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ReelTime 4/
4ReelTime Pro

User Manual

Visual Circuits Corporation

Summary of Contents for ReelTime 4

Page 1: ...ReelTime 4 4ReelTime Pro User Manual Visual Circuits Corporation ...

Page 2: ...ein are claimed as trademarks and trade names by their respective companies c Visual Circuits 1999 2000 All rights reserved No portion of this manual may be copied by any means without the prior consent of Visual Circuits Visual Circuits 5155 East River Road Suite 401 Minneapolis MN 55421 http www visualcircuits com Visual Circuits Publication Number 813 0001a ...

Page 3: ...ipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense However if this equipment does cause interference to radio or television equipment reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following m...

Page 4: ...EEC of 3 May 1989 on the approximation of the laws of Member States relating to electromagnetic compatibility And Council Directive 73 23 EEC of 19 February 1973 on the harmonization of the laws of Member States relating to electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits Each ammended by Council Directive 93 68 EEC of 22 July 1993 on the harmonization of CE marking requirements...

Page 5: ...alling the Driver 7 Installation Guide 9 Card Installation 10 Cable Installation 12 Jumper Configurations 15 Starting Playback 16 Editing Driver Settings 17 Driver Editing Utility VccReg exe 17 Common Driver Parameters 17 Multi Card Servers 29 Multi Threading and Drive Mapping 29 Introduction 29 Drive Mapping Examples 30 ...

Page 6: ...41 On Screen GIF Overlay Information 42 Video blocks or stutters when starting playback 43 Overall blocky or distorted playback 43 Poor Onscreen Display GIF overlay 43 Problems using the API 43 Mouse lags and overall poor system performance 44 MPEG will not play on mapped network drive 44 Vidserve does not work at all 44 Monitors roll lose sync when files are loaded 44 All channels pause when a ne...

Page 7: ...8 Technical Support Contact Information for the Value Added Reseller VAR or Distributor Only 48 Returning Materials to Visual Circuits Corporation 49 Appendix 51 Hardware Specifications 51 Audio Video Breakout Cables 55 Theory of Operation 58 How to Build a Server 61 Motherboard 61 Memory 61 Processor CPU 61 Hard Disks 62 Chassis 62 Tuning Multiple Board Servers 63 ...

Page 8: ...iv Contents ...

Page 9: ... functionality The ReelTime 4 in addition to adding RGB quality video output now provides software controlled volume adjustment on the baseboard Volume control previously required an additional audio or genlock card The ReelTime 4 supports the new RT Daughter card for genlocking The RT Daughter card also offers an onboard blackburst generator See RT Daughter document for details Each board is desi...

Page 10: ... Daughter card is an additional option for the ReelTime 4 The connectors on the daughter card attach to the two rows of pins on the RGB baseboard The daughter card does not require an additional PCI slot and easily supports multiple card servers The daughter board supports the ability to genlock to an external composite video source This module also includes a stereo audio and composite video swit...

Page 11: ...NC composite video connectors four S video connectors and four mini phonejack stereo audio connectors The box connects directly to the DB 25 pin connector on the board and occupies only one slot width on the back of a PC chassis S video and composite video are simultaneously available on each channel No RGB output is supported 2 Rackmount Breakout Box This brings out all video signals to BNC conne...

Page 12: ...ontal and Vertical Sync H V The ReelTime 4 does not support Sync on Green or Separate H V Sync The RGB output is interlaced and cannot be viewed on standard PC monitors Each output channel of the ReelTime 4 can be individually selected for Composite S video available simultaneously or RGB combined H V Sync This can be determined by selecting the video output type For more information see VideoType...

Page 13: ...Overview 5 Figure 1 Front view of 4ReelTime Pro board Figure 2 Front view of ReelTime 4 board ...

Page 14: ... The main visual difference between the ReelTime 4 and the 4ReelTime Pro boards are the four large LSI chips located on the back side of the RGB board When in doubt of which type of board you are using look on the back side of the board as a reference ...

Page 15: ...iveMovie or Direct X Applications can use the driver by calling the dynamic link library 4REELAPI DLL The files needed 4REELAPI LIB and 4REELAPI H 4REELSYN H are provided in the VIDSERVE ZIP file along with the source code and MS VC 2 0 project makefile for Vidserve See 4REELAPI H for a complete description of the interface functions The interchannel synchronization functions are declared in 4REEL...

Page 16: ...Overview 8 ...

Page 17: ...lodged securely in the PCI slot when the system power is applied damage to the 4ReelTime Pro or ReelTime 4 board may occur CAUTION It is possible to damage system components primarily the system s mainboard if power is applied to an improperly seated card CAUTION Whenever installing a board never force the board into position During the installation if pressure or tension is noted stop immediately...

Page 18: ...ely according to the chassis design Consult with the chassis manufacturer for specific guidelines Figure 4 Installation of board In some systems it may be necessary to install a mounting bracket extension to the board in order to reach the card guide of the chassis CAUTION Follow all necessary precautions when handling electrical circuit boards Damage can occur due to frictional contact with board...

Page 19: ... the card holes Be sure when attaching the bracket not to damage any board circuitry Using extension brackets and nylon card guides prevents the board from becoming dislodged from the PCI slot from shipping and handling The use of brackets and card guides also prevents excessive board flexing or bouncing due to shipping and handling Excessive vibrations and movement can crack or damage circuit boa...

Page 20: ...on the cable properly and apply slight even pressure while connecting the D Subs 3 Secure the Universal Cable in place with the two screws 4 Attach the patch cables to the Universal Cable as per the installation NOTE Apply strain relief as required when attaching patch cables The set screws will easily support the Universal Cable strain but will not take into account the wieght and strain of any c...

Page 21: ...tion Guide 13 Figure 5 Cable Installation NOTE The Rackmount Breakout Box ribbon cable assembly attaches to the board in the same way Please refer to the Rackmount Breakout Box documentation for further details ...

Page 22: ...Installation Guide 14 ...

Page 23: ...mper can be set as follows Right position Use 3 3V power on the bus for reduced power consumption and heat dissipation Left position Default Use 5V power on the bus if the machine doesn t have 3 3V Be sure to verify with your system or motherboard manufacturer for PCI voltage information Figure 6 ReelTime 4 Default Jumper Diagram Voltage Jumper 3 3v selected This is the voltage jumper that may nee...

Page 24: ...ayback application located under Visual Circuits programs Browse to the MPEG file desired and open it Click Load and wait for the position counter to stop moving Then click Play For more information on using the Vidserve playback application please refer to the Vidserve User Manual For further troubleshooting information see Troubleshooting Tips on page 37 Voltage Jumper 3 3v selected ...

Page 25: ...fically for editing the VCC4Pro driver settings NOTE The driver default settings are used for single board servers with no adjustments Because of this the default settings will not support all server configurations RT Daughter card multiple boards and other performance settings may be lost Always record settings prior to making any changes ...

Page 26: ...cReg exe are General Performance Audio Video and Special and are located on the left side of the window The right side of the window contains the Value Default Range and Description fields To change a parameter enter the appropriate information in the Value field and click the set button If you want to restore the default value click the set to default button ...

Page 27: ...mance Larger buffers correspondingly do take longer to load and delays may need to be increased prior to playing files fastload 0 Fixes audio pop on load a slight load delay is introduced if genlock is not available default for MPEG Plus 1 Files load quickly but an audio pop may occur with older 4ReelTime Pro boards Genlock 0 Genlock daughterboard is not present 1 4ReelTime Pro with Genlock daught...

Page 28: ...ard blackburst RT Daughter card present only Network 0 The driver cannot read files over the Windows NT network 1 The driver can read files over the Windows NT network NumberOfChannels The number of output channels OldBoard 0 Driver will detect whether the board is an RGB ReelTime 4 RGB or a standard model board 4ReelTime Pro May cause color bars on some 4ReelTime Pro boards to be initiated on sta...

Page 29: ...imum file reads which reduces hard drive seeking 400000 high performance playback optimal recommended DmaMode 0 Normal data delivery mode backwards compatible 1 New data delivery mode required for API streaming functions mpgSendMemBuffer mpgSuppressChip MaxDisks This parameter sets the number of disk read threads The channels are divided into maxdisks groups and each group must play off a differen...

Page 30: ... size from the system memory buffer to the card 2000 recommended optimal performance MinFileRead 100000 recommended optimal performance Sets the smallest file read size the driver will manage The larger the minfileread is the less HD seeking there will be Setting minfileread to a quarter of BufferSizePerChannel half MaxFileRead is recommended NoCache 0 Normal NT file system caching is used 1 The c...

Page 31: ... large buffer Recommended x800000 where x number of boards When changing NonPagedPoolSize the system will require rebooting for Windows NT to allocate memory NoReadBuff 0 Normal file caching 1 Disables all hard drive caching REQUIRED TO BE 1 FOR WINDOWS NT SERVICE PACK 4 OR HIGHER StarveCheck This is a reserved parameter that should not be changed from its default value of 0 ...

Page 32: ... FrameShift This parameter adds an offset to the video frame relative to the audio track Positive values are the number of frames to push the video forward e g 3 3 frame forward Negative shifts are represented by the value 64 e g 67 3 frames back MaxSyncFix Sets the maximum audio video sync correction in units of 90000 decimal per second 0 Automatic configure 2ee0 NTSC default 3840 PAL default Ram...

Page 33: ...Setting one value determines output for the whole server If S Video Composite video with RGB output is required refer to the following table NOTE You can set up multiple boards in a system for different video type output A value must then be set for each card The first board recognized in the system s PCI bus will be the furthest value to the right in the Video Types field The boards will then be ...

Page 34: ...nel 2 Channel 3 Channel 4 VideoType s Digit C S C S C S C 0 RGB C S C S C 1 C S RGB C C 2 RGB RGB C C 3 C C RGB C 4 RGB C RGB C 5 C RGB RGB C 6 RGB RGB RGB C 7 C C C RGB 8 RGB C C RGB 9 C RGB C RGB A RGB RGB C RGB B C C RGB RGB C RGB C RGB RGB D C RGB RGB RGB E RGB RGB RGB RGB F ...

Page 35: ...rds 1st board channel 1 2 RGB channel 3 4 S video 3 2nd board channel 1 2 composite video 3 4 RGB C VideoTypes C3 VideoVSize If non_zero fix the vertical pixel number If a value is entered it hard codes the video size Set auxskip 1 If video size is not set to the automatic setting of 0 the AuxSkip must be set 1 to allow for video size setting ...

Page 36: ...l be ignored 1 Playback will always resume default MaxCards The number of cards to initialize 1 8 May be set to more than actual number of cards in server Recommended setting 8 Multiapp 0 Only one application can link to 4reelapi dll at a time 1 Multiple applications can access the driver but callbacks are disabled XferSpeed This sets configuration of the PCI timing recovery and duration 0 3 PCI c...

Page 37: ...iles from a different physical hard drive You must configure your application so that MPEGs are read from the correct drives by the correct channels If MaxDisks is left at the default value of 1 reads from all the hard drives will be sequential That is only one read of MPEG data will be performed at a time This is normal for a single content drive However with multiple drives a read from one drive...

Page 38: ...is used for content storage in a second partition D Channels 1 4 are mapped to drive D Default MaxDisks 1 4 Channels each with a 8 mbps file single SCSI Channels 1 4 are mapped to drive D Default MaxDisks 1 NOTE File bitrates impact system hard disk and playback performance Sample bitrates are provided with each of the following examples File bitrates are expressed in mbps mega bits per second NOT...

Page 39: ...s file 12X8 With 2 SCSI hard drives Max Disks 2 Channels 1 6 are mapped to Drive D Channels 7 12 are mapped to Drive E or with 3 SCSI hard drives MaxDisks 3 Each board is mapped to an individual drive Board 1 to Drive D etc 16 Channel Systems 16 Channels each with a 8 mbps file 16X8 Channels 1 8 are mapped to SCSI drive D boards 1 2 Channels 9 16 are mapped to SCSI drive E boards 3 4 Set MaxDisks ...

Page 40: ...Multi Card Servers 32 ...

Page 41: ...tor Select the correct input type for the display Examples Video 1 Input 1 Svideo etc Refer to the display manual for use Remove all serial cable and network connections from the system Refer to the cases located in Troubleshooting Tips on page 37 at any time during this process Getting Started 1 Power the server up and open Vidserve playback application located under Visual Circuits programs For ...

Page 42: ...ndicates activity the driver is installed and the card is initialized If no output is seen double check displays and cables If there is still no output power the server down and repeat the initial server check up and color bar test 3 With color bars visible select Black on the main window Displays should go to black 4 Be sure Auto Play and Black are not selected Using the Browse button select a fi...

Page 43: ... for each individual channel by browsing opening and playing files Be sure to play only one file at a time By performing the above process you can determine if basic playback for the board is functioning For detailed use of Vidserve or for cross channel playback applications please refer to the Vidserve User Manual ...

Page 44: ...Troubleshooting Overview 36 ...

Page 45: ...board Message says VCC4PRO Driver not found when Vidserve is started 4 ReelTime board was not found Make sure the board or boards are securely seated in the PCI bus ReelTime 4 Failed to allocate mem Be sure and verify default performance settings in VccReg Verify all memory is detected by server on start up or by right clicking on My Computer and reviewing General ReelTime 4 HARDWARE ERROR Inspect...

Page 46: ...ple channels can be caused by a number of conditions Uneven audio to video track lengths Confirm the length of the audio track to the length of the video track The Visual Circuits VCC4PRO driver standard with all Visual Circuits boards and digital servers aggressively synchronizes the audio and video data of the MPEG file to maintain Audio Visual AV Sync If the MPEG file s audio and video tracks a...

Page 47: ...tative prior to encoding or designing your installation if there are any questions Unequal elementary streams uneven video or audio tracks Cross channel synchronization requires equal playback duration and similar timecode starting points of MPEG files For cross channel sync all MPEG files must have equal playback duration If in a synchronized group of channels files vary in length the driver will...

Page 48: ...tape or if the encoding session was actually started and closed on the correct frames Playing MPEG 1 and MPEG2 files back to back The resolution switch from MPEG 1 files 342X240 to MPEG2 files 720X480 causes a latent image or a quadrant display of the last played file s image The only way to perform seamless playback when using a playlist of files is to insert an encoded black file with blank audi...

Page 49: ...lling the mpgblack command which is actually a function call on the decoder card will not solve the problem SMPTE time codes are not recognized properly Some SMPTE tracks lose information during compression and may not trigger events as required It is recommended to encode these tracks hot adding approximately 6 db to the track while encoding Testing is essential to account for variances in encode...

Page 50: ...GIF in order for the GIF to display properly The MPEG does not have to be playing 6 MPEG files using a GIF overlay should be a minimum of 8 seconds in duration to ensure properly timed GIF display For further GIF creation tips and GIF display troubleshooting information refer to the On Screen Display Guidelines document NOTE These guidelines serve only as recommendations and by no means represent ...

Page 51: ...at NTSC is not being played to PAL or vice versa the vertical resolution is 576 in PAL and 480 in NTSC Check that M2Ps program files and M2Vs or M2As video or audio only files are not mixed on the same channel Possible damage or faulty channel or decoder card Use test files and try other channels to verify Always try one file and one channel first as a base line for troubleshooting Verify ATA 66 t...

Page 52: ...e VCC4PRO driver and run Vidserve again Monitors roll lose sync when files are loaded Set InitOnOpen to 0 and test A blackburst or external display sync source may be required Consult your Visual Circuits representative for details on RT Daughter card options All channels pause when a new file is started on a channel Be sure buffers are fully loaded prior to playing As the number of channels being...

Page 53: ...ly to experience this behavior This is due to a separate syncronization output for each channel Verify connectors routers line doublers and other hardware to be sure that the 75 ohm impedance of the run is not broken Confirm cable lengths to signal strength Visual Circuits products conform to standard audio visual standards If unsure consult with the hardware manufacturers for equipment specificat...

Page 54: ...Troubleshooting Tips 46 ...

Page 55: ...ease contact your Visual Circuits Value Added Reseller or Distributor What You Should Have Ready When You Call Before you call your supplier for support collect the following pieces of information The serial number of the ReelTime 4 Pro board The date of purchase of the unit The name of the distributor or sales representative who sold the unit A complete description of the problem with a descripti...

Page 56: ...l conversation the representative will arrange for you to be called back at a later time You will receive an inquiry number that you can use to refer to your problem in the future Technical Support Contact Information for the Value Added Reseller VAR or Distributor Only The e mail address for Visual Circuits technical support is techsupport visualcircuits com The telephone numbers for Visual Circu...

Page 57: ...y Visual Circuits technical support you may need to return the ReelTime 4 board to Visual Circuits Corporation All materials shipped back to Visual Circuits Corporation must be accompanied by a Return Materials Authorization RMA number A Visual Circuits technical support representative will provide you with an RMA number Please write the RMA number clearly on the shipping label ...

Page 58: ...Contacting Visual Circuits Corporation 50 ...

Page 59: ... active 2 6 amps 5VDC 3 3v may be optionally selected with a jumper on the card In this case the 5V power requirement drops by 1 2 amps and this power is instead drawn from the 3 3v supply The advantage of using the 3 3v supply is that 2 1 watts are not dissipated as heat by an on board regulator AUDIO PARAMETERS Sampling rates supported 32khz 44 1 khz 48khz Frequency response 20hz 20khz 5db MPEG ...

Page 60: ...el up to 3 75v p p without clipping 1 volt p p typical for line level Audio output impedance 620 ohms unbalanced VIDEO PARAMETERS Frequency response 0 to 4 MHz 3 db Differential gain between DACs 3 maximum Signal to noise ratio 62db Color burst amplitude 40 IRE 2IRE Sync amplitude 40 IRE 2 IRE Output level composite video 1 volt peak to peak when terminated with 75ohms Output level RGB RT 7v peak ...

Page 61: ...on CCIR 601 720x480 NTSC or 720 x 576 PAL Driver supports automatic selection of SIF format for MPEG1 Closed caption support Supported in hardware STANDARDS SUPPORTED ISO 11172 MPEG 1 ISO 13818 MPEG 2 Maximum bitrate Individual channel can play up to 15mbps Maximum data transfer rate to card is 5 5 Mbytes sec 44mbits second total per card Decodes audio only video only or program streams file forma...

Page 62: ...1 Operates in bus master mode Can make use of 3 3v if available on bus Uses INTA line ENVIRONMENTAL Ambient temperature Operating 0 deg C to 40 deg C Non operating 40 deg C to 60 deg C SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Minimum processor 486 100MHZ Minimum system memory 32M 64M recommended Hard disk Driver will play four 6mbit sec files from one IDE driver Higher performance is achieved with ultra wide SCSI driv...

Page 63: ...1 mini coaxial cable but other cable manufacturers can also be used Audio lines need to be quality audio wire Ensure that all leads are properly grounded within the D Sub and that proper strain relief is provided to prevent separation of wires from the pins or connectors Also ensure that all connectors whether BNC RCA or other are of high quality material so as not to break the 75 ohm impedance of...

Page 64: ... IN R 4 LUM 4 GRN 4 5 BAL RIGHT AUDIO OUT L 3 AUDIO L 3 AUDIO L 3 6 VERT SYNC COMP OUT 3 COMP 3 BLUE 3 7 AUDIO IN L 3 LUM 3 GRN 3 8 BAL LEFT AUDIO OUT L 2 AUDIO L 2 AUDIO L 2 9 H SYNC COMP OUT 2 COMP 2 BLUE 2 10 AUDIO IN L 2 LUM 2 GRN 2 11 AUDIO OUT L AUDIO OUT L 1 AUDIO L 1 AUDIO L 1 12 COMP BLUE COMP OUT 1 COMP 1 BLUE 1 13 LUM GRN AUDIO IN L 1 AUDIO IN L 1 LUM 1 GRN 1 14 COMP IN 4 SYNC 4 ...

Page 65: ... COMP IN 3 SYNC 3 18 BAL RIGHT AUDIO OUT R 3 AUDIO R 3 AUDIO R 3 19 AUDIO IN R 3 CHROMA 3 RED 3 20 COMP SYNC COMP IN 2 SYNC 2 21 BAL LEFT AUDIO OUT R 2 AUDIO R 2 AUDIO R 2 22 AUDIO IN R 2 CHROMA 2 RED 2 23 COMP IN COMP IN 1 SYNC 1 24 AUDIO OUT R AUDIO OUT R 1 AUDIO OUT R 1 AUDIO R 1 25 CHROMA RED AUDIO IN R 1 AUDIO IN R 1 CHROMA 1 RED 1 ...

Page 66: ...e picture is reconstructed and displayed All these memory areas are defined in the software The data and payload memory are circular buffers and the driver reads these pointers into these buffers to determine how much data the channel needs The minimum and maximum size of data delivered to the data buffers are set as a driver parameter When a file is loaded data is transferred from the disk into t...

Page 67: ...e is no need to change initialization parameters such as the display resolution there will be seamless transitions between files For more detailed operation refer to the Zoran ZR36120 manual for the PCI bridge specification the LSI LOGIC 64002 manual for operation of the MPEG2 decoder and the SGS THOMSON STV0117 manual for the video encoder IC STV0119 for RGB ...

Page 68: ...DISPLAY BUFFERS M PEG2 DECODER AUDIO AND VIDEO HOST MEMORY BUFFER CHANNEL2 HOST MEMORY BUFFER CHANNEL3 HOST MEMORY BUFFER CHANNEL4 HARD DISK HOST MEMORY BUFFER CHANNEL1 SCSI CONTROLLER VIDEO AND AUDIO DACS DATABUFFER STORESRAW NON DECODED DATADIRECTLY FROMFILE AUDIOPAYLOADBUFFER STORESUNDECODEDAUDIO DATA VIDEOPAYLOADBUFFER STORESUNDECODEDVIDEO DATA PESBUFFER STORESPROGRAMSTREAM INFORMATION AUDIODE...

Page 69: ...ive if server integration consulting support is required Motherboard Visual Circuits is not aware of any incompatibilities with specific motherboards It is advantageous to have a BIOS which allows for manual setting of which interrupts are assigned to specific PCI slots While interrupts may be shared it is better to avoid sharing an interrupt with a device such as a SCSI controller ATX motherboard...

Page 70: ...r of channels used and the data rate bit rate of the files to be read SCSI controllers can be on board imbedded in the motherboard or in the form of an adapter card taking a PCI slot Make sure that the transfer rate of the hard drive is set to 40mbytes per second in the BIOS and that the width is set to 16bits Wide SCSI This is sometimes called SUPPORT FOR UTRA SCSI SPEED ENABLED The default setti...

Page 71: ...gned by the BIOS to be first Normally the card on the left looking at motherboard from behind is card 0 The order then will always the same each time the PC boots unless a device is added or removed Each 4 ReelTime board requests and then receives data over the PCI bus at a fixed rate of 5 5 megabytes per second With multiple boards in a system the 5 5 megabyte transfer rate for each board can ess...

Page 72: ...erhead involved and if it is set too large then other channels may starve because one channel takes too long to service The min and max file read size is also critical for optimizing the seek time If the minfileread is set too small then the disk seek time will become too great a percentage of the disk access time If it is set too high then the channels will not be serviced often enough These para...

Page 73: ... C channel 30 31 chassis 9 10 62 composite video 2 connecting cable 3 55 universal cable 3 contacting Visual Circuits 47 CPU 61 D DisableSync 24 DmaMode 21 DSIZEAUDIO 24 DSIZEOSD 19 DSIZEPES 28 E environmental 54 extention bracket 10 external video 2 F fastload 19 flashing images 40 FrameShift 24 G Genlock 19 GIF files 42 GreenBarFix 19 H hard disks 62 hardware 54 hardware description 51 I InitOnO...

Page 74: ...ard 20 on screen display OSD 2 P PAL 20 43 pin out 56 power 51 R RampVolume 24 RGB video 2 RT Daughter card 1 2 S set screws 12 SMPTE 41 source code 4 standards 53 StarveCheck 23 stuttering files 38 S video 2 Svideo 25 system requirements 54 T technical support 48 theory 58 timecode 40 41 troubleshooting 37 V VCC4PRO driver 37 63 video 3 38 52 composite 2 26 composite video 1 external 2 RGB 3 S vi...

Page 75: ...ory 813 0001a September 2000 ECO 638 Publication number went from 50023c to 813 0001a New sketch art added Trouble shooting section expanded 4ReelTime RGB and ReelTime 4 are the same product it is a name change only ...

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