Osprey® 800e Series User Guide
© 2014 Osprey by Variosystems, LLC. All rights reserved.
Osprey® and SimulStream® are registered trademarks of Osprey by Variosystems, LLC. Microsoft®,
Windows® 7, Windows Server® 2003, AVStream®, DirectShow®, Intel® CoreDuo®, and Windows
Media® Encoder are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Any other
product names, trademarks, trade names, service marks, or service names owned or registered by
any other company and mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.
No part of this specification may be reproduced, transcribed, transmitted or stored in a retrieval system in any part or by any means without
the express written consent of Osprey by Variosystems, LLC. Osprey by Variosystems, LLC reserves the right to change any products herein at
any time and without notice. Osprey by Variosystems, LLC makes no representations or warranties regarding the content of this document, and
assumes no responsibility for any errors contained herein.
UL Statement
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. has not tested the performance or reliability of the security or signaling aspects of this product. UL has only
tested for fire, shock and casualty hazards as outlined in UL’s Standard for Safety UL 60950-1. UL Certification does not cover the performance
or reliability of the security or signaling aspects of this product. UL MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR CERTIFICATIONS
WHATSOEVER REGARDING THE PERFORMANCE OR RELIABILITY OF ANY SECURITY OR SIGNALING RELATED FUNCTIONS OF THIS PRODUCT.
To maintain UL compliance, this product is to be used only with UL Listed computers that include instructions for user-installed accessories.
FCC Notice
WARNING: Connections between this device and peripherals must be made using shielded cables in order to maintain compliance with FCC
radio emission limits.
WARNING: Modifications to this device not approved by Osprey by Variosystems, LLC could void the authority granted to the user by the FCC to
operate the device.
The Osprey 800e Series video capture device has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part
15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause
harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this
device does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:
Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Connect the computer into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the
receiver is connected.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
If the above measures are unsuccessful, please consult the dealer or manufacturer of your radio or television receiver, or speak with an
experienced radio/TV technician.
Note: This reminder is provided to call to the CATV installer’s attention Section 820-40 of the NEC, which provides guidelines for proper
grounding and, in particular, specifies that the cable ground shall be connected to the grounding system of the building, as close to the point of
cable entry as practical.
Shielded Cables: Connections between this device and peripherals must be made using shielded cables in order to maintain compliance with
FCC radio emission limits.
Modifications: Modifications to this device not approved by Osprey by Variosystems, LLC could void the authority granted to the user by the
FCC to operate the device.
Note to CATV Installer: This reminder is provided to call to the CATV installer’s attention Section 820-40 of the NEC, which provides guidelines for
proper grounding and, in particular, specifies that the cable ground shall be connected to the grounding system of the building, as close to the
point of cable entry as practical.
Product Disposal Information
Dispose of this product in accordance with local and national disposal regulations (if any), including those governing the recovery and
recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
RoHS Compliant: Osprey by Variosystems, LLC is committed to compliance with the European directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain
Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Directive 2011/65/EC, the RoHS directive.
For current RoHS statement, visit www.ospreyvideo.com
Osprey by Variosystems, LLC 901 S. Kimball Ave., Southlake, TX 76092 USA
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
Contents
Overview .............................................................................................................................. 1
Warranties ....................................................................................................................................... 1
System requirements ....................................................................................................................... 2
Audience .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Installation Steps ................................................................................................................ 5
Installing the driver via the Multimedia CD ..................................................................................... 5
Installing the hardware .................................................................................................................... 9
Installing the video capture card ................................................................................................... 12
Multiple board types ...................................................................................................................... 13
Adding or moving boards ........................................................................................................ 13
Using the video capture card ......................................................................................................... 15
Designed for live/instant video-on-demand adaptive features .............................................. 16
Capture and preview pins ....................................................................................................... 16
Common buttons ..................................................................................................................... 17
Setting Driver Properties .................................................................................................. 19
Properties window ......................................................................................................................... 19
Video Proc Amp tab ................................................................................................................. 22
Video Decoder tab ................................................................................................................... 24
Crossbar tab............................................................................................................................. 26
Trace tab .................................................................................................................................. 27
Performance tab ...................................................................................................................... 28
Diagnostics tab ........................................................................................................................ 30
Resource Monitor tab ............................................................................................................. 31
Device tab ................................................................................................................................ 33
Input Detect tab ...................................................................................................................... 34
Deinterlace tab ........................................................................................................................ 35
Watermark tab ........................................................................................................................ 37
Loss Of Signal tab..................................................................................................................... 40
Cropping tab ............................................................................................................................ 42
Closed Caption tab .................................................................................................................. 45
VGA Settings tab ...................................................................................................................... 47
Osprey by Variosystems iii
Contents
Understanding Audio Input Properties ............................................................................ 49
Audio Properties page ................................................................................................................... 49
Audio Configurator tab ............................................................................................................ 50
Audio Input Mixer tab ............................................................................................................. 51
Selecting the Audio Source and Input Volume ............................................................... 53
Osprey mixer driver interface ........................................................................................................ 53
Osprey 800a audio input card ........................................................................................................ 57
Using the DVB-ASI Feature .............................................................................................. 61
Activating the DVB-ASI Feature ..................................................................................................... 62
Changing the Input Setting ............................................................................................................ 64
Appendix: Osprey Hardware Specifications ................................................................... 65
Osprey 800a audio input card ........................................................................................................ 65
Osprey 815e video capture card .................................................................................................... 66
Osprey 820e video capture card .................................................................................................... 68
Osprey 821e video capture card .................................................................................................... 70
Osprey 825e video capture card .................................................................................................... 71
Osprey 845e video capture card .................................................................................................... 72
Index .................................................................................................................................. 73
iv Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
Limited Warranty
Osprey by Variosystems warrants its hardware products
against defects in material and workmanship under
normal use for the period of one year (12 months) from
date of sale. Where specific Osprey by Variosystems,
LLC warranties exist that provide more substantial
coverage, notwithstanding the warranty provisions
herein, such product warranties control and preempt or
supersede the warranty provisions herein.
Reseller Pass Through of
Standard Limited Warranties
Resellers pass the Osprey by Variosystems standard
limited warranties for the products through to the
customer without modification. Any modification of a
product voids the Osprey by Variosystems or any other
existing or available warranty.
Overview
Thank you for purchasing the Osprey® 800 series video capture card from Osprey by Variosystems,
LLC. This user guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing and using your new video
capture card. For the latest Osprey product information and news, visit our website at
www.ospreyvideo.com.
Warranties
For complete warranty details, refer to the specific warranty included with each product. General
warranty information includes the following:
Osprey by Variosystems 1
Overview
System requirements
The Osprey high definition (HD) video capture cards require intense bandwidth across the system
bus, CPU, and memory. The host computer system capabilities (CPU, RAM, and motherboard) must
be capable of processing this amount of data. The following system requirements are required to
achieve desired HD performance.
Install the Osprey video capture card in a PCI Express® (PCIe®) slot with direct lanes to the CPU or a
Northbridge or IOH.
The selection of the CPU is critical. To process full HD video, a six-core processor per HD input is a
good benchmark.
Please refer to the website for the latest supported operating systems. Other important guidelines
include:
On the BIOS screen:
o Always disable C-States
o Only enable hyper threading if the CPUs have 6 cores or more
Set Power Options as follows:
o Power Scheme to Presentation
o Turn off Monitor to Never
o Turn off hard disks to Never
o System Standby to Never
Configure Performance Options as follows:
o Visual Effects adjusted for best performance
o Memory Usage to System Cache (for Windows XP only)
2 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
Audience
The audience for this user guide includes anyone who uses or administers the Osprey 800 series.
Users should have a basic technical understanding of streaming media. This user guide provides
information on the Osprey 800 series only.
Osprey by Variosystems 3
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
1.
Insert the Osprey software CD in the CDRom drive of the computer. If autoplay is
enabled, the main menu for the Osprey software CD automatically appears.
Note: Autoplay should be enabled by default. If the main menu does not automatically appear, click on
Start Computer. Double-click on the DVD in the window.
2.
Follow the directions in the CD menu. The InstallShield Wizard appears and guides you
through the installation process.
3.
The Remove Previous Installations window displays.
Figure 1. Remove Previous Installations window
Click OK.
The End User License Agreement displays.
Installation Steps
The most efficient and complete installation method is to run the Setup.exe program or msi
installation file in the web package that you download. The installation program automates the
steps required to install the driver and ensures you perform the steps correctly. The driver is unique
to the Osprey 800 series in the same operating system; it will not automatically configure other
Osprey models. You will need to configure other cards separately.
These installation steps are the steps Osprey by Variosystems, LLC recommends if you install an
Osprey video capture card on a system for the first time. After the install is run, the card is detected
and its drivers automatically start.
Note: Before you install Osprey software updates, uninstall the driver software and reboot the computer.
Installing the driver via the Multimedia CD
Osprey by Variosystems 5
Installation Steps
4.
Select I accept the terms in the license agreement.
Figure 2. End-User License Agreement
5.
Click Next. A Destination Folder window appears indicating the folder in which the
driver will be installed by default.
To change the location of the destination folder, click Change to browse for a different
location. If this destination folder is okay, click Next.
Figure 3. Destination Folder window
The Setup Type window appears.
6 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
6.
Click Install.
Figure 4. Ready to Install the Program window
The Installing Osprey 800e window appears.
Note: This window shows the progress of the installation. If during the installation, warning windows
appear regarding Windows Logo Testing, the user should click Continue Anyway to proceed
with the installation.
Figure 5. Installing Osprey 800e HDx86 window
Figure 6. Software Installation window
Osprey by Variosystems 7
Installation Steps
Note: This window does not display with a Windows 7 installation.
7.
Click Finish when the InstallShield Wizard Completed window appears.
8.
When the installation is complete, completely shut down the computer on which the
driver has been installed.
8 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
1.
A Welcome window appears. Click No, not this time.
Figure 7. Welcome window
2.
Click Next.
3.
On the next window, click Install the software automatically (Recommended).
Figure 8. Install Software Automatically window
Note: The device name will vary depending on which card you are installing.
Installing the hardware
After you install the Osprey 800 series driver, physically install the video capture card into the
computer. The appropriate InstallShield Wizard appears and guides you through the installation
process.
Osprey by Variosystems 9
Installation Steps
4.
Click Next. The installation begins and the Found New Hardware Wizard window
appears.
Figure 9. Found New Hardware Wizard window
A warning window appears regarding Windows Logo Testing.
5.
Click Continue Anyway.
Figure 10. Warning window
The Found New Hardware Wizard window remains on the computer screen while the
installation continues.
Note: This window does not display with a Windows 7 installation.
Figure 11. Found New Hardware Wizard window
10 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
6.
The Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard appears. Click Finish.
Figure 12. Completing the Found New Hardware Wizard window
Osprey by Variosystems 11
Installation Steps
1.
Power down and unplug your computer.
2.
Remove the computer’s cover and locate an empty PCI Express slot.
WARNING! Be sure to install the card in the PCI Express slot. This slot is usually black. Refer to the
following diagram as a guide. Placing the card in the wrong slot can damage the card.
Figure 13. Typical PCI Express Slot diagram
3.
Remove the cover screw from the empty PCI Express slot’s cover, set the screw aside.
4.
Remove the slot cover.
5.
Remove the Osprey video capture card from its anti-static bag.
6.
Insert the Osprey card into the desired PCI Express slot and make sure it is seated
evenly.
Note: The slot must be x4 or higher.
7.
Secure the back panel of the card with the slot’s cover screw.
8.
Replace the computer cover.
9.
Plug the power cord into an electrical outlet and turn the computer on.
Installing the video capture card
All computer cards are sensitive to electrostatic discharge. Slight electrostatic discharges from
clothing or from the normal work environment can adversely affect these cards. By following these
simple guidelines, however, you can minimize the chance of damaging the Osprey video capture
card.
Handle cards only by the non-conducting edges.
Do not touch the card components or any other metal parts.
Wear a grounding strap while handling the cards (especially when located in a high static area).
Properly ground your computer to avoid static discharge.
Ensure the workstation is powered off before installing any components.
If you are not familiar with how to install a PCI Express bus card, refer to the system’s documentation
for more complete, step-by-step instructions.
Install the card only in UL Listed computers that include instructions for user-installed accessories.
12 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
1.
The New Hardware Wizard runs and the Found New Hardware window appears
followed by the Digital Signature Not Found window.
2.
Click Continue Anyway. (The Digital Signature Not Found window will only
display on drivers that have not been WHQL certified. WHQL-certified drivers
skip this step.)
3.
The Controller Installing window appears, and the text inside this window
changes to Osprey Video Capture Device, Installing … Then the Digital Signature
Not Found window appears.
4.
Click Continue Anyway. (Again, the Digital Signature Not Found window will only
display on drivers that have not been WHQL-certified. WHQL-certified drivers
skip this step. The Completing the Found New Hardware window displays.
5.
Click Finish. The Digital Signature Not Found window appears.
6.
The Digital Signature Not Found window appears once for each Osprey board
you install.
7.
The Systems Setting Change window appears.
Multiple board types
All Osprey video capture cards are designed to co-exist with other Osprey cards within practical
limits of slot placement, available power, and the upper limits of system and CPU performance.
There are eight classes of Osprey devices. Each class requires its own Windows driver.
class 1: o100, o200, o210, o220, o230
class 2: o300
class 3: o440
class 4: o530, o540, o560
class 5: o700e HD and 0710e HD
class 6: o240e, o450e
class 7: o100e, o260e, o460e
class 8: o815e, o820e, o821e, o825e, o845e
This user guide applies only to class 8.
For example, if you install an Osprey 240e and an Osprey 845e series in the same computer, you
must install separate drivers for each board.
Adding or moving boards
When you add or move boards after you install the Osprey 845e driver, the following two scenarios
exist.
A. You added a board of a different class to a computer that already contains another board. For
example, an Osprey 240e is already installed with its current driver on the computer. You want to
add an Osprey 845e card. You must install the driver installation package for the new board to
work.
B. You moved a board from one slot to another, or added another board of the same type. For
example, an Osprey 240e card is installed in the computer, and you want to install another Osprey
240e card. In this case, the following sequence takes place.
Osprey by Variosystems 13
Installation Steps
8.
Click Finish to restart the computer.
9.
The Osprey 800 series card is now ready for use.
14 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
VGA Settings (Osprey 820e only)
Device
Video Proc Amp
Input Detect
Video Decoder
Deinterlace
Crossbar
Watermark
Trace
Loss Of Signal
Performance
Cropping
Diagnostics
Closed Caption
Resource Monitor
Using the video capture card
The Osprey 800 series is a high-definition (HD) video capture card. The card has significant
operational differences from other cards that fall under the standard-definition Osprey card family
including advanced features to accommodate the many input video standards that are part of the
HD experience and to adapt automatically to input signal types dynamically, a common need in the
HD environment. The card has the following controls:
The Osprey 800e series includes a special version of Osprey SimulStream that allows you to
“virtualize” the entire feature set of the card. That is, the card can simultaneously feed more than
one capture/encode application or multiple instances of the same application, from the same
controls can be set separately for each capture stream below:
Crop
Logo
Captions
With the Osprey 800 series, all of the above features can be set individually. Each application
receives its own full set of identical Property settings tabs. Another significant operational difference
of the Osprey 800 series and other Osprey cards is that in the Osprey 800e series each stream is
configured separately. As a result, the second and subsequent streams may appear to have
randomly changing defaults.
For example, if you originate Instance 1 of Windows Media® Encoder (WME) rather than from a
previously named and saved settings file, and you configure the encoder for a 720P WME stream
with a watermark (for example, a logo) in the lower-right corner of the screen. When you originate a
second instance of WME, WME adopts the same settings, including the same watermark in the
same position, as the stream created before it. This situation occurs because, in the second instance,
the WME was not started from a saved settings file. Therefore, the WME was forced to assign
default settings, and adopted the most recently configured stream. If, in the second instance, you
need to create different configuration settings, you should modify the settings, save the WME, and
name it something other than in Instance 1 – a unique file with a different name.
Osprey by Variosystems 15
Installation Steps
Designed for live/instant video-on-demand adaptive features
An important feature of the Osprey digital HD capture cards is the ability to adapt automatically to
input signal format changes without having to stop, to reconfigure, and to restart the video
application run by the card. The “designed for live” feature distinguishes the Osprey digital HD
capture cards from cards used for ingesting video into video editing systems or other applications.
With the Osprey digital HD capture cards, you can create the following events:
Switch on-the-fly between SD and HD – The Osprey 820e accepts SD and HD analog video, VGA,
DVI and HDMI standards and automatically re-syncs while the Osprey 845e accepts SD and HD digital
video and automatically re-syncs; without interruption, when the signal formats change between any of
the supported SD and HD modes.
Reduce and eradicate post-production work – Minimize or eliminate post-production work to make a
live broadcast available as Instant VODTM (Instant Video-on-Demand) at the end of the broadcast by
encoding a Save-to-File version of the live stream. The stream can be configured with its own
watermark if desired.
Create anything-in something-out video – One of the most popular applications of the Osprey digital
HD capture cards is to accept SD and HD input for live Internet video streaming. Generally, the
expected viewing experience is for the viewing window to have fixed dimensions regardless of the
aspect ratio or pixel count of the incoming video. Most of the popular video encoders require that these
parameters not change during the encoding session. The Osprey 800 series cards can automatically
adapt, through size and scale, the incoming video to match the selected output parameters. For
example, a broadcaster can freely switch sequences between a live HD studio feed, and SD promo clip
form a payout server and then return to live HD 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Capture and preview pins
Some applications use DirectShow Pin Properties with Osprey cards. For Capture and Preview pins,
these properties are always per pin.
At the top of several Osprey 800 series Property tabs is the Pin Type field with a drop-down list. The
drop-down list in Figure 14 has Capture, Preview, and Both. This selection works similarly to other
Osprey models, which typically enable these selections using radio buttons.
Figure 14. Pin type list box
The three choices, Capture, Preview, and Both, provide the opportunity to determine whether the
changes you make on the Property tab should apply to both the capture and preview pins
associated with the other controls on the page, or just the desired pin – Capture or Preview.
Decide what type of pin to select based on several criteria. Software applications that use Osprey
video capture cards and AV stream drivers communicate with the hardware via a Microsoftdeveloped software layer named DirectShow®.
DirectShow is a collection of software objects, or object library, for working with video, audio, and
other multimedia data. The object library primarily consists of filters – objects that process video
and audio data and are connected or chained together into filter graphs.
16 Osprey by Variosystems
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
OK
Commits the changes you have made on the currently displayed
page, and exits the dialog.
Cancel
Exits the window without committing the changes you have made
on the currently displayed page. Changes made before the most
recent click of Apply are not cancelled.
Apply
Commits the changes you have made on the currently displayed
page, without exiting the dialog.
For example, Osprey designs filters that are included in all Osprey AV stream drivers and interface
with the capture hardware to grab-digitized frames of video. These filters then process video
streams and pass them to target software applications like Windows Media Encoder. Other filters
are associated with previewing or displaying video that decode video and render video to the
screen.
Filters usually have inputs and outputs and are interconnected programmatically as needed. The
input and output connections are referred to as pins. The pins most important to you are the
Capture Output pin and the Preview Output pin. Generally, captured audio and video to be fed to
the encoder is taken from the Capture pin, while video for local preview, such as the Input Video
window in the Windows Media Controller dashboard, will usually use the Preview pin.
In most cases, the Preview pin has a lower priority in the video processing engine. If the host PC is
nearing its upper performance margin where video quality could be compromised, it is preferable to
sacrifice quality or drop frames in the Preview output in favor of sustaining quality of the Capture
pin’s output. Exposing these pins separately in Osprey drivers allows you to balance your needs with
the host computer’s performance and the video application’s features. You may apply a low-effort
de-interlacing process to a preview window to save CPU cycle, and apply a more CPU intensive
Advanced Motion Adaptive De-interlacing process to the captured stream for maximum video
quality.
Like other Osprey cards, the Osprey 800 series enables you to define various setups for the two pins.
For example, you can choose to include a logo in the capture pin’s video, but not in the Preview
output. When you click Capture, the current logo settings for the Capture pin are loaded, and the
changes you make apply only to the Capture pin, not to the Preview pin. The Preview button works
in the same manner.
Common buttons
The following information applies to controls that are not interactive.
Some controls are interactive – changes you make are immediately updated on the video. Examples
are the brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and sharpness controls, the graphical gamma control;
and the graphical sizing and positioning controls for logos. OK, Cancel, and Apply have no effect on
these controls.
In all cases, Help accesses the help module.
Note: OK and Apply commit only the changes on the currently displayed page. To set changes on three different pages, you
need to click Apply twice and OK once.
Osprey by Variosystems 17
Osprey 800e Series User Guide
Setting Driver Properties
After you have installed the Osprey 800 series card and driver, you will be able to access the
properties for the card through most major DirectShow applications (such as Windows Media
Encoder and Flash Media Encoder). For detailed information on how to select the Osprey card and
access its Video Properties window from third-party applications, refer to the documentation for the
encoding application.
Note: Most of these encoding applications expose the drivers’ Property tabs without modification, so the examples set forth
below will probably appear as shown. However, some applications expose the Property tabs slightly differently.
Therefore, the examples below may differ somewhat.
Properties window
When your video application, such as WME, is invited to expose the Osprey 800 series card’s video-
related property pages—usually by navigating to the Properties page—a window appears entitled
Properties (Figure 15). Other applications display the same window, but it is entitled Osprey
820e/845e Video Capture Device(x) Properties. The “x” is the target installed Osprey 815e, 820e,
821e, 825e, or 845e card. This number is always 1 if only one Osprey 815e, 820e, 821e, 825e, or
845e card is installed.
Osprey by Variosystems 19
Setting Driver Properties
Video Proc Amp
The Video Process Amplifier (Video Proc Amp) tab lets you control
Gamma, Brightness, Contrast, Hue, and Saturation.
Video Decoder
This tab is a Microsoft DirectShow standard control for setting the video
standard.
Crossbar
The Crossbar tab lets you select from multiple inputs.
Trace
Sets error logging controls.
Performance
Sets the pin centric settings.
Diagnostics
Sets Osprey 800 series internal test controls. The user should only use
these controls when instructed by Osprey support. Doing so without
proper instructions might result in system instability or in the system
crashing.
Resource Monitor
Displays PCIe states and buffer activity.
Device
Displays product information.
Input Detect
Describes the signal coming into the card.
Figure 15. Osprey 800 Series Video Properties
The tabs are as follows:
20 Osprey by Variosystems
Loading...