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| Diamond ExpertTalk - Information compiled by the Diamond Tech Support Team |
IMPORTANT: Please take note of the references to driver updates and system configurations.  - Questions - Hardware / Configuration / Software Hardware
1-1
: Can the Crunch It be used to output the image seen on the computer
monitor to a TV or VCR?
1-2
: When recording with the Crunch It the interface software displays
still frames. When replaying, the window may even remain black.
1-3
: Can MPEG files also be played with the Crunch It?
Configuration
2-1
: Video sequence playback problem: sometimes the video monitor screen
remains blank and pink pixels appear in the video overlay window.
The sound continues to function properly.
2-2
: The video overlay window displays only single frames of the video
source (movie).
2-3
: When replaying AVI files the video is only displayed in monochrome
on the monitor.
2-4
: Is it possible to playback other AVI (or MPEG) files, e.g. from
multimedia CD-ROM's on the monitor, TV or video recorder (VCR)?
2-5
: If in Windows the 32 bit hard disc access and the file access is
enabled, in the dialogue box, the Cache size cannot be set to '0'.
2-6
: Notes for Windows95.
2-7
: Notes for optimizing the harddisk configuration.
2-8
: Notes for optimizing the memory configuration.
Software
3-1
: When recording with the Crunch It, I get the video picture in the
capture software window, but when I try to record the interface
software reports 'O frames recorded'.
3-2
: When I start the capture software it reports a defective capture
driver.The driver is howver correctly installed and no IRQ or
address conflicts exist.
3-3
: When capturing a reset occurs or the error message "[V_RECORD]
appears. An overlay window is visible, the picture in the TV is ok.
Recording is created, but the error message '0 files recorded,
0 frames lost' is shown.
- Answers - Hardware1-1 : Can the Crunch It be used to output the image seen on the computer monitor to a TV or VCR?  The Crunch It is not designed for this purpose. The Crunch It hardw. was designed to record and replay AVI files with an MJPG codec. 1-2 : When recording with the Crunch It the interface software displays still frames. When replaying, the window may even remain black. The window of the interface software (or similar) only displays a real live picture when you use a Crunch It with a Diamond Stealth 64 Video 2001 graphics board via LPB bus connector. If you use the Crunch It together with Stealth 2001 and still can't get a live video in picture, check the following: - the connection of the LPB bus between the boards - Stealth 2001 driver installation - whether the capture software's option 'Overlay Video' is active. 1-3 : Can MPEG files also be played with the Crunch It? No, the MPEG and MJPG (Motion JPEG) formats are totally different and can only be played with the appropriate hardware. Configuration2-1 : Video sequence playback problem: sometimes the video monitor screen remains blank and pink pixels appear in the video overlay window. The sound continues to function properly. A known error in the Video for Windows 1.1e software. There is currently no workaround solution except to end Windows and restart. 2-2 : The video overlay window displays only single frames of the video source (movie). Select in your video capture program "overlay" as the "view" configurat.. 2-3 : When replaying AVI files the video is only displayed in monochrome on the monitor. The Crunch It is either set to monochrome playback, or the option "Sync to Video Input" is active although a video signal is not available on the Video IN input. 2-4 : Is it possible to playback other AVI (or MPEG) files, e.g. from multimedia CD-ROM's on the monitor, TV or video recorder (VCR)? The Codecs/DeCodecs of the Crunch It can only replay AVI files coded with a Motion JPEG (MJPG) codec. AVI files such as those found on multimedia CD-ROM's are however often coded using a different codec, e.g. Indeo, RLE etc. In order to replay these AVI's via the Crunch IT's output, it is necessary to recode tese MJPG AVI's using a respective video mode resolution (PAL: 384x288, 768x288, 384x576 or 768x576, NTSC: 320x240, 640x240, 320x480 or 640x480) This can be done using the interface software Video Maestro from Softw. Dynamics or Ulead MediaStudio. Please note that AVI files coded with a software codec are often qualitatively limited or unsuitable for replay via video or TV's. MPEG files: - Start the MPEG Mediaplayer - Device - Configure. On the lower left of the dialogue (if your Crunch It is connected) you'll see a checkbox 'Crunch It'. When selected, output to a TV is possible. TV output however, is only possible in the interlaced display mode of the MPEG (not the general graphic driver!), which is why this is always selected (checkbox over the former one). Note: - It remains impossible (and always will) to output the entire screen to the TV. 2-5 : If in Windows the 32 bit hard disc access and the file access is enabled, in the dialogue box, the Cache size cannot be set to '0'. This is - in general - not necessary. It is sufficient to set the lowest possible value. In addition, the write cache should be disabled for the hard disk you use for recording. To do so, in the SYSTEM.INI file look for the section [VCache] and add the entry 'ForceLazyOff=x', where the 'x' stands for the hard disk drive you record with. Several entries for different hard disks or partitions are possible. 2-6 : Notes for Windows95. The Crunch It 2000 installation on CD-ROM will detect whether you run Windows (for Workgroups) 3.1x or Windows95 and install the appropriate drivers for your system. - To configure the Crunch It driver you need to select 'Multimedia' in the 'Control Panel'. The 'Control Panel' can be reached by selecting 'Start' and 'Settings' on the 'Task-Bar'. In the 'Multimedia' Dialog you need to select the page 'Advanced'. On this page all installed 'Multimedia devices' are listed hierarchically. - The 'Crunch It MJPG Capture Driver' can be found in the group 'Video Capture Devices'. By double-clicking this driver or by selecting this driver and pressing the button 'Properties' you get to the 'Crunch It MJPG Capture Driver Properties' dialog. Here the driver can be activated or deactivated by selecting 'Use this video capture device' or 'Do not use this video capture device'. Use the 'Settings' button to get to the configuration dialogue of the driver. - By selecting the button 'Remove' the Crunch It Driver can be deinstalled. - The 'Crunch It MJPG CoDEC Driver' can be found in the group 'Video Compression Codes'. By double-clicking this driver or by selecting this driver and pressing the button 'Properties' you get to the 'Crunch It MJPG CoDEC Driver [MJPG] Properties' dialog. By selecting the button 'Remove' the Crunch It Driver can be deinstalled. - A wrong configuration of the "Hardw. Acceleration" inside Windows95 may also cause different problems. How to find this option? See: - Window: Control panel - Icon: System - Option: Performance - Option: Graphics "Hardw. acceleration" Please move the regulator to see the results of a wrong configuration. 2-7 : Notes for optimizing the harddisk configuration. Settings to optimise hard disk access for the recording of video sequences: By pressing the button 'File System' on page 'Performance' of the 'System' entry that can be found in the 'Control Panel' you will get to the 'File System Properties' dialog. On page 'General' you can set 'Hard disk optimisation' to 'Desktop Computer' or 'Network server'. Selecting 'Network server' may give better results when playing and capturing video-sequences as more resources are reserved for I/O operations. On page 'Trouble shooting' the option 'Disable write-behind caching for all drives.' should be activated. Depending on you System activating the option 'Disable protected-mode hard disk interrupt handling.' may give some advantages. You can find out whether it does or not by trial and error. 2-8 : Notes for optimizing the memory configuration. Although Windows 95 has a virtual memory (swap file) handling that has been improved a lot compared to Windows 3.1x it may be advantageous to specify own virtual memory settings. The swap file for virtual memory should be placed on the fastest disk of the system. If this disk is also the disk you use for sampling video it may be necessary to use an other disk for the swap file. The minimum size of the swap file should twice the system memory of your PC and no maximum size should be specified. - By pressing the button 'Virtual Memory' on page 'Performance' of the 'System' entry that can be found in the 'Control Panel' you will get to the 'Virtual Memory' dialog. To specify own settings for 'Minimum' and 'Maximum' swap file size and define on which 'Hard disk' the swap file should be placed enable the 'Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.' - When finished you have to save and confirm all changes by pressing the 'Apply' and 'OK' buttons. Software3-1 : When recording with the Crunch It, I get the video picture in the capture software window, but when I try to record the interface software reports 'O frames recorded'. This error indicates an incorrect installation (IRQ or address conflict) in connection with the Crunch It. Check the configuration of the CrunchIt and select a different I/O address or IRQ. A wrong configuration of the "Hardware Acceleration" inside Windows95 may also cause different problems. How to find this option? See: - Window: Control panel - Icon: System - Option: Performance - Option: Graphics "Hardware acceleration" Please move the regulator to see the results of a wrong configuration. 3-2 : When I start the capture software it reports a defective capture driver.The driver is howver correctly installed and no IRQ or address conflicts exist. This symptom concerns the capture software and driver and indicates that the configuration dialogue box of the Crunch It driver (Control Panel / Driver / Setup) contains an active PIP option. 3-3 : When capturing a reset occurs or the error message "[V_RECORD] appears. An overlay window is visible, the picture in the TV is ok. Recording is created, but the error message '0 files recorded, 0 frames lost' is shown. Install the 'CAPTURE' driver update for Win95 (see BBS or Internet). Remove possible interrupt conflict. Test interrupt settings and if necessary, change the settings in your PC BIOS for the interrupt assignment for the PCI slot. eof |
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