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AJA XenaHS User Manual — Using Xena With Application Software
To record from audio embedded in the SDI video stream, select one of the pairs of channels
from the desired embedded audio group.
Enabling/Disabling Xena as a System Audio Device
Xena shows up in the system as another Audio I/O device under the Windows control panel
“Sounds and Audio Devices” (XP). Inside the control panel, go to Hardware > “AJA Xena
Digital Audio” and click the Properties button. Then under the
Properties
tab, look under
Audio Devices
and double-click
AJA Xena Digital Audio
. At this dialog, you can choose to
either “Use audio features...” or “Do not use audio features...” on the Xena card. A reboot
may be necessary before any changes take effect.
Windows Media
Applications
Using Xena with Windows Media Encoder 9
Windows Media Encoder can be used to compress and broadcast video over the internet.
When coupled with a high-quality video source like the Xena board provides, Windows
Media Encoder can transmit a high-quality audio/video stream with a relatively small
bandwidth. Windows Media Encoder is available for download from Microsoft Corporation,
at
www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia
. (Encoder 9 or later is required for use with
Xena.)
Setup
Windows Media Encoder configuration files are included on the Xena release CD, in the
“
Application Files
” folder. These files contain the proper settings for basic operations with the
Xena board.
To encode for live webcast or archiving to a file, select the “Xena Capture Device” as the
Video Device. Select “Xena Audio Device (1)” as the Audio Device.
When using XenaHS to encode SD video, you can use the SD encode shortcuts supplied in
the Windows “Start” menu; however, it will be necessary to modify the Properties settings
within Windows Media Encoder. You will need to select “AJA Xena-HD Video Capture” as
the video source, and “AJA Xena-HD Audio 1” as the audio source.
Note:
The Mixer button in the Audio Panel may not function correctly if the
Windows
Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab
does not have the Xena device
selected as the system default Sound Recording device. (This is a unique behavior of
Windows Media Encoder.) If pressing the “
Mixer...
” button results in the error message:
“
There is a problem with your sound hardware.
”, you can remove the error by selecting the
Xena Audio Device as the system Default Device for sound recording. (See the “
Windows
Media Audio Configuration
” topic discussed earlier in this document for mixer set-up
issues.) Alternately, you can access the Xena Audio Device mixer properties by using the
“
Volume
...” button in the
Sounds and Audio Devices Properties
tab of the Windows
Control Panel.
The Windows Media Encoder must be configured to set the Video Size to a Xena-supported
frame size (720 x 486 or 720 x 576 for SD). In the
Compression Properties
dialog, select
“
Edit..
.”. Then, under the tab for each selected bitrate, choose
Video Size
as “
Same as video
input.
” For PAL signals, you must explicitly specify 720 x 576—selecting “
Same as video
input
” will not result in the proper size.
For 25 frame-per-second (PAL) video, you must turn on “
deinterlace
” (in the
Processing
tab).
Windows Media Encoder 9 help files specify that “
Maintaining interlacing in source video
when encoding at a low frame rate (for example, 15 fps) can introduce undesirable artifacts in the
encoded content. Therefore, if you are encoding at a low frame rate, it is recommended that you
deinterlace the video, even if the content is intended for display on an interlaced playback device.
“
Although not mentioned in the note, this seems to also apply to 25 fps video.
