PCA635VC PC Camera User Guide
About This Manual This manual covers the installation, usage and troubleshooting of the Philips PCA635VC Camera and Videogram software. You will notice, to get up and running quickly, that a separate Quick Start guide has been included. This manual should be used along with the Quick Start guide and referenced when you need a more complete explanation. In addition, on-line help is available inside the Videogram Creator application.
Table Of Contents About This Manual 2 Manual Conventions 2 Table Of Contents 3 About Your Philips PCA635VC 6 Bundled Software Videogram Creator 6 6 Chapter 1 7 B e f o r e Yo u B e g i n Check the Package Contents Minimum System Configuration Optimum System Configuration Safety Tips Maintenance 7 7 7 8 8 Chapter 2 Setup & Installation 9 Installing Philips PCA635VC Unit connecting the camera, the microphone and the adapter directing the camera 9 Chapter 3 Software Installation STEP 1: R
Chapter 4 Videogram Creator Software Opening the Videogram Creator application Video & Audio Settings Settings Control Panel OK & CANCEL Buttons Format Quality Size Adjust Video Audio Capture Audio Frequency Size Channels Image Size Subject Quality The Main Window File Menu Bar File Menu Edit Menu Tools Menu Help Video Toolbar Sound Toolbar Chapter 5 C r e a t i n g & S av i n g V i d e o g r a m s 14 15 15 15 16 17 17 18 19 20 21 22 Videograms and AVI Video Files Compared 3 Easy Steps for Video
Chapter 7 Grabbing Snapshot Images 32 Capturing a Snapshot STEP 1: Preview Video Live Video STEP 2: Grab Still Live Video STEP 3: View the Bit Mapped Image STEP 4: Save and Send Grabbing Snapshot Images from Pre-Recorded Video Picturegram 32 Chapter 8 35 Adding Narration & Audio 34 34 Add Live Sound Record Audio or Narration Add Pre-Recorded Sound STEP 1: Select Insert Audio under the Edit menu STEP 2: Select an Audio File to Insert 35 Chapter 9 36 Using Videograms 35 Sending with E-Mails Fam
About Your Philips PCA635VC Your Philips PCA635VC Camera is the easiest way to capture and send video from your desktop or laptop computer. The Philips PCA635VC along with Videogram Creator Software, incorporates the latest in video capture and playback technology into a high quality, compact video camera. With the PCA635VC you can capture full-motion video at resolutions up to 320X240 (CIF Standard) at 30 frames per second through the parallel port.
Before You Begin This chapter provides a checklist of items you need to ensure a smooth installation including a section on general safety. Before installation, make sure that your Philips PCA635VC was shipped complete (“Package Contents”) and then verify that your system meets the minimum requirements (“System Requirements”). Check the Package Contents Please check your Philips PCA635VC package for the items shown below.
Safety Tips Before you install this product, be sure to safeguard yourself, your computer system and the Philips PCA635VC. It is recommended that you follow these precautions in addition to any precautions you may have found in other documents for your computer. Shut down and disconnect system power prior to plugging and unplugging connectors. Do not plug an excessive amount of devices into a power outlet and do not run more than one power strip off any outlet.
2 Setup & Installation This chapter walks you through the installation and setup process for your Philips PCA635VC unit. Some of the diagrams in this section may look different than your system. This user’s guide is designed to be used along with any existing documentation that you have collected for your computer. The following diagram is an overview of all the wiring connections for Philips PCA635VC.
3 Software Installation This Chapter describes installation of the Philips PCA635VC software, including the Videogram Creator and Player software. Due to the true 32-bit nature of the software, the installation will only work under Windows 95. STEP 1: R e - C o n n e c t t h e Po w e r During the hardware setup we instructed you to unplug the computer system from the wall outlet or power strip. If you did this, please plug the system’s power back in.
STEP 6: Follow the Installer Directions The following dialog box will appear. If nothing happens, restart your system and try it again. If it still doesn’t work make sure the drive works by trying another CD. Follow the simple on-screen instructions to complete the installation. QuickVideo Software on System Once you have finished installing the software two new groups and icons will be created for you. You may access them by clicking on the “Start” Button and checking the “Programs” folder.
Philips PCA635VC Setup Wizard - Walks you through the installation and set-up of your Philips PCA635VC, including properly configuring your parallel port. Philips PCA635VC Electronic User Guide - Online User Guide in Adobe Acrobat format. Videogram Player Group Videogram Program Group Videogram Player - Standalone player that is installed on the system hard drive and allows for the creation and sending of Videgrams without a player built into the file.
Then, the Wizard will help you configure the audio on your Philips PCA635VC. Enter Internet settings, then you’re ready to begin recording with Philips PCA635VC.
4 Videogram Creator Software This Chapter discusses the Videogram Creator software. With the Videogram Creator software you can begin capturing, creating, and sending Videograms. This Chapter will explain the different aspects and features of this software, and will show you how to adjust settings to create the best Videograms with your system. Vital settings that control whether or not you see video are described in this section, so it’s worth reading.
Video & Audio Settings Before you begin using the Videogram Creator, it’s important that you learn how to control video and audio. You may want to experiment with these settings later to optimize video capture for your system. More information regarding “Optimizing System for Video Capture” can be found in Chapter 10 located towards the end of this manual. Settings Control Panel From the Videogram Creator application, click on the “Edit” option on the menu bar and select “Video Settings.
• Fast (VGPixel) - Select this option to capture video at a higher frame rate; color and overall definition of the video will be less than the High or Medium settings. This is your best choice for most Videograms and the default setting. Size Select one of these options to adjust the size of the video captured. Format Tab - Settings Control Panel The size setting tells the Videogram Creator application how large or small the video clip should be captured and displayed at.
duction is as follows: put the Auto White Balance switch on, hold a white paper in front of the camera and switch over after a few seconds from auto to fixed mode. Now the color settings are stored in the camera, even when you switch off the power of the camera. When light conditons change it is recommended to put the Auto White Balance mode in auto mode (on). Contrast - Affects the contrast between the light and the dark area of the video.
Capture Audio This box must be checked before attempting to capture any audio. Frequency Select one of these options to choose the audio frequency for sound capture. The settings offer you the ability to balance sound quality with the size of your sound file. A low frequency setting (8KHz) will produce lower sound quality in a much smaller file size whereas a high frequency setting (44KHz) would mimic CD quality but produce a much larger file size.
Quality Select on one of the settings to gain better image resolution or to save file size in snapshots. These options directly affect the quality (depth, resolution) in snapshots and capture speed. The higher the Quality setting, the better the image will appear. Subsequently, higher Quality settings will result in a little more time to compress the snapshot file. es. Quality Options • • • Normal - Default setting, select this for faster compression time with acceptable image quality.
• • Play Videograms - Plays the most recently created Videograms. Exit - Closes the Videogram Creator application Edit Menu Edit Menu Here you’ll find sound and video settings. Go to In Mark* - Jumps to marked In-point in the selected video Go to Out Mark* - Jumps to marked Out-point in the selected video Clear In-Out Marks* - Removes all marked In and Out points in the selected video View Bitmap** - Opens a separate image-viewing window to view and inspect (with zoom feature) image captured.
Fast Forward - Active only after a video clip has been captured, hold button down for fast forward, click button once to move the video clip forward one frame at a time. Slider Control - Active only after a video clip has been captured, this displays the current position of the video/sound clip and allows users to move to different points within the clip by clicking and dragging the slider handle; left = backward, right = forward.
5 Creating & Saving Videograms This Chapter walks you through capturing, saving and playing back both Videograms and standard Microsoft video (.AVI) files. Videograms and AVI Video Files Compared The difference between Videograms and AVI Video files is size. Microsoft .AVI Video files serve as the base file format for Videograms. Videograms dramatically compress the AVI files into substantially smaller, self-executing, video files. Videograms can be created with or without a built-in player.
STEP 1 Preview Video When you first open the Videogram Creator application you will be in the “Preview” mode. In the “Preview” mode, video displays from the Philips PCA635VC. Videogram Creator Window If video is not displayed when you click on the preview button AND all the connectors are tightly plugged in, then go back to Chapter 5 and make sure that all of the Vital Settings are correctly set. A DVA N C E D In this mode you’ll want to check the quality of the video.
A DVA N C E D Dropping frames is normal and will vary from system to system depending on the system performance, as well as the type and size of video being captured. Experiment with different settings as described in Chapter 4, you can improve the system performance and drop fewer frames. However, the real judge is your eyes. Click the “OK” button with your mouse and play the video back. If the system is dropping too many frames, check out the “Optimizing System for Capture and Playback” in Chapter 10.
Once the Videogram is created, an e-mail window will appear (in this example, the window is from Microsoft Exchange). Simply type in the e-mail address of your recipients, the file is already attached. Saving Videograms An alternative to sending the Videogram directly is to Save the Videogram. This allows you to post the Videogram to a Webpage, send it out using an e-mail system that is not MAPI-compliant, copy it to a floppy disk, etc.
Mark In Mark Out A DVA N C E D Before starting the Videogram compression process by clicking on the “Internet Send” button, you can set the start and end points of the video by using the Mark In and Mark Out buttons (shown at left) on the Video Toolbar. Simply find the desired starting point on the video then click the Mark In button. Find the desired ending point then click the Mark Out button. Now you can continue with Step Three.
A u d i o Ty p e Select one of these options to indicate the sound optimization. Generic - This setting saves the maximum amount of information to reproduce a wide range of sounds and is optimized for music and other demanding audio files. This setting will cause the file to consume more space on the hard drive. Speech - This setting saves less information to reproduce sound optimized for vocal patterns (which require less information than music). This option also conserves hard drive space.
Videogram Player folder), or they can download it from the Alaris Website (http://www.alaris.com). Creating Videograms without the Player will not only save file space, but upload and download times. Using Videograms With Non-MAPI Email Programs With non-MAPI email programs such as America Online (AOL), you cannot launch the email program directly from the Videogram Creator application. But you can still send Videograms using the non-MAPI email program. You simply have to save the files first.
6 Playing Videograms There are two types of Videograms that you can play: self-executing Videograms that include the Player in the file, and Videograms that require the Player to be installed on the playing system. Playback for both of these files is described in this chapter. For best results, both types of Videograms should be played back on a minimum 486DX/2 66 system (as described in Chapter 1, Minimum System Requirements). Under Windows 95 You can play Videograms with a built-in Player (.
Menu Button Clicking on the menu button in the lower left hand corner of the Videogram Player software, will make the following “Application” menu will appear: Streaming Vediogram Player Menu Use the Streaming Videogram Player Menu to access the following functions: • Open File… - Open a Videogram file with .VGM extension to play. This is a Videogram saved without a built-in player. Simply locate a .VGM file, double-click on it, and click on “OK” to open a file to play.
• Skip Frames if behind (checkbox) - By default this is left checked to optimize the viewing speed and to keep the sound synchronized. When this option is not checked, all frames will be played back in the Videogram regardless of sound synchronization. • Sound - Use this slider to adjust the playback volume of the Videogram without affecting the master volume settings of your system. • Mute (checkbox) - By default this is left unchecked. When checked, this will cause the sound to be nonexistent.
7 Grabbing Snapshot Images One of the great things about the Philips PCA635VC is that, in addition to capturing video clips, it also captures single images, or snapshots. Snapshots are great for everything from wallpaper for the Windows desktop to images for Internet web pages and they’re extremely easy to grab with the Philips PCA635VC. Follow the step-by-step instructions in this Chapter to capture your own snapshots.
STEP 2: Grab Still Capturing & Processing Image Live Video Watch the motion video carefully for a scene that you would like to capture a snapshot of. Click on the “Grab Still” Button to freeze this image. Depending on the image size (described in Chapter 4) and system performance (Chapter 10) this could take a few seconds to a few minutes.
STEP 3: View the Bit Mapped Image The Video Window in the Videogram Creator application provides a preview of the image captured. For closer inspection of the image, you can pull up a separate window containing your BMP. Edit Menu From the “Edit” menu, click on “View Bitmap” to bring up the Snapshot Inspection Window. Click the right (or usual) mouse button to zoom in and the left (or secondary) to zoom out.
8 Adding Narration & Audio A great way to enhance any video capture is to add sound. This is not limited to just video. It is easy to add music or narration to a snapshot as well. This Chapter walks you through a step-by-step procedure on adding sound to a snapshot or video capture. Before starting, a captured video snapshot or image must be visible in the video window in the main menu of the Videogram Creator program. This will be referred to as “current video clip”.
9 Using Videograms The Videogram Creator application makes it easier than ever to share information. Capture a picture and send a thousand words or simply send a self-running and compact Videogram. Join us as we attempt to document a few new ways to share information. Sending with E-Mails Family E-mails have become a part of everyday life for millions of people. Mom’s telling everybody about the new baby, dad’s sharing information in a new car club.
Stand-Alone Videogram Presentations You don’t need a fancy presentation software package installed on every system to enjoy the benefits of video-enhanced presentations. In fact, with a small investment of time, you can create stand-alone and self-running Videogram presentations. To begin you’ll need a standard AVI video and sound editing software package to import AVI files created using the Philips PCA635VC Videogram Creator application.
10 Advanced Features Video Streaming Videogram Streaming is basically a standard Internet file download taken one step further. A standard file download on the Internet may be accomplished by simply clicking on a link to a file. For example, by clicking on a link to http://www.yoursite.com/file.exe, the FILE.EXE will be transferred to your hard drive. FILE.EXE may NOT be accessed until the download is completed.
5 6 Upload the .VGX (or .VGP) file to your Internet site, where your Internet page (.HTM) files are located, and be sure to note the exact location, like: http://www.yoursite.com/myvgx.vgx. Edit one of your Internet pages (.HTM) to include a link to the .VGX (or .VGP) file by adding a line similar to:
Parallel Port Recommendations The parallel port is the first contact a computer system has with the video information using the Philips PCA635VC. You can have the fastest hard drive, hard drive controller, computer processor and RAM and still not see an improvement in video capture if the video originated at a slow Parallel Port. We strongly recommend that you use a fast parallel port connection when optimizing a system for video capture.
System Recommendations Increase your windows display resolution from 256 colors to 64,000 or 16.7 million colors to greatly enhance video viewing. In general, we recommend that you use a Pentium 90 or faster computer with a Hicolor (64,000 color, 16-bits per pixel) or Truecolor (16.7 million color, 24-bits per pixel) display to view Videograms. Videograms will play on slower systems and on displays with 256 colors but playback quality may suffer.
11 Frequently Asked Questions Q. What is a Videogram? A Videogram is a file containing highly compressed video and audio. A Videogram typically will include the player so that any Windows PC user can play the file back on their computer. With Videogram technology, you can fit over 60 seconds of video and audio on a single 3.5 inch floppy, so, for the first time you can deliver highquality video on a floppy, through email, or over the Internet. Q.
Q. What is MAPI and do I need a MAPI compliant e-mail system to use Philips PCA635VC? MAPI stands for Messaging Application Programming Interface. This interface allows different applications to interact using e-mail messaging. If you have a MAPI-compliant e-mail system, an e-mail window will automatically appear when you are ready to send a Videogram. Microsoft Exchange, Eudora Pro v3.0, Pronto 97, and Zmail Pro are all examples of MAPI Compliant e-mail systems.
Q. How do I save video captured using Philips PCA635VC to an AVI or MOV file? Any video that has been captured with Philips PCA635VC can be saved as an uncompressed AVI file. Under “FILE” click on “Save As” and then choose AVI format. Currently, MOV (QuickTime) files are not supported directly by the Videogram Creator software. However, you can bring a file captured using Philips PCA635VC into an application such as Adobe Premiere and save it as a QuickTime MOV file. Q.
tems, we use 1 GB or larger drives with data transfer rates of at least 11 MB/second (ATA Mode 3) and seek times of 14 ms or less. In general, we recommend that you have a display with at least 256 colors and preferably 64K colors minimum. Videogram Creator will work on systems even with 16 colors but the quality will be very poor since the original data was compressed from 16 million colors.
12 Specifications Optical Sensor Pixels PAL (HxV) NTSC (HxV) Illumination Integrated lens 1/4” CCD 512x582 512x492 10 - 100000 lux 3.8mm, F2.0 Resolutions Streaming video resolutions NTSC (HxV) PAL (HxV) Still image resolutions NTSC/PAL (HxV) 320x240 / 240x180 / 160x120 352x288 / 264x216 / 176x144 320x240 / 640x480 / 1024x768 / 1600x1200 Performance Video Frame Rate Res. 160x120 Res.
13 Glossar y Of Terms Active Video Area Aspect Ratio AVI BMP Codec Composite Compression DCI DirectDraw EXE Frame Frame Rate Pixel Playback Window Preview Window RCA Connector Resolution S-Video Video for Windows Video Stream The section, or region, of the application that displays live motion video. The length compared to the width of the video window. For example, a standard television has a 3 to 4 aspect ratio (for every 3 pixels of height there are 4 pixels for length).
