EnigmA Amiga Run 1997 July

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Text File | 1995-04-29 | 18KB | 380 lines

Article: 5060 of comp.graphics.packages.lightwave Xref: netcom.com comp.graphics.packages.lightwave:5060 Path: netcom.com!ix.netcom.com!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!kithrup.com!news.Stanford.EDU!not-for-mail From: harlock@Ranma.stanford.edu (Mike Harlock) Newsgroups: comp.graphics.packages.lightwave Subject: PVR Perception press release (has all the info) Date: 20 Apr 1995 12:37:06 -0700 Organization: The Space Vessel Arcadia Lines: 366 Message-ID: <3n6d52$84i@Ranma.stanford.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: ranma.stanford.edu Well, I saw this in rec.video.production a week ago. After waiting for someone else to post it here, no one did, and I don't know why, so here it is, it answers probably all the questions people have had about the PVR board. (I guess we're all justabuncha lemmings. ;) --mike __ < \ harlock@ranma.com - Mike Harlock [\\\\\\(\ (:::<======================================- \< > \ Practice Random Kindness \\ / | And Senseless Acts of Beauty `==='____/ New! http://raindrop.ranma.com/mikem.html ================================================================= THE DPS PERCEPTION VIDEO RECORDER Models PVR-2500/PVR-3500 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & PRELIMINARY SPECIFICATIONS WHAT IS THE PERCEPTION VIDEO RECORDER? The DPS Perception Video Recorder (PVR) is a digital disk recorder capable of recording and playing back broadcast quality video in real time from a dedicated SCSI hard drive. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE HARDWARE? Perception Video is a full-length PCI card which must be plugged into a computer. On this board is a SCSI II interface which connects to one or more dedicated hard drives. Because the SCSI controller is integrated with the PVR card, the video data never has to move over the PCI bus during playback. This avoids the bus contention problems found with systems which use the computer's hard drive for video storage. Although the PCI bus is very fast, operating system limitations create performance bottlenecks which limit system bandwidth. The video output section utilizes 10 bit 2X oversampled encoding and provides better than D1 scaling. Component (Betacam/MII), composite and S-Video analog outputs are provided via breakout cables, which are included. An optional full-length daughtercard (AD-2500) adds component, composite and S-Video inputs for real time recording. IS THE OUTPUT BROADCAST QUALITY? The term "broadcast quality" is open to interpretation, but the Perception Video Recorder exceeds the specs of other products typically used for broadcast playback. Like all DPS products, the PVR-2500 produces a true RS-170A output. WHEN WILL THE PVR BE AVAILABLE? Scheduled release date is June, 1995. HOW WELL DOES THE PVR INTEGRATE WITH THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE? The Perception Video Recorder integrates completely with your existing Windows NT software packages using an innovative file system which enables video clips to appear simultaneously in many different file formats. Any software package capable of saving RGB images to or loading them from a hard drive can be used. PVR kernel level drivers enable hard drives attached to the Perception board to appear as standard system drive letters. For instance, a video sequence called "filename" can appear in one program as D:\filename.tga and in another as D:\filename.bmp. There is no need to convert to different file formats before using images from the PVR. IS THE PVR A NON-LINEAR EDITOR? From its inception, the Perception Video Recorder was envisioned as the heart of an integrated digital video workstation. Non-linear editing is just one possible use for the PVR-animation is another. Equipped with an AD-2500 video capture daughtercard, the PVR-2500 functions as a digital video recorder, providing unsurpassed picture quality and a storage capacity limited only by the size and number of attached SCSI hard drives. The standard PVR software provides some simple editing capabilities, but is not intended to replace time line-based editing software. Third party editing software can be used to directly control the PVR. CAN THE PVR CONTROL A VIDEO DECK? The DPS Perception Video Recorder can directly control any VCR which emulates the Sony BVU serial transport protocol. VCR-like controls on the PVR GUI simplify the task of batch digitizing and recording. In this mode, the PVR can read SMPTE time code from the source deck. HOW DO YOU CONNECT THE PVR TO A VCR? The physical interface between the PVR and a VCR or editor is via the computer's serial port. Because Sony compatible decks utilize a 38.4 KB, RS-422 interface, it is necessary to install an RS-232 to RS-422 adapter on the host computer's serial port before PVR VCR emulation and control modes can be used. It is also necessary to verify that a 16550 or equivalent UART is used for the computer's serial port in order to support data rates of 38.4 KB. IS THERE AUDIO SUPPORT? The DPS Perception Video Recorder can be used with any Windows NT compatible sound card. This provides a wide range of potential audio quality choices. Synchronization of audio and video is maintained by the PVR software. Some sound cards, such as those made by Turtle Beach, provide accurate system timing and have been found to consistently maintain synchronization during long video clips. Captured audio is stored on the computer's system hard drive, not on the dedicated PVR drive. This approach provides maximum flexibility for manipulating audio and video during the editing process. Products which interleave audio and video on the same hard drive compromise the total available video bandwidth and severely limit audio editing capabilities. HOW IS THE PVR DIFFERENT THAN THE DPS PAR? The Perception Video Recorder is a second generation design which incorporates new technologies such as a PCI bus interface, 10 bit, 2X oversampled video encoding and an integrated FAST SCSI- 2 hard drive controller. Standard video resolution is CCIR-601 (720 x 480 NTSC, 720 x 576 PAL) for greater compatibility with other products. The dynamic range of the PVR is in excess of D1 scaling so that images are brighter, have more color and greater spatial resolution than ever before. Other new features include seamless video looping, independent compression rates for each video field and virtually unlimited storage capacity. The optional live video capture daughtercard (AD-2500) provides a component (Betacam/MII) input in addition to composite and S- Video inputs. The PVR capture card entropy prediction circuit analyzes the content of incoming video and dynamically calculates the optimum amount of compression on a field by field basis. HOW IS THE PVR SIMILAR TO THE DPS PERSONAL ANIMATION RECORDER? The Perception Video Recorder, like the PAR, employs an integrated hard drive controller. Compressed video data never has to travel across the system bus on its way to the hard drive. This reduces the load on the CPU, provides extremely efficient data transfers and eliminates the possibility of dropped frames during recording and playback. WHAT VIDEO BANDWIDTH CAN I EXPECT FROM CAPTURED VIDEO? Full video bandwidth (>5.5 MHz) is maintained in component (Betacam/MII) and S-Video modes. The composite input is limited to heterodyne (VHS) resolution. WHAT VERSIONS OF NT DO YOU SUPPORT? The Perception Video Recorder software is available for Windows NT version 3.5 and later. Versions are available for Intel, DEC Alpha and MIPS processors. WHY WINDOWS NT? The Windows NT operating system combines unprecedented support for multiple processors and alternate CPU architectures while retaining some compatibility with existing Windows applications. Many animation and video editing software developers have released or will soon release Windows NT applications, all of which should transparently interface with the DPS Perception Video Recorder. HOW MUCH TIME WILL I GET PER GIGABYTE? Betacam SP quality is achieved at about 4 minutes per gigabyte. The PVR operator is free to choose the proper quality vs. storage parameters. Unlike some systems, the PVR can play sequential video clips of varying compression ratios. A single frame of video might need as little as 30 Kbytes of disk space or as much as 260 Kbytes. WHAT IMAGE FORMATS WORK WITH YOUR SOFTWARE? The most popular RGB image formats are supported by the PVR's Windows NT software including Targa, SGI, BMP, and IFF (LWI). HOW MANY HARD DRIVES CAN I CONNECT TO THE PVR? Up to seven SCSI devices can be connected to the PVR. DO I NEED SPECIAL HARD DRIVES? Off the shelf, high performance SCSI hard drives are required in order to reliably record and play real time broadcast quality video. DPS does not sell hard drives, but they are available from DPS dealers or from hard drive specialty retailers. As of April, 1995, the following hard drives have been tested and certified by DPS for use with the Perception Video Recorder: * Micropolis AV Series (3243, 4220) * Seagate Barracuda Series New hard drives are constantly being introduced and existing drives are constantly being discontinued. For a current list of certified PVR hard drives, please contact DPS. CAN I PUT THE DRIVES OUTSIDE THE COMPUTER? DPS provides a ribbon cable for attaching up to two internal SCSI drives to the 50-pin header on the PVR card. To provide for easy connection of external SCSI drives, this ribbon cable can be replaced by readily available third party cables which terminate in an external SCSI connector. The external connector can be mounted on an empty expansion slot cover or in any available computer case knock out. CAN I VIEW VIDEO ON MY COMPUTER MONITOR? You can preview video sequences on your computer monitor, but it is more useful to see the video sequence at full resolution and frame rates and at its native color depth on an external video monitor. RGB monitors don't adequately portray television images. CAN I USE THE PVR TO PREVIEW 24 FPS MOVIE SPEEDS? Perception can perform real time interpolation of 30 FPS video to 24 FPS film rates or convert 24 FPS sequences to 30 FPS so that it can be recorded on any standard VCR. IS THERE A WAY TO BACK UP STORED VIDEO TO DIGITAL TAPE? Compressed video data stored on the PVR's dedicated hard drive can be backed up using the standard tape backup software that ships with Windows NT. CAN I PLAY BACK VIDEO AND ANIMATIONS IN SLOW MOTION? In addition to real time (30 frames per second), there are many intermediate recordable speeds that you can choose for video playback. WHAT KIND OF VIDEO MONITOR DO I NEED? CAN I USE MY TV? We recommend using broadcast video monitors which when connected to the component output of the PVR, will properly display the true quality of the video output signal. You can use a TV set to monitor the output of the PVR if it contains a video input. Many consumer TV receivers and monitors now include both S- Video and composite inputs. In available, we highly recommend using the S-Video input instead of the composite input. The S- Video (Y/C) connection will provide a higher resolution image which is free of NTSC encoding artifacts. Whichever type of monitor you use, be sure to carefully adjust the brightness, saturation, hue and contrast controls using the SMPTE color bar test signal which is provided with the Perception Video Recorder. CAN I PLAY A SEGMENT LONGER THAN ONE DRIVE IN LENGTH? The Perception Video Recorder hardware is capable of providing uninterrupted playback from multiple video segments, even if they span multiple hard drives. WHAT TYPE OF COMPUTER CAN I USE? Perception Video is designed to run under Windows NT version 3.5 on computers employing 80486 (DX2-66 or higher), Pentium, DEC Alpha or MIPS processors. The PVR software utilizes Windows NT's native support for multitasking and multiple processors which allows you to take advantage of the most powerful personal computers available today. An ideal system would consist of a 90 MHz or faster Pentium CPU with 32 MB or more of RAM, a 4 gigabytes or larger dedicated PVR hard drive and a 1 gigabyte or larger system drive. An example of an advanced system would be one based on a 300 MHz DEC Alpha CPU. A DAT or Exabyte tape backup system would be a welcome addition to any system. ARE THERE ANY OTHER REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PVR'S HOST PC? To install the PVR card, you will need a full-length PCI slot which is unobstructed by the CPU fan, heat sinks or other components. Two slot widths (but only one bus connection) are required if the PVR system also contains an AD-2500 real time video capture daughtercard. CAN THE PVR BE USED WITH STANDARD WINDOWS 3.1 APPLICATIONS? We feel that the Windows NT environment offers significant advantages over other operating systems and that our long term development efforts will be concentrated in that area. Still, we recognize that many people would like to use their existing Windows 3.1 applications with the PVR-at least until native NT versions of their favorite applications become available. To meet this need, DPS will initially offer Windows 3.1 compatible software for the PVR. Windows 3.1 software will be limited to use with Intel processors. The Windows 3.1 version of the PVR software will enable popular video editing packages, such as Adobe Premiere 4.0 and in:sync RAZOR Professional to be used with the DPS Perception Video Recorder today. In fact, a computer system containing a DPS PVR card with capture daughtercard, a sound card, third party editing software and one or more SCSI hard drives provides a non-linear editor of unparalleled performance at an unbeatable price. For many users, such a system will provide precisely the performance and functionality they desire. DPS PERCEPTION VIDEO RECORDER SPECIFICATIONS Output Signals Composite (BNC)................................. 1 V p-p 75 Ohm S-Video (4-Pin Mini-DIN): Y Signal .................................... 1 V p-p 75 Ohm C Signal ............ 286 mV (NTSC), 300 mV (PAL) p-p 75 Ohm Component Betacam (BNCs): Y Signal ............... 714 mV (NTSC), 1 V (PAL) p-p 75 Ohm R-Y, B-Y (Pr , Pb) Signal .... 700 mV (NTSC, PAL) p-p 75 Ohm Component MII Mode (BNCs): Y Signal .......................... 700 mV (NTSC) p-p 75 Ohm R-Y, B-Y (Pr, Pb) Signal .......... 486 mV (NTSC) p-p 75 Ohm Genlock Input (BNC): Composite ............................ 1 V p-p (Loop or 75 Ohm) Digital I/O: DPS CVE-2 Bus (40 pin header) ...... For Real Time Capture Card GPI Trigger:..(RCA connector)Negative Edge TTL or Contact Closure Hard Drive I/F: (Internal 50 pin header) Standard or Fast SCSI-2 Raster Size: .................. 720 X 480 (NTSC), 720 X 576 (PAL) Video Performance: Frequency Response 0-5.0 MHz (+/-.25 dB), 5.0-5.5 MHz (-1.5 dB) K-Factor (2-T) ........................................... < 1% Differential Phase ......................................... <1 Differential Gain ......................................... <1% Signal/Noise (Luma Weighted) ........... >68 dB (Playback Mode) >60 dB (All Modes) Power Consumption: +5V .................................................. 1.6 Amps +12V ................................................... 240 ma -12V .................................................... 50 ma Total .............................................. 11.5 Watts Recommended Host System: CPU .................................... 80486 DX2-66 or Faster RAM ....................................... 32 MB (Recommended) Other ............ PCI.Bus, Windows NT, VGA Graphics and Mouse OPTIONAL LIVE VIDEO CAPTURE DAUGHTERCARD SPECIFICATIONS Input Signals (Via supplied breakout cable) Composite (BNC) ................................ 1 V p-p 75 Ohm S-Video (4-Pin Mini-DIN): Y Signal .................................... 1 V p-p 75 Ohm C Signal ............ 286 mV (NTSC), 300 mV (PAL) p-p 75 Ohm Component Betacam (BNCs): Y Signal ............... 714 mV (NTSC), 1 V (PAL) p-p 75 Ohm R-Y, B-Y (Pr , Pb) Signal .... 700 mV (NTSC, PAL) p-p 75 Ohm Component MII Mode (BNCs): Y Signal .......................... 700 mV (NTSC) p-p 75 Ohm R-Y, B-Y (Pr, Pb) Signal .......... 486 mV (NTSC) p-p 75 Ohm ORDERING INFORMATION (MODEL NUMBERS) PVR-2500 DPS Perception Video Recorder (NTSC) AD-2500 DPS Video Capture Daughtercard (NTSC) PVR-3500 DPS Perception Video Recorder (PAL) AD-3500 DPS Video Capture Daughtercard (PAL) For more information, please contact your nearest DPS location: U.S. Canada Europe (UK) 606-371-5533 416-754-8090 44-01252-718300 Fax: 606-371-3729 Fax: 416-754-7046 Fax: 44-01252-718400 Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. (FAQ revision date 4/4/95). Copyright 1995 Digital Processing Systems Inc. ********************************************************************* * DWhite@iac.net In non-cyberlife aka David White * * Advanced Project Manager Digital Processing Systems * * Voice (606)371-5533 Fax (606)371-3729 * ********************************************************************* * Q-Blue 1.0 *