=============================================== Osprey Technologies, Inc. ViewCast Corporation Osprey-2000 MPEG/Capture Driver For Windows NT4.0 Version 2.1.0, build 371 02/01/2002 Sections in this file: - Introduction - Troubleshooting - Testing the Driver - Manuals and Help - Latest Drivers - Revision History - Known Issues in version 2.1.0 - Information - Osprey-2000 Windows 2000 Installation - Important Notice - Contact Information Introduction: ========================================================== ========================================================== This version of the driver is for Windows NT 4.0 only. It is a MPEG Codec and Video for Windows Video capture driver. This driver works only with cards from the Osprey Video Division of ViewCast Corporation. Troubleshooting ========================================================== ========================================================== If the installation program for this driver appears to hang, press Alt-Tab to ensure that the installation screen is not hidden. Testing the Driver: ========================================================== ========================================================== Click on "VidCap32" in the Osprey 2000 program group to test the driver. Manuals and Help: ========================================================== ========================================================== The document SimulStreaming_Users_Guide.pdf contains general information about the SimulStreaming capabilities which are available at added cost in this driver version. Refer to the Osprey-2000 User's Guide for detailed information about the Osprey-2000 board, driver, and optional components. You can access this User's Guide, which is in PDF format, by opening the Osprey-2000UsersGuide.pdf file located at the root directory on the CD. After the driver has been installed, a shortcut to this User's Guide is placed in the Osprey-2000 program group. These manuals require the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available on your CD, or by download from www.adobe.com. The Help inside the Osprey driver is in HTML. This Help requires a frames-capable browser with JavaScript enabled, such as Microsoft IE 4.0 or later, or Netscape 4.5 or later. Latest Drivers: ========================================================== ========================================================== Before installing, check the ViewCast.com ftp site or the www.ospreyvideo.com website for the latest drivers: For the ftp site, go to: ftp://ftp.viewcast.com/pub/OSP-2000/winnt/latest/ For the website, navigate: www.ospreyvideo.com --> click on Downloads --> click on Software & Drivers --> select your board and operating system from the table If there isn't a newer driver at the time of your installation, please check the website or ftpsite frequently thereafter. Revision History ========================================================== ========================================================== Changes from 2.1.0 build 228 to 2.1.0 build 371: - It is necessary to uninstall a previous driver release before installing a new driver release. The installation program now detects whether a previous release is present and prompts the user to uninstall it. - MpegVCR delays for 5-12 seconds before recording/loopback from a DV source. - There are known issues with OPI/MpegVCR and PAL DV that may make it work only intermittently. (#180) - In the installation program, the Back button now handles choosing between Typical and Custom installations correctly. - MpegVCR now supports the 'top field first' MPEG parameter. - The OPI programs MpegVCR and MPEGEncode now set the bitrate properly when encoding MPEG2 Transport streams with a bitrate below 5Mbps. (#206) - If the audio sample rate selected in MpegVCR does not match the actual sample rate of the digital source, MpegVCR will override the user's choice and encode a file using the source's sample. (#157) - When using MpegVCR, or writing an OPI program to encode MPEG-1, the user must choose VBR, not CBR, for release 2.1.0. (#205) - Only VBR is supported for encoding MPEG VES streams (Video Elementary Stream). (#185) Changes from 1.0.5 to 2.1.0 build 228: ========================================================== - Versions 2.1.0 build 371 and later are capable of SimulStreaming. - A new feature, software de-interlace, has been added to the 'Advanced Features' page of the Osprey's video control dialog. De-interlacing is optimized for Windows 2000 and later; it will consume fractionally more CPU cycles when enabled under Windows NT. Please see Chapter 8 of the Osprey-2000 User's Guide for a description of de-interlacing. - Added 'top field first' MPEG parameter. - Improved quality of MPEG audio encode. - Improved compatibility with DVDit! version 2.5. - Added level meter and mute control to the audio Playback Control mixer. - The level meter in the audio Record Control mixer now works at all times, including during MPEG encoding. - Added CBR (constant bitrate) support for MPEG2 program and transport streams. - Added MPEG decode performance optimizations. - The parameter 'Access to Multiple Boards' on the Video Configuration page has been changed to 'Multiple Opens'. The meaning of this checkbox has also been changed. This checkbox should be selected when using the SimulStreaming feature of the driver. - When SimulStreaming, only 1 session can enable the Closed Caption 'Save to File' option. - Fixed a bug that caused Osprey-2000 to be set as the default audio playback device. - The Osprey-2000 User's Guide has been changed from HTML format to Adobe PDF format. - A new radio button which controls Field Order has been added to the Video Source Page of the control dialog. Refer to Osprey-2000 User's Guide for a description. - Fixed a bug in mixer driver that caused CPU utilization to hit 100% if card was installed in the same machine as a SoundBlaster Live card and an optional utility from Creative. - The parameter 'Access to Multiple Boards' on the Video Configuration page has been changed to 'Multiple Opens'. The meaning of this checkbox has also been changed. This checkbox should be selected when using the SimulStreaming feature of the driver. Changes from 1.0.3 to 1.0.5: ============================ - Support for MPEG encoding bitrates of 8-10 Mbps has been added. - Authoring of cDVDs with DVDit! from Sonic Solutions (MPEG-1 and MPEG-2) is supported in this release. The user must select 'Non-Compliant' stream type. Please refer to DVDit! documentation for more information about cDVD media. - Editing of MPEG-2, MPEG-1, and AVI files is supported by the following software: - Adobe Premiere - Sonic Foundry's Vegas Video - Ulead Media Studio Pro Please contact the software vendor if you have questions about these software packages. - Support for Revision 4 of Osprey-2000 hardware has been added. - This release introduces beta-level support for control of additional MPEG encoding attributes in OPI and DirectShow. The MpegVCR application does not currently provide access to these attributes. - There is a known problem in MPEGvcr. When you change the video source (composite, SDI, etc.) and/or the Video Signal (NTSC/PAL) using the Options dialog in MPEGvcr, the change will not take effect in loopback video until after you have played live video. Therefore: (1) make the desired change; (2) select Live Video briefly; (3) select Loopback. Changes from 1.0.2 to 1.0.3: ============================ - The volume of audio in encoded MPEG files has been increased. - Encoded MPEG streams are properly terminated with an end code. - Decoding of PAL MPEG streams is supported for MPEG-2 height=576 and MPEG-1 height=144 and 288. - MPEG encode buffer size is no longer required to be a multiple of 32768 bytes. - Use of encoding applications on decode-only boards now fail gracefully. Known issues in version 2.1: ========================================================== ========================================================== - The uninstall program does not prompt the user to reboot after uninstalling the driver. The machine must be rebooted to complete the uninstall. - There are known issues with OPI/MpegVCR and PAL DV that may make it work only intermittently. (#180) - MPEG-2 encoding at audio sample rate 48kHz with audio bitrate set to 384Kbps may generate bad MEPG streams. - RealProducer / Heavy Load Problem: There is a known problem with RealProducer in which it adds video buffers to the capture device before RealProducer has finished processing the buffers. Typically under non-loaded CPU utilizations this is not a problem because the buffer can be processed by RealProducer before being prepared for capture. However, under heavy CPU load, the capture driver can prepare the buffer for capture before RealProducer finishes or even starts processing the buffer. The result is typically a processed image that has a multicolored pattern in the image. The size / height of this pattern depends on how far RealProducer has processed the buffer before it is prepared for capture. If you find this situation occurs first try to reduce your CPU load before contacting Osprey support. - When transcoding using RealProducer, sometimes a thread deadlock occurs in RealProducer if the user has turned on "View Input Source". Workaround is to turn that off, and view the output only. This workaround doesn't always fix it, so use of the "Application Capture" method of transcoding is recommended to avoid this Real bug. - MpegVCR is sometimes not able to change the audio sample rate after you have chosen an initial rate for a digital source. Use another application to change the audio port sample rate (#156) - You MUST uninstall the optional Runtime and SDK Osprey-2000 packages FIRST, and uninstall the 'Osprey-2000 Master' LAST. If you have accidentally uninstalled the Master package first, you can work around the problem by re-installing the Master package and rebooting. Sometimes the problem is not resolved until you have re-installed a second time. Information: ========================================================== ========================================================== - The Osprey-2000 does not support simultaneous capturing of audio to the host while encoding MPEG. To listen to audio while encoding MPEG, connect your speakers to the audio out connector attached to the card. If you attempt to capture audio to the host while encoding MPEG, you will receive an error message that the device is in use. - MPEG2 transport stream decode is not supported in this release. - Audio capture driver does not support independent control of left and right channels. - Microsoft's DXMedia Runtime is provided on the Osprey-2000 release CD. The DirectShow Runtime is also provided on your CD. However, DirectShow features do no work under Windows NT, because they require DirectX 8 support. Osprey-2000 Windows NT4.0 Installation: ========================================================== ========================================================== The Osprey-2000 installation consists of a base driver (required) and 3 optional components. During the course of this installation, you will be prompted choose whether to install the 3 optional components: - OPI Runtime - OPI Software Developer's Kit - VFW Software Developer's Kit The text in the prompt windows explains the contents of each optional component. To run the installation, run \WinNT\setup.exe on the Osprey-2000 release CD. Important Notice =============================================== =============================================== If you are using an Osprey-100 or Osprey-200 card in the same machine as your Osprey-2000 card, we strongly recommend that you upgrade the 100/200-family card to the version 2.0.0 or later driver. If you are using an Osprey-500 card in the same machine as your Osprey-2000 card, we strongly recommend that you upgrade the Osprey-500 card to the version 2.1 or later driver. Contact information: =============================================== =============================================== voice: 888-684-6622 fax: 919-319-9814 email: support@viewcast.com website: www.viewcast.com