Video for Windows 1.1  -  Supplementary  Release  Notes for
Creative Labs, Inc. Video Blaster


Contents:
=========

1. Changes to this update

2. First time installation

3. Upgrade from previous version of the driver

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Changes to this update
=====================================================================

Under the Microsoft Video for Windows 1.1, the sequence of message send
from the system to the Video Blaster AVI driver is different from VFW 1.0.
As a result, a GP-Fault will occur. This release of the Video Blaster AVI
driver fix this situation when running under the VFW 1.1. 

This current driver version number is 1.3.0.0.


=====================================================================
First time installation
=====================================================================

If you have not install any previous version of the Video Blaster AVI
driver, a single installation is sufficient for the installation.

1.  Install the Video Blaster following the Installation Guide as provided by Creative 
Labs, Inc. Use the Creative Labs supplied "VBWSETUP.EXE" utility to setup the 
hardware and align the overlay window position. Verify proper operation of the 
hardware using the Creative Labs supplied "VIDEOKIT.EXE" Windows application.

2.  Use the Control Panel Drivers applet to add the Video Blaster VFW driver from the 
Drivers disk. Use the "Setup..." button to configure the base memory address, 
interrupt and playback configuration. After the installation is complete, your 
"SYSTEM.INI" file should contain the entries:

    	[Drivers]
    	msvideo=vblaster.drv
    	VIDC.cyuv=vblaster.drv

3.  Do NOT use the analog audio channel inputs to the Video Blaster. These channels 
are not capable of digitizing sound, so you must have some other wave audio 
device to capture sound.

4.  Video Blaster contains 1 Mb of memory. The starting address of this memory is 
located in the range between 1 Mb and 15 Mb. The base address of this block 
must be ABOVE all physical extended memory.


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Upgrade from previous version of the driver
============================================================

If you have already installed any previous version of the
Video Blaster AVI driver, upgrading your system's VB AVI driver
to this version is simply copy the file "VBLASTER.DRV" to your
WINDOWS system directory.

Creative Video Blaster Video Capture Driver supports 5 different capture formats - 
8-bit RGB palettized, 16-bit RGB, 24-bit RGB, Truncated YUV and Packed YUV. 
The YUV formats are parts of the Creative YUV DIB Format Extension which are 
proprietary to Creative Labs, Inc.

The YUV formats play back directly to the Video Blaster hardware and give better 
color resolution at low data rate. Palette capture is NOT required when capturing 
using the YUV formats. Truncated YUV yields better image quality while retaining 
the same data rate as 8-bit RGB palettized.


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Creative Video Compressor
=============================================================

Creative Video Compressor is a Compression/Decompression (CODEC) driver that 
supports the playback of Creative YUV AVI file. It also supports the conversion of 
Creative YUV AVI file to other file formats and vice versa. Default playback of 
Creative YUV AVI file is through Video Blaster Frame Buffer. On machines not 
equipped with Video Blaster, Creative YUV AVI files may be played back through 
the VGA Display using the CODEC driver. Playback configuration can be selected 
in the Control Panel drivers option.

Both Video Capture and Video Playback share the same Video Blaster hardware. 
Because of this, there are certain guidelines that need to be observed when using 
both simultaneously.

-    At any one time, only one Creative YUV AVI video sequence can be played back. 
Running multiple files will cause unpredictable results.

-   Some conflicts will occur when VidCap.exe is run while Media Player or 
VidEdit.exe playing Creative YUV AVI file. Unpredictable results might occur.

-   Creative YUV AVI file playback on Video Blaster Frame Buffer has a fixed size 
and cannot be stretched. A Zoom by 2 option is also supported. When the 
playback window size is resized, the image will be cropped.

-   The CODEC driver does not support the Full Screen option of the Media Player's 
Video Playback Options.