Pro board and should be set with all 4ReelTime Pro cards.
  • Page 23 Performance AuxSkip 0 = Auto detects additional file playback information such as picture size, frame rate, bitrate, timecode, etc.. Most common setting. 1 = Use videoHSize, videoVSize, and VideoPicRate to set values. BufferSizePerChannel Amount of RAM allocated for each channel. A larger buffer supports larger minimum file reads which reduces hard drive seeking.
  • Page 24 MaxFileRead Set the largest file read the driver will perform. It must be larger than minfileread. 200000 = optimal/recommended. Setting maxfileread to a half of BufferSizePerChannel is recommended. MinDMA Sets the minimum data delivery size from the system memory buffer to the card. 2000 = recommended / optimal performance.
  • Page 25 NonPagedPoolSize Windows NT only. Reserves a block of memory for decoding. 0 = NT automatically assigns. Usually too low if there are multiple boards or a large buffer. Recommended: x800000 where x = number of boards. When changing NonPagedPoolSize, the system will require rebooting for Windows NT to allocate memory.
  • Page 26 Audio/Video AudioFreq 0 = AudioFreq, audio frequencies auto detected. 2c = all files are played at 44kHz. 30 = all files are played at 48kHz. DisableSync 0 = Enables audio/video synchronization. 1 = Disables audio/video synchronization. DSIZEAUDIO This parameter sets the size of audio memory allocated on the board.
  • Page 27 Svideo 0 = Composite video output. 1 = Composite and S-video outputs. VideoHSize If non_zero, fix the horizontal pixel number. Set auxskip=1 if this value is used / not set=0. VideoPicRate If non-zero, fix the frame rate to the value. Set auxskip=1 if this value is used / not set=0.
  • Page 28 C/S= Composite/S-Video RGB = RGB output...
  • Page 29 Examples: 1 board, all channels RGB VideoTypes = F 2 boards, board composite video board RGB VideoTypes = F0 2 boards, board channel 1-2 RGB, channel 3-4 S-video (=3) board channel 1-2 composite video, 3-4 RGB (=C) VideoTypes = C3 VideoVSize If non_zero, fix the vertical pixel number.
  • Page 30 Special DSIZEPES This parameter sets the size of PES memory allocated on the board. 3000 = Normal operation. LateLoadNext Sets the handling of mpgLoadNext calls that arrive after playback has stopped. 0 = Late mpgLoadNext calls will be ignored. 1 = Playback will always resume (default). MaxCards The number of cards to initialize (1-8).
  • Page 31 Proper drive mapping is crucial for MPEG playback performance. Fundamentally, this often involves configuring the driver so that it reads from different physical hard drives simultaneously. In a system with two MPEG content hard drives, data should be read from both drives at the same time for maximum performance. The MaxDisks driver parameter is used to specify the number of playback storage hard drives used in a system.
  • Page 32 It is actually permissible that a channel group reads from a set of physical hard drives, as long as none of the drives in the set belong to another channel group. This is beneficial if the MPEG files will not all fit on a single drive. For simplified mapping, it is recommended to divide the numbers of channels evenly and sequentially across multiple boards.
  • Page 33 4 Channels, each with a 8 mbps file (single SCSI) Channels 1-4 are mapped to drive D:\ (Default: MaxDisks = 1)
  • Page 34 8 Channel Systems: 8 Channels, each with a 8 mbps file ("8X8"). Channels 1-8 may be mapped to a single SCSI drive. MaxDisks = 1. If two SCSI disks are used: Channels 1-4 are mapped to drive D:\ Channels 5-8 are mapped to drive E:\ Set MaxDisks = 2.
  • Page 35 Prior to any troubleshooting, power down the system and be sure that the card is properly installed in the system’s PCI slot. Test only one card in the system at a time. Confirm that the system has the power connected properly. Confirm that all video and audio cables are connected properly.
  • Page 36 1. Power the server up and open Vidserve playback application located under Visual Circuits programs. (For detailed instructions on using Vidserve, please refer to the Vidserve User Manual.) On the main application window, the radio button selected should indicate Card 1 found. If it states “VCC4Pro driver not found” see page 31 for tips on how to fix the error.
  • Page 37 3. With color bars visible, select Black on the main window. Displays should go to black. 4. Be sure Auto Play and Black are not selected. Using the Browse button, select a file for channel 1 and click Open. Note the Position window and see that the counter has stopped increasing.

  • Page 39: Bios Settings

    Make sure the board or boards are securely seated in the PCI bus. "ReelTime 2: Failed to allocate mem" Be sure and verify default performance settings in VccReg. Verify all memory is detected by server on start up or by...

  • Page 40: Channel

    "ReelTime 2: HARDWARE ERROR" Inspect the decoder board for damage. Also review the voltage of the server’s motherboard. The 3.3v setting is the default jumper for VCC decoder boards and may need to be changed to 5v as required. Refer to jumper settings for the board being used.

  • Page 41: No Audio

    Uneven audio to video track lengths: Confirm the length of the audio track to the length of the video track. The Visual Circuits VCC4PRO driver, standard with all Visual Circuits boards and digital servers, aggressively synchronizes the audio and video data of the MPEG file to maintain Audio/ Visual (AV) Sync.
  • Page 42 Unequal elementary streams/uneven video or audio tracks. Cross channel synchronization requires equal playback duration and similar timecode starting points of MPEG files: For cross channel sync all MPEG files must have equal playback duration. If in a synchronized group of channels, files vary in length, the driver will attempt to synchronize these unevenly matched files and cause "stuttering".
  • Page 43 Playing MPEG 1 and MPEG2 files back to back: The resolution switch from MPEG 1 files (342X240) to MPEG2 files (720X480) causes a "latent image" or a "quadrant display" of the last played file’s image. The only way to perform seamless playback when using a playlist of files is to insert an encoded "black file"...
  • Page 44 Some SMPTE tracks lose information during compression and may not "trigger" events as required. It is recommended to encode these tracks "hot", adding approximately +6 db to the track while encoding. Testing is essential to account for variances in encoders and SMPTE devices involved.
  • Page 45 Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) files are created with standard graphics authoring programs. The following are basic creation guidelines and playback tips: 1. The width, or "X" axis, of the GIF’s resolution must be a multiple of 16 pixels. 2. GIF must be 16-color non-interlaced format. A palette of exactly 16 colors (any colors) can be used.
  • Page 46 Be sure buffers are fully loaded before calling a playback command. Usually following the initial buffer load, a delay is required. Make sure the file is not a transport stream. These files typically have a .m2t extension. Visual Circuits MPEG decoders do not support transport stream files.
  • Page 47 Verify ATA 66 to ATA 33 compatible components and drivers. A different IDE bus driver may be required for proper system performance. This will not work unless you set network=1. Only one program can access the driver at a time. Close all programs using the VCC4PRO driver and run Vidserve again.
  • Page 48 RT Daughter Card use: RT Daughter cards when attached to the ReelTime 2 baseboard, will synchronize the outputs of all channels to the same scan rate. This may also eliminate errant line noise. Consult with your Visual...
  • Page 49 Be sure MPEG test files are tested on the system to confirm correct encoding of presentation content. Uneven length audio tracks may cause audio decode interruptions. Often files exhibiting poor playback may be played in a loop and a file preceding or following the suspected file may be causing poor audio decode.
  • Page 51 If you are experiencing problems with your ReelTime 2 decoder board, consult Troubleshooting on page 30 and the support information available at www.visualcircuits.com first. If you need further assistance, please contact your Visual Circuits Value Added Reseller or Distributor. Before you call your supplier for support, collect the following pieces of information: The serial number of the ReelTime 2 board.

  • Page 52: What You Should Have Ready When You Call

    As a Value Added Reseller or Distributor, you may contact Visual Circuits technical support. Your call will be handled in the following manner: 1. A technical support representative will record several pieces of information (see What You Should Have Ready When You Call, above).
  • Page 53 If the ReelTime 2 board has problems that cannot be corrected over the telephone by Visual Circuits technical support, you may need to return the ReelTime 2 board to Visual Circuits Corporation. All materials shipped back to Visual Circuits Corporation must be accompanied by a Return Materials Authorization (RMA) number.
  • Page 59 For all cables, 75-ohm cable is recommended for all video outputs and inputs if applicable. The challenge to making cables for RGB and Daughter Card (Genlock) decoder boards is the number of wire leads required. In these instances, 24 of the 25 pins available are used and often do not feed into standard D Sub shells.
  • Page 60 PIN-OUT CONNECTION TABLE (25 PIN D SUB):...
  • Page 62 (See Block Diagram of Board on page 56 for the following description) The board consists of a PCI bus-mastering bridge chip and identical MPEG2 decoder channels. The key to understanding the operation of the board and the driver is to understand the buffer management.
  • Page 63 There is no explicit end-of-file detection by the decoder chip. It will continue to decode and display data once it is initialized, and provided there is no need to change initialization parameters (such as the display resolution), there will be seamless transitions between files.
  • Page 64 SCSI CO N TRO LLE R H O ST M E M O RY BUF FE R CH ANN EL1 H O ST M E M O RY BUF FE R CH ANN EL2 H O ST M E M O RY BUF FE R CH ANN EL3 H O ST M E M O RY BUF FE R CH ANN EL4 8X32 BIT PC I BRIDG E...

  • Page 65: Motherboard

    The following general guidelines are for systems built solely for the purpose of displaying digital video using Visual Circuits decoder boards on a Windows NT Workstation operating platform. Systems running multiple devices and software programs may run smoothly with Visual Circuits decoder boards. However, due to the short life cycle of components and the emergence of new products there is always the possibility of incompatibility.
  • Page 66 Servers running 1- 4 channels require only a single IDE disk drive. NT Workstation is installed on the first partition of the disk in C:\ using approximately 800 MB of disk space. (This amount of disk space is recommended in order to perform future software upgrades to NT or other applications.
  • Page 67 It is also possible for the cards to share interrupts with other PCI devices in the bus, such as a SCSI card. You will have to test to see which ReelTime 2 board is assigned by the BIOS to be ‘first.’ Normally, the card on the left (looking at motherboard from behind) is card 0.
  • Page 68 These parameter settings have been found to give the best performance playing multiple high bitrate files off of a single drive: BufferSizePerChannel = 0x00400000 minfileread = 0x100000 maxfileread = 0x200000 DSIZEOSD = 0x0000 mindma = 0x10000 maxdma = 0x40000 StarveCheck = 0x0 nocache = 0x1 noreadbuff = 0x1...

  • Page 69: Hard Disks

    ambient temperature 50 audio 1, 32, 47 AudioFreq 18 AudioSync 13 AuxSkip 15 BIOS 40 BIOS settings 31 bitrate 24 blue screen 31 breakout box 3 buffers 39 BufferSizePerChannel 15 bus interface 50 channel 24, 26 chassis 5, 6, 58 composite video 1 connecting cable 2, 51...
  • Page 70 MaxFileRead 16 MaxSyncFix 18 memory 57 MinDMA 16 MinFileRead 16 motherboard 57 mounting bracket 5 MPEG 23, 33, 39 Multiapp 22 multiple board servers 59 multiple drives 23 Network 14 NoCache 16 NonPagedPoolSize 17 NoReadBuff 17 NTSC 38 NumberOfChannels 14 OldBoard 14 on-screen display (OSD) 1 PAL 14, 38...

  • Page 71: Revision History

    Revision History 813-0009a (March 2001)ECO# 733 New manual.

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