BTV Home page - http://members.tripod.com/~benbird/btv/
Date: July 1999
Version: 2.1.1
What is it:
BTV is a application that allows you to easily view full-screen video from any video digitising source. It was originally written for the IXTV (TurboTV) card however it has been successfully tested with a number of video sources.
Features of BTV:
• Full-screen video with no menu bar at 640x480
• Automatic monitor resolution switching to 640x480 and back to the original resolution on quit
• Multiple monitor support - play full screen video on one monitor while you work on another
• Can grab a frame of the video and save it as a PICT file, either straight to the desktop with an automatic file name or through the normal save dialog box
• Can black out other monitors on a multi-monitor system
• Can be set to disable background processes so no interference by screensaver or powersaver
• Can adjust size of picture with arrow keys
• Can hide the mouse (this can be done automatically on startup)
• Can spin down hard disks for less noise (this can be done automatically on startup)
• Saves all video settings
Controls:
Arrow keys: Resize picture horizontally or vertically.
The first time the program loads it will ask you which monitor to use to display the video (if you have more than one monitor) and then it will ask you to set the screen to the best 640x480 resolution your hardware can handle (for this you can use the 'Monitors & Sound' control panel or the control strip etc). These settings need only be set once, however they can be changed later by simple menu commands. Video from the computer's default video digitiser is then displayed full-screen in the selected monitor. To watch TV, use an external VCR connected to the video in connector of your digitiser hardware.
For users with multiple monitors:
Once set, BTV remembers resolution settings for each of your monitors, however if your hardware configuration changes (eg. you plug a different monitor into a video card, or change a video card for a different one) the new hardware may not work with the old resolution and refresh rate settings saved by BTV. So if new settings are required for the new hardware configuration you should hold the Command key down when you double-click on BTV and all previously saved settings will be erased. (BTV will detect obvious changes to your setup such as if you unplug a monitor or remove or add a video card, in which case BTV will automatically ask you for new settings).
Note: if you want to watch TV on one screen and work on a different one, the 'Play in background' option in BTV's preferences must be checked (but you shouldn't need to do anything - this is the default setting if you have more than one monitor).
If you switch the display between monitors sometimes the icons on your desktop can get shifted out of place - this problem is being worked on. I suggest using a shareware app such as 'Desktop Resetter' by Nick D'Amato so reset your icons to their original positions.
System requirements:
Any PowerMac with video digitising hardware that can sample at 640x480.
BTV uses 1000k of RAM, however if you never need to create PICT files you can reduce this to about 400k.
Terms and conditions:
This application is EmailWare which means if you use it all you have to do is email me to tell me how great it is! Please email any comment, suggestions or bug reports!
Legal Stuff:
BTV is free but copyright by Ben Bird. It is forbidden to make profit with it. Don't distribute a modified version. Always include this readme when you distribute it. There is no warranty of any kind for BTV - I am not responsible if anything bad happens when you use it.
