Indeo(R) Video YVU9C Drivers -- Beta Release V1.02.1.2 April 27, 1995 Topics: ------- * Improvements * Beta Requirements * Introduction * Creating Video for CD-ROM Playback: * Realtime Capture and Compression * Raw Capture and Offline Compression * What is Indeo Video YVU9C * Contents * Installation * Software Prerequisites * Known Operating Characteristics * Technical Support * Copyright Notice Improvements: ------------- Improvements in 1.02.1.2 over 1.02.1.1: 1. Fixed a memory leak that would occur during playback in some cases. Improvements in 1.02.1.1 over 1.01.1.6: 1. Added software compression to the decoder, making it a full decoder for editing purposes. Beta Requirements: ------------------ This package contains a beta version of the YVU9C drivers. These drivers are only provided for evaluation. They may not be redistributed. If you agree to these terms, run the Setup program and install the files. Otherwise, please delete them. Introduction: ------------- These release notes will explain a new realtime video capture format for the Intel Smart Video Recorder (ISVR) and Smart Video Recorder Pro (ISVR Pro) capture cards. The new capture format is called "YVU9 Compressed" or just "YVU9C". These release notes explain what YVU9C's features are, how it works, and how to install it on your system. To help understand what YVU9C is and what it can do for your video capture, the following two sections explain how each of the ISVR and ISVR Pro's current video capture formats work, what advantages each provides, and what new functionality YVU9C provides in creating Indeo Video. Realtime Capture and Compression: --------------------------------- The ISVR and ISVR Pro provide two different capture formats: Indeo Video(R) R3.1, and Indeo Video(R) Raw. Indeo Video R3.1 captures video and compresses it in real time; as each frame of video is digitized it is also compressed before being written to memory or hard disk. This results in reduced data rates and much smaller file sizes; it also enables Intel486(TM) and Pentium(R) processor based PC’s to capture a 320 x 240 pixel video stream at up to 15 frames per second on an ISVR and up to 30 frames per second on an ISVR Pro without dropping any frames. In order to achieve this real time performance, however, the ISVR and ISVR Pro must trade off some compression performance for speed. Indeo Video is a powerful and complex compression algorithm, capable of executing many different "modes" of compression, and of combining any of those modes within a frame and between frames. This complex encoding process requires that the Indeo Video compressor analyze each frame of video with great precision, and also execute detailed comparisons between frames. This degree of analysis is not possible in real time. The ISVR and ISVR Pro's realtime compressor compresses data using a subset of the Indeo Video algorithm. It executes only some of Indeo Video’s compression modes, using a fixed set of compression parameters, and creates only intra-frame encoded "key frames". This process still results in very high quality video at data rates playable from most average hard disks; a typical Indeo Video file at 320 x 240 resolution, 15 fps, will have a data rate of approximately 24 Mbytes per minute. But video intended for CD-ROM playback needs to be at lower data rates, typically 90 - 135 Kbytes per second for single-spin CD-ROM drives, or 200 - 240 Kbytes per second for double-spin drives. In order to create files at this data rate, and still maintain the highest possible visual quality, it is necessary to compress the video offline, in a non-realtime fashion, using Indeo Video’s CD-ROM Rate compressor. Offline compression assumes the existence of a video source file on hard disk, which is then compressed in a non-realtime fashion using a Video for Windows* editing application such as Microsoft VidEdit, Adobe Premiere for Windows, or Asymetrix Digital Video Producer*. In this offline, non-realtime mode the CD-ROM Rate compressor has time to execute all of the various modes and permutations of Indeo Video described above. The result is video of significantly higher visual quality at lower data rates, suitable for delivery and playback from an MPC-level CD-ROM drive. To create video at CD-ROM playable data rates, therefore, realtime capture and compression may not be the ideal choice, because if the source file that is to be compressed has already been compressed with the ISVR or ISVR Pro, then the visual quality of the file will be degraded. This is because the realtime compressor, using only a subset of Indeo Video’s possible compression techniques, imposes a degree of "lossy-ness" that will hinder the offline compressor’s ability to create the highest possible quality images. In fact, when realtime-compressed video is recompressed using the offline compressor, any visual artifacts created by the realtime compressor can actually be amplified. In the video production world this is analogous to making a tape of a tape - generation loss (degraded video quality) occurs. Raw Capture and Offline Compression: ------------------------------------ The ISVR and ISVR Pro's other format, Indeo video Raw, is a higher-quality video capture and much more suitable for capturing files that are to be subsequently offline-compressed. Capturing Indeo Video Raw is more taxing on system resources than realtime capture and compression, however, because the uncompressed video stream is much higher in data rate than an Indeo Video R3.2 stream would be. For example, a file captured at 320 x 240 resolution at 15 frames per second will have an average data rate just over 1.2 MBytes per second; this data rate is too high to be captured to hard disk without dropping frames. Because of this, when capturing Indeo Video Raw it is usually necessary to capture directly into memory, and to limit the length of captured files to the amount of system memory available on the PC. For example, at 1.2 MBytes per second data rate a PC equipped with 32 MBytes of system memory can capture a video file of about 23 seconds without dropping any frames (some of the available system memory is consumed by Windows overhead); a 48-Mbyte system can capture about 36 seconds; and a 64-Mbyte system can capture about 50 seconds. Capturing audio simultaneously, even at the default minimum settings of 11 Khz/8-bit/mono, reduces the length of the file that can be captured without dropping frames, and increasing the audio sampling rate, sample word size, or number of audio channels will reduce the possible "dropless" capture time even further. Clearly using Indeo Raw capture requires higher system performance, and the PC intended for use as a video capture and compression workstation should be equipped with as much memory as possible (32 Mbyte minimum recommended), the fastest CPU possible (a Pentium Processor of 66 Mhz or above will work best), and the fastest hard disk subsystem possible (a PCI-based SCSI 2 card will work best). However there is no question that Indeo Raw capture will allow subsequently offline-compressed video to achieve the highest possible visual quality at the lowest possible data rates. What is YVU9C: -------------- This capture format offers an exciting combination of the realtime compression and raw capture techniques detailed above. YVU9C is a new mode of the Indeo Video realtime compressor in which the incoming video is converted to Indeo Raw, but is then very slightly compressed using a virtually lossless compression technique. YVU9C compression is usually indistinguishable from true Indeo Raw to the naked eye, and because YVU9C uses a compression trick borrowed from the offline compressor, if one were to create the same video clip in both Indeo Raw and YVU9C, and then offline-compress each clip using the CD-ROM Rate compressor, the two resulting offline compressed files would be mathematically identical. YVU9C is a valuable capture option because it offers a realtime compression rate of around 2:1 to 3:1, depending on the content of a given video clip. The data rate of the default video stream discussed above (320 x 240, 15 fps) now drops from 1.2 Mbytes per second to around 600 Kbytes per second or less - a moderate enough data rate to be captured to most hard disks in real time without dropping any frames. This reduces the system memory requirements for the capture PC, and also allows the user to capture video files of much longer length - limited in fact only by hard disk capacity. Given YVU9C, why use Indeo Raw at all? Because YVU9C isn’t an infallible capture technique. It uses a relatively simple compression algorithm, and certain types of video content will not compress well using YVU9C. In particular, a few seconds or more of video containing areas of extreme variation in high-frequency detail (such as excessively fine detail, or video noise) can sometimes cause YVU9C to create "compressed" data streams that are actually as large or even larger than Indeo Raw (if you’ve ever tried to "PKZIP" a compressed file, and had the resulting file turn out to be larger than the original, then you understand the basic idea of trying to use a compression algorithm to compress data it can’t compress). For such video clips Indeo Raw is clearly a better choice. Contents: --------- readme.txt This text file iyv92.dll V1.02.1.2 VfW codec iyv92_c1.dll ISVR YVU9C capture driver iyv92_c2.dll ISVR Pro YVU9C capture driver Installation: ------------- The YVU9C drivers are distributed in a self-expanding zip file. Expand the zip file in an empty temporary directory and run the Setup.exe program. It offers the option of installing the the ISVR or ISVR Pro drivers. ISVR installation: The Setup program copies the files iyv92.dll and iyv92_c1.dll into the c:\windows\system directory. Setup then adds the following entries to the system.ini file: [drivers] vidc.yv92=iyv92.dll [ISVR_ALGS] YV92=iyv92_c1.dll,Intel Indeo(R) Video YVU9C ,E WARNING: If these lines are entered by hand, the placement of commas and spaces is critical. ISVR Pro installation: The Setup program copies the files iyv92.dll and iyv92_c2.dll into the c:\windows\system directory. Setup then adds the following entries to the system.ini file: [drivers] vidc.yv92=iyv92.dll [ISVRPRO_ALGS] YV92=iyv92_c2.dll,Intel Indeo(R) Video YVU9C ,E ,V WARNING: If these lines are entered by hand, the placement of commas and spaces is critical. After Setup has successfully installed the files, the temporary directory containing the Setup files can be deleted. Software Prerequisites: ----------------------- * Video for Windows V1.1 or newer * Windows 3.1 or newer * Smart Video Recorder V1.1 or newer Known Operating Characteristics: -------------------------------- The data rate of Indeo Video YVU9C files during capture will be higher than when using Indeo Video R3.1; for example, a 320 x 240 video clip at 15 fps will compress to an average data rate of 500-600 KBytes per second. Therefore, it is important to fully optimize your hard disk prior to capturing YVU9C files. When using a disk optimizer such as DOS "defrag" or Norton Utilities Speed Disk, select "Full Optimization", not just "Defragment". The video quality of YVU9C will be identical to the Indeo Raw and the file size is much smaller. Technical Support: ------------------ For technical assistance within the USA call our Hotline number at 800-628-8686 (prompts 1,3,1). Outside the USA call 916-356-3551. Inform the dispatcher you have a question on "Indeo Video". If an engineer is available you will be connected, if not, you will be called back within an hour. Copyright Notice: ----------------- Copyright Intel Corp. 1992-1995 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED By using the files included with this notice, you agree to all the terms in this notice. If you or your company can not agree to these terms, do not use these files. Instead, immediately delete these files. This software is distributed only for use by Licensees of Intel Corp.'s Indeo(TM) Video Technology, and the use of this software shall be governed by the user's license agreement with Intel Corp. as well as the terms of this notice. No other licenses, either express or implied, or by estoppel, are granted by the distribution of this software. You may not disassemble, decompile, or reverse engineer this software. ALL SOFTWARE PROVIDED HEREIN IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. INTEL NEITHER ASSUMES NOR AUTHORIZES ANY PERSON TO ASSUME FOR IT ANY OTHER LIABILITY. In no event will Intel Corp. be liable for any loss of profits, loss of use, direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages arising out of the use of the software distributed herein. _____________________________________________________________________ * Other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.