Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

What is the QuickTime Control Panel

Video Optimization

Audio Optimization

Control Panel Sections: Click on each section name to jump to that panel, or choose from the sub-topics listed here.

Setup

OS (Operating System)

Processor

Memory

Video

CD-ROM

Audio

MIDI

Verify Setup

Test

Video

Video Settings

QuickTime Support

Video Description

Draw Method

Hardware Method

Audio

Device

Extended Support

Support Formats

Rate Algorithm

Requested Rate

Actual Rate

Sample Depth

Channels

Volume

MIDI

Device

Mapper Support

Extended Support

Device Type

Files

Files Info

Components

Component Type

Subtype

Flags

Other Control Panel Buttons:

Title Bar

Save Log

Close Button

Apply Button

More/Less Button

Help Button

For Help on Help, Press F1


Setup

The Setup section provides a birdseye view of the computer system.  Click on the individual items listed in the computer profile section to get more detail.  For further detail you can activate the other section of the control panel by using the [MORE] button at the bottom of the Setup section.

Table of Contents


Video

The Video section provides detailed information about your Video subsystem, and provides  options for optimizing QuickTime for maximum performance.

Table of Contents


Audio

The Audio section controls QuickTime’s ability to adjust its sound playback to better fit the specifications of your audio hardware.  Although the settings are optimized by QuickTime automatically, you may override this by manually changing the options here.

Table of Contents


MIDI

The MIDI section provides detailed information about the MIDI capabilities of your sound card.  You can adjust the MIDI mapper support by using this section of the control panel.

Table of Contents


Files

The Files section provides detailed information regarding every file in the QuickTime installation.  You can quickly determine if all the QuickTime files are installed on your system and if they are the current versions.  By selecting a file in the file list, you can get detailed information about the file.

Table of Contents


Components

The Components section provides information regarding the individual components that make up QuickTime.  Components provide services to QuickTime.  The highlighted example below shows image decompression capabilities and attributes.

Table of Contents


What is the QuickTime Control Panel?
What is the QuickTime Control Panel

The QuickTime Control Panel is a central point of collective information about your system.  It is extremely important to have correct settings for optimal playback of QuickTime movies.

The QuickTime Control Panel also offers a convenient way to make changes to enhance the playback performance of QuickTime.  These changes are automatically saved for you into the QTW.INI file.  The QuickTime Control Panel makes it unnecessary to edit the QTW.INI in an editor.

The QuickTime Control Panel is divided into several sections.  The first section, Setup, offers an overview of your system.  If you wish to see more detailed information, you can select the More button to display additional sections for Video, Audio, MIDI, Files and Components.  In some of the sections, you can change settings and then save them by using the Apply button.  Any changes made will be applied to the next launch of the QuickTime movie player or a QuickTime movie.

The information displayed in the QuickTime Control Panel can be saved to a text file, QTWLOG.TXT, by using the Save Log option.


Video Optimization

QuickTime offers configurable options to produce optimal video playback.  Unlike the Macintosh, PCs can be configured with many different video modes running on many different video cards.   QuickTime will make the best assessment of your system upon installation and configure it accordingly.  Using the Control Panel, however, you may adjust the configuration if default settings are unsatisfactory.

Here are some suggestions outside of QuickTime to optimize your video:

  - Use a PCI or VLB bus type video cards.

  - Use 256- or 16-bit high color mode for video playback.

  - Make sure the video clip’s horizontal and vertical sizes are multiples of 4.

  - Set the data transfer rate at a reasonable 300K per second.

See Video for more details.


Audio Optimization

QuickTime has unique and multiple configurations one could make to produce optimal audio playback.  Unlike Macintosh computers, PCs can be configured with many different kinds of sound cards.  The current  industry-standard sample rate is 44,100 Hz sampled at 16 bits (Compact Disc quality), and half that is 22,050 Hz.  Most multimedia CD sounds are sampled at such frequency because it can produce acceptable sounds.  To hear the sound at the proper pitch and duration, the sound must be resampled at the same rate at which it  was originally sampled and produced.  However, some sound cards do not resample at 22,050 Hz, and as a result the audio becomes unsynchronized with the video over time.

If QuickTime is unfamiliar with your sound card, you can try adjusting the Requested Rate and Actual Rate through the Control Panel. This will force the sound card/QuickTime to sample properly.

See Audio for more details.


OS (Operating System)

Shows the currently running operating system, version, and build, if available.


Processor

Shows the microprocessor running your machine and the best estimate of its speed.


Memory

Shows the total amount of physical RAM in your machine.


Video Setup

Indicates the current screen color depth and screen resolution.


CD-ROM

Shows the drive letter of the CD-ROM, Microsoft CD Extension, version, and speed, if available.


Audio Setup

Shows the available audio device and version.


MIDI Setup

Shows the available MIDI device and version.


Verify Setup

This function ensures that all necessary files have been installed and will notify you of any old or outdated files that may be cause for concern.


CD-ROM Test

This will search and list out all the CD-ROM drives connected to your system.  This test is not automatic due to the time consuming nature of the search.


Video Settings

Specifies the current screen color depth and screen resolution.


QuickTime Support

Specifies if QuickTime recognizes your video hardware.  QuickTime works optimally if it can draw movies directly to your video card’s own RAM.  A secondary and less efficient method of displaying video is to draw movies to your machine’s physical RAM, and then copy that information to your video card’s RAM.  If QuickTime recognized your video hardware, it will have specified the bit depth, followed by the video controller.  If QuickTime does not support your video card, then it will display “hardware not directly supported” in this field.


Video Description

Shows a description of the chipset QuickTime has found on your video card.


Video Draw Method

Displays how QuickTime will draw to the screen.  The methods are listed according to their speed (fastest to slowest). The Hardware option is displayed only if QuickTime directly supports your video card.  Slower draw methods may be selected to solve compatibility problems.

Hardware	- Pixels are written directly to video card memory.

Driver	- The video card’s driver is used to write pixels to video card memory.

Bitmap(BMP)	- QuickTime uses Windows’ GDI to draw pixels.

Bitmap(DIB)	- Much like Bitmap it uses GDI for its drawing.

Raw Bitmap(RAW)	- The slowest of all draw methods.


Video Hardware Method

If the video card is recognized, QuickTime will optimize via hardware by selecting a component that will enable direct writing to the video card’s memory, the fastest method of screen drawing.

Base	- Database of various video cards

   - for example, S3 801 & 805, Western Digital 90C33, Weitek P9000

Tseng	- ET4000 chip based video card support.

ATIvideo	- ATI chipset

Cirrus	- Cirrus Logic chipset


Audio Device

Shows the available audio output devices and their version numbers.


Audio Extended Support

Lists volume and stereo volume control capabilities.


Audio Support Formats

Lists all the audio sampling capabilities of the sound device.


Rate Algorithm

This list box contains known rates of specific sound cards.  If you have one of these sound cards you can select the option best fitting the description.  This will force QuickTime to use the new rate algorithm to produce a synchronized movie playback.  Selecting a particular rate algorithm will nullify any manual changes you have made to the requested and actual rate.


Requested Rate

This is the request QuickTime is making to the sound card.  This function may be used to compensate for sound cards that do not sample at “normal” frequencies of 44.1K and its divisibles (for example, if a movie’s audio was sampled at the normal frequency of 22,050 Hz and the sound card is sampling it at 22,000 Hz).  Over time the audio will drift out of sync with the movie.


Actual Rate

Actual rate is the sound card sampling rate.  This function can also be changed if the rate is known to the user.


Sample Depth

Sample depth is the resolution of the sound information.  It can be either 8-bit or 16-bit resolution.  You can use the QuickTime Control Panel to force sampling at either 8-bit or 16-bit resolution.  Also, you can use this function if your sound card cannot handle 16-bit sound and can only playback 8-bit sound.


Channels

Audio channels are your left and right or mono audio capabilities.  You can use the QuickTime Control Panel to force the output to be either mono or stereo if necessary.


Audio Volume

Allows you to set volume control with either the sound card driver or with the QuickTime movie control bar.


MIDI Device

Shows the MIDI device available for playback.


MIDI Mapper Support

Select which MIDI mapper you want QuickTime to support.  For more information on the MIDI capabilities of your sound card, please consult your manual.


MIDI Extended Support

Lists all controllable options.


MIDI Device Type

Shows the type of MIDI sound generator and its capabilities.  Please consult your sound card manual for a more detailed description.


Files Info

Lists all the QuickTime files that have been loaded into the system by the installer.  Here you can get the files’ respective size, date and path (location).


Component Type

Lists specific QuickTime components and component attributes along with programmable flags.


Component Subtype

Shows attributes of a component type.


Component Flags

Shows flags or options that are available, depending on what subtype is selected.


Title Bar

Here you can get an external text file generated by the Save Log option by using the Title Bar in Windows 95 or the Control Box in Windows 3.x.


Save Log

The information displayed in the QuickTime Control Panel can be saved to a text file, which can be a useful reference if you are experiencing difficulties and need to consult a technical support representative.

To save the information to the log file:

1.  Right -click on the title bar in Windows 95 or on the Control Box in Windows 3.x.

2.  Select the Save Log option.

3.  Click the Save button to save the information to the text file QTWLOG.TXT.    You can enter a different name or destination for the log file.  The default is {current directory}QTWLOG.TXT.

*In Windows 95, you can select  the System menu by clicking the right mouse button on the QuickTime Control Panel’s title bar.

On Windows 95 :

On Windows 3.x :


Close Button

Closes the control panel and prompts you for confirmation if any modifications have been made.


Apply Button

Becomes active when you have made any setting changes.


More Less

Displays or hides the individual sections of the Control Panel.


Help Button

Brings up this help window.