================================================= Quick Start Guide for Using PCIS AVI Movie Discs: ================================================= ---------------------- Important Information: ---------------------- You must have Windows 3.1 or Windows 3.0 with the Multimedia Extensions to install the Video for Windows runtime drivers for use with the Media Player accessory. If you already have the Video for Windows runtime drivers installed, please skip to step #6. (If you are unfamiliar with the operation of Microsoft Windows, review the Chapter 2 of your Microsoft Windows User's Guide for assistance.) ----------------------- Information For Review: ----------------------- If you are a user new to Microsoft Windows or you are unfamiliar with the some of the items discussed so far in the this document and the tray card insert you may want to find your Windows 3.1 Users Guide and review the following chapters for further information: ----------- ----- -------- Section: Page: Subject: ----------- ----- -------- Chapter 2 53 Starting Applications Using The RUN Command Chapter 2 51 Starting An Application Chapter 3 78 Working With Program Items Chapter 12 451 Media Player Chapter 15 559 Installing Device Drivers Not Supplied With Windows Review of these chapters of the manual are important to review to achieve the best results using PCIS movie discs. ------------------- Basic Instructions: ------------------- 1. Place the CD-ROM disc into your CD-ROM drive. (Assumes CD-ROM drive is already installed.) 2. Start Windows, this is typically done by typing "WIN" from the WINDOWS directory. 3. From the "Program Manager", select "File" from the pulldown menu list on the left side of the function bar at top of the Program Manager window. Now, select "Run". 4. Type "x:\runtime\setup" (the 'x' should be your CD-ROM drive letter) 5. The Video for Windows runtime will be installed and the Media Player will be updated. 6. To play a movie clip, select the Accessories group from the Program Manager and then the Media Player icon. Click on "Device", then select "Video for Windows". Choose your CD-ROM drive letter, and the AVI directory. You should now see the list of .AVI files contained on the CD-ROM. Select the AVI for the chapter which you wish to view. The movie will now play on your screen. If you experience any problems please refer to the following sections on improving movie quality and choosing the correct video mode. ----------------- Quality Of Movies ----------------- The quality of a PCIS Video movie depends on several factors. Playback on a fast 486 doesn't necessarily guarantee that playback will be flawless. A slow CD-ROM, or a slow video card adapter can cripple video playback. Our AVI's are customized for playback on a CD-ROM with a data transfer rate of 150 kilobytes per second to provide the smoothest video playback. PCIS Video Productions has taken a great amount of time developing an AVI which will provide the best playback on the widest range of PC's possible. It might be helpful to know that Video for Windows is restricted to a maximum of 15 fps (Frames Per Second) and movement still might appear some what "jagged". Normal Television is a 30 fps device and the "jagged" effect is not as noticeable to the human eye at this frame rate. -------------------------------- Resolutions & Viewing Distances: -------------------------------- When selecting your viewing resolution, you will get better results if you watch the video at the recommended viewing distance (the distance between the viewer's eyes and the monitor screen) for that particular resolution. If viewing the movie at the default resolution of 160x120, a distance of 3 feet is sufficient. However, if your resolution is "times 2" at 320x240, or fullscreen, distances of 6 feet and 12 feet will provide the best results. The suggested rule of thumb is the further back from the monitor you are the better quality of "fluid motion" you will appear to get. This is a factor of the human eye, not the software. Make sure that Windows is running in 640x480 video mode. If Windows is running in 1024x768 or 800x600, the video playback may appear jerky and not smooth if running on a 386 or slow 486. 24 bit color will provide the highest color depth of video, but may cause the video to become choppy. If you are using a true color video card which supports 24 bit color, we recommend lowering the color depth to 32,000 or 65,000 colors to improve playback. Running Windows in 256 color mode will allow for the smoothest video playback but with the least amount of color depth. ---------------------------------- Changing The Windows Video Driver: ---------------------------------- As stated above changing the Windows Video driver is one the best ways to achieve better results viewing movies under Windows. The video driver handles the communication between the Windows operating system and your system's video card. Although, most systems are able to handle more colors than the standard 16 (BASIC VGA) color, many users do not know how to change the video driver. When windows is installed it checks your video sub-system and attempts to set it at the highest resolution possible. In most cases this is 16 color VGA mode at 640x480. This is very fast, but it doesn't provide for much depth in color. In order to change the Video Driver, you need to know what kind of VGA card you have. If you have no idea, we suggest you call the company/person that sold you the computer and ask them. The proper question to ask is "Who makes the VGA board that is in my computer?" You also may want to ask if they make the "chipset" also. Many VGA cards are made by different companies, but they use the same "chipset" as other VGA cards. (Example: Trident makes VGA cards for a lot of different people, but they don't sell the cards themselves. You might have an AST SVGA card with 1MB of memory on it, but it might have been made by Western Digital using a Paradise "chipset" hence it would need a Paradise driver disk by AST. Western Digital's drivers, but the disk might have AST's name on it.) It is also important to find out how much Video Memory is on the video card itself. This memory is not the same as the RAM that is on the system's mother board. Most of the time (but, not always) you will need to have at least 512K of RAM on the video card in order to achieve more colors than 16. Most of the new video cards coming out have 1MB to 2MB of video ram on them and are optimized (accelerated) for performance with Windows. It has been our experience that video cards that are optimized for added performance with Windows are a big help in getting movies to run better. (If you are now finding out that you are going to need a better video card, you might want to consider a VESA Local Bus Video card if your mother board is able to support it. Again, you will need to check with the company/person who sold you the computer to find out what your video upgrade options are.) Once you have figured out what kind of VGA card you have the next phase is to get a copy of the driver disk for your VGA card. Most of the time this disk comes with your computer, but not always. This disk has the drivers to support different video modes with Windows. It is not a Microsoft product. It is not on your original Windows 3.1 disks. (However, you will most likely need your original Windows 3.1 disks while changing video drivers.) In chapter 15 of your Microsoft Windows 3.1 Users Guide it explains in detail how to change device drivers using the setup program. The SETUP program is located in your Windows directory. It can be run from either DOS or Windows. --------------------------------------- This is how to change the Video Driver: --------------------------------------- (1) From the MAIN group in the Windows Program Manager choose Windows Setup (2) From the Option Bar, choose OPTIONS (3) From the Options Menu, choose Change System Settings (4) To open the list for the settings that you want to change, click the arrow at the right of the list OR Press TAB to move to the setting that you want to change, and then press ALT + DOWN ARROW to open the list If the Device Driver for your Video Board appears, continue with step 8 If the Device Driver for your Video Board does not appear, continue with step 5 (5) Scroll to the bottom of the list, and then select OTHER (6) Insert the driver disk containing your Video Board Drivers into one of your floppy disk drives. OR If the Video Board Driver is in a directory on the hard disk, enter the directory path of the drivers. (7) Choose the OK button (Setup Will Display A List Of The Drivers On The Disk) (8) Choose the Video Driver you want (Drivers are selected by resolution and the number of colors. [i.e. 640x480x256 means 640x480 Screen Resolution with 256 Colors. This is our suggested resolution for best performance.]) (9) Choose the OK button. You might be prompted for additional disks if more than one disk was provided by the video card manufacturer. You also might be asked to insert several of your original Windows 3.1 disks to copy the WinLogo and fonts. Should the SETUP program find the selected device driver already on your hard disk, Windows will ask you if you wish to use the current driver or install a new one. You can use can use the current one, unless you are attempting to update the driver. (10) Choose the OK button. A dialog box should then appear with a message asking you if you want to RESTART Windows or REBOOT. Choose the REBOOT selection. Make sure that no disks are in the A: floppy drive and restart Windows. Here is one other important tip. Check the file date on the driver file that is on the video driver disk you have. If the file date is more than 6 months old chances are that a newer version of the video is available for your video card. If you have a modem, you might be able to download a newer driver from CompuServe, Genie, or a local BBS. If not you might want to call the video card manufacture and ask for a new copy of the driver disk, if the drivers have been updated. It is possible you might get them for free or for the cost of shipping. Some some video card makers have their own support BBS from which video drivers can be downloaded. Because of the vast amount of data be handled by the video card it is important to get the best drivers possible. Many video card makers have realized how important it is to have an efficient driver and many companies regularly update and optimize drivers to improve card performance. The newer the video driver is, chances are the better the performance of the movie will be. Some 3rd party companies even offer 3rd party video drivers for some video cards. These are drivers that are not written or supported by the video card maker, but we have seen 3rd party drivers that can improve card performance by 30%. This is another option to consider if the maker of your video card doesn't have a resent updated video driver. Some manufacturers provide a test program to run once you have completed the installation to verify that everything has been setup correctly. -------------------------------------- Tips To Improve Component Performance: -------------------------------------- The next Several Sections will provide you with some of our best tips and tricks to trouble shoot problems and improve component performance. Please be fully aware that some of the material covered in the next several sections might be a little advanced for the novice user. If you have further questions about some of the material covered in this section we suggest that to ask someone at a local computer store to explain it to you. Although, some of these suggestions may sound extreme, please understand that these are suggestions. Improving Processor Performance: -------------------------------- Having good processor performance doesn't necessarily mean good video playback performance. CPU usage can be in the good or satisfactory range and you can still have problems playing AVI files. If this is the case (and you are not running networking software) your system's processor may not be able to efficiently handle the necessary tasks. Suggestions for improving processor performance include: * Install a video board that does hardware decompression of video. If your processor does not have to handle the decompression of the incoming video performance will improve. Be aware that you must have a card that is able to be used under Windows and that supports decompression via device driver support. * As a last resort, consider upgrading your processor by replacing the mother board or replacing the current processor with faster one. The possibilities on processor replacement include using chips that double the internal clock speed. New processors coming out from Cyrix allow you to replace your 386 chip with a faster Cyrix chip. With ZIF sockets becoming more wide spread it is possible that trading your 486SX processor for a 486DX processor could just give you the performance boost you need. Check with your local computer reseller to find out what upgrade processor upgrade options are available to you. Improving Video Performance: ---------------------------- A display subsystem includes the video board and the display monitor. Some suggestions for improving the performance of your video subsystem include: * Update your video drivers! (This is covered in depth in this document.) * Add more Video RAM to your display board. (However, only some boards can accept and benefit from more video RAM.) * Add a Windows Video Accelerator card to your computer. (Consider getting a VESA bus video card if possible, they are only a few dollars more. Your system has to have a VESA slot in order to use a VESA card.) * Contact the video board manufacturer of your video board and ask about more recent or improved versions of the board itself. * Consider getting a 3rd party video accelerator driver. Some 3rd parties have written additional drivers for several video cards that perform as much as 30% better than the manufacturer's video drivers. Improving Audio Performance: ---------------------------- Audio performance is rarely a problem in playing AVI files. Breaks in the audio track usually indicate a blockage in the system itself. Evaluate other possible problems before placing the blame on the audio board itself. Some suggestions for improving the audio performance include: * Update your audio board's Windows device driver. You may have to contact the audio board manufacturer to get a newer version of the driver. Updated drivers improve performance most of the time. * As a last resort ask the audio board manufacturer about an improved or updated version of the board itself. It is possible that enhancements to to board have been made since the revision of the board you have. Improving Data-Streaming (CD-ROM) Performance: ---------------------------------------------- Most AVI files that come on CD-ROM are optimized for playback for 150 kilobytes per second. Your CD-ROM subsystem must be able to deliver the data at this rate for best performance. Performance can be improved sometimes by copying the AVI files to the hard disk and playing it from their. However, some AVI files are so large that they will not fit on the average size hard drive. However, even copying the AVI file to the hard drive doesn't mean the performance will improve if the hard drive is badly fragmented. (Fragmented means that the AVI file stored on the hard disk is not stored in noncontinuous sectors) Here are a few suggestions for improving CD-ROM performance: * Update your CD-ROM Device Driver if possible. Sometimes this can improve performance. * Add CD-ROM caching software. The trade off is that caching software uses memory. We would not suggest caching the CD-ROM drive unless you have over 4MB of memory on your system. * Consider as a last resort replacing the CD-ROM drive with a drive that is double, triple, or quad spin. These drives for the most part are able to deliver far more than 150 kilobytes per second. (Ask your dealer to make sure that the new CD-ROM Drive you are considering delivers more than 150 kilobytes per second sustained transfer rate.) * One additional suggestion would be to contact the drive manufacturer and ask about more resent or improved versions of the CD-ROM drive itself. One additional thing to think about. Look for the weakest link in your performance. Start there and try to fix it first. In order to get the best possible results all of the components must be able to perform together. All references to companies and specific products are referenced for compatibility only. PCIS Video Products does not reccomend or suggest that any one product may perform better than any other. Examples in this document may not apply to other products that use the AVI format. Windows is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corp. Video for Windows is a registered trademark of the Microsoft Corp. All Trademarks Acknowledged.