home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Power DOS 1996 July
/
Power DOS - July 1996.iso
/
sound
/
c_labs
/
beta
/
vbinst.exe
/
README.TXT
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-06-11
|
12KB
|
278 lines
************************************************************************
* Copyright (c) Creative Technology Ltd, 1991-93. All rights reserved. *
************************************************************************
VIDEO BLASTER LATEST INFORMATION
================================
This file contains information not available during the printing of
the manual. Please read all the sections before you proceed with any
installation procedure.
This file contains the following sections:
1. Software Installation
2. Package Contents
3. Changes Made to Software
4. Memory Conflict Problem on 16 MB Systems
5. PAL Video System Users
6. Loading of Large Image Files
7. Supports for JPEG file format
8. Clipboard support.
1. SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
The installation program, INSTALL.EXE will modify your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you have Microsoft Windows 3.1 installed
in your system, you can optionally select to modify WIN.INI to
include the command to setup the drivers and applications for
Video Blaster the next time you startup Windows. Your original
files will be renamed with a .B~K extension.
Note: We are in the process of shifting our Video Blaster drivers
from the Windows directory to the Windows SYSTEM directory. As
such, the installation program INSTALL.EXE will move existing
Video Blaster drivers in the WINDOWS directory to the
WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Existing Video Blaster drivers in the
WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory will be renamed with a .B~K extension.
The procedure for installation is as follows.
a. Run the program INSTALL.EXE from DOS prompt. This program can
be found on Disk #1.
b. Select "Begin Installation" and follow the instructions on the
screen.
c. Quit the installation program when it completes successfully.
d. REBOOT YOUR SYSTEM.
e. You may proceed to test your Video Blaster card with the
program VBTEST.EXE located in the \VBLASTER directory.
If you allowed the installation program to add a command to your
WIN.INI, the program WINSETUP.EXE will be run the next time you
startup Windows. Optionally you may follow the following steps to
run WINSETUP.EXE.
a. Startup Microsoft Windows 3.1.
b. From the FILE menu in Program Manager, choose RUN.
c. Type "C:\VBLASTER\WINSETUP" and press ENTER, assuming that
you installed Video Blaster software onto drive C.
d. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the
installation.
2. PACKAGE CONTENTS
The following are files contained in the distribution diskette(s):
INSTALL.EXE - Software installation program
README .COM - Program to display the README.TXT file
README .TXT - This file
INSTALL.001 - Installation data files
DISK .ID - Disk identification file
The following are files that will be installed to your hard disk.
In the \VBLASTER directory:
README .COM - Program to display this README.TXT file
README .TXT - This file
VBSETENV.EXE - Program to set up the VIDEOBLST environment
variable
VBSETUP .EXE - DOS program to set up video defaults
VBTEST .EXE - DOS program for testing the Video Blaster card
VBLSTDRV.COM - Video Blaster DOS driver
VBSET .EXE - DOS command-line program to control the Video
Blaster
VID_ON .BAT - Batch file to turn video on (from DOS)
VID_OFF .BAT - Batch file to turn video off (from DOS)
WINSETUP.EXE - Video Blaster Windows 3.1 drivers and
applications set up program
WINSETUP.INF - WINSETUP program information file
In the \VBLASTER\MMPLAY sub-directory:
MMPLAY .EXE - The multimedia player program
MMPLAY .CFG - MMPLAY configuration file
MMVBDEMO.BAT - Sample MMPLAY batch file
MMVBDEMO.ACT - Sample MMPLAY script
FLCVESA .DRV - MMPLAY VESA FLC driver
PCXDRV .DRV - MMPLAY PCX file-load driver
*.VOC - Sample voice files
*.CMF - Sample CMF files
*.FLI - Sample FLI image files
*.PCX - Sample PCX picture files
In the \VBLASTER\WINDOWS sub-directory:
VBSOUND .EXE - Windows program to control the Video Blaster
VBWSETUP.EXE - Windows program to set up video defaults volume
levels
VIDEOKIT.EXE - Windows program to display video under Windows
PCVIDEO .DLL - Windows Dynamic Link Library for controlling
the Video Card
CTJPEG.DLL - Windows Dynamic Link Library for JPEG
compression/decompression
CTRES.DLL - DLL for Custom controls
CTCCW.DLL - DLL for Custom controls
VBMISC.DLL - DLL for Custom controls
MCIVBLST.DRV - Video Blaster MCI Overlay driver
OVERLAY .WRI - Microsoft Write file documenting the overlay
driver functions
3. CHANGES MADE TO SOFTWARE
The following are changes made to the software that have not found
their way into the manual:
a. The Video Blaster will run at resolutions up to 640x480 only.
However, we have provided a 800x600 compatibility feature for
users who have 800x600 VGA cards. This feature will allow you
to see clean video at 800x600.
Note: Total compatibility is not possible, but we have tried to
minimise the conflicts as much as we can. We recommend
that you not set this feature on unless you really need
to work at 800x600 with very clean video display. Please
let us know if you find that with the 800x600 feature
enabled, you experience difficulty with the video.
b. We have included an MCI OVERLAY driver for use with our Video
Blaster card. Details about this driver is available in the
Microsoft Write file OVERLAY.WRI in the \VBLASTER\WINDOWS
directory.
4. MEMORY CONFLICT PROBLEM ON 16 MB SYSTEMS
The Video Blaster has a built-in RAM buffer to hold video data
that is being captured, which occupies 1 MB of system memory
address space. This may cause conflict on some PC's that are
equipped with 16 MB of memory or more, as there will be some
system memory which is overlapped by the RAM on the Video
Blaster. This would arise in unexpected and undesirable results
with programs making use of extended memory, such as HIMEM.SYS or
the Windows 3.1 system.
Users running Windows 3.1 in enhanced mode may overcome this
problem by setting the video buffer address beyond 16 MB (or the
amount of memory installed in the system). This may be done by
choosing the "Configure..." menu in the Windows VBSetup program
and then bringing up the "Preferences..." choice. Under the
"Frame Buffer Base Addr" setting, increase the value to something
larger than your system memory. For example, if you have 20 MB
installed in your system, set the "Frame Buffer Base Addr" to 22
MByte.
WARNING: THE METHOD OUTLINED ABOVE WILL WORK ONLY FOR CERTAIN
CPU MOTHERBOARD CHIPSETS. We have tested the following chipsets
and found that there is a high probability that the above method
may work correctly.
:
we will update this list when fully tested.
:
:
We are constantly collecting data on the chipsets that is
supported, and would appreciate it if you would perform the
following simple steps to see if your chipset would support the
Video Blaster:
a) Set up the Video Blaster (and the software).
b) Run Windows in Enhanced mode.
c) Run VBSetup and set up the frame buffer address as described
above.
d) Run VideoKit and reduce the window height to about 200 lines.
The window width is not important.
e) Freeze the image and save it as a BMP file.
f) Use PaintBrush to read the BMP file.
g) If a correct picture is displayed in PaintBrush, the chipset is
compatible.
If you do run the above steps, please let us know of your
results, so that we can keep our data updated. Kindly send a fax
to our Technical Support, or send a mail to our bulletin board
(whichever your preference), and let us know of the result of
your test and which chipset your machine is running on.
Note that RUNNING WINDOWS IN STANDARD MODE WILL CAUSE THE ABOVE
METHOD TO FAIL AND MAY CAUSE A SYSTEM CRASH. DOS PROGRAMS WILL
ALSO NOT WORK WITH THE METHOD.
5. PAL VIDEO SYSTEM USERS
The Video Blaster by default accepts NTSC video signals. As such
a default crop-window of nearly 500 lines is imposed on the video
signal. PAL system users have a video signal that has about 600
lines. This means that the default crop-window will cut away
almost 100 lines from a PAL source, or about an inch or so of
video.
PAL users may solve this problem by adjusting the crop-window for
their live source. This can be done from inside the SETUP
programs, both VBSETUP and VBWSETUP. Select the source that is
connected to the PAL source, and then choose the Crop... option to
adjust the crop-window for that source. Increase the crop height
until almost all of the video may be seen in the video window
again.
6. LOADING OF LARGE IMAGE FILES
The Video Blaster has a video buffer that can hold only 512 lines
of video data. Therefore files which have more than 512 lines
cannot be loaded into the video buffer. In particular, files
saved under the 800x600 compatibility mode of the VideoKit program
when the display window has more than 512 lines cannot be loaded
back into the video buffer. However, other applications will
still be able to load these large files, as they do not make use
of the Video Blaster video buffer, are therefore not constrained
by the size of the video buffer.
7. SUPPORTS FOR JPEG FILE FORMAT
The Windows program VIDEOKIT.EXE can save and load standard JPEG
(or JFIF) files.
While saving an image as a JPEG file, the Q factor (Quantization
factor) will determine the JPEG compression level in the file.
With a higher Q factor, blocking artifacts will be visible,
leading to poorer image quality. Conversely, the lower the Q
factor, the better the image will be,but file size will be larger.
The recommended range for selecting the Q factor is 1 to 35, where
the image result will be satisfactory in proportion to the file
size.
Note that the Q factor actually determines the level of
compression and is NOT the compression factor. That is, the
resultant file size is not proportional to the Q factor chosen.
JPEG compression/decompression copyrighted by
Xing Technology Corporation, 1990-93. All rights reserved.
8. CLIPBOARD SUPPORT
The clipboard support have been added in VIDEOKIT.EXE. The
available options are: 1. DIB (24-bit)
2. DIB (8-bit)
3. DIB (8-bit gray)
4. Bitmap (24-bit)
5. Bitmap (8-bit)
6. Bitmap (8-bit gray)
********** End of README.TXT **********