ViewCast Osprey PCI User Manual
© 2012 ViewCast Corporation. All rights reserved.
Osprey® and SimulStream® are registered trademarks of ViewCast Corporation. Microsoft®,
Windows® XP, 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 ViewCast Corporation. ViewCast Corporation reserves the right to change any products herein at any time and
without notice. ViewCast Corporation 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 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 ViewCast Corporation could void the authority granted to the user by the FCC to
operate the device.
The Osprey PCI 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 ViewCast Corporation 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: ViewCast Corporation is committed to compliance with the European directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain
Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment, Directive 2002/95/EC, the RoHS directive.
For current RoHS statement, visit www.viewcast.com.
ViewCast Corporation 3701 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 300, Plano, TX 75075-7840 USA
Osprey PCI User Guide
Contents
Contents .................................................................................................................. iii
Overview ................................................................................................................... 1
Warranties ...................................................................................................................... 1
System requirements ...................................................................................................... 2
Audience ........................................................................................................................ 2
Installation steps ...................................................................................................... 3
Installing the driver ......................................................................................................... 3
Installing the video capture card ..................................................................................... 4
Multiple board types ....................................................................................................... 5
Setting driver properties ......................................................................................... 7
Osprey Config’s initial processing sequence .................................................................. 8
Understanding the device properties window.................................................................10
Common buttons ..................................................................................................................... 11
Devices and global controls ..................................................................................................... 12
Input tab ........................................................................................................................14
Video Input............................................................................................................................... 15
Video Standard ........................................................................................................................ 16
Input Format ............................................................................................................................ 18
VideoCheck ............................................................................................................................. 20
VideoGraph.............................................................................................................................. 21
VbiGraph .................................................................................................................................. 22
Video Proc Amp tab .......................................................................................................24
Video Decoder tab .........................................................................................................27
RefSize tab ....................................................................................................................29
Horizontal Format .................................................................................................................... 30
Horizontal Delay ...................................................................................................................... 31
Reference Size for Crop and Logo Placement ........................................................................ 32
Source Width ........................................................................................................................... 33
Filters tab ......................................................................................................................35
SimulStream ............................................................................................................................ 36
Show N filters per device ......................................................................................................... 37
Mode ........................................................................................................................................ 39
Deinterlace............................................................................................................................... 40
Device tab .....................................................................................................................45
No Video Test Pattern ............................................................................................................. 46
Buffers Requested ................................................................................................................... 46
Diagnostic Logging .................................................................................................................. 47
Board numbering ..................................................................................................................... 48
Extras ....................................................................................................................................... 49
Device Info ............................................................................................................................... 52
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Contents
Captions tab ..................................................................................................................53
Pin Select ................................................................................................................................. 54
Render ..................................................................................................................................... 55
Closed Caption DirectShow Pin .............................................................................................. 56
Logo tab ........................................................................................................................57
Pin Select ................................................................................................................................. 59
File and Color .......................................................................................................................... 59
Enable Key Color ..................................................................................................................... 60
Weighting ................................................................................................................................. 60
Position and Size ..................................................................................................................... 62
Size and Crop tab ..........................................................................................................63
Pin Select ................................................................................................................................. 66
Reference Size ........................................................................................................................ 66
Granularity ............................................................................................................................... 67
Enable Cropping ...................................................................................................................... 68
Default Output Size ................................................................................................................. 70
AVStream driver reference information ............................................................... 72
Overview of Direct Mode and PostProcessing Mode .....................................................74
Direct Mode ............................................................................................................................. 74
PostProcessing Mode .............................................................................................................. 75
Efficient Video Rendering ........................................................................................................ 76
Preview Pin to Video Renderer ............................................................................................... 77
Preview Pin to Overlay Mixer to Video Renderer .................................................................... 77
Preview Pin to VMR7 ............................................................................................................... 78
Preview Pin to VMR9 ............................................................................................................... 79
Video standards and sizes ...................................................................................................... 80
Color Formats .......................................................................................................................... 80
YUV Format Details ................................................................................................................. 81
Closed Captioning (CC) ........................................................................................................... 82
Vertical Interval Timecode (VITC) ........................................................................................... 84
Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) Capture .................................................................................. 86
Audio driver ............................................................................................................ 87
Selecting the audio source and input volume .......................................................................... 87
Audio properties ...................................................................................................................... 89
Audio Playback ........................................................................................................................ 90
Audio Configuration ................................................................................................................. 90
Appendix A: Osprey hardware specifications ..................................................... 93
Osprey 100 ....................................................................................................................93
Environmental specifications ................................................................................................... 93
Osprey 100 backplate .............................................................................................................. 93
Osprey 210 ....................................................................................................................94
Osprey 210 backplate .............................................................................................................. 94
Osprey 230 ....................................................................................................................95
Osprey 230 backplate .............................................................................................................. 95
Osprey 300 ....................................................................................................................96
Osprey 300 backplate .............................................................................................................. 96
Osprey 440 ....................................................................................................................97
Osprey 440 backplate .............................................................................................................. 97
Osprey 530 ....................................................................................................................98
iv ViewCast
Osprey 530 backplate .............................................................................................................. 98
Osprey 540 ....................................................................................................................99
Osprey 540 backplate .............................................................................................................. 99
Osprey 560 .................................................................................................................. 100
Osprey 560 backplate ............................................................................................................ 100
Appendix B: Digital video on the Osprey 300.................................................... 102
Specifics of Osprey 300 DV capture ............................................................................ 103
Graphs ........................................................................................................................ 104
Appendix C: Troubleshooting ............................................................................. 109
Scrambled Video Image .............................................................................................. 109
Poor Video Quality at Large Frame Sizes .................................................................... 109
Multiple Horizontal Lines Across Video Image ............................................................. 109
No Closed Captions on DV .......................................................................................... 110
Cannot Play Back Recorded Audio .............................................................................. 110
DV Audio Is Too Slow/Low-Pitched or Fast/High-Pitched ............................................ 110
Audio Recording Control Comes Up With Wrong Device and Wrong Inputs ................ 110
Index ..................................................................................................................... 113
Osprey PCI User Guide
Limited Warranty
ViewCast 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 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 ViewCast standard limited warranties
for the products through to the customer without
modification. Any modification of a product voids the
ViewCast warranties or any other existing or available
warranty.
Overview
Thank you for purchasing the ViewCast Osprey PCI video capture card. This user guide provides stepby-step instructions for installing and using your new video capture card. For the latest ViewCast
product information and news, visit our website at www.viewcast.com.
Warranties
For complete warranty details, refer to the specific warranty included with each product. General
warranty information includes the following:
ViewCast 1
Overview
System requirements
Please note that the following system requirements relate to your Osprey® video capture card only.
The video capture or encoding applications you use will likely require a much more powerful system
than that which is listed below. Please consult your software documentation for applicable system
requirements.
Direct Mode: 2 GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or better
PostProcessing Mode and SimulStream®: 2 GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or better, Dual Core
or better recommended
Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional
Up to 7.5 MB of available hard disk space
256 MB of RAM, 512 MB recommended
One available PCI-X™ slot
Audience
The audience for this user guide includes anyone who uses or administers the Osprey 100, 210, 230,
300, 440, 530, 540, and 560 cards. Users should have a basic technical understanding of streaming
media. This user guide provides information only on these cards.
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Osprey PCI User Guide
Installation steps
Use the installer package file (.msi) whether you obtained the driver on a CD or through download.
The file automates the Plug and Play steps needed to install the drivers and ensures that they are
performed correctly. The installer package file also installs OspreyConfig and the User’s Guide. If you
have multiple Osprey video capture cards in the system it configures all of the boards at the same
time.
ViewCast recommends this method especially if Osprey software does reside on your host
computer. After the installer is run, the software detects the card and its drivers initiate
automatically.
If updating Osprey software, then uninstall the previous software version, reboot your computer
and install the update.
Installing the driver
Insert the Osprey software CD into your CD-ROM drive. The main menu for the Osprey software will
appear if autoplay is enabled. If the main menu does not automatically appear, click on the
Window’s computer Icon and select the CD-ROM and the msi icon. The Osprey AVStream – Install
Shield Wizard will engage and will guide you through the installation process.
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Installation Steps
1.
Power down your computer.
2.
Remove the computer’s cover and locate an empty PCI or PCI-X slot.
WARNING! Be sure to install the card in the PCI or PCI-X 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.
3.
Remove the cover screw from the empty PCI 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 slot and make sure it is seated evenly.
7.
Secure the back panel of the card with the slot’s cover screw.
8.
Replace the computer cover.
9.
Plug in and turn the computer on.
Installing the video capture card
All computer cards are sensitive to electrostatic discharge. Slight electrostatic discharges from
clothing or even 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 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
To install the video capture card:
4 ViewCast
Osprey PCI User Guide
1.
The New Hardware Wizard runs and displays the Found New Hardware window followed
by the Digital Signature Not Found window (Figure 1).
2.
Click Continue Anyway.
The Controller installing window displays, and the text inside this window changes to
Osprey Video Capture Device, Installing .... Then the Digital Signature Not Found window
displays on top of it.
Multiple board types
There are a number of Osprey devices. Each class requires its own driver.
class 1: o100, o200, o210, o220, o230
class 2: o300
class 3: o440
class 4: o530, o540, o560
class 5: o700e HD and later DSP-based PCI-Express products
class 6: o240e, o450e and related non-DSP PCI-Express products
class 7: o260e, o460e
class 8: o820e, o845e
Each device class has a separate driver. This user guide applies only to classes 1 through 4.
If you have both an Osprey 230 and an Osprey 240e in the same machine, then you need drivers to
accommodate the different cards.
When you add or move boards after the AVStream drivers are already installed, and then move a
board from one slot to another, the following sequence begins.
To move a board from one slot to another:
Figure 1. Digital Signature Not Found Screen
ViewCast 5
Installation Steps
3.
Click Continue Anyway. The Completing the Found New Hardware window displays.
4.
Click Finish. The Digital Signature Not Found window displays.
This window displays once for each Osprey board you are installing. The Systems Setting
Change window displays.
5.
Click Finish and restart the system (Figure 2).
Figure 2. System Settings Change dialog box
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Osprey PCI User Guide
Setting driver properties
After you install the Osprey card and driver, you will be able to access the card’s properties through
most major DirectShow applications (such as WME). Access card property pages through Osprey
Config, the utility bundled with our latest driver suite. Once installed you can see the card’s default
settings and change them as needed.
To open Osprey Config, select All Programs in the start menu of your Windows computer, then
select ViewCast Osprey AVStream Osprey x 32 bit or (Osprey x 64 bit) Osprey Config x 86
or (Osprey Config x 64).
Note: Other Direct Show applications can find the property page too. If you use a third-party
application, you will find how to access the card’s settings in the documentation for that
application.
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Setting Driver Properties
Osprey Config’s initial processing sequence
After you open Osprey Config the application displays (Figure 3) showing the cards and devices
installed on your computer. The main window depicts a tree view of Osprey audio and video capture
filters installed in the system. They are organized by device – each device has an Audio Filter and
Video Filter.
Figure 3. Initial Osprey Config user interface
In this example, the computer has two cards, each with an audio and a video filter. The cards are the
Osprey 230 and the Osprey 5X0. Both cards can take a single input and stream its content
differently. For example, you can use several bit rates, sizes and formats. You can set the defaults of
a card by clicking the + icon on the left side of the device you want to configure (Figure 4).
8 ViewCast
Figure 4. Selecting a device for configuration
Osprey PCI User Guide
When you select a device and filter, the Show Properties for Selected Filter button becomes active.
ViewCast 9
Setting Driver Properties
Understanding the device properties window
The Osprey device window allows you to view and change the default settings of your driver. If you
familiarize yourself with the video card’s properties you can make changes to get the optimum
performance from your card and change settings in real time.
Device properties are visible through tabs with different controls. Figure 5 illustrates the Device
Properties window with tabs that take advantage of the driver’s functionality.
Figure 5. Osprey’s Device Properties window
Note: The Vbi Graph button is only for analog boards. If you installed an analog and a digital board
(such as the Osprey 530), the graph will not display for the Osprey 530.
10 ViewCast
Osprey PCI User Guide
Input
Select the video input, NTSC / PAL / SECAM video standard and
Input Format.
Video Proc Amp
Set brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, gamma, and
sharpness.
Video Decoder
Select the video standard – NTSC, PAL, SECAM.
RefSize
Setting Horizontal format and delay, source width and so forth.
Filters
SimulStream®, deinterlace, and inverse telecine*.
Device
Test Pattern, Capture Buffers, Diagnostic Logging.
Captions
Set up on-video closed-caption rendering.
Logo
Set up on-video logos.
Size and Crop
Set the default size, enable cropping, and set the cropping
rectangle.
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.
The Properties are organized as tabs or pages in a dialog box entitled Video Capture Properties.
* Telecine refers to the technology used to transfer or repurpose analog film into electronic media.
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 this help module. The button on each tab displays the description for that
page.
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.
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Setting Driver Properties
o200avs
o100, o200, o210, o220, o230
o300avs
o300
o440avs
o440
o540avs
o530, o540, o560
Devices and global controls
Some of the Osprey AVStream driver’s controls work interactively. Changes in value immediately
update the video stream output. Examples include brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and
sharpness.
In some applications, additional tabs may also display. The additional tabs are system supplied, foryour information only; you cannot set these controls.
The groupings of Osprey board models to driver binaries are as follows (o100, and so on, are short
for Osprey 100, and so on).
Most Osprey video cards, with the exception of the 100 series, have the ability to present multiple
output streams from a single input device. For example, your company may wish to do a webcast
globally to resellers, users, or potential customers. Using the Filters tab, you can set up different
output streams to accommodate users with different rate modems.
Some changes, such as cropping, logos, and captions, may affect the filter. For example, if you
change the logo on one device and its filter, the logo changes only on that filter (Figure 6).
If you change the values on Video Proc Amp, Video Decoder, Input, Filters, Device and, or RefSize
tabs, the effect becomes global to the card. All characteristics on each device on the card change to
those changed on a single device. This change is limited to the card on which the device changed. If
you make changes on an Osprey 230 card residing with an Osprey 530 card, a change on the Osprey
530 will not affect the Osprey 230 devices.
12 ViewCast
Figure 6. Osprey Config utility to access devices
Osprey PCI User Guide
You will see reference to “pins and filters” in DirectShow® discussions. These terms require technical
experience with Microsoft’s DirectX® 9 Software Developer’s Kit. References on tabs in the Osprey
Driver relate to terms used by Microsoft’s streaming video software application. They exist for users
with a high degree of technical expertise. You can simply ignore them and use the property tabs as
discussed in this manual.
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Setting Driver Properties
Input tab
The source of data an Osprey AVStream card outputs to the Internet, can come from a number of
devices such as DVD players, digital cameras, camcorders, and so forth. The Input tab (Figure 7) has
three sections: Video Input, Video Standard, and Input Format. The Video Input control performs
the same function as a crossbar filter attached to the capture filter’s Analog Video In pin.
Figure 7. Input tab
14 ViewCast
The Input tab has the following controls.
Video Input
This control allows you to choose your video signal source.
Video Present
This indicator shows if the video source is present.
Video Standard
The Video Standard control allows you to select a standard used in specific
countries or geographical areas.
Input Format
This control lets you select the input format. On the Osprey 2X0, 300, and 440
analog cards, and for the Osprey 530/540/560 when an analog input
(composite or S-Video) is selected, the controls provide adjustments.
VideoCheck
Opens simple video monitoring window so you can see the immediate effect of
changes to your settings.
VideoGraph
Launches a vectorscope/lumascope utility
VbiGraph
Opens an applet that displays the raw waveforms of the video’s Vertical
Blanking Interval (VBI).
Osprey PCI User Guide
Video Input
Figure 8 illustrates the input formats available for the Osprey 230.
Figure 8. Video inputs available with Osprey 230
Composite video is the format of analog streaming signals before it is combined with a sound signal
and modulated onto an RF carrier.
Composite video is often designated by the CVBS acronym, meaning: Color, Video, Blank and Sync,
Composite Video Baseband Signal, Composite Video Burst Signal, or Composite Video with Burst and
Sync.
Separate video, abbreviated SVideo and also known as Y/C is an analog video signal that carries the
video data as two separate signals. They include luma (~brightness) and chroma (~color).
The Osprey 5X0 series has the following video inputs:
Composite
SVideo
SDI
DV (1394) (only available on the Osprey 540 and Osprey 560 cards)
ViewCast 15
Setting Driver Properties
The Serial Digital Interface (SDI), standardized is a digital video interface used for broadcast-grade
video and is available on the Osprey 530.
Video Standard
Osprey cards can stream country centric data to the Internet. The Video Standard control allows you
to select a standard used in specific countries or geographical areas. The Osprey driver has the
ability to stream in a number of formats unique to countries and, or geographic locations. You can
change the format on the Osprey card.
Figure 9. Video Standard
The Video Standard control group lets you select which video standard to use. The supported video
standards are as follows:
NTSC is the North American standard – a 525-line, 29.97 Hz frame format.
NTSC-Japan is the same as North American NTSC except for a slightly different luma calibration.
The PAL standards, B, D, G, H, and I are similar, and are treated the same by the Osprey driver.
These standards are 625-line, 50 Hz formats.
PAL-N is the Argentine PAL standard with a 3.58 MHz color subcarrier. This standard is a 625-line,
50 Hz format.
PAL-M is the Brazilian PAL standard that combines the PAL method of color encoding with an
NTSC-type 525-line, 29.97 Hz frame format.
SECAM is a 625-line, 50 Hz standard originated in France and used in a number of other countries.
You need ensure the video standard in this control group is the same as the actual signal format on
the selected input. If these two are mismatched, you will either get color streaks and fringes instead
of correct color, or completely garbled video, or perhaps only a test pattern.
Starting in spring 2012, some versions of the driver may include an auto-select capability. If the
driver has this capability, the two buttons Auto detect and Select manually display (Figure 9);
otherwise, this area is blank. It is not currently planned for the Osprey 5x0 to have this capability.
For drivers that support Autoselect, the buttons turn auto-select off and on. The default is for autoselect to be disabled.
When you choose Select manually, operation is the same as with drivers that do not have the auto-
select capability. You must to ensure the video standard in this control group corresponds to the
actual incoming signal format.
When you choose Autodetect, the driver determines whether the video feed is presenting a 525line or 625-line standard, and configures video capture for that line format. If the input is switched
16 ViewCast
Osprey PCI User Guide
to the other line format while capture is running, the driver will detect this and automatically
reconfigure for the new format.
Although the driver can distinguish between 525-line and 625-line video, it does not distinguish
between color standards within the 525-line and 625-line groups. That is, it does not distinguish
between the three 525-line standards – NTSC, NTSC-Japan and PAL-M – and it does not distinguish
between the three 625-line standards – PAL-BDGHI, PAL-N and SECAM. The selection box therefore
shows the group of standards that are compatible with the current line format. The driver
remembers your most recent 525-line selection, and separately remembers your most recent 625line selection, and these two standards are the ones that will automatically be switched between
when the line format changes in the future. The default 525-line standard is NTSC and the default
625-line standard is PAL-BDGHI.
When no video signal is present, or if the driver cannot determine the standard of the input signal,
the selection box will say [unrecognized].
The basic video standard selection control is separate for each Osprey board or capture channel. The
auto-select buttons globally affect all boards of the currently selected type.
Changes to these controls take effect as soon as you click Apply or OK.
Note: When you change from a 525-line standard to a 625-line standard – whether under automatic
or manual control – you may need to adjust your frame size for best results. The driver does not do
this automatically. The latest driver attempts to give you usable video in all cases. For example,
when Post-Processing mode is enabled, if you have running PAL video at 768 x 576 output
resolution, and you switch to NSTC video, the driver will stretch the NTSC video to 768 x 576. The
preferred, unstretched size of NTSC video is 640 x 480 and you may want to set this size as a
separate step. Older versions of the driver, and the current driver when you enable Direct Mode,
cannot do this stretch, and video cannot be run until you adjust the output size.
A related point is, if you were previously running at the full PAL frame rate of 25 fps, when switching
to NSTC you also need to adjust the video rate to NTSC’s full native rate of 29.97 fps. The driver does
not do this automatically.
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Setting Driver Properties
Input Format
Below the Video Standard field are two check boxes for input formats (Figure 10).
Figure 10. Input Format
On the Osprey 2X0, 300, and 440 analog cards, and for the Osprey 530/540/560 when an analog
input (composite or S-Video) is selected, the controls provide adjustments.
B&W composite camera (Figure 11) - This check box improves the clarity of video from
monochrome sources. This check box is only enabled when a composite input line is selected;
otherwise it is grayed and the control has no effect. When a composite input line is selected, and a
monochrome device is attached, this check box should be checked – the result will be a sharper
image, as shown in the “notch kill” item of the image pair below. If a device that has color capability
is used, this check box should be unchecked, or else the image will be textured and unstable.
Note: This control is only for true monochrome devices, without color capability. For example if you
are looking at a DVD of a black and white film, this check box should not be checked because a
DVD player has color capability. If this control is checked with a color source, the image will
appear shimmering and unstable.
Figure 11. Black and white composite camera
Reverse field order(Figure 11) - This control is provided on the Osprey 2X0, 300 and 440 analog
cards, and for the Osprey-5X0 when an analog input (composite or SVideo) is selected.
This control might be useful if you are capturing video from a digital camera, and routing through
the Osprey card’s analog composite or s-video input. The normal field pairing order for NTSC
cameras is Odd-Even. However, some progressive video cameras and video footage that originated
on film may have a different field dominance that requires pairing of even/odd fields into frames. If
you notice that there are problems with interlaced video such as “comb” effects where alternate
lines are reversed, the Reverse Field Order setting might clear up the problem.
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Osprey PCI User Guide
Digital inputs (Osprey 5x0 only)
The Osprey-5X0 controls for analog inputs are the same as for the analog cards, as well as:
Figure 12. Digital input formats
When a digital input (SDI or DV (1394)) is selected, the analog controls are grayed and three controls
relevant to digital inputs are enabled.
Note: The Osprey 540 and 560 have SDI and DV inputs. The Osprey 530 has the SDI input but no DV
input.
Progressive scan
This control affects capture of video from a digital camera, routed usually through the Osprey
540/560 DV input. In normal video, including many digital cameras, field 1 containing lines 1, 3, 5…
of the video is transmitted in its entirety followed by field 2 containing lines 2, 4, 6…. The capture
card interleaves the two fields together, and the progressive scan setting should be turned off. A
digital camera, however, may transfer data in progressive mode, meaning that the data is
transferred as a single field of lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…. You will know that you need to use the
Progressive Scan setting if the video displays as two separate half-height fields, one on top of the
other.
Changes to this control take effect only when all video streams are stopped and restarted. All
streams must be stopped before any are restarted.
SDI 486-line mode
This control is important and will be needed with many NTSC SDI setups. The NTSC standard
provides 485 lines of video. The lines appear to a video capture device as interleaved from two
fields, with 243 lines from field 1 and 242 lines from field 2. The standard line order is as follows:
Line 21 Closed Captioning channels 1 and 2
Line 284 XDS (extended data services (v-chip)) and CC channels 3 and 4
Line 22 Sometimes, ancillary data
Line 285 Sometimes, ancillary data
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Setting Driver Properties
Line 23 Video (occasionally, ancillary data)
Line 286 Video (occasionally, ancillary data)
Video
Line 263 Last line of video, field 1
Line 525 Last line of video, field 2
SDI sources may add a 486th line, which will be line 283 at the top of the above list, before line 21.
This reverses the apparent field order as seen by the Osprey-5X0, and alters the lines on which
captioning data will appear.
Check the SDI 486-line control:
1. If you do not see closed captions with CC1 enabled, or see spurious incorrect captions.
2. If you do see CC1 captions correctly when the CC3 caption channel is selected.
3. If no XDS data can be decoded from a source that is known to have XDS data.
4. If, using a broadcast source, on the RefSize page, having selected “Start Video at Lines
23/286”, you see a single line of ancillary data (line 285) at the top of the screen.
This control is mainly for use with SDI sources but it is enabled with DV sources as well. Therefore, if
you are using a 486-line SDI source along with a 485- or 480-line DV source, you will have to
manually change this line each time you switch between these inputs. 486-line mode is
automatically inhibited for the analog inputs – composite and SVideo – so you do not have to switch
it off when you select one of these inputs.
Bypass Color Correction
When a digital video input is selected (SDI or DV), a check box entitled Bypass Color Correction is
enabled. When this box is checked, no Video Proc Amp adjustments are made; factory default
values for Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation, Sharpness, and Gamma are used, and the Proc Amp
functions in a pure pass-through mode. All controls on the Video Proc Amp page are disabled. The
Video Proc Amp controls become enabled or disabled only when Apply is clicked on the Input page.
Bypass mode is for use when Proc Amp adjustments are made by external equipment upstream of
the Osprey card. In this mode, video may not appear correct or natural unless external Proc Amp
corrections are made.
VideoCheck
VideoCheck opens a simple video monitoring window (Figure 13). You can see the immediate effect
of changes to your settings. Most changes show up automatically as soon as you click Apply. You will
need to click the applet’s Update button to see a change that alters the output size of the video.
VideoCheck uses one preview stream of video. If you do not have SimulStream installed, you can
only view one preview stream at a time from each device (this is in addition to the main capture
stream). If VideoCheck does not work, the first thing to check is whether a preview stream is already
running on the device.
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Figure 13. VideoCheck utility
VideoGraph
Osprey PCI User Guide
The VideoGraph utility (Figure 14) launches a vectorscope/lumascope utility. VideoGraph is intended
to be used with a color bar signal from a calibrated signal generator. It shows whether the signal and
the card’s Video Proc Amp settings are calibrated to the correct luma and chroma levels.
In the picture, the left-hand panel shows the luma levels of standard 75 % NTSC color bars. The grey
background shows the expected levels, and the red line shows the actual levels measured. The righthand panel shows the chroma positions of the six colors. The small colored squares show the
expected positions, and the points on the red signal pattern should line up with them.
If there are discrepancies, you can use the driver’s Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and Hue
controls on the Video Proc Amp property page to adjust the levels.
If you don’t have a signal generator available, you can get a general idea of how VideoGraph works
by disconnecting the input signal and running it with the 75 % or 100 % no-signal color bar test
pattern. The driver’s test pattern will line up exactly with the VideoGraph’s targets – IF the gamma
setting is at the default position. Software-based Video Proc Amp controls alter the test pattern
levels; hardware based-controls do not. The gamma control, and in some cases the hue control, are
software based.
The vertical slider adjusts which video line displays. You may have to move the slider so that a line
that has color bar information is selected.
The horizontal slider moves the horizontal cursor – the vertical line on the luma display. The data
displayed at the lower right – IRE-L, etc. – is for the pixel selected by the horizontal cursor. Also, on
the chroma display, the small solid rectangular cursor corresponds to the luma cursor, that is, if the
luma cursor is on the red color bar, the chroma cursor will be at or near the red point in the chroma
display.
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Setting Driver Properties
There are controls to set the background markings for 75 % or 100 % signal levels, and for eight or
seven bars – so that the markings correspond to the type of color bars your signal generator is
making.
The Help button on the applet brings up a message box with an alternate and slightly more technical
description.
Figure 14. VideoGraph utility
VbiGraph
The VbiGraph utility (Figure 15) opens an applet that displays the raw waveforms of the video’s
Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI). The information on these lines may include closed captions (CC),
wide screen signaling (WSS), vertical interval timecode (VITC), and teletext. The applet is useful as a
diagnostic if the expected data is not being decoded – you can see if the required signal is there at
all, whether it is in spec, and which line it is on.
The controls select the field and line to be displayed. The only time you need the Update button is
when you switch between 525-line and 625-line video standards.
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Figure 15. VbiGraph utility
Osprey PCI User Guide
ViewCast 23
Setting Driver Properties
Video Proc Amp tab
Video Proc Amp stands for Video Process Amplifier. The Video Proc Amp tab (Figure 16) controls
various characteristics of streaming output from Osprey cards.
Figure 16. Video Proc Amp tab
Slider controls let you adjust brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, sharpness and gamma. If you’re
using the preview or capture mode in real-time, then you can see your adjustments as you make
them with the Video Proc Amp controls. If preview or capture-to-screen video is running when you
access this page, you can see your adjustments interactively.
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