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- PowerVCR 1.3
-
- (c) Copyright CyberLink Corp.
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- Last update : 1999/9/20
-
- Welcome to CyberLink PowerVCR!
-
- This file contains the most up-to-date information and technical notes
- about PowerVCR. PLEASE READ THIS FILE IN DETAIL BEFORE RUNNING PowerVCR!!
-
- The following information is available in this README file:
-
- - WHAT'S NEW WITH PowerVCR 1.3 (updated from PowerVCR 1.0)
- - SETUP NOTES
- - GENERAL PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY ISSUES
- - CAPTURE CARD ISSUES
- - DISPLAY CARD ISSUES
- - AUDIO CARD ISSUES
- - VIDEO RECORDER
- - VIDEO CONVERTOR
- - VIDEO EDITOR
- - Check whether your system has DirectXMedia V6 and Indeo Codec installed
- - TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-
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- WHAT'S NEW IN PowerVCR 1.3
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-
- * Compared to PowerVCR 1.0, the major improvements of this version (PowerVCR 1.3)
- are listed as follows.
-
- 1. Improvement of Encoded Video Quality.
-
- In PowerVCR 1.3, we have developed a new video compression technique,
- such that dramatically enhances the quality of compressed video. Thus,
- for the purpose of saving your HD space, the default video profile has
- been changed from Constant Quality to VCD NTSC profile (Constant Bit-Rate).
- Generally, the new default profile can save half or more disk space without
- degrading video quality. On the other hand, the maximum recording time is
- extended (PowerVCR 1.0).
-
- 2. Crashing on capture devices using Bt8x8 chipsets problem.
-
- There are many capture devices using Bt8x8 series chipset. However,
- the newest version of Bt8x8 drivers conflicts with the Windows system,
- causing the Windows system to stall when recording for long periods at a time
- using PowerVCR. In PowerVCR 1.3, we solved this problem by quarantining
- several critical bugs from the Bt8x8 device driver. The current version has passed
- our rigorous testing.
-
- However, since the Bt8x8 device drivers are not developed by CyberLink,
- we cannot guarantee that PowerVCR will never stall during recording.
- If problems persist during recording using PowerVCR 1.3, please follow
- these instructions:
-
- a. Do the procedures described in section "CAPTURE CARD ISSUES".
- b. Call CyberLink Customer Support.
-
-
- 3. Supporting VCD format.
-
- In PowerVCR 1.3, you can record MPEG file conformed to the VCD format.
- You may edit this MPEG file and the output MPEG file of the editor will be
- automatically conformed to the VCD format.
-
- 4. Other Features
-
- You can set a output file name when you want to set a recording schedule or
- set a time limited recording. PowerVCR 1.3 will automatically copy the
- recorded video into the specified file.
-
- . ASUS 3000 and ASUS 3400 setup crash problem has been solved.
-
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- SETUP NOTES
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-
- * During setup, it is HIGHLY recommended to specify a large disk space for
- the WORKING DIRECTORY because PowerVCR generates temporary files.
-
- * PowerVCR will install DirectShow Runtime during setup. You can re-install
- by executing "setupdxm.exe" in PowerVCR installed directory if you are unable to
- playback .avi and/or .mpg files properly. But this will not affect the
- encoding function of PowerVCR.
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- GENERAL PERFORMANCE AND QUALITY ISSUES
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-
- * Intel Systems : Pentieum II precessors at 300MHz or above are HIGHLY
- recommended for optimum performance and quality.
-
- PowerVCR 1.0 also supports Pentium III.
-
- Non-Intel System : PowerVCR has also been tested for K6-2 300 CPU with
- MVP3 chipset.
-
- * It is HIGHLY recommended that you enable the DMA option of your Hard Disk
- to reduce the CPU utilization overhead. Win98 and Win95 OSR2 have built-in
- support for DMA-enabled IDE HDDs. Since Win95 OSR2 and Win98 contain native
- support for this feature, any other third-party bus master driver is NOT
- recommended. However, for Win95 retail version users, you must have a
- third-party bus master driver installed to enable that option. Since old
- versions of bus master driver may not properly support new IDE devices,
- such as DVD-ROMs and IDE removable storage medium, always check the date of
- the driver and make sure you have the newest version of the aforementioned driver
- that supports your HDDs !!
-
- To identify which version of Win95 you have, click on "Control Panel" and
- then the "System" icon. You'll see a version string with the form
- "4.00.950 x". Win95 retail version has a version string "4.00.950" or
- "4.00.950 A".
-
- Sometimes you may find that the DMA option is not available even if you have
- OSR2 installed in your computer. This is because OSR2 does not recognize
- some of these new chipsets, such as Intel 440LX, 440BX and 440EX. Thus
- the default driver with DMA support is not installed. A patch program from
- Intel named "Intel 82371xB INF Update Installer" can be downloaded from the INTEL
- web site to conduct necessary patches for Intel chipsets. After that, you have to
- reboot your system, wait for OSR2 to find all the new hardware, and reboot one
- or several times again until you make sure the DMA-option is enabled for your
- HDDs.
-
- For Win98, the problem does not exist since Win98 was released after those
- chipsets were announced so therefore Win98 can recognize all of them. However, for
- future new chipsets, you may still have to apply a patch before the DMA mode
- is available to be activated.
-
- For chipsets from other vendors, you should find the proper patch programs
- for OSR2 or Win98 in your mainboard support disk/CD-ROM or the vendor's web
- site.
-
- * Please make sure the DirectDraw driver of your display card is properly
- installed. Refer to your display card manual for detailed instructions,
- or you may have the most up-to-date Microsoft DirectX Runtime installed
- to enable this support.
-
- If your capture device does NOT support "Video Overlay" Mode or you did
- not enable it, PowerVCR uses DirectDraw for the best display quality during
- video preview while encoding. After encoding / converting, the playback
- of the MPEG-1 file is played by DirectShow, which was previously named
- "Active Movie".
-
- On some display cards, dynamical resolution switching can cause system
- malfunctions or crashes. We recommend not to switch the display resolution
- when PowerVCR is activated.
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- CAPTURE CARD ISSUES
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-
- * It is HIGHLY recommended that using fast and reliable video capture cards
- for high frame rate capture. PCI capture cards are HIGHLY recommended.
-
- * Generally speaking, capture cards with VFW driver support is adequate.
-
- * PowerVCR currently supports the following VIDEO FORMATs(four cc):
- YV12,
- Y41P,
- YUY2,
- UYVY,
- cyuv,
- I420,
- YUV9,
- RGB16,
- RGB24
-
- * Other than those formats listed above, PowerVCR will not work properly with
- other video formats.
-
- * Currently, PowerVCR has been tested on Bt829, Bt848, Bt878, Zr36120 and
- ITT VPX3225 capture chips.
-
- * Because of the driver implementation, capture cards with ITT VPX3 chips
- are UNABLE to capture more than 15 frame per second.
-
- * Because of the poor capture driver implementation, some capture cards
- with Bt8x8 chip sometimes unpredictably stall the entire Windows system
- while performing recording for long periods of time, especially for cards with
- TV-Tuners on it.
-
- Suggestion: If you want to record for long periods of time using the Bt8x8 chip, you can
- increase the recording success rate by doing one or more of following procedures:
-
- 1. Reboot your system before recording.
- 2. Don't execute other applications when recording. Also, close
- other background applications if possible.
- 3. Please uncheck the "Online Audio Compression" item if you have checked it.
- 4. Reduce Video "Frame Rate" if possible.
- 5. Use a faster computer.
-
- * When using some of the ATI products (for example, All-In-Wonder Pro) when recording,
- if the PowerVCR video window is covered by another window, the recorded content may be
- corrupted. If this situation has occurred, please do the following procedures to solve
- this problem:
-
- 1. When recording, please don't execute any other applications, especially those that
- cover up the PowerVCR window.
- 2. Please use Preview mode for recording.
- 3. When recording, if the mouse pointer floats over the Stop button, the pop-up
- "Stop" hint window may corrupt the encoded video.
- You can press Ctrl-F8 to disable the hint window display if necessary.
-
- * When using some capturing devices for recording video in Overlay mode, the captured
- video may become noisy or unstable. Please use the Preview mode for recording.
-
-
- * Common USB or parallel port cameras are not able to perform high frame
- rate capture, it is HIGHLY recommended that choosing a lower frame rate
- through the CONFIG button provided in the video recorder of PowerVCR.
-
- * If audio and video are not synchronous during recording, the system may be unable to
- perform high frame rate recording. It is HIGHLY recommended that choosing lower frame
- rate through the CONFIG button provided in the video recorder of PowerVCR.
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- DISPLAY CARD ISSUES
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-
- * Any PCI or AGP VGA card will be sufficient to playback recorded video
- on PowerVCR. But it is still considered an energy-expending issue because PowerVCR uses DirectDraw to preview and display video.
-
- * S3 Savage VGA cards does not seem compatible with capture cards we have
- tested because PowerVCR possibly misbehaves on the platform when utilizing this VGA card.
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- AUDIO CARD ISSUES
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-
- * Sound cards with WAVE IN/OUT interface support is adequate.
-
- * The default driver for ESS-1868 WDM driver in Windows 98 doesn't seem like a stable
- driver. It is HIGHLY recommended to use the driver packaged with the sound card.
-
- * Mastro-1 and Mastro-2 sometimes cause PowerVCR to misbehave while performing
- encoding during long periods of time. Both of them also causes PowerVCR performance degradation.
-
- * The following sound cards/chips are compatible with PowerVCR:
-
- ISA cards : SB16,
- SB16PnP,
- AW35/Pro,
- YAMAHA 719,
- FM801,
- Crystal 4237B,
- Opti 931
- ESS 1868 (Non-WDM driver)
- ESS 1869
-
- PCI cards : SB PCI64,
- SB PCI128,
- SB Live!,
- YAMAHA 724,
- Crystal 4622,
- Trident 4DWAVE
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- VIDEO RECORDER
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-
- * PowerVCR generates video and audio files respectively and mixes them after the
- user presses the STOP button. Consequently, if the user performs 10 minutes of recording,
- HD space with 20 minutes of recording time size is needed. But, the overhead HD space
- will be released after recording wraps up.
-
- * Using "Constant Quality" profile to perform 352 x 240 frame size with 30
- frames/sec recording, 20MB data will be generated every minute. As the result,
- to perform 10 minutes recording, 20 x 10 x 2 = 400 MB HD space is required.
-
- * Using "VCD (NTSC)" profile to perform 352 x 240 frame size with 30
- frames/sec recording, 10MB data will be generated every minute. As the result,
- to perform 10 minutes recording, 10 x 10 x 2 = 200 MB HD space is required.
-
- * PowerVCR will probably misbehave when opening files that are not generated by
- PowerVCR and then performs concatenating recording.
-
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- VIDEO CONVERTER
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-
- * PowerVCR currently only supports .avi files conversion to .mpg files.
-
- * PowerVCR converts .avi files through Windows ICM and ACM runtime libraries.
- If your .avi files are not properly converted by PowerVCR, right click
- on this file in File Manager to check its properties. If there is
- any unknown code, it is not supported by PowerVCR.
-
- * If the above problem has occurred, please install the "INTEL Indeo A/V
- playback drivers" that come with the PowerVCR setup CD, or download from the
- following URL:
-
- http://developer.intel.com/ial/indeo/video/driver.htm
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- VIDEO EDITOR
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-
- * Currently, PowerVCR only provides common editing functions on .mpg files
- which are generated by PowerVCR.
-
- * In video editor, PowerVCR will not detect the attributes of input clips.
- Users are advised to merge video clips produced from the same
- profile.
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- Check whether your system has DirectXMedia V6 and Indeo Codec installed
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- 1. PowerVCR needs Microsoft DirectXMedia V6 software to playback
- video files. To check whether your system has the aforementioned software installed,
- follow the instructions below:
- (1) Go to Windows\System directory
- (2) Find the file "QUARTZ.DLL"
- (3) Right click on this file, and choose "Properties"
- (4) Click on the "Version" tab and check if it is version 6 or above.
-
- 2. PowerVCR's video converter utilizes Windows system codec to convert special
- AVI video formats to MPEG such as Intel's Indeo codec. There are many AVI files that
- have been created by Indeo codec, but Windows 98 does not install such codec by default.
- To check whether your system has Indeo codec installed, follow the instructions
- below:
- (1) Click on "Start«Control Panel". Then double-click on "Multimedia."
- (2) Click on the "Device" tab and select "Video Codecs" from the list.
- (3) If "Indeo Video" is on the list, Indeo Codec is installed in your system.
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- TECHNICAL SUPPORT
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-
- If you have any problems or comments about PowerVCR, feel free to
- contact us.
-
- Tel : +886-2-8667-1298 ext. Customer Support.
- Fax : +886-2-8667-1300
- E-mail : powervcr@cyberlink.com.tw
- URL : www.cyberlink.com.tw
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