Extasy 6/Extasy Vol 6.iso/vidwin11/8005.txt

Text File | 1995-04-02 | 22KB | 462 lines

*** PC VIDEO: UNDERSTANDING THE TECHNOLOGY ***

PC VIDEO: UNDERSTANDING THE TECHNOLOGY

   Imagine explaining how to tie a shoe ... using only written or spoken
   words.  Even with pictures and diagrams, it's still awkward and time
   consuming.  Similarly, many types of business information cannot be
   conveyed effectively with words and images alone.  What's needed is a
   much richer mode of communication--one that not only includes visual
   elements, but also captures movement and visual expression.

   The personal computer (PC) has enhanced business communication
   dramatically over the last decade, allowing people to communicate using
   text, data and graphics.  The next logical step is the addition of
   motion video to PCs.  PC video integrates visual elements with speech,
   bringing a rich new data type to PC communications.  It combines the
   impact of video with the PC's ability to manage data.

   Off-the-shelf hardware and software that supports PC video are available
   today.  New technologies are making PC video not only affordable, but
   also easy to install and use.  As a result, we are beginning to see
   applications that use video to enhance the effectiveness of business
   communication.

PC VIDEO APPLICATIONS

   The PC has become an important platform for communicating and
   distributing information.  People use PCs to send and receive documents,
   faxes and e-mail messages over LANs and across phone lines.  Video is a
   natural and powerful extension to these communications.

   With the ready availability of PC video software, and the ease of
   incorporating and using video, you can get started right away.  With
   products like Microsoft's Video for Windows*--which incorporates Intel's
   Indeo(TM) video technology--it's easy to add video clips to existing
   applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, data bases and
   presentation graphics.  With the addition of inexpensive video capture
   hardware, you can also record video right on your desktop PC.

BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS

   PC-based business presentations look good, are easy to create.  And,
   with over 100 million PCs installed today,  you can show your
   presentation in almost any business office.  All it requires is a
   desktop PC or a PC equipped with a flat-panel projector.

   With PC video, you can add a whole new dimension to business
   presentations.  Imagine the impact of a sales presentation with "live"
   customer testimonials or video-based product demonstrations.  You can
   quickly create a marketing clip on a new product without the expense of
   producing a full-blown video or, add impact to staff presentations,
   announcements and other corporate communications.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

   Videotaped training programs are heavily used in business, in part
   because research has shown that video can increase audience retention of

   information by as much as 38%.

   Videotape also has some limitations in training programs. Its
   information is sequential and cannot be randomly accessed for
   interactive training.  It also requires a professional video production
   house to create and employees cannot typically view videotapes at their
   desks.

   PC video overcomes these limitations.  PC video can be randomly accessed
   for truly interactive training.  It's easy to combine video with text,
   graphics and other data types to optimize communication and Intel486(TM)
   CPU-based PCs are more common on business desktops than VCRs, so the
   training can be more widely used.

   You can use PC video for many training and education purposes: employee
   orientation, human resources updates, sales training, product training,
   electronic employee newsletters, safety courses and many others.  For
   example, service and maintenance manuals could include video clips of
   operations like installing a car's oil filter.

VIDEO DATA BASES

   Video data bases combine the power of video with the computer's ability
   to manage and present data.  Imagine going into a real estate office,
   entering your requirements for a new home in a PC, and then viewing
   video clips of houses that fit your needs and budget.  There are many
   other possibilities: physicians in remote locations can take advantage
   of a video data base containing medical procedures; video can be added
   to insurance claims data bases.

GENERAL PURPOSE VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION

   Just as e-mail has revolutionized communications, PC video will
   eventually revolutionize e-mail. Video e-mail is particularly effective
   in facilitating cooperative projects where several coworkers need to
   share information.  For example: doctors can share patient records;
   engineers can share design approaches; insurance adjusters can share
   claim information.  Video e-mail can also be used to distribute
   information--such as service bulletins and product updates--quickly and
   effectively.

NEXT GENERATION APPLICATIONS

   In addition to enhancing existing applications, PC video opens the door
   to a range of new applications that combine text, graphics, voice and
   video. For example, desktop video conferencing would allow users to not
   only see the other party, but also send, annotate and share documents in
   real time. With these applications, the PC will become an even more
   powerful business tool.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

   The hardware and software you'll need for PC video depend on whether you
   plan to record video at your desktop or simply view video clips recorded
   by others.

REQUIREMENTS FOR PLAYING VIDEO

   Your PC may already be capable of video playback.  All you need is a PC
   with an Intel486SX CPU (25 MHz or faster), Windows, a hard disk drive, a
   Run-time version of Video for Windows, and a 256-color VGA board or
   greater.  You'll also need a Windows-compatible PC audio board and
   speakers or headphones.

   With this setup, you can play back video files that have been recorded
   elsewhere and supplied to you on diskette, via a network, or on a CD-ROM
   if you also have a CD-ROM drive. That means that tens of millions of
   Intel486(TM) microprocessor-based PCs are potential video playback
   units.


REQUIREMENTS FOR RECORDING VIDEO ON A PC

   If you also wish to record video on your PC, you'll need a few
   additional components:

     *  A video digitizing (or capture) board to convert the video analog
        signals to digital information.

     *  A hard disk with a minimum of 30 MB free.

     *  A source of video input such as a video camera, VCR or laser disc
        player.

     *  Video software (such as Video for Windows) which includes video
        capture, compression, playback and basic video editing utilities.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND VIDEO QUALITY

   You cannot play back video at a higher quality than was captured, so you
   should give particular attention to the quality of video recording.

   Video image quality depends on a combination of three factors: viewing
   window size, video "frame rate", and color presentation capability.  In
   addition, the level of video quality that you enjoy is directly related
   to your PC hardware configuration: the PC microprocessor, the graphics
   board, and the speed of the hard disk.

VIEWING WINDOW SIZE

   Viewing window dimensions are expressed in pixels.  A standard VGA
   screen is 640x480 pixels. This means that a 320x240 video play-back
   window takes up about 1/4th of the computer's display.  Standard PC
   video window playback sizes are 160x120 (1/16 screen) and 320x240 (1/4
   screen).

VIDEO FRAME RATE

   Video "frame rate" specifies the number of frames per second (fps) of
   video images displayed on the screen.  The higher the frame rate, the
   more fluid the motion appears.  The highest, or best, quality frame rate
   available is 30 fps.  Lower frame rates (below 10) still appear as

   motion, but are noticeably "jerky", while zero fps is a still frame (no
   motion).  For reference, 24 fps is used in motion pictures, and 30 fps
   in television.  Most people find 10 to 15 fps acceptable for viewing
   fluid motion.

COLOR PRESENTATION CAPABILITY

   Color presentation capability depends on the color depth and the spatial
   color resolution.  Color depth refers to the number of different colors
   available. The more colors, the higher the quality and the truer the
   representation.  Color depth on PCs ranges from a VGA palette of 4 bits
   (16 colors) up to 24-bit true color with 16.7 million hues.  You'll need
   a 256-color VGA card or higher for video.

   Color resolution refers to the spatial "graininess" or "blockiness" of
   the color.  The highest quality results when every pixel is assigned its
   own color in smoothly shaded regions where the color resolution is low.

RECORDING VIDEO ON YOUR PC

   Recording video on your PC is a simple process.  You can capture live
   action using a video camera, or you can capture existing video clips
   from a VCR or laser disc player.  The video capture board in your PC
   converts this analog video signal into digital information, and records
   it on a hard disk file.  The file format depends on the video recording
   hardware and software used (for example, Video for Windows creates .AVI
   files).

COMPRESSION

   Raw digitized video files are quite large.  Just one minute of video can
   fill from 35 to 50 MB on your hard disk, depending on preset capture
   parameters.  So it's necessary to compress--or shrink--raw video files
   to a size that is more manageable on a PC.

   Video compression techniques take advantage of the fact that, as you
   move from one frame of video to the next, much of the "information"
   remains the same.  Compression routines look at each frame and identify
   and save only the changes from frame to frame--for example, changes
   caused by motion.  Additionally, compression routines "eliminate the
   redundancy" within each frame.  If, for example, an area of the screen
   is all the same color, the compression software stores color information
   about the area as a whole, rather than storing separate color
   information for each pixel.

   Compressing a video file will dramatically reduce it's size.  For
   example, video software that incorporates Indeo video technology can
   compress a 50 MB raw video file to about 9 MB.  Indeo video technology,
   which is Intel's advanced video compression/decompression software
   technology, is a key component of Microsoft's Video for Windows and
   Apple's QuickTime products.  Other vendors also plan to incorporate
   Indeo technology into their operating environments, thus allowing users
   to interchange video files freely between Windows, Macintosh* and OS/2*
   platforms.

ONE-STEP VERSUS TWO-STEP CAPTURE AND COMPRESSION

   There are two types of video capture techniques: one-step capture and
   compression and two-step capture and compression.

   Older video capture boards use a two-step process, because they don't
   have the processing power to compress the video as it is captured.  In
   the first step, these boards capture and store the raw digitized video
   information on a hard disk.  In the second step, a software routine
   compresses this file off-line.  This two-step process requires disk
   space not only to hold the uncompressed video file, but also the
   compressed file (for a total of 45 to 60 MB for one minute of video in a
   160x120 window).  In addition, the off-line software compression step
   takes a lot of extra time--as much as 15 to 30 minutes for every minute
   of video.  During that time, the PC is completely dedicated to
   compression, and cannot be used for other work.

   Fortunately, newer compression technologies use a combination of
   software and hardware to compress video much more quickly.  For example,
   the Intel Smart Video Recorder can digitize, compress and store the
   video data all in a single step.  This is accomplished by incorporating
   Indeo technology and Intel's I750(R) video processor.

   This single-step process offers important advantages.  It minimizes the
   cost of PC video because it uses far less hard disk space (9 MB versus
   45 to 60 MB for one minute of video).  This often eliminates the need to
   add large and fast hard disk capacity to your PC.  It also offers
   convenience and time savings because there is no lengthy compression
   process involved.

VIDEO CAPTURE QUALITY

   Single-step capture and compression has an important advantage in that
   video quality is not sensitive to the hardware configuration as it is in
   two-step capture and compression.

   With two-step capture and compression, all uncompressed video data must
   be transferred directly to the hard disk.  In many configurations, the
   speed of the microprocessor and hard disk cannot keep pace with the
   large volume of incoming data.  The system becomes overloaded and begins
   to "drop" frames so you may not be able to achieve the full frame rate
   (quality) that is specified for the video capture board.  For example, a
   two-step video capture board rated at 30 fps, may in reality capture far
   fewer fps on less powerful hardware configurations.

   One-step capture and compression, on the other hand, compresses video
   data before it is transferred to the hard disk.  As a result, the amount
   of data that the hard disk must handle is dramatically reduced--by a
   factor of up to 6 to 1.  Thus, few frames, if any, are "dropped" during
   capture.  A single-step video capture board rated at 30 fps will deliver
   30 fps even on less powerful system configurations.

DISTRIBUTING YOUR VIDEO

   You can distribute your compressed video files just as you would any
   other file type--either on diskette or over a network.  Anyone who has
   Video for Windows can play your video clip without additional software.

   Otherwise, you simply attach a copy of video player software (also
   called a run-time player) to the compressed file.  Video player software
   is included with Video for Windows and with the Intel Smart Video
   Recorder.

PLAYING VIDEO FILES ON YOUR PC

   To play PC video, you don't need specialized video playback hardware on
   your PC.  All you need is Video for Windows, or the run-time version of
   Video for Windows. You'll also need an audio card if the video file
   includes sound.

PLAYBACK QUALITY DEPENDS ON HARDWARE

   As you move up in processing power, such as from an Intel386(TM) to an
   Intel486(TM) to a Pentium(TM) microprocessor, you can take advantage of
   larger playback window sizes and faster frame rates.  The result is a
   larger viewing area and more fluid motion.

   Depending on the hardware configuration, you may need to make tradeoffs
   between window size and frame rate to optimize video quality for
   particular purposes.  If the most important thing to convey is motion,
   then you would opt for a smaller window playback size to get a faster
   frame rate. If you are more interested in visual details, you would
   trade off frame rate for a larger window playback size.  The table below
   shows typical window sizes and frame rate tradeoffs for popular hardware
   configurations.

   Playback Performance Tradeoffs

        System*              160x120                    320x240
        Intel486SX-25        15 fps                     4 fps
        Intel486DX-33        20 fps                     5 fps
        Intel486DX2-66       30 fps                     8 fps


   *NOTE:    All systems tested with 8 MB RAM; 11.8 millisecond hard disk
             speed; Orchid ProDesigner/e VGA card with 512 KB memory and
             256 colors.

SMART VIDEO SOFTWARE

   Because of the variety of hardware configurations available, video
   software should be "smart" enough to take advantage of whatever hardware
   is available.  This includes being able to maximize playback quality for
   that hardware automatically--without requiring you to change the
   software or the video clip file.  This is referred to as scalability.

   During playback, Indeo video technology's scalability automatically
   adapts playback quality to the available processing power.  Because the
   one-step capability of the Intel Smart Video Recorder ensures that
   frames are never lost, more powerful PCs can play the same video file
   and deliver progressively faster frame rates.  As computer users upgrade
   their systems with faster Intel microprocessors, video recorded on the
   Intel Smart Video Recorder will "upgrade" along with them. Scalability
   protects your investment because video recorded today will play faster

   on tomorrow's machines.

   On the other hand, video captured on two-step boards often means lost
   frames, which can never be recovered regardless of the speed of the CPU.
    Without scalability, video quality will be the same on the faster CPU
   as it was on the older one.

VIDEO TRENDS

PC HARDWARE

   Today's microprocessors have the power necessary to handle the demands
   of high-quality video. The next generation of microprocessors, such as
   Intel's Pentium processor, will be even better equipped for running
   video-based applications.  In addition, storage capacities are
   increasing and costs are plummeting, with disk drives of 200 to 300 MB
   now standard on many PCs.

VIDEO HARDWARE

   Intel offers the Intel Smart Video Recorder to simplify video capture
   and to enhance playback quality. Using Indeo video technology and the
   I750(R) video processor, the Intel board offers the advantages of
   one-step capture and compression.  This saves time and disk space, and
   delivers higher recorded frame rates.

OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE

   Microsoft, IBM and Apple have all committed to supporting video in their
   operating system software. Video for Windows and QuickTime, both of
   which incorporate Intel's Indeo video technology, are available today
   from Microsoft and Apple.  IBM has announced plans for incorporating
   Indeo video technology into OS/2.

VIDEO TOOLS AND UTILITIES

   A number of video capture, editing and playback tools and utilities are
   becoming available for working with video on your PC.  Many of these
   programs are integrated with operating environments such as Video for
   Windows.

VIDEO CLIP ART

   Clip art suppliers are beginning to market "video clip art," offering
   you a wide selection of pre-recorded video that you can incorporate into
   business documents.

APPLICATIONS

   Existing standards such as Object Linking and Editing (OLE) make it easy
   to include PC video in over 150 existing business applications.  These
   include word processors, spreadsheets, databases and business
   presentations.  This paves the way for the integration of video into
   compound documents without the need for specialized software.

DISTRIBUTION

   Distribution infrastructures such as LANs and the telephone network are
   already in place and can support limited digital video transmission,
   such as low-volume store-and-forward.  As video compression techniques
   advance and network bandwidths widen, video e-mail will become a
   reality. Advancements in digital communications technology such as the
   Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) are making it possible to
   send video beyond the local area network.  Ultimately, we'll be able to
   handle the transmission of full motion video in real time, enabling
   exciting new applications like teleconferencing.

IN CONCLUSION

   PC video is here today.  It's affordable.  It's easy to use.  And it
   opens the door to numerous applications that dramatically enhance
   business communications.

   New technologies such as Indeo video technology make playback easy and
   affordable--often without any additional hardware.  In addition, Indeo
   video technology, in conjunction with the Intel Smart Video Recorder,
   permits single-step capture and compression, making the process fast and
   efficient.  So you can create your own video clips right at your
   desktop.

   Through the continuing development of more powerful microprocessors such
   as the Pentium processor, Intel is paving the way for more sophisticated
   video applications that will allow PC video to reach its true potential.

   In addition to making Indeo video technology available to other hardware
   and software vendors, Intel offers the Intel Smart Video Recorder, a
   complete video capture package that includes:

     *  The Intel Smart Video Recorder, a one-step video recording board
        that uses Indeo video technology and the I750(R) video processor

     *  Microsoft Video for Windows

     *  Asymetrix Compel*, a multimedia presentation package designed for
        on-screen PC presentations

     *  Asymetrix MediaBlitz!*, a program for organizing and integrating
        animation, graphics, audio and video into multi-media shows

     *  GateKeeper Visual Thinking CD-ROM from Firstlight*, Incorporated.
        This includes an audio/video clip library and presentation tools.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

   To learn more about the Intel Smart Video Recorder, call Intel's FaxBack
   service and request document 8000.

   FaxBack and I750 are registered trademarks and Intel386, Intel486, i386,
   i486, Pentium and Indeo are trademarks of Intel Corporation.

   *    Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective
   owners.

   This literature is subject to change without notice. Intel assumes no
   responsibilities for errors or omissions herein. (c) 1993 Intel
   Corporation. All rights reserved.


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End of file                 Intel FaxBack # 8005          26 August 1994