J. Norman Kern (kvp@erinet.com)
Sun, 27 Jun 1999 11:38:46 -0400
Neil:
I hope you are right about the impending improvements to Windows, etc.
My personal experience, which is related to some of the comments below,
is that the failure of NT to recognize a board as a video capture device
is actually a problem with the PCI related code in the BIOS of many
motherboards.
In fact, that was a problem that stopped me when I was installing my
Matrox Digisuite system over a year ago. The Bios kept placing my video
cards on IRQ 3 or 4. On a PC, that is the same interrupt used by the
serial ports. Talk about IRQ conflicts!
I replaced the motherboard with the one that was highly recommended by
Matrox. That was the end of my problem.
You may have missed the real point of my previous post:
Pinnacle has just purchased Truevision. Not long ago they bought Miro.
They have their own line as well. Each product line has multiple models.
The bottom line is that they are trying to support a lot of diverse
hardware on multiple platforms. This requires stretching resources.
Needed updates to drivers may be late. Some problems may not be solved
at all due to lack of resources. Older products may lose support sooner.
The reality of NT4.0 is that there are many NLE products and
configurations that are running very well on it. Most of these are
running on certified motherboards and are from manufacturers with a
limited number of products that are optimized for a specific platform.
IMHO, the problems with the Miro DC line have a lot more to do with
Pinnacle and PCI Bios problems than they have to do with "Bill and the
MS monster".
We're making progress though. Just a couple of years ago, these low end
capture cards either didn't work at all or worked some of the time at
low data rates. Now, they work easily at low data rates and even work
some of the time at high data rates if you are lucky. Hopefully, the
next time around things will improve to the point that you don't have to
be lucky.
I'm sure that some will take issue with the previous statement because
they are having no problem at all. Just remember, they are the lucky
ones. The archives of this list are filled with cries for help from
those with dropped frames, black frames, audio out of sync, etc. They
are the unlucky ones.
Are the majority of those who use these products lucky or unlucky? I
don't know. We probably don't hear much from those who are cruising
along with no problem. OTOH, we probably hear from everyone who is stuck
with something they can't figure out. (At least it seems that way.)
To sum up:
You are less likely to have problems with a product that is not the
cheapest, (although not necessarily at the extreme high end either) has
been on the market for awhile, has specific certification for
motherboards, supports a specific platform (if Wintel, NT4.0, not
95/98), and is from a unified product family.
You may achieve perfect performance with a product that meets none of
the above criteria, but the laws of probability are against you.
Norm Kern
Kern Video Productions
Neil Havermale wrote:
>
> Don't dispare. A comment and two notes of interest from a non-video-noid who has
> learned the hard way.
>
> Yes, Bill and the MS monster have paid less than full attention to the emerging
> personal digital video industry with their less than full quality driver design
> and APIs. (I also blame the product centric NLE editon software developers as
> well.) What I do know that is MS soon will change in a very significant way its
> attitude towards video and music. NT2000 will be the platform but WIN98ers will
> get an update as well. (If you want a really scary preview of MS intent just take
> a look at the Casio CE Casseopia hand held - full video plus music! - released for
> shipping on the 22nd)
>
> First, NT2000 (beta 3) is enabled to handle the throughput needed. It is still
> rough due to lack of "drivers" from the NLE players. When is it available ? -
> good question which MS suggests as later this year. Second, watch for a follow on
> version of WIN98 that in particular adds features and repairs to address
> multimedia editon. This release is pending in mid to late summer. And of
> greatest interest is the sync of CE with these versions. If you really wnat to
> understand where Microsoft is suggesting we are going, look at the video spec of
> their CE technology/OS.
>
> In either case it is my opinion that the Wintel NLE industry is about to move from
> proprietary card and software to a complete "driver" design. You will soon see
> "many" capture cards that work and new entry of NLE software. It is coming and it
> will simplify the whole thing by heaps. My bet is the FALL COMDEX will be jumping
> on the NLE video thing in a very big way. You'll still need to get certain
> portions of your hardware changed/replaced at the card level but once there many
> of the current issues of compatibility will sluff off and be but bad reminders of
> how all of this stuff used to hard to do.....
>
> MidNight Mapper
> aka Neil
>
> "J. Norman Kern" wrote:
>
> > Lucas:
> >
> > Too many products, too many platforms, too may OS versions, not enough
> > time....
> >
> > Norm Kern
> > Kern Video Productions
> >
> > Gustavo Nash wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Lucas
> > >
> > > What you describe is not a problem with you card or drivers. The problem
> > > is between NT an implementation fo drivers under it. NT will never show up
> > > your card as a video capture device, I don't reallly know why but this
> > > happens with all the Miro DC Line under NT. If you want to get toyu card
> > > working as video capture device you MUST switch back to Windows 9x. I hope
> > > in future Pinnacle will realesa a driver for NT that work like the one under
> > > Win 9x.
> > >
> > > Enjoy
> > > Gustavo Nash
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Lucas Young & Daniel Crothers <lyoung@bitworks.co.nz>
> > > To: <digvid-l@ucdavis.edu>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 1999 4:23 PM
> > > Subject: DC50 | NT 4.0
> > >
> > > > HI all
> > > >
> > > > I just purchased a Pinnacle/Miro DC50 and have set it up, it seems to be
> > > > working fine, however it doesnt show up as a video capture device in the
> > > > Multimedia Control Panel applet in NT, meaning programs like Webcam 32
> > > dont
> > > > pick it up as a video source... any suggerstions?
> > > >
> > > > Regards
> > > >
> > > > Lucas Young
> > > >
> > > >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sun Jun 27 1999 - 08:39:04 PDT