Video Rate Real Time Full Resolution Video Display For PIXCI® PCI Board
Display LIVE video (30 frames per second) from NTSC video sources. Display LIVE video (25 frames per second) from PAL video sources. Display full color, full frame rate, maximum capture resolution images from the PIXCI® PCI board! Maximum display performance is achieved by use of an S/VGA adapter that can accept the video output of the PIXCI® board without conversion by the Pentium processor.
Default Windows Display With the PIXCI® Board
The PIXCI® board provides video output in YCrCb color space. This
color definition encodes color as 8 bits of Y (luminance) 8 bits of Cr
(Chrominance Red) and 8 bits of Cb (Chrominance Blue). This video
stream is transferred to system memory and then converted by the
Pentium processor into 24 bit RGB.
The RGB data is then given to Windows which provides the software interface for various S/VGA boards. Windows provides the drivers that permit the RGB video to be displayed by a particular S/VGA board with the selected display resolution, refresh rate, and color depth.
This display mode is NOT being retired or replaced. This mode enables video data to be channeled to the Pentium, which is the main reason for using a PCI capture board -- to allow the Pentium to manipulate pixels in pursuit of information about a captured image. Nevertheless, some applications benefit from a maximum display mode that sacrifices information about an image for a major improvement in display performance.
NEW Display With YCrCb Input S/VGA
Video rate display is achieved by using an S/VGA card that accepts
video output from the PIXCI® board without the intervention of the
Pentium processor. The video stream is directed from the PIXCI
board, through the PCI bus, directly to the S/VGA's buffer
WITHOUT a processing stop at the Pentium. EPIX has verified that
the Hercules Dynamite 128/Video, with 2 MB of memory, operating
in Windows 95, works in this capacity.
The Hercules Dynamite 128/Video is a multimedia S/VGA display board with enhanced capabilities. It is NOT a product specially designed to support the PIXCI® board -- it is a powerful, general- purpose display board supporting the universe of S/VGA capabilities, which, happily for EPIX, also encompass the display needs of PIXCI. These capabilities include hardware overlay using the UYVY color definition, hardware cursor, chroma key support, and compatibility with the Microsoft DirectX API.
No Misunderstanding
Use of the Hercules display board provides BOTH of the above-
described video display modes. EPIX software allows easy
movement from one mode to the other. The user can operate in the
new video rate display mode to observe a process at video rates,
and then switch to the default display mode to capture and process
video information with the Pentium.
Beta Test Status
It works -- we've seen video rate display on a 166 MHz Pentium computer in the
software development lab. In addition to video rate display, customers are asking
for overlays on live video. The Hercules board is designed to support such overlays.
EPIX is now developing the software. Feel free to contact
EPIX with questions.
Contact Hercules
For additional information about the Hercules Dynamite 128/Video
board,
visit the Hercules web site.
In the US and Canada, call: 800.532.0600.
All other countries call +1.510.623.6030 or send a fax to +1.510.623.1112.
EPIX Vision - December 1996 Newsletter
Specifications and prices subject to change without notice.
EPIX® imaging products are made in the USA.
Copyright © 2024 EPIX, Inc. All rights reserved.