OS/2 Shareware BBS: OtherApp/OtherApp.zip/stwtv113.zip/StWTV_EN.INF

OS/2 Help File | 2000-02-15 | 32KB | 677 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. StWTV ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Welcome to StWTV.

StWTV is an TV application which uses the WinTV/PCI to display a TV image. You
need the device driver WCAST.SYS from Abbotsbury Software.

StWTV has the following features:

     Definitions of stations

     Settings of every station with color, contrast and brightness

     Free defineable toolbars with station buttons

     Free sizeable TV image

     Record and playback of movies

     A REXX API

     and more

 This document gives you a short overview of the application, its settings and
 possibilities.

 Please excuse my bad english. Help me to make this online help better and make
 suggestions to me.

 The elements of StTWV
 Settings dialogs
 Glossary
 The future
 Step by Step
 What do if ...
 Known problems


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. About this online help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This online help for StWTV was written by the programmer of the application.
Everybody knows that a programmer is not the best candidate for writing
documentations or online help for his own programm, So please be indulgent if
this documentation is incomplete or uninteligible. Feel free to make
suggestions to me.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. The author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Stefan Milcke

KБferstraсe 45

28779 Bremen

Germany

[e-mail]

http://home.t-online.de/home/stefan.milcke/homepage.htm


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. What is StWTV ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

With StWTV you can watch TV if you have a WinTV/PCI card and the device driver
from Abbotsbury Software. You can create and manage a pool of stations. You can
attach every station from this pool to user defineable toolbars for easy
access. The main window of StWTV can be defined as float on top and the CPU
usage can be adjusted. You can record and playback short movies (without
sound). StWV remembers all settings inclusive all window positions and the last
active station and recalls them at the next startup. There is a REXX API
implementet. Some events in StWTV causes specific scripts to be executed.

Have much fun with StWTV.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Legal ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

   1. This software is shareware. If you want to use this programm you have to
      register.

   2. The use of this programm is at own risk. I am not liable for any damage
      caused by using this programm.

   3. It is not allowed to change any part of this software package.

   4. It is not allowed to disassemble or analyse this dieses programm.

   5. Everyone can make as much copies of this programm as he wants. Please
      remember allways 1.

   6. No part of this software should be ported to the windows platform.

   7. To be continued ;-)


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. Credits ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Much thanks to:

Tim Snape (Programmer of the driver WCAST.SYS and the toolkit)
for his tips and help for this project.

John Rodriguez (Employee  Firma Hauppauge)
FБr sein Engagement bei seiner Firma fБr die Entwicklung eines neuen Treibers.

IBM
For their really good operating system.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The installation of this programm is very simple:

Just copy all files that came with this package into a directory of your
choice. The start the install script INSTALL.CMD. You'll be asked for

Language
Enter the language code. EN for english. DE for german.

card name
Enter the name of your card (Normally wcast)

number of card
Enter the number of this card (Normally 1)

After this the software will start for the final setup.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. The elements of StWTV ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 At the top directly under the menu you see the toolbars. They can be dragged
and dropped with the right mouse button away from the main window. The first
toolbar from the left contains some usefull tool buttons. All following
toolbars are user defined station toolbars. Below the toolbars you see the TV
window where the TV image received by the card is displayed. At the bottom
there is a status bar. Every field in the status bar can be switched on or off.
They have the following meanings:

 Feld 1    Name of the station
 Feld 2    Channel number
 Feld 3    Frequency
 Feld 4    Frames per second
 Feld 5    Signal quality

 Remarks to field 4:
 Frames per second is what could be managed by the blitter, not the driver or
 hardware.

 Remarks to field 5:
 Showing the signal quality is very CPU intensive.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Settings dialogs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The following sttings are available:

     Driver information

     Register software

     Window settings

     Blitter settings

     Properties of station XXX

     Station pool settings

     Toolbar settings

     Movie settings

     Script settings

     Driver variables


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Driver information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The values in this dialog are received directly from the driver:

     Product information

     Manufacturer info

     Version

     Image format

     Max. digitized size

     Max. destination size

     Max. overlay size

     Volume

     Balance

     Cable tuner

     TeleText support

 This values must not be the reality. You can see it with the value TeleText
 support This value is until version 1.020L allways yes, but the driver is not
 ready for TeleText.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. Register software ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

As you have seen in chapter Legal you must send a mail to the author of this
software. After this you'll receive a software key to register the programm.

With this dialog you can register the software. Fill out the fields with the
key you've received from the author.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3. Window settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can define some values for the main behaviour of the TV window:

main window
station switching
toolbar
status bar


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3.1. Main window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Allways on top
When active, the main window is allways on top of all other windows.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3.2. Station settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Softswitching
If checked, the TV-window becomes black before the station changes. After this
the brightness is increased to the value that is defined for the station.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3.3. Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Toolbar
Here you can define witch buttons of the utility toolbar (left side) are
visible.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3.4. Status bar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can define if the fields in the status line are visible or not.

   1. The number below the station name is the initial length for this field.

   2. Enabling signal quality can consume much CPU performance.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.4. Blitter settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this dialog box you can change some settings for the blitter. See chapter
blitter in Verfahren

Time (in msec) between blits
Between two blits to the screen StWTV delays for a little time to not use the
CPU too much. This value is the length for the delay. If you set this value to
zero and Priority class is equal to three then it will be set to four to
prevent a system hang.

Priority class
Every thread in OS/2 can be executed in one of four priority classes. This
value is the priority class of the blitter.

Priority level
Every thread in a priority class can be executed in a level from 1 to 31. This
value is the priority level for the blitter thread.

Blitted size
This is the size of the image generated by the hardware. The greater this value
is the better the quality of the image. You need to restart StWTV to make
changes active. Watchdog active
If checked, StWTV is running an other thread that watches on the TV-image. If
there is no change StWTV resets the driver. When this is done, you can hear a
short beep from your PC-Speaker.

Number of checkpoints
Defines the number of points on which the watchdog is checking. If this value
is too low, there may be a reset, when it is not neccessary. If this value is
too hight, the watchdog consumes too much CPU-performance.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.5. Properties of station XXX ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this dialog you can change some settings of the actual station. Every value
you set here will be stored for every station separately.

Volume
Bass
Treble
This sliders controls the sound settings. Unfortunately the device driver has
problems to activate these values. So use your favorite sound mixer programm
for this value. If you have a Soundblaster or compatible card StWTV can detect
this. Just try the sliders.

Brightness
Color
Saturation
Contrast
Hue
This sliders controls the approbiated settings for the TV-image.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.6. Station pool settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this dialog box you can define all stations you plan to use in StWTV.

Available stations
Properties of selected station


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.6.1. Available stations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this list box you'll see all available stations in StWTV. To edit a station
select it here. To delete a station click on delete. In this listbox you'll see
an entry "<Station Combobox>". This entry is not editeable and can only be
added to a toolbar.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.6.2. Properties of selected station ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

After selecting a station in the Available stations you can edit the properties
of this station. All changes are made online so you can view it directly.

Name
Enter a name for the station here. This name is important to identify a station
later when adding it to a toolbar.

Source
This is the input source for the selected station.

Channel
Choose the channel for the station. The frequency will be set automaticaly.
With the button scan you can search for the next channel with good quality.

Frequency
Choose a frequency for the station. With the button scan you can search for the
next frequency with good quality.

Bitmap
Choose a bitmap for the station. This bitmap is displayed in the toolbar later.
With the button search you can search on your harddrive for a bitmap. The
bitmaps for stations must be in OS/2 BMP format. The best size for the bitmaps
is 21x21 pixels.

Region file
This file contains frequency to channel definitions. These files are normaly
stored in \MMOS2\REGION. This files are part of WarpTV and they are copyright.
So they can't be part of StWTV package. Install WarpTV to get the files.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7. Toolbar settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this dialog box you can define all station toolbars you plan to use with
StWTV. Every toolbar can contain as much stations from the station pool as you
like.

Available toolbars
Properties
Attached stations
Available stations

The checkbox delayed toolbar creation belongs to all toolbars and means that
the toolbars are created after complete initialisation of the frame window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7.1. Available toolbars ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This listbox contains all defined toolbars. To view the properties of a toolbar
select it here. To add a new toolbar click on new and to delete a toolbar click
on delete.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7.2. Properties ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can change the following settings:

Name
Enter a specific name for the toolbar

Stations per line
The station buttons in a toolbar are ordered in lines. This value is tha
maximum number of stations for one line. If a toolbar contains more stations as
this value a new line of toolbar buttons will be created. Position
This radio button defines the position of the toolbar. Off means that the
toolbar is not visible. Float means that the toolbar can be positioned freely
on the desktop.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7.3. Attached stations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this listbox you'll see all stations this toolbar contains. With the button
remove you can remove the selected station from the toolbar. With the buttons
up and down you can change the position of the station in this toolbar.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7.4. Available stations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can see all stations from the station pool. With the button attach you
can add the station as the last station to the toolbar.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.8. Script settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Since version 1.01 build 2071 StWTV can execute scripts. The user can define
for some events in StWTV scripts to be executed. Additionally the user can
define up to ten user defined scripts that apear as a menu entry in StWTV.
Scripts are written in REXX. See RexxApi.TXT for more informations about the
API in StWTV.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.8.1. Events ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In StWTV some events causes scripts to be executed. Here you can define the
scripts to be executed.

Please keep in mind that there are no stations defined on StWTV startup. So you
can't query stations at this time.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.8.2. User defined ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Enter user defined scripts and their menu text here.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.9. Driver variables ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can view and edit some driver variables. If you change a value you
must use the apply button to apply make the change. After applying StWTV resets
the driver to make sure the new values are accepted by the driver.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Glossary ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In this chapter i'll try to explain some definitions and terms.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1. Blitter ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The blitter is the part of StWTV that makes the TV image visible. To understand
the way of the image from the TV-card to the screen i have to explain some
internals.

The device driver makes sure that the correct channel and frequency on the TV
card is set. Then the driver copies the TV image into conventional RAM into
your PC. After this the application must decide what to do.

With the newer versions of OS/2 IBM has introduced a software interface to
manipulate the grafic card directly. This interface is called DIVE (Direct
Interface Video Extensions) and stays in the file DIVE.DLL.

The fast copy of images from a memory location (here RAM) to an other memory
location (here grafic card RAM) is called blitting.

StWTV uses the DIVE interface and blitts the image from the conventional memory
to the screen. This sounds very simple but it is a little bit complicated. The
image from the TV card is in a special format (Y422) and in a fixed size. This
format is converted and sized via DIVE. This conversion is very CPU intensive.

In StWTV there is an extra thread to handle this blitting. The priority of this
thread can be adjusted in very fine steps.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.2. Multithreading ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

For every application under OS/2 there will be started a new process. This
process gets a protected adress room for data and code.

In this process there is at least one thread (the main thread). In a process
can be more than one thread. They all are running quasi paralell and have
different jobs to do. Every thread can be executed in several priorities.

But not every thread has its own CPU. So these threads are executed
sequentially (portionally).

Every thread has a priority saying how often it can get CPU time to execute.
The length of this time is called time slice. When this time slice is over the
thread will be frozen in it's actual state and an other waiting thread gets the
CPU. If there are two threads with different priority the thread with the
higher priority gets the CPU.

In StWTV there are six threads.

Thread 1 us running with normal priority. This is the main thread where all
windows and dialog boxes are managed.

Thread 2 is started by the DIVE engine. Its priority is not under control of
StWTV.

Thread 3 is the blitter. It makes the TV image visible.

Thread 4 is the watchdog (if enabled)

Thread 5 is running when playing back or recording movies.

Thread 6 is the controll instance for soft station switching.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.3. Stations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Stations in StWTV are managed in a station pool. Every station has its own set
of properties :

     Name

     Channel

     Frequency

     Bitmap

     Internal ID-Nummer

 All this properties (without the internal ID) can be edited in the station
 pool settings for every station. After definition these stations can be
 attached to one ore more toolbars. Stations have more properties that can be
 changed very often:

     Volume

     Bass

     Treble

     Color/Saturation

     Contrast

     Brightness

     Hue

 All this properties are managed in properties of station XXX.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.4. Toolbars ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The station toolbars are small areas in the main window of StWTV. There can be
as many toolbars as you like. Every station toolbar can have as much station
buttons as you like. The position of this toolbars are free defineable.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. The future ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

With the WinTV/PCI card there is a cheap and good TV card for OS/2.

In this chapter you can read some things about the future of this cards. Again
excuse my english !!!


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. GRADD ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

There is a new device driver modell for grafic adapters. It is called GRADD and
is available for some cards. This driver model is a complete 32bit architecture
and should enable all grafic card manufacturers to write an OS/2 driver.

What has this to do with StWTV ? See New driver.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2. New driver ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In the nearest future there will be a new driver for th WinTV/PCI. It will use
the new GRADD device driver modell and is able to write direct to the grafic
card similar to the PCI-Push technology used under the operatings system whose
name i won't write down here. This causes the TV-application not to be so CPU
intensive.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Step by Step ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Step by Step:

Phase 1 Creating stations

   1. Open Options->Stations...

   2. Be sure that the file in the entry field Regionfile exists. Use the
      search button if you want to set an other location

   3. Press the new button. A new station will be created with the name <Neu1>.

   4. Go to the name entry field and enter a name for example MyFirstStation

   5. Select the right source (there is a bug in the english version. It is
      named "Quelle")

   6. Spin up or down the channel field or use scan button to select a channel

   7. The frequency is automatically set depending on the region file you
      choosed to use

   8. Attach a picture for your new station button or leave it blank to use an
      X for the bitmap

   9. Create another station button in the same way as step 3a) to 3f)

  10. Press OK when finished

 Phase 2: Creating toolbars

   1. Open Options->toolbars...

   2. In the right toolbox you'll se all stations you have defined in Phase 1

   3. Create a new toolbar and attach the stations you like

   4. Press the new button. A new toolbar will be created with the name <Neu1>

   5. In the name entry field enter a name for example MyFirstToolbar

   6. Select a station on the right listbox you want attach to the toolbar and
      the press the attach button

   7. Repeat step 3c) until you have attached all stations you want

   8. After you have created a toolbar and attached at least one station to it
      the toolbar becomes visible in the TV-window

   9. Press OK when finished

 Phase 3: Use the buttons

   1. To change a station just press a station button in the toolbar


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. What do if ... ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Make sure that the driver is installed correctly.
If the application WTV.EXE is not able to produce a TV image there is a driver
problem.
Make sure that your grafic driver is DIVE enabled and your system resolution
has more than 16 colors.
If there is no or only a bad image or the channel/frequency can't be switched
try to use an other driver. A good candidate is 1.016D.
If there is a problem with StWTV fill out the Problm.rpt and send it back to
me.

Feel free to make suggestions to me and again please help me in writing a good
english online help

Attention

I'm not reliable for a correct driver installtion. Please make sure the
programm WTV.EXE is working correctly before sending an error report to me. If
i can see from an error report that the WTV.EXE is not working correctly on
your system you may get now answer from me!


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Known problems ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


Don't use mouse pointer with more than two colors. They'll cause a signigcant
CPU performance problem and sometimes system hangs. This may be a bug in the
DIVE implementation under Warp 4. Under Warp 3 this worked fine.
Remedy: Wait until IBM removes this.

When there is a WinOS/2 session in the background and float on top is activated
sometimes the menu bar is flashing.
Remedy: I'm working on this.

Sometimes the TV-images stops refreshing.
Remedy: After a short time you shold hear a little beep from your PC-Speaker
and the driver resets. This is the watchdog function in StWTV.

There are new drivers with first GRADD implementation. All these drivers caused
problems on my system. Using the VCAIFLT.DLL in the GRADD chain causes a system
trap on my system. My application is not GRADD enabled so don't use the
switches /USEVCAIMONITOR and/or /USEDIVE.