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Scala - Hardware FAQ / Hardware Stability Guide
Configuring systems for 7x24 operation requires some attention to detail. Scala has partnered with PC hardware manufacturers including NEC, Panasonic, JVC and Equus to provide you with pre-configured choices. For those doing their own Scala integration, we've listed configuration issues for both hardware and software components. Just click on a subject to find out more. Follow these rules and you'll have a stable Scala system that is optimized for 7x24 operation.
* This area of the Website is being presented as one long page for easy printing. You can also browse this area of the Website as shorter webpages for easy reading. Visit: Hardware FAQ / Hardware Stability Guide.
Hardware Stability Guide Introduction
Hardware FAQ Solution #26, Hardware Overview (last modified 07/20/2004):
This document is intended for Scala Value Added Resellers (VARs) and Solution Providers. Most issues address running a computer display or interactive system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24x7), allowing uninterrupted remote updates and maintenance.
Scala has partnered with a number of hardware manufacturers in order to offer ready-made Scala player configurations. These pre-configured systems alleviate integration issues, and allow you to focus on your primary business. Before embarking on your own integration, we encourage you to look at the hardware from Equus, JVC, NEC, or Panasonic. http://www.scala.com/news
The one thing you can count on in the computer industry is change. It's sometimes tough to keep up with all of the latest and greatest technological advances, while still managing to keep your Scala InfoChannel 3 system running day in and day out in a 7x24 environment. Scala InfoChannel 3 is an amazing product, but with the wrong combination of hardware and/or software drivers or by not configuring them properly, your system can be unstable.
Use the "Contents" link at the top and bottom of every page to get to the Table of Contents / quick jump menu.
"Example:" indicates that this item is representative of many similar products available in the marketplace.
So, What's A Scala VAR To Do?
We're here to help. This area of the web site is devoted to giving our VARs and customers the latest recommendations from our R&D, QA and technical support staff worldwide. There is a wealth of information here to get your Scala system in tip-top shape. If you decide to disregard these recommendations, our only advice is to thoroughly test your systems prior to deploying them in the field.
Comments Or Questions
If you have any comments or questions, please use our Scala User Discussion Forum or us this web form to email us.
NOTE: Links to various on-line resellers are NOT endorsements--merely they provide a handy source of WWW Pages with good descriptions/illustrations of the particular product(s) involved. Any HTTP link that is predicated with the word "Example:" indicates that this item is representative of may similar products available in the marketplace.
What hardware is recommended for Scala Designer or Player?
Hardware FAQ Solution #25, Build VS Buy (last modified 10/02/2008):
Does it make sense to build a custom hardware solution or to buy a pre-packaged commercial system from a reputable vendor?
Please contact your Scala reseller about our ready-made hardware configurations from Equus, and NEC.
When making this choice the guiding considerations are:
-What does this solution have to do? Is this solution a simple info display kiosk, a corporate desktop, a cable television barker channel at a head-end, or a geographically distributed digital satellite downlink station?
-Can a given commercial machine actually be made to do this role?
-Does the machine have enough expansion slots of the correct types?
-Does the machine have enough free system resources? [Interrupts, Memory Address Ranges, I/O Ports, DMA Channels]
-Are there any special purpose expansion cards that this solution requires that will simply not work with a given machine?
Pre-packaged solutions from Equus Computers.
NOTE: Intel Integrated Graphics, GMA3100/"Motherboard Video" configuration is ONLY permitted for InfoChannel 3 customers. InfoChannel 5 Players require that either an nVidia or ATi PCIeX16 Graphics card be installed.
BASE Player-DG33FB:
SFF or uATX Tower, P4E-ATX12V Cert. PSU [Minimum 270W]
Video card: See recommended Very Low to Low-End video cards at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/video-cards.html
DG33BU Motherboard: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG33BU/index.htm
Intel LGA775, (Socket-T), Core2Duo-derviative CPU as per: Pentium Dual Core E2180
http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=dg33bu
2x256MB PC2-5300 DDR2-667 SDRAM
40GB+ 5400/7200 RPM SATA HDD.
5.25" EIDE DVD-ROM
Microsoft OEM WinXP Pro SP2c.
WORKHORSE Player--DG33FB:
uATX or ATX Mini-/Mid-/Full Tower or Desktop, P4E-ATX12V Cert. PSU [Minimum 400W]
Video card: See recommended Low to Mid-Range video cards at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/video-cards.html
DG33FB Motherboard: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG33FB/index.htm
Intel LGA775, (Socket-T), Core2Duo-derviative CPU as per: Core2Duo E6420 http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=dg33fb
2x512MB PC2-5400 DDR2-667 SDRAM
160GB+ 7200 RPM SATA HDD.
5.25" EIDE DVD-ROM
Microsoft OEM WinXP Pro SP2c.
INDUSTRIAL Player-DG33FB:
ATX Mid-/Full Tower or 19" Rack-Mount Chassis, P4E-ATX12V Cert. PSU [Minimum 400W] A 450+W Redundant PSU _STRONGLY_ encouraged! The case must have at minimum of TWO cooling/exhaust fans independent of the PSU. The Chassis must support a minimum of three 5.25" half-height bays-compatible with the RAID-Enclosure & in order to support the DVD-ROM drive. [four HH Bays for the 4-drive enclosures + DVDROM]
Video card: See recommended Mid to High-End video cards at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/video-cards.html
DG33FB Motherboard: http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG33FB/index.htm
Intel LGA775, (Socket-T), Core2Duo-derivative CPU as per: Core2Duo E6850 http://processormatch.intel.com/CompDB/SearchResult.aspx?Boardname=dg33fb
2x1024MB PC2-5400 DDR2-667 SDRAM or 2x1024MB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 SDRAM (per Intel AVL)
3ware/AMCC Escalade 9500S- 4LP, 8, 12. http://www.3ware.com/products/serial_ata9000.asp
2x, or 4x/8x/12x, 80-320 GB+ 7200 RPM SATA HDD. [or 10K/15K RPM drives as per 3ware AVL]
5.25" EIDE DVD-ROM
Microsoft OEM WinXP Pro SP2c.
RAID-Configuration:
TWO DRIVES: Configure as a single RAID-1 volume. THREE DRIVES: Configure as either a single RAID-1 volume with on line Hot Swap. Spare OR as a single RAID-5 volume. FOUR DRIVES: Configure as either a single RAID-1+0 volume, (mirrored stripe set-
PREF!) OR as a single RAID-5 volume. A three bay or four bay Serial-ATA Hot-Swap drive enclosure. [examples: SUPERMICRO CSE-M35T-1B Black 5 Bay Hot-Swappable SATA HDD Enclosure; iStarUSA BPU-340SATA Aluminum Black 3 to 4 Bay HDD Hot-Swappable SATA Enclosure; Adaptec 2200200 Storage Enclosure 335SAS black; or the iStarUSA BPU-230SATA Hot-Swappable SATA HDD Enclosure]
5.25" EIDE DVD-ROM
Microsoft OEM WinXP Pro SP2c.
Recommended Custom Hardware Configurations:
Low-end InfoChannel 5 & 3 Designers or Players:
For traditional computer 4:3 ratio type displays in landscape mode with InfoChannel scripts that are no more complex than a single NTSC/PAL MPEG-2,(6 to 8 Mbps CBR), being displayed with up to two 72 pt. full screen width Text Crawls at resolutions up to 1024x768.
CPU: "Intel Celeron-L 4##", CoreSolo T1300+, or better. AMD Sempron 3200+
RAM: 512MB of DDR2-533 or better. (Dual-Bank == 2x256MB, preferable over "Single-Bank", 1x512MB)
Video card: See recommended Very Low to Low-End video cards at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/video-cards.html
See Mid-range below for Audio/LAN/HDD suggestions.
Mid-range InfoChannel 5 & 3 Designers or Players:
Such systems should be ale to handle any practical InfoChannel 3 or 5 Scala Script,
(incorporating static images, full screen wipes, MPEG-1/-2, WAV/WMA,
MP3's), at the "Traditional" TV-ish resolutions: 640x480x32bpp,
720x480/576x32bpp, 800x600x32bpp, 1024x768x32bpp AND "16:9" landscape content up to 1280x768x32bpp.
CPU: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2### or CoreDuo T23##+ or Core2Duo E43##+. AMD "Athlon64-X2 3600+ " or Athlon BE-2### or better. Do not use Intel IOP chipsets for mid-range InfoChannel 5.
RAM: 1024MB of DDR2-667, (Dual-Bank == 2x512MB), or better.
Video card: See recommended Mid-Range video cards at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/video-cards.html
Audio: Good/Stable audio solutions would be based on ADI "SoundMAX" and Realtek"ALC" series codecs implemented on many motherboards. "CMI, (C-Media), and Sigmatel CODEC's have been used successfully--but these products are not as well supported by the vendors. Yamaha and Creative Labs products should be avoided.
LAN: Intel and Realtek 10/100/1000 NIC solutions are nice and simple and stable. 3COM, Broadcom, and MARVELL are stable but secondary selections.
HDD's: 40GB/2MB-Cache, 5400RPM ATA-100 or SATA-150 or better.
High End InfoChannel 5 & 3 Designers or Players:
For handling displays in the 1360/1368x768x32bpp, 1920x1080x32bpp OR for "Portrait Mode" displays where the content is being "real time" 90-deg rotated OR when HD-WMV or HD-MPEG-2 content is to be displayed-- the following is important:
CPU:</B> Intel Core2Duo E6450+ or XEON 5120+. [FSB 1066 MHz or better] AMD "Athlon64-X2 4200+", Athlon-X2 BE-2### or Opteron 22## or better.
RAM: RAM 2048MB of DDR2-800, (Dual-Bank == 2x1024MB REQUIRED), or better.
Video card: See recommended High-End video cards at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/video-cards.html
RAID: If a "High Capability" Player is to be receiving extensive high bandwidth content updates WHILE playing high-capacity content--then a RAID controller/RAID-Disk-Array is highly encouraged! Tested and approved low-end/mid-range RAID controllers include:
Adaptec AHA2410S
Adaptec AHA2810S
3ware/AMCC Escalade 9###XX-series.
The recommended RAID configurations for a HIGH-END Player with be either "RAID-10", (a.k.a. RAID-1 + RAID-0 == a minimum of 4 HDD's), and RAID-50, (a.k.a. RAID-5 + RAID-0 == a minimum of 6 HDD's). Basic RAID-1, (2 HDD's), should be considered for any Player where up time/reliability is important. The RAID as implemented in some Intel ICH-5/6/7, VIA, and nVidia "Southbridge" parts is NOT considered appropriate. For extreme applications the only adapters we have current experience with are Compaq SmartArray6i UltraSCSI320 controllers. [and with these types of devices, 7,200, 10,000, 15,000 RPM 8/16 MB cache drives are the obvious choice!]
Products to be avoided or used in only very special cases:
Motherboard chipsets and graphics chips from SiS.
Motherboard chipsets and graphics chips from VIA.
Graphics chips from XGI.
Examples of current mainstream/Corporate systems that have been deployed that would be appropriate for InfoChannel 3 and 5:
DELL Optiplex 740, 745
HP dc5750
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What are the best video cards to use with InfoChannel 5?
Hardware FAQ Solution #24, Video Cards (last modified 05/15/2008):
Recommended Video Cards:
PCIeX16:
nVidia PCI-Express, (PCIeX16), Graphics Cards:
The "very-low-end" and "low-end" cards generally have very poor Heat-Sink-Fan assemblies. Customers should be made aware that these devices are likely to be a future maintenance issue.
General Guidelines:
"Very-Low-end"/"Low-end" is viewed as single-output, <= 1360x768, three or less "Zones", Limited Video playback--no HiDef. [or dual output, <= 2x1024x768]
"Mid-Range" with 512MB is viewed as single-output up to 1920x1080, or two 1360x768, displays with HiDef video clips.
"High-End" is two 1920x1080 HiDef displays, several "zones," multiple HiDef video clips.
ATi RADEON cards are best for:
60 FPS Video, Single Output. Dual/Triple-Display is currently only practial with the use of a Matrox GXM. [DualHead2Go / TripleHead2Go--Digital or Analog--3840x1024 max]
NVIDIA GeForce cards are best for:
Limited to 30 FPS video, Dual-Output. Dual-Display possible w/o a Matrox GXM.
Preferred Cards:
Very Low End Discrete Graphics:
EVGA 256-P2-N732-LR GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
ASUS EN8400GS/HTP/256M GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16
POWERCOLOR 24PRO 256M DDR2 Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
ASUS EAH2400PRO/HTP/256M Radeon HD 2400PRO 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Low-End Discrete Graphics:
Currently _NO_ Intel Integrated Graphics Processor, (IGP) Chipset is approved! (not i945G, Q963, G965, G33, G35, or any of the X4#-series)
EVGA 256-P2-N741-LR GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
ASUS EN8500GT SILENT/HTP/256M GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
SAPPHIRE 100206L Radeon HD 2600PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card
EVGA 512-P2-N747-LR GeForce 8500GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
XFX PVT84JYAJG GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Low End Integrated Graphics:
Intel Q963 or better--AMD/ATi? RADEON Xpress 1150+ or nVidia Geforce 61## strongly preferred.
ATi RADEON Xpress,(RS41x, RS48x, RS69x), IGP chipsets offer better graphics performance than the Intel products--and more flexible 16:9 display mode options.
ATi RADEON Xpress 1200+(1250, 1270, HD3200)
nVidia GeForce 6150LE or better (7050, 7150, 8200)
INTEL _MOTHERBOARD_ CHIPSETS ARE FINE.
Mid-Range Discrete Graphics:
ASUS EN8600GT SILENT/HTDP/512M GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Super Silent Video Card
EVGA 512-P2-N757-TR GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
PNY VCG86512GXPB-OC GeForce 8600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
SAPPHIRE 100207L Radeon HD 2600PRO 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFire Supported Video Card
ATi RADEON X2400PRO or better.
ATi RADEON HD2400PRO or better.
nVidia [[GeForce8400GS] or better.
Mid-Range Integrated Graphics:
ATi RADEON Xpress 1200+(1250, 1270, HD3200.
nVidia GeForce 6150LE or better (7050,7150, 8200).
Mid-Range Dual Channel Discrete Graphics:
PCIeX16, (a.k.a. "PEG" cards): nVidia GeForce8600+ w/512MB, Dual DVI-I connectors or DMS-59+"Y-Cable".
If "Dual Output" or HDTV/Component(Y, Pr, Pb) output is required, nVidia products are strongly suggested. If tradition "TV", (NTSC/PAL), capability is desired, ATi products are superior. If "90-degree rotation", (a.k.a."Portrait Mode" is wanted--currently the nV products are better--although in this area the "best" title has been which from Ati to nV and back on a Quarter to Quarter basis.
"Fake Graphics Memory:" Both nVidia and ATi have low end PEG graphics cards that are designated, "TC"(TurboCache)for nVidia, and "HM"(HyperMemory) for ATi. These "special cheap" cards have only 16 or 32 MB of real graphics memory and "use system ram" for the 128MB or 256MB that they report as having to the system. THESE CARDS ARE TO BE AVOIDED! This is an issue with many of the "Mainstream Corporate" PC's from IBM, DELL, HP, FSC, etc.
High-End Discrete Graphics:
ASUS EN8800GT/G/HTDP/512M GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
XFX PVT88PYDD4 GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
EVGA 512-P3-N805-A1 GeForce 8800GT KO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
DIAMOND 3870PE4512SB Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
SAPPHIRE 100215L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
ATi RADEON X1650/512MB or better.
nVidia GeForce7800?/512MB or better. Dual DVI-I connectors or DMS-59+"Y-Cable".
Very-High-End Discrete Graphics:
ATi RADEON X3600/512MB or better.
nVidia GeForce8800/512MB or better. Dual DVI-I connectors or DMS-59+"Y-Cable".
SAPPHIRE 100211 Radeon HD 2900XT 1GB 512-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
DIAMOND 2900XT1GPE Radeon HD 2900XT 1GB 512-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
PNY VCQFX5500-PCIE-PB Quadro FX5500 1GB 256-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card
Requirement for "Dual-Link DVI-D
Many of the Very-Low, Low, and Mid-Range cards only support Single-Link DVI or only support Dual-Link DVI on the primary output.
Notes on IGP
NOTE: None of the IGP solutions are really ideal for "High Performance" scripts. These are cheap embedded graphics core chipsets best suited for modest needs. Figure a single 1360x768@60Hz display with no more than three frames of which only one is a video file. Do not use Intel 800 or 900 series IGP for InfoChannel 5.
(1) Intel's G33 chipset has very good performance for an IGP on a par with NVIDIA GeForce6150 and ATi RS4## series. However the Intel Q35, while sharing many of the same performance attributes of the G33 it does not appear to permit the BIOS-selection of the size of the video memory allocation. On our single sample this appears to be set to 64MB. [We have checked the PDF's for two other Q35 systems, and none of them have the "32, 64, 128, 256 MB" options that I see in every G33 board's BIOS]. This means that while appearing to perform great the Q35 failed our stress test in under an hour.
NOTE: The G33/Q35 boards we have access to have considerable
compatibility problems with some PCIeX16 Video cards, PCI TV-Capture cards and PCI RAID controllers [some of the problems have been fixed in recent BIOS updates].
Our view is that the G33 and the G35 will be good products for IC5 when the BIOS/chipset bugs are fixed. Reason: Intel appears to have seriously addressed the raw performance of their IGP. The faster FSB's and Memory Bus'es will raise the basic performance of the IGP solution into the territory of some of the lower end 64-bit graphics cards. The Q33/Q35 if it is true that they do not permit variations in video memory allocations are not options for use with IC5. THIS IS AN AREA THAT WILL LEAD TO SOME CONSFUSION AS INTEL CALLS THE "Q33/Q35" CHIPSETS "GMA3100", WHICH IS ALSO THE NAME OF THE "G33" [the "G35" gets the new fancy name of "GMA3500"].
(2) The NVIDIA GeForce 7050(AMD CPU) and 7150(Intel CPU) IGP's have
excellent performance. These are actually "cost reduced" successors to the GeForce 6150, which was a very good chipset for IC5. They work, and work well.
(3) The ATi 690T/V/G. This is AMD/ATi's current IGP. Also known as
the "RADEON Xpress 1200/1250". Stable. Using current board samples and drivers these chips are not performing as well as the previous generation ATi IGP product. This confuses us as by every other benchmark. The 3DMark/Sandra chipset should be performing about 7% faster than the RS4##'s, and considerably better than the Intel/NVIDIA chipsets. Its stable and worth watching.
(4) The VIA CN700. This is the IGP chipset of the current VIA
EPIA/Mini-, Nano-, & Pico-ITX boards--as well as the VIA "VESA-Mount Digital Signage Engine". Totally worthless.
NOT YET TESTED/NO OPINION:
Intel "X4#" Chipsets/IGP. [e.g. "G43", "G45", etc.]
nVidia GeForce 8200
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What are the best audio cards and audio chips to use with Scala? How do audio cards affect performance?
Hardware FAQ Solution #23, Sound Cards (last modified 04/21/2004):
Analog Devices -- motherboards and PCI cards based on the AD18xx and 19xx "AC'97" CODEC's:
http://www.soundmax.com/
Examples:
SoundMAX 2, 3 -- AD188x:
http://www.analog.com/Analog_Root/productPage/productHome/0%2C2121%2CAD1885%2C00...
SoundMAX 4 XL -- AD1985:
http://www.soundmax.com/products/information/soundmax4xl.html
C-Media -- motherboards and PCI cards based on the 87xx and 97xx
"AC'97" CODEC's:
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/product/CMI9738.htm
http://www.cmedia.com.tw/product/CMI9739.htm
Realtek -- motherboards and PCI cards based on the ALC-65x "AC'97"
CODEC's:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/products1-1.aspx?lineid=5
Many motherboards listed above have some form of basic "AC'97" CPU-Driven sound system. Those listed as "Intel Processor Driven" and "Analogue Devices AD18xx/SoundMAX3" have tested to be quite stable. Use the Microsoft MIDI driver found at Start/Settings/Control Panel/Sound and Multimedia/Audio/MIDI Music Playback/Microsoft GS.
Other chips that have tested stable in recent quarters:
The Cirrus Logic/CRYSTAL SEMICONDUCTOR CS4281
The ENSONIQ ES1373 [Note: ES1370, 1371 parts were VERY unstable!!! These parts are found in the retail channel as the "Creative Labs SoundBlaster xxx PCI"].
The ESS Technologies ES1938 (Solo-1), ES194x (Maestro-x), and ES 1989 (Allegro) PCI chips. [This product line is very popular in laptop computers but can also be found in a wide selection of cheap OEM audio cards]
Examples:
http://dcs.sertek.com.tw/s929-2.htm
http://dcs.sertek.com.tw/dcsmw_s819.htm
ISA Sound Cards
Creative Labs SoundBlaster16 / AWE32 / AWE64.
If you can afford it, we can also recommend Creative Labs ISA SoundBlaster16 / AWE32 / AWE64 series of sound cards.
ESS 1868 / 9 chip based cards.
We have the most experience with ISA based sound cards such as cards based on the ESS 1868 chip. This is a very inexpensive sound card that can be used as a default choice. The ESS ES1869 is a minor upgrade to the ES1868 part that we have recommended for years. A stable ISA solution for audio playback. Many vendors use this part. One example of an ISA board using this part is: Compaq's "ISA PremierSound Audio Card (ES1869)".
PCI Sound Cards
An ESS Technologies-based PCI card.
An ESS Technologies-based PCI card using a Solo-1, (part # 1938S), a Maestro-2, (part #'s 192x or 194x), or Alegro, [part # 1989] series chip. A basic stable audio part. In playback testing this part has survived well over 240 hours of continuous use without a system reset. There are MANY vendors that make PCI cards that use this basic audio part. Example: The Acer/DCS S819. http://dcs.sertek.com.tw/dcsmw_s819.htm
A CMI 8xxx and 9xxx series PCI cards.
This sound solution is found on motherboards as well as on audio cards. http://www.cmedia.com.tw/
We have seen bad results using the UIA motherboard audio.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What attributes of microprocessors affect Scala's performance? CPU bandwidth?
Hardware FAQ Solution #22, CPUs and Bandwidth (last modified 09/17/2004):
Scala's MMOS core is a very well crafted multi-threaded application. Scala makes good use of CPU resources--and depending on the nature of the ScalaScript content MMOS wants as much as it can get! In the Windows2000/WindowsXP environment an interesting effect can be seen: Two relatively slow processors are often faster than a single high-speed part! With everything else held constant, [memory, video, audio, network, serial, MPEG] a dual processor Pentium III-S 933 MHz is visibly faster than a single Pentium4 2.0 GHz machine in most operations. With the Symmetric Multi-Processor support in the Windows 2000 operating systems and the well designed multi-threading of MMOS it is possible to perform smoother video transition effects (wipes, crawls, zooms) than is possible on single processor systems costing over twice as much! The use of multiple CPU's also proves an effective way to deal with the contention that can result from background loads placed on a machine, such as decoding MPEG audio streams, decompressing JPEG images, or receiving a new script via ScalaNet or some other network transport.
As a general guide for Scala InfoChannel IC3 Playback systems:
Basic "TV resolution", (640x480, 720x480, 720x576, 800x600 @ 16bpp or 24/32bpp), 'static image display' presentations can execute well on systems based around VIA/Cyrix C3-1gHz or Intel P4 Celeron 2.0gHz or faster systems. Simple low bit rate MPEG2 is acceptable on such a system, although the HARDWARE MPEG-2 decoders such as the "The Sigma Designs NetStream 2000TV", or the Optibase VideoPlex Plus/Pro PCI cards is advisable.
High resolution: "Plasma, LED, or CRT Computer Monitor Displays 1024x768+" require at least Intel P4 Celeron 2.0 gHz, Intel Pentium-M 900 mHz, or Intel P4C 2.0gHz processors.
Truly "Dynamic" Presentations: High Resolutions, Multiple simultaneous "Wipes" or "Text Crawls" and presentations that use IC3's integrated MPEG-2 software CODEC require at a minimum a system with either a single Intel 2.4 HT gHz or dual P4 Xeon.
Our "most recommended" CPU's are the Intel CeleronII(256KB L2 cache) FC-PGA and the Intel PentiumIII-S and -M(512KB L2 cache) FC-PGA 0.13 micron "Tualatin core" parts.
The Intel Pentium4 Extreme processors with their total Intel "Northwood" core P4 or Intel Pentium-M parts.
Suggested CPU's for single processor systems: (Windows2000sp4 Pro/WindowsXP Home)
Socket 370 motherboards with the VIA/Cyrix C3, (0.13 micron Ezra core), at 1.0 gHz+; the Intel CeleronII FC-PGA 633 MHz+; or the Intel PentiumIII-S or PentiumIII-M 'Tualatin core' at 900 MHz or better).
Socket 478 motherboards with Intel Pentium4 'C' series, (0.13 micron 'Northwood core'), parts at 1.6 GHz or better.
Suggested CPU's for dual processor systems: (Windows 2000 sp4 Pro/Windows XP Sp2 Pro)
Socket 370 motherboards with Intel PentiumIII-S.
Socket 603 motherboards with Intel Pentium4 XEON (with 512 kb or 1 mb of L2 cache).
Today's ADM Athlon XP and 64/Opteron systems on motherboards based on the nVidia nForce 3 (AXP) or nForce 3 (A64) offer quite good performance and stability.
2004.09.15
Scala Tech. Notes: We advise our customers to avoid Pentium 4 CPU's based on the Intel "Prescott" 90 nm CPU core in their Scala IC3 Player systems.
In June, 2004 Intel launched a new series of Pentium4 CPU's. The "Prescott"
90nm core is designed to carry the P4 design into the 4-7GHz speed ranges.
Currently these "Prescott" P4's are available in speed grades from 2.4 GHz to 3.6 GHz. [soon to be available at 3.73 Ghz] These new variants of the older P4 designs can be detected through the use of a "CPU Identification
Utility" such as "WCPUID v.3.xx"--which can be found at any of the following web site locations:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=435
http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002374/src/download.html
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,22473,tk,hsx,00.asp
These newer P4 chips can be differentiated from the older Pentium4 designs, such as the highly successful and recommended "Northwood 130 nm core", by any of the following attributes:
"Prescott" P4's have 1 MB of Level 2 cache; [the "Northwood" P4's have 512KB of L2 cache]
P4-Celeron's based on the "Prescott" CPU core have 256KB of L2 cache;
["Northwood" P4-Celeron's have 128KB of L2 cache]
Prescott P4's carry the letter "A" or "E" after their GHz speed rating-examples: "Pentium4 2.4A", "Pentium4 3.2E"
P4-Celeron's carry the letter "D" after the "Celeron" trade name-example:
"Celeron-D 2.8 GHz."
Only "Prescott" based Pentium4 parts are available in the newer "LGA-775" or "Socket-T" carrier.
Even though these 90nm parts retail about $7 to $20 cheaper than their "130 nm cousins" at the same speed grade; "Prescott-based" P4's and Celeron-D's are less desirable for the following reasons:
The extremely high heat output that they have-up to 70% more heat output than the previous generation of P4 chips at the same operating speed;
In many benchmarks of CPU performance, "Prescott" P4's are approximately 15% slower than their "Northwood" predecessors;
"Prescott" P4's are much more susceptible to a condition known as "Thermal
Throttling"--in which the CPU lowers its clock speed to reduce extreme heat output. This is NOT a good condition for a Scala IC3 Player!
It is expected that Intel will correct this situation. At last week's Intel
Developer Forum it was announced that there would be corrective "stepping" of the "Prescott 90 nm core" to deal, at least in part, with issue of "current leakage" which is largely the cause of the increased heat output of this processor. The revised parts are expected to be available in the marketplace in late October or early November.
The following are web sites that have useful information/test reports on various aspects of this issue:
Testing Pentium 4 Thermal Throttling - Article
Posted by NgtCrwlr on Friday, April 02 @ 22:51:10 CST
Digit-Life - The issue of diminishing Pentium 4 CPU performance at overheating has been widely discussed. Still, there are all sorts of myths about the Thermal Monitor and Thermal Throttling technology. That is why we decided to refresh our practical knowledge in this field (dropping the theoretical aspect which is abundant in the above-mentioned articles).
For this purpose, we conducted a very simple experiment on two top Pentium 4
3.2 GHz CPUs, one with a Northwood core and the other with a Prescott. With the CPU loaded at 100 percent, we powered off the cooler fan and watched the temperature rise and the performance decrease as time went by.
http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/p4-throttling/index.html
Throttling problems:
As I was testing the XPC SB81P, some of my benchmark numbers were coming out much, much lower than expected. I'd already confirmed that all the basic system settings were correct (like memory speed, CPU frequency, and the like), so I decided to do some testing to see if CPU thermal throttling might be the culprit. For those of you not familiar, the Pentium 4 include san internal facility to cool itself down when it gets too hot by reducing the amount of work that it does. Without getting too technical, the CPU doesn't exactly lower its own clock speed, but the effect is the same. Thermal throttling is a failsafe, and it shouldn't be encountered in normal use because the CPU should never get so hot that it's necessary.
http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q3/shuttle-sb81p/index.x?pg=6
The P4 Northwood Vs. The Prescott
Based on a 90-nm manufacturing process, the Prescott offers new architectural features compared to its predecessor, the Northwood. However, because of its higher leakage currents, the Prescott's thermal heat emission is disproportionately high. At 3.6 GHz, 3.8 GHz and 4 GHz, the Prescott's
TDP (thermal design power) will far surpass the 100-watt mark. But what about the processor's performance at these clock speeds?
http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20040517/index.html
Intel's Pentium 4 3.4GHz processors
Prescott and Northwood ramp up
...
What about the heat?
As you may have heard, the Prescott 3.4GHz isn't a cool-running chip. Intel estimates its key power load indicator, TDP, at 103W. Northwood, by contrast, is 89W at 3.4GHz. That's quite a lot of power to dissipate. And
TDP, or Thermal Design Power, isn't even a peak number.
To get some sense of the real-world implications of Prescott
Under load, the Northwood P4 3.4GHz hit temperatures of 64 degrees C (148 degrees Fahrenheit). In the same conditions, the Prescott raced past Northwood's peak temperature on its way to a steady peak of 78 degrees C (or 173 degrees Fahrenheit).
http://tech-report.com/reviews/2004q1/pentium4-3.4ghz/index.x?pg=1
---
The general conclusion is this: in fact, the new Intel Pentium4 (Prescott-C) processors do not offer any substantial advantages over Pentium4 (Northwood) processors. The radical change in the processor architecture has resulted in merely small performance boost in some applications. But in the vast majority of programs (mostly, games) Prescott loses to Northwood.
Among the shortcomings are increased heat emission and compatibility issues with some motherboards. Finally, the overclocker will not like it that the technological limit of the Prescott-C is the same as that for Northwood-D1
(i.e. 3.6 GHz).
http://www.digital-daily.com/cpu/prescott-c/index03.htm
To check out the latest Weekly CPU prices, click here:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
How much and what types of memory are best for Scala Players?
Hardware FAQ Solution #21, RAM Memory (last modified 04/20/2004):
We are seriously impacted by RAM. The better the RAM, the better our performance.
We tested with good quality PC3200/DDR400CL2.5 ram and its about 10% lower frame copy times than with the best PC2700/DDR333CL2.5 ram.
The overall difference between the test sample of PC3200 (=400Mhz) and the worse
PC2700 (=333Mhz) ram is close to 60% on the same HW platform--e.g. same PC,
P4HT@2.6GHz, D865GBF, nVGf4MX-- just swap the RAM & watch the best possible
Scala frame rate w/o dropping any frames more than double!
The combination of DDR3200 and and ATI card is simply fantastic! [on this system: my little "4-Crawl over a 50% opacity, 80% resized MPEG-2" script has about 10% of margin when running in 90-deg rotated mode!]
General rules:
PC100 or PC133 SDRAM memory is required for Intel CeleronII and Cyrix C3 CPU's.
PC133 or PC150 SDRAM memory is required for Intel PentiumIII-series CPU's.
PC800-PC1200 RDRAM or PC1600- PC2700 DDR-SDRAM is required for Intel Pentium4,
Pentium4-M, and Pentium4 XEON CPU's
PC133 SDRAM or PC1600- PC2700 DDR-SDRAM is required for AMD CPU's.
Intel Pentium4 systems supporting three different memory architectures are available: SDRAM, DDR-SDRAM, and RDRAM. Scala, Inc. does not recommend the use of SDRAM Pentium4, (or AMD Athlon), systems. If a Pentium4 system with RDRAM is to be considered it MUST support "Dual Bank RDRAM" and be configured with a MINIMUM of * TWO* RIMM modules! From a cost/performance standpoint DDR-SDRAM provides the greatest value.
DDR-SDRAM systems are available with 266, 333, and 400 MHz memory data transfer speeds.
ECC Memory.
In the early days of computers, RAM was often unreliable. Memory would occasionally storeinformation incorrectly or over time "forget" that information had been stored in it at all!Computer designers combated these problems through two mechanisms: Memory Parity and Error Correction Code.
In a "memory parity" design extra memory, typically one part in nine, was used as a 'check' on the preceding eight bits of information. While not correcting bad data, this could at least inform the computer and its software that the data was not valid. As computer memory became more reliable this type of memory design lost favor with computer vendors-the elimination of this 9th bit of memory resulted in a "free" 11% reduction in the cost of RAM!
In an Error Correcting Code, or "ECC" memory design, when small errors occur, which do happen occasionally in most systems, the memory system can actually "fix" the error as if it never happened. Most of the time when these "small errors" do take place without ECC, the casual user would assume that some form of "software error" or "General Protection Fault" had taken place. Quite often it is just as likely that a "random bit-error" occurred.
When implementing a Scala IC Player solution that is intended for a 7x24x365 implementation-Public Information kiosks, Cable TV Channels, etc. the use of ECC memory is strongly recommended.
Meeting SDRAM, DDR-SDRAM DIMM and RDRAM RIMM Specifications
Many modern motherboards require that the xIMM modules you use on them meet [PC100, PC133, PC150 for SDRAM; PC1600, PC2100, PC2400, PC2700, for DDR-SDRAM; PC800, PC1066, or PC1200 for RamBus RDRAM RIMM] specifications. A memory module that meets one of these specifications has passed a set of tests defined by Intel Corp. that certifies that the memory in question can "keep up" with the access demands of Intel 66/100 MHz FSB, (the CeleronII); Intel 100/133 MHz FSB, (the PentiumIII and Pentium4); or the Intel 266/400/533 MHz DDR-FSB, (the Pentium4 and Pentium4 XEON) CPU's . Such xIMM's also have a SDP-EEPROM (Serial Detect Presence-Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chip on them. These chips electronically identifies the capabilities of the xIMM to the computer. Many newer motherboards print a POST (Power-On-Self-Test) message on the screen and simply stop working on power up if the wrong type of memory module has been installed.
To check out the latest Weekly xIMM prices, click here:
http://www.sharkyextreme.com/
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
How does hard disk drive configuration impact Scala performance and stability?
Hardware FAQ Solution #20, Hard Disk Drives (last modified 04/20/2004):
Isn't it amazing how the fastest of computer workstations can be made to appear slow through the inappropriate configuration of its hard disk drive storage system? While computers have increased in performance by a factor of 2000 in the past twenty years and hard disk drives have increased in capacity by at least a factor of 10,000, the "average seek time" of hard disk drives has really only improved by a factor of 10. It is this "average seek time"-the speed at which a hard disk drive get actually get TO the data on a disk platter that is one of the major limitations on the performance of an IC Player. When planning the layout of files and partitions on are hard disk the goal is to minimize the overall time the drive will spend getting to the data it needs to retrieve. The following techniques can prove useful:
- In a single logical volume disk system,(such as ONE Hard Disk Drive or ONE RAID-1 or RAID- 5 HD set), separate files that change frequently from files at almost never change. The means that if a given player is going to receive frequent updates of artwork; place these frequently changing files on a disk partition of their own.
- Place the files that change the most near, (as is practical), to the middle of the disk drive.
- Separate very large files from very small files. In order to prevent excessive file fragmentation in a system that is designed for long term operation; place small files that change frequently, (backgrounds, clips, anim-GIF's, fonts, scripts), in a partition that is separate from large files that change frequently, (MPEG movie streams, large AVI's, audio files that are many seconds or minutes long, etc.)
An Example.
A single disk drive Windows2000 or XP Scala player that is intended for long term IC playback--a Player that might receive 10-20 MB of script content updates per day, around 200 MB of new artwork--plus maybe one or two 400 MB MPEG files per week. This would make for a system with an "active" script size or around 1500MB or so. [with the assumption that a significant portion of its 'standard' artwork will reside on the hard disk drive from its initial configuration and not be removed] A 20 GB drive is partitioned into four slices: a 2000 MB FAT32 partition for a "Recovery" minimal Windows 2000 installation with all OS-related installation files and Device Drivers, Service Packs, Patches and key utilities; a 4000 MB NTFS partition with the full "Root" Operating System installation; a 2000 MB NTFS "Swap" partition for a 2xPhysical- Memory-in-MB sized Permanent 'swap file', (PAGEFILE.SYS), for virtual memory paging and of the rest as free space for the System '%TMP%', '%TEMP%', and '%SPOOL%' directories for temporary files of various types; and a ~12 GB NTFS "Scala_DATA" partition for the "Documents and Settings" directory tree, a FTProot directory tree for NetManager3 file transfers, and the Scala Program directory tree.
If this player were intended to regularly receive large MPEG-2 files--say a new 30 minute video clip every day--it might make sense to either have another "Large File Partition" near the middle of the hard disk drive between the "Swap" and "Scala_DATA" partitions with a "JUNCTION POINT" to a directory under FTProot on the Scala_Data partition. [Or, even better, to have a totally separate hard disk drive with LARGE, 32KB, NTFS Clusters so that the depositing and playback of these massive files have a minimal impact on the operations of the rest of the system.]
For a high performance/high capacity Player system two obvious permutations would be:
Use a "Four Disk EIDE RAID-5 Controller", such as the Adaptec AHA2400A set up four EIDE devices as either a "RAID-0+1 Strip/Mirror Set" or a single "RAID-5 Set" and distribute your partitions on the resulting single logical device.
For a "Higher/Ultimate" Performance Application with the use of a "MultiChannel" SCSI RAID Host Adapter:
Make the "Recovery" volume a RAID-1 set of its own.
Have the "Root" OS and "Swap" partitions be located on a RAID-1 sets of their own.
Have the "Scala_DATA" partition be on a RAID-5 SCSI volume set of its own comprised of THREE or more physical devices.
note: this form of "ultimate performance and security" would require a _minimum_ of SEVEN physical hard disk drives to host the four partitions on THREE logical volume sets!
Large Capacity Storage for Players.
A recommended form of low cost high-availability LARGE CAPACITY storage is in the form of an EXTERNAL "Network Attached Storage" device. Both Quantum and Maxtor have 1 UNIT (high) external rack mount NAS devices with JABOD/RAID-0 capacities from 40 GB to 960
GB--20 to 480 GB in RAID-1 or RAID-5 configurations. [in this use the player should be equipped with a PCI NIC that has DUAL 100 Mbps Ethernet connectors--one for the general LAN/external connectivity; one for a 200 Mbps "FULL-Duplex 'X-Over'" connection to the external NAS device.
- Examples: Maxtor MaxAttach and "SnapServer" products http://www.maxtor.com
For good Web info on hard disk drives
see StorageReview.com. http://www.storagereview.com/
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What should I consider in choosing a RAID array for InfoChannel 5?
Hardware FAQ Solution #19, Raid Arrays (last modified 06/01/2007):
Fast hard drives (10 or 15,000 rpm)
2x 5,400 or 7,200 RPM drives in a RAID-1 configuration where the RAID-1 controller does an effective "RAID-0 for reading" vs. a single 10,000 RPM drive the RAID-1 solution with the 5,400 RPM drives would be considerably faster and more secure (it is in fact RAID-1). Depending on the capacities especially now that there are chipsets with such RAID-1 built into their "SouthBridge" parts it will be cheaper.
Drives that are "too large" are also not a good idea (ignoring the "backup issue"--a 1TB drive can not be effectively backed up). There is the simple issue of "Head Settling Time" where there higher capacity drives are in effect slower than their lower capacity cousins, which why professional/industrial DataBase Servers generally use small fast RPM drives, which is why 73GB/15,000 RPM HDD's are so expensive.
Using RAID
The proper RAID level is important!
Note: For a Content Manager, RAID-5, (or RAID-6), is about the singularly the worst possible HDD configuration.
Using today's hardware our suggestions are:
Players:
RAID-1 (two drives) -- Security
RAID-1+0 (four drives) -- Security and performance!
Content Managers:
RAID-1 (two drives) -- Security
RAID-1+0 (four, six, eight, etc. drives) Security and performance (very high levels of performance with extreme "width").
RAID-5+0 (six drives minimum--two three drive RAID-5 packs stripped between them--this can go to "very wide"--example: 12 drives implemented as four RAID-5 packs and then RAID-0 striping between the packs!)
We are a firm believer in "Storage/Function File System Isolation". The OS would be on a small RAID-1 pack--a pair of 40 or 80GB HDD's in RAID-1. Data would be on an independent data back. For very high transaction Content Manager 5's the Transaction Logs for the Database would be on their own RAID-1 pack (independent of the DB).
Very high capacity Content Manager 5:
40GB, (two drives)RAID-1, BOOT;
40GB, (two drives)RAID-1, SWAP, TEMP, Database-TRANSACTION LOGS;
80GB, (four drives)RAID-1+0, DB;
1TB, (six drives, 250GB each)RAID-5+0, Media Assets, Logs.
This type of configuration is now rather simple because of the introduction of 2.5" SAS drives and the 5.25" enclosures that permit eight such drives in a 5.25" FH drive bay.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What networking cards and modems are recommended for use with Scala?
Hardware FAQ Solution #18, Networking (last modified 04/20/2004):
Recommended Network Cards.
We prefer the Intel PCI based 10/100/1000 EtherExpress Pro series of cards. They have a stable and reliable driver for Windows 2000 and XP Professional. This is built on a lot of 845 and 865 motherboards.
Please note that some PCI bus master cards may starve even the best PCI based Ethernet card. Systems with ATI video cards and Cinemaster MPEG cards on 10Mbit networks may appear to be very slow with ScalaNet. Switching to a 100Mbit network or changing the Cinemaster to use the VMI feature connector, or sometimes even minor configuration changes may cause the problem to go away.
- A single port Intel PRO/100+ Managed NIC
For a system with only internal storage. - A dual port Intel PRO/100+ Managed NIC http://www.intel.com/network/products/pro100dport.htm
For a system with an external NAS storage system.
Recommended Modems.
Generally speaking we like all external modems from USRobotics. We steer clear of "WinModems" and any other internal modem. If you need to reset a modem, it is much easier to do that externally than to reset the entire computer. If you rely exclusively on modems to communicate with your players, or if you have poor telephone lines, we can highly recommend spending a little extra money for the Courier brand modems from USRobotics instead of the much cheaper "Sportster" model.
- US Robotics Courier V.Everything EXTERNAL http://www.usr.com
On systems where a "Back Channel"/POTS communications are required the US Robotics Courier V.Everything EXTERNAL is the recommended modem.
If want to use an internal modem then we would suggest using the Internal US Robotics Performance Pro 56K PCI modem card. http://www.usr.com
Recommended ISDN Network Adaptors.
Depending on the country you are in, ISDN terminal adaptors may be different. Please consult Scala technical support in your country for a list of recommended ISDN cards.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
How can I get stable, reliable MPEG playback?
Hardware FAQ Solution #17, MPEG (last modified 12/04/2007):
Best Practices for encoding / transcoding Standard Definition content
Note: While 30 fps video playback is easily achieved with InfoChannel 5 Release 2, it can be challenging to reliably achieve high quality 60 fps playback on most hardware. Scala is making significant changes to our video playback so as to deliver higher quality 60 fps playback on a wide range of hardware. This will be available within the next few months.
In order to obtain the best visual results in InfoChannel 5, it is necessary to encode video clips with the post-processing that is often done by dedicated video playback devices implemented at the encoding stage.
Encode / transcode the video file using these recommendations:
Audio encoding:
· Use MPEG-1, Audio Layer-II.
· Down-mix 5.1 channel source material to 2 channel stereo.
· It is generally recommended to keep the audio sample rate the same as the source material. However if you want to change it, for 48 KHz audio use either 192 Kbps or 224 Kbps CBR. For 44 KHz audio use: 128 Kbps, 160 Kbps or 192 Kbps CBR.
Video encoding:
· Use MP@ML
· 720x480 @ 59.94 fps for NTSC. 720x576 @ 50 fps for PAL
· Bit Rate: 6 to 8 Mbps CBR. You can use up to 9.8 Mbps CBR for very high-motion content.
· Aspect Ratio: 4:3
· DC Component Precision: 10-bits.
Note: If you want to reduce the effective bit rate required while maintaining visual quality you can try lowering the resolution of the horizontal scan line from 720 to 480 or 352 pixels and keep the 4:3 Aspect Ratio setting. You will often find that 480x480 4:3 NTSC video can be effectively encoded at 3-5 Mbps CBR with very good results.
De-interlace:
Apply a temporal-deinterlace filter. If the source material was originally film converted to NTSC video, apply an Inverse-Telecine deinterlace filter; this option is available on some video encoders / transcoders.
Time base Corrector (TBC):
If the source video is from a device that does not have a TBC, there will often be a flickering half-scan line at the top or the bottom of the video frames as captured with a TV tuner card. This causes two problems:
· It is distracting / objectionable
· It reduces the efficiency / video quality of the video encoding process.
To resolve this issue, place a crop and expand filter to the video.
For example: A video with a 1/2-scan line at the bottom of the frame - crop the 720 x 480 video to 720x [1..478] and then resize the 720x478 frame back to 720x480 with Lanczos or Bi-Cubic Interpolation.
High-Frequency Video Noise
Apply a filter to minimize high-frequency video noise. This is needed especially if the source video is from older tape stock or has poor lighting conditions. This step often dramatically improves the quality of the resulting encoded video.
High-Frequency Audio Noise
Apply a filter to minimize high-frequency audio noise. This reduces tape hiss, circuit hum or wind noise.
Best Practices for encoding / transcoding High Definition content
Using MPEG-2 is still the most efficient from a system resource standpoint. The processing requirements are significantly less than that of comparable quality high definition Windows Media or H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC.
Items that should be considered when using High Definition content in InfoChannel 5:
· Frame Rate Correction: Convert 24, 25, 29.97, 50, or 59.94 fps to whatever is the native frame rate of the destination display device or an integer multiple of the display device's frame rate.
· Producing CBR streams from what are often Variable Bit Rate (VBR) sources. Most 720p content should be encoded at between 10 Mbps "mostly still images", and 16 Mbps "for Sports", CBR, MPEG-2, MP@HL. (Audio as with normal NTSC video).
Encoding profiles typically used for each resolution:
MP@HL
· 720p - Content is produced at 1280 x 720p
. 24 fps for film transfers or HDV / HDCAM source material
. 50 fps for DVB-S/T/C as used in Europe
. 59.94 fps for ATSC as used in the United States.
. Convention limits the bit rate used to 40 Mbps. The profile permits up to 80 Mbps. Actual bit rates used in common industry practice are 10, 12, 16, or 20 Mbps.
· 1080i - Content is produced at either 1440 x 1080i or 1920 x 1080i
. 25 / 50 fps for DVB-S/T/C as used in Europe
. 29.97 / 59.94 fps for ATSC as used in the United States.
. Content that originates from film stock, 24 fps progressive, is encoded at 25 / 50 fps interlaced for Europe, which results in a +4% speed-up distortion. For ATSC / United States it is encoded using 3:2 Telecine Pull-Down to obtain a 23.976 fps when displayed using 29.97 / 59.94 fps.
. Convention limits the bit rate used to 40 Mbps. The profile permits up to 80 Mbps. Actual bit rate used in common industry practice are 20 to 40 Mbps.
· 1080p - Content is produced at either 1440 x 1080p or 1920 x 1080p
. 24 fps for film transfers or HDV / HDCAM source material
. 25 fps for DVB-S/T/C as used in Europe. When the source material is film stock, a +4% speed-up distortion results.
. 29.97 fps for ATSC HDV / HDCAM source material
. Convention limits the bit rate used to 40 Mbps. The profile permits up to 80 Mbps. Actual bit rate used in common industry practice is 30 to 40 Mbps.
MP@HL1440
· 1080i - Content is produced at 1440 x 1080i
. 25/50 fps for DVB-S/T/C as used in Europe
. 29.97 / 59.94 fps for ATSC as used in the United States.
. Content that originates from film stock, 24 fps progressive, is encoded at 25 / 50 fps interlaced for Europe, which results in a +4% speed-up distortion. For ATSC / United States it is encoded using 3:2 Telecine Pull-Down to obtain a 23.976 fps when displayed using 29.97 / 59.94 fps.
. Convention limits the bit rate used to 20 Mbps. The profile permits up to 60 Mbps. Actual bit rates used in common industry practice are 16 or 20 Mbps.
· 1080p - Content is produced at 1440 x 1080p
. 24 fps for film transfers or HDV / HDCAM source material
. 25 fps for DVB-S/T/C as used in Europe. When the source material is film stock, a +4% speed-up distortion results.
. 29.97 fps for ATSC HDV / HDCAM source material.
. Convention limits the bit rate used to 40 Mbps. The profile permits up to 60 Mbps. Actual bit rate used in common industry practice is 20 to 30 Mbps.
Best Practices for Color and Detail for NTSC Video
· Keep the black level 35 points off of baseline (RGB - 35, 35, 35 or higher).
· Keep the white level 15 points off peak (RGB - 240, 240, 240 or lower).
· Don't over saturate red. Keep it 35 points off peak. No more that 40 Red / Blue or Black / White transitions per scan line. Remember that NTSC red is different than what you see on a television.
· Keep any vertical lines at least two pixels wide. Any horizontal lines should be at least three pixels thick. Try to avoid more than about 170 points of color component change in adjacent pixels.
Potential Issues
Judder
Judder is an artifact that appears to the viewer as uneven motion or a periodic hiccup in the motion of what should be smooth panning or translation scenes.
One common cause of judder is a mismatch between the video file's encoded frame rate and the monitor's refresh rate. This symptom is often confused with motion compensation artifacts.
Examples when this can occur:
1. Film source, 24 fps, displayed at 29.97 fps, with poor, or no, 3:2 pull-down correction. Poor meaning a video file created from multiple sources - each of which had 3:2 pull-down applied independently and the resulting video has multiple mismatched 3:2 sequences.
2. For NTSC, a frame-rate of 29.97 or 59.94, video displayed on a computer monitor at 60, 70, 72, 85 fps.
3. For PAL, a frame-rate of 25 fps or 50 fps video displayed on a "Computer Monitor" at 60, 70, 72, 85 fps.
Solutions:
· Use an advanced transcoder with "blending" frame rate correction. This product converts the video's frame rate to the desired destination rate. An example encoder that does this: Canopus / Grass Valley ProCoder 3.
· For NTSC, use a display device that can natively display 59.94 Hz.
· For PAL, use a display device that can natively display 25, 50, 75, or 100 Hz.
If you do not have the ability to set the display refresh to match the above recommendations, it is better to transcode the NTSC or PAL source material to the appropriate intended native frame rate and to set the video card on the computer to match that rate exactly.
Variable Bit Rate Encoding
Variable Bit Rate (VBR) encoding is attractive from an encoding efficiency / resulting file size perspective. For example: Setting the "typical" bit rate to, 6 Mbps and the encoder can use up to a predefined (+/-) bit-rate % for simple and / or complex scenes. As a result a 6Mbps VBR file will often have the appearance of a 12Mbps CBR file but is only half file size.
The problem with VBR video decoding is that it uses substantially more CPU than the equivalent CBR video. In cases where decoding a video pushes the CPU to its performance limits, decoding a VBR video may interfere with other running components in the system, but decoding an equivalent CBR video will work just fine.
The default settings for many encoders is to permit up to a 10:1 swing in bit rates from one Group Of Pictures (GOP) to the next group of pictures (up to the profile maximum with no real minimum value). This can result in a 2 Mbps VBR video going from 1 Mbps to 10 Mbps.
The solution to this is to use Average Bit Rate (ABR) encoding instead. This provides controls for the amount of bit rate variation by setting the maximum and minimum bit rate to be no more than 50% of the desired ABR. For example: An ABR of 6Mbps with an 8Mbps ceiling and a 4Mbps floor.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What Operating Systems are recommended for use with Scala?
Hardware FAQ Solution #16, Operating Systems (last modified 10/24/2008):
Note: Scala itself is a Multimedia Operating System (MMOS). For example, Scala has been used at the heart of interactive television solutions on hardware dedicated to running MMOS. But standard, widely availability hardware is necessary for IC-style multimedia networks, so Scala MMOS has been written for standard PC hardware and operating systems. These recommendations apply to the PC operating system.
Recommended Operating Systems.
At this time Scala recommends that Designer 5, Content Manager 5, Broadcast Server 5, and Player 5 to run under Windows2000 Pro Service Pack 4, Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2 or 3, and Windows 2003 Server.Web Edition or R2. As of Release 3.1.0 Vista is supported. Windows Vista Business Service Pack 1 or Windows Vista Ultimate Service Pack 1 (for addition information on Vista see: http://www.scala.com/infochannel-content-manager-5-faq/content-manager-windows-v...).
Because of issues with DirectX and long term testing Windows 2008 Server is not suggested at this time.
Windows XP Embedded
InfoChannel 5 is supported on the Windows XP Embedded Operating System. This is achieved through custom programming. Scala has created such images for its turnkey system from Equus Computers.
XP-X86-64 bit Edition not supported
At this time we have not tested and certified Scala software to run on 64-bit XP, and there is a real potential for significant issues, and very few potential advantages to using this platform at this point.
Firewall Settings:
"On a properly configured PC!" Starting with Windows XP Service Pack 2 Microsoft has introduced some system complexities with regard to Network Configuration. The IT Administrator/Technical User responsible for systems running IC3 should be aware of the proper TCP Firewall settings for their specific network.
Microsoft has published several useful "White Papers" and some helpful WWW-Sites/Pages on this topic:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;windowsxpsp2
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5BLN%5D;835935
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=884130
Several "3rd Parties" have also published very helpful Web Pages on this topic:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/
http://www.jsiinc.com/Tipndx/Recent.htm
http://www.winnetmag.com/Departments/Index.cfm?DepartmentID=855&PubID=16
Stability, and Dual Processor support
We rate stability high on our list of required features. We also believe that dual processor machines provide an excellent value versus a single high-speed processor when running Scala.
Follow Video Card's DirectX Recommendation.
Another consideration is the state of the DirectX driver shipped with the video card or with Microsoft's certified drivers. You should follow our video card recommendations and field test any newer/upgraded video card for a week to insure that the drivers are indeed stable prior to deploying the system. Prior to installing a non-OS standard release of DirectX such as DirectX9.0c make positive that the video driver for the graphics card SPECIFICALLY STATES THAT IT IS Microsoft WHQL-Certified for that release of DirectX.
Weekly Reboot.
No matter whether which Windows platform software you use, you MUST do weekly reboots. Please see the section on how to configure your system to schedule weekly reboots and autologin and restart the Scala InfoChannel Player 5 at: http://www.scala.com/infochannel-player-5-faq/auto-login-start.html
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What general Windows2000/XP utilities are available to improve system stability and ease Player deployment?
Hardware FAQ Solution #15, Windows Configuration (last modified 04/20/2004):
Short answer: Disable services, remove software, drivers, icons, & fonts not absolutely needed for the computer to function in the environment in which it is placed.
Helpful tips for either OS:
We can recommend the use of a disk duplicating tool when attempting to deploy a number of systems. With this, you can set up one system once and have all the other systems be cloned from this one drive image. This is a huge time saver and will seriously increase your network reliability (since all PCs are configured identically) and reduce human error in setting up multiple systems each from scratch. We can recommend the following tools:
Ghost from Symantec http://www.ghostsoft.com/
ImageCast from StorageSoft/Phoenix Technologies http://www.imagecast.com/
This assumes that you have 100% identical hardware, which is highly desirable from a technical support point of view. Although you can't always maintain the same hardware configuration over many years, it should be possible to keep the same hardware configuration for 1-2 years. Some vendors of consumer PCs have trouble keeping the save version for 1-2 weeks, much less 1-2 years. Ask your PC vendor before you begin. See the "make versus buy" page for more
information.
If the same customer requires multiple different configurations, you might consider keeping nearly identical hardware configurations (maybe RAM and hard drive size are the only differences) and use different user accounts to create different start menus and even separate .bat files in the startup folder that copies over various differences in the IC3/Config directory.
Regular "defragging" of hard drives should be a part of any Scala system. You may wish to consider a "runs in the background" product such as "Diskeeper" from Executive Software. ( http://www.execsoft.com )
Software System Tools and Tweaks.
Xteq Systems X-Setup http://www.xteq.com/ A good "Tweak the system tool"--Auto logon, startup bitmaps, etc. Version 5.6 or later.
WinVNC - The Windows VNC server http://www.tightvnc.com/
Yet another good "free" tool to install on an IC Player system. This is a "remote control" tool that works fine with Scala!!!
The "psTools" untility collection from SysInternals: http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pstools.shtml
Useful utilities for Killing processes, Dumping event logs, and Rebooting systems from batch files!
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What modifications can I make to the Windows 2000 / XP configuration to improve stability and performance?
Hardware FAQ Solution #14, Windows Pro (last modified 09/15/2004):
General suggestions:
Install Windows 2000 Pro with Service Pack 4 or Windows XP Pro with Serive Pack 2.
Install Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 1, and current security patches.
Set the OS "Task Scheduler" to run "Automatically" on boot up and use the "Schtasks" command to schedule weekly computer reboots--Sunday at 05:00 a.m. is popular!
Set the system up with four hard disk partitions.
A 2000 MB FAT32 C: "Recovery" drive with a *minimal* Win2K "recovery install" (typically NO Accessories, unnecessary services, games, fonts, artwork--VGA only). Include all appropriate Installation, Device Driver, and Service Pack/Hotfix files
A 2.0-4.0 GB NTFS D: "Root" CompleteWin2K Installation.
A 2-4 GB NTFS E: "Swap" for ALL of your TEMP/TMP/SWAP/Spool directories and files--make sure to alter all OS registry keys and environmental variables so that these files are placed on this partition!!!
A F: "Scala_DATA" partition that is all your normal stuff--Scala, Other Apps, Artwork, Scripts. Exclusive holding area for large file MPEG uploads.
If you are going to have a LOT of large files (>>200 MB) that are sent to the Player system often--e.g. a set of MPEG files that get updated daily/weekly you may be well off to configure an additional NTFS partition with a large "cluster size", (32 KB or more), that is used exclusively as the "holding area" for the MPEG files. If your MPEG files are to be larger than 500 MB it is advisable to have a totally separate hard disk drive specifically for these files!
Removable drive letter advice:
One tip that can save you a lot of grief with the Jazz drive:
Make sure that the Jazz drive and the CDROM drive are configured to use drive letters that will not impact your hard disk drive partitions.
You may choose to make your hard disk drive letters to be:
Primary EIDE (or SCSI) HDD RAID Pack:
Partition #1 C: == RECOVERY FAT32
Partition #2 D: == ROOT NTFS
Partition #3 E: == SWAP NTFS
Partition #4 F: == SCALA_DATA NTFS
On the Secondary EIDE bus:
CDROM DRIVE J: == CDROM
Additional L: == JAZZ, ZIP, or CDRW.
An additional comment on the use of a system with a "Parallel" set of Win2K installs:
When you have a computer set up with two Win2K installs you have a very powerful tool. When you boot into the "RECOVERY" installation the "Primary/BOOT" version of Win2K is totally closed down--you can completely and safely back it up using a simple tool like "WinZip, InfoZip" or any other file archiver. If you ever have a problem with corrupted files, viruses, bad device driver updates, etc.--you can recover with a simple "unzip" operation.
Lock Desktop and Playback to Same Resolution Mode:
"Lock" the Playback resolution and the computer's desktop to the SAME video mode! (e.g. if your ScalaScripts are going to be 800x600x32bpp@60Hz--the most common setting for NTSC Broadcast TV--make the Desktop run at the exact same mode--Display Properties/Settings)
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), cases and fans are recommended for use with Scala?
Hardware FAQ Solution #13, Cases Fans and Power (last modified 04/20/2004):
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS).
APC series of products with the PowerShute software.
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) with RS232 control: Required on all Scala IC3 systems. We can recommend APC series of products with the PowerShute software and cable.
Cases
Rack-mount ATX Factor Case.
Any appropriate "Rack-mount" ATX form factor case that has at least three exposed 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays. [Typically a 19" 4 UNIT high rackmount chassis] Check that it will allow for at *LEAST* 2 "full length PCI" cards to be installed!
- Example: APPro APRE-4200 Series http://www.appro.com
Power Supplies
At Least 30 Amps to combined +5/+3.3V.
It is suggested that generally cases be sourced without PSU's and that separately qualified PSU's be used. A 300 WATT ATX PSU with an external "hardware override" ON/OFF switch is best. Check the PSU specs: It should be capable of supplying at least 30 Amps to combined +5/+3.3V. "PC Power & Cooling" and "HIPOT" are example vendors of such PSU's.
- Example: PC Power & Cooling http://www.pcpowerandcooling.com/products/power_supplies/index.htm
Fans
At Least One Extra Case Exhaust Fan is Recommended.
At least one extra case exhaust fan is recommended. [in addition to the exhaust fan provided by the PSU--if mechanically possible dual "extra" exhaust fans are recommended] "Three wire calibrated" case fans that are designed to be connected to the motherboard CHASSIS_FAN connectors are suggested.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
How can I interface weather monitoring devices with Scala and display the weather?
Hardware FAQ Solution #12, Weather Monitoring (last modified 06/29/2004):
Davis Instruments.
Davis Instruments: Makers of Weather monitoring devices. With the optional Weather EX, Scala InfoChannel 3 will add variables to the Branch menu for temperature, wind speed and direction, etc.
The Scala Weather EX for InfoChannel 3 now supports the new Davis Vantage Pro Weather Station (#6150)with WeatherLink (#6510C). For improved accuracy, temperature and humidity sensors are housed inside a radiation shield. The shield protects against solar radiation and other sources of radiated and reflected heat.
For just temperature and wind speed & direction order the Weather Wizard III (#7425) with WeatherLink (#7862).
Other options are available such as metric rain gauges, heaters for rain gauges (to melt the snow), mounting accessories, extra long cables, 220/240 volt AC adaptors, etc. For more information about Davis Instruments products, visit their web site at http://www.davisnet.com or contact Russ Heilig at 510-732-9229.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What genlocks and scan converters can I use for computer-to-TV conversion?
Hardware FAQ Solution #11, Genlocks Scan Converters (last modified 08/03/2005):
Vine Micro & TV One Multimedia.
http://www.TvOne.com/
Genlock and Scan Converters: Vine Micros (UK) & TV One Multimedia (US distributor) makers of a line of Genlocks and Scan Converters. We can recommend the Vine MultiGen Pro (also known as DeltaScan Pro GL) at $795 list price. We are keen on testing their newest product, the CorioScan Pro and CorioScan Pro GL. Contact David Barnes or Roy Williams at TV-One at 606-282-7303 or fax: 606-282-8225.
CORIOgen Eclipse offers high quality computer to video conversion from virtually any source to virtually any video output you need, plus ability to genlock and overlay on to an existing video signal. The Scala CORIOgen EX for InfoChannel 3 was designed to control the CORIOgen Eclipse.
Magni Systems.
http://magnisystems.com/
For more professional users, Magni Systems' MagniCoder Pro is a precision computer graphics-to-video converter for desktop-based video production systems. The MagniCoder Pro provides for conversion of up to 16 million color and XGA/VGA computer graphics in 1280 X 1024 resolution and is compatible with PCs. Magni Systems' genlock/overlay encoders enable PC users to convert and overlay the television signal and computer characters/graphics for news and commercial program productions, animation and conferencing applications. Lavitsky Computer Laboratories sells an EX module specifically to control the MagniCoder Pro from Scala, such as programmable full and transparent keying, genlock capabilities, viewport sizing, overlay of television/video signals onto computer graphics, and sharp, realistic video without artifacts. For more information, contact Magni Systems, Inc. at (800) 237-5964 or visit the Magni Systems website at http://www.magnisystems.com. For information on the Magni EX for Scala, contact Lavitsky Computer Laboratories http://www.lavitsky.com/ at +1 908 725 6206.
Focus Enhancements
http://www.focusinfo.com/
For a low cost solution there is the Focus Enhancements TView GOLD PCI" adapter card. This PC-to-TV video scan converter connects almost any computer to any TV, supporting resolutions of up to 1600x1280, in 24-bit color. The Gold is PC compatible, supports NTSC, PAL, and SCART outputs, and comes complete with a remote for pan, zoom, sharpness, highlight, spotlight, and pointer capabilities. Visit the following web site for the TVeiw GOLD PCI: http://www.focusinfo.com/products/tview_goldpci/tview_goldpci.htm
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What optional software modules are available?
Hardware FAQ Solution #10, Interface Devices (last modified 06/19/2007):
Optional Software Modules (Scala EXs)
Playback Audit and Billing EXes.
NOTE: Currently the Playback Audit EX is not available for InfoChannel 5.
The Billing EX (included with InfoChannel 3 is similar to the LOG EX except that it produces a comma delimited text file that keeps track of the page name, the player name, start time and stop time of the ad. This file can be fed to a generic database program for producing reports. Other database systems can also interface with these generic reports.
Serial EX
This EX included with both InfoChannel 5 and InfoChannel 3 allows you to easily send and receive data from any RS232 port in Scala. It has a relatively user friendly authoring GUI, and is generally intended for low speed serial communications.
Video Control EXes
The Video Control EX is sold separately for both InfoChannel 5 and InfoChannel 3. This contains 3 separate video EXes for controlling video switchers, VCRs, Laser Disc, DVD, and Leightronix control devices.
The Scala Switcher EX allows you to use a variety of audio/video switchers, controlling them directly with an Designer 3 script. Switchers currently supported by this EX include Adrienne AEC-1; Digital Processing Systems RS-2800 4 × 1; Kramer VS-401 4 × 1, VS-402 4 × 2, VS-801 8 × 1, VS-802 8 × 2, VS-601XL 6 × 1, VS-808XL 8 × 8, 16 × 16, 4 × 4 models; PESA Bobcat; Sigma SCI-210, SCI-8 × 8, SLX; and Vicon VPS-1300.
Similar to the Switcher EX, the Scala VCR EX allows you to control a serial-equipped videocassette recorder, videocassette player, or laserdisc player from within an IC3 Designer script. Models currently supported by this EX include JVC professional models with RS-232; Panasonic AG5700, AG7350 with RS-232; Sony UVW models with RS-232; RS-422 controlled VCRs such as the Sony DSR-60 (with Addenda Electronics 2/3 or 2/8 RS-232 > RS-422 adaptors); Pioneer laserdiscs with RS-232; Generic RS-422; and the Pioneer 7400 DVD.
Bundled with the VCR and Switcher EXes is the Leightronix EX. This EX allows control of several interface devices produced by Leightronix Inc. including the MINI-T-Net, MINI-T-PRO, PRO-8, and PRO-16. The Leightronix devices connect to a wide variety of serial controlled VCRs, and provide a combination of switcher functions and VCR transport control, making them highly versatile in a budget video production environment.
TV Tuner EX
The TV Tuner EX is sold separately for both InfoChannel 5 and InfoChannel 3. This support use of various TV-capable add-on cards through the Scala TV Tuner EX. The TV Tuner EX gives you the capability of controlling TV Tuner hardware that accepts and displays a video input. This makes it possible for you to incorporate a video input within your Scala InfoChannel Designer 5 and InfoChannel Designer 3 scripts.
For recommended TV Tuner cards for InfoChannel 5 please see the Hardware Guide page at: http://www.scala.com/infochannel-5-TV-Tuner-faq/infochannel-5-TV-Tuner-faq.html
For recommended TV Tuner cards for InfoChannel 3 please see the Hardware Guide page at: http://www.scala.com/hardware/tv-tuner-cards.html
HDTV EX
Currently this EX is not supported in InfoChannel 5.
The MyHD HDTV EX (sold separately)is a new add-on EX for IC3 Designer and IC3 Player that controls the MyHD MDP-120 HDTV tuner card from Macro Image Technology. The functionality of this new EX includes Play HD MPEG-2 transport stream files on the MyHD display. Tune and display ATSC HDTV signals, or NTSC signals, like a TV tuner. Please see the Hardware Guide page for the HDTV EX at:
CORIOgen EX
The CORIOgen EX is sold separately for both InfoChannel 5 and InfoChannel 3.The CORIOgen EX controls the Vine Micros CORIOgen overlay genlock. Great for video applications combining text and video.
Weather EX
The Video Control EX is sold separately for both InfoChannel 5 and InfoChannel 3. InfoChannel 5 and InfoChannel 3 software products support use of the Davis Instruments Vantage Pro™ and Weather Wizard III® weather station units through the Scala Davis Weather EX (sold separately).
The Scala Davis Weather EX allows the display of weather information from a Davis weather unit within a Scala InfoChannel Designer 3 script. This information is gathered electronically from the weather station, which is connected to the computer through a serial port.
The data received from the weather station is written to variables, the values of which can be displayed on a script page. The variables update in real time as they change, so the script becomes like a remote terminal for the weather station. The variable values can also be written to a file.
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
Can you give me an example of a hardware configuration for running a cable TV channel?
Hardware FAQ Solution #9, Cable TV Example (last modified 12/02/2002):
An example 1997 IC Player Configuration: The Lenfest Cable Television Solution.
Lenfest, the eighth largest cable "multiple system operator" (MSO) in the United States, through its Suburban Cable TV subsidiaries, was in need of a "Cable Photo Classified" solution in the Philadelphia area. Scala provided a robust rack-mounted head-end solution for 14 sites serving over one million subscribers ranging from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to metropolitan Philadelphia, to Wilmington, Delaware, to Atlantic City, New Jersey!
Four Computers Push Content to 14 Markets.
Four IC Master stations push customized content from a centralized location to 14 markets through a combination of ScalaNet via Modem and ScalaNet-TCP/IP on Lenfest's regional Wide Area Network.
The Players are configured to provide traditional photo classified ads such as Local Business, Used Cars, Real Estate, Birthdays, News, Community Events, Weather forecasts and current conditions. MPEG2 video clips are sometimes used to display short ads or half hour infomercials.
Basic Computer Television Platform.
The basic platform is a custom built PC in a ATX form factor rack mountable chassis. For reliability the standard $30 power supply was removed from the case and a $125 PC Power & Cooling SilencerTM-brand PSU is used instead. The motherboard is a Tyan Tomcat IV-a dual Pentium MMXTM capable Intel 430HX based motherboard with 512 KB of Pipeline-Burst Cache soldered on board, eight 72-pin SIMM memory slots [for Fast Page or EDO RAM], standard "Super-I/O", and a good arrangement of accessible expansion slots. The video solution is either a Video Logic GrafixStar600TM or a Jaton 58P -- a PCI Tseng ET6000 video controller with 4 MB of MDRAM memory. The MPEG solution is an Optibase PCI MPEG2 decoder card. Networking support is provided by an Intel EtherExpressTM PRO-100/B 100BaseTX PCI network card. Extra serial ports were added in the form of a Digi Acceleport 8R ISA multi-port serial card. An inexpensive hardware RAID solution took the form of an ARCO DupliDiskTM EIDE RAID-1 adapter. The Audio solution is an OEM ESS-1868 AudioDriveTM chip on a 16-bit ISA card. An American Power Conversion "Back UPS 1400" provides the battery backup solution.
The machines were configured with a single Pentium MMX CPU at 200 MHz, with 64 MB of EDO RAM, a 1.44 MB HD Floppy Disk Drive, a 24X EIDE CDROM, and 3 GB of usable hard disk storage.
NOTE: One year later (1998), upgraded players were also configured with dual Pentium II 350MHz on an ASUS P2B-D motherboard with 128MB of SDRAM, ATI XPERT@Play98 8MB 2X AGP, ESS 1869, two 11GB EIDE Hard Drives with Arco DupliDisk RAID-1 controller, Intel 10/100 NIC, 3.5" FDD, 24x CD, 56K External USR Modem, Optibase VideoPlex PCI, Davis Weather Wizard III with WeatherLink Interface, Digiboard 8R, APC 700VA Rack Mount UPS with PowerShute cable (PowerShute software disabled), and an external Vine DeltaScan Pro GL genlock/scan converter. The BIOS was set to automatically power up (which prevents ATX power supplies from turning off on a reboot of the player).
28 players have since been added to this successful InfoChannel-based cable classifieds channel endeavor.
The software load on the Players consists of Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation with Service Pack 3 with Internet ExplorerTM 3.02, Microsoft Windows NT Workstation Resource Kit; Current chipset-vendor supplied drivers for Video, Audio, Network, MPEG, UPS, and Serial cards; Norton Utilities 2.0 for Windows NT, and Scala IC200 Service Pack 3 with the Weather, VCR, Optibase, Text, and Switcher EXes.
The two 3 GB EIDE hard disk drives are connected to the system's Primary IDE interface through the ARCO DupliDisk RAID-1 solution. Since this is an OS independent disk mirroring implementation, there are no device drivers to worry about. The RAID adapter is configured from a DOS-based utility and the host computer only detects the presence of a single 3 GB hard disk drive. The hard disk drive was FDISK'ed with three partitions: a 750 MB NTFS Operating System and Utility partition, a 500 MB NTFS Temp & Swap file partition and an approximately 2 GB NTFS 'Scala' partition for IC200, Scripts, MPEG-video, Image, and Audio files. The CDROM drive was installed as a single 'Master' device on the secondary IDE interface.
The NT OS is configured with a fixed swap file on the 'Temp & Swap' partition of 256 MB -- 4x physical memory is the practical limit for effective virtual memory under Windows NT. The system "TEMP" and "TMP" environment variables were configured to point to this partition. All "Spool" and "Log" files are configured to write to this partition as well. The Norton Utilities Delete-Tracking utility is configured to purge files every five days. The Norton 'SpeedDisk' service is configured to defragment files on the 'SCALA' partition every Sunday morning between 03:00 and 05:00 a.m. [this activity adversely impacts playback] The NT 'Scheduler' service is configured using the Resource Kit's 'WinAT' utility to dump the System and Application Event Logs to a specific directory every Sunday at 05:15 a.m. A system Shutdown & Reboot is scheduled as well for 05:30 Sunday morning. When possible, services and applications were configured not to display dialog boxes or alert messages but instead to place these notices in the Application or System Event Logs.
The I/O ports and expansion slots for this system were allocated as follows:
- ISA Slot 1: ESS 1868 Sound Card
- ISA Slot2: Digi Accelport 8R Serial (see COM3-10 below)
- ISA Slot3: Open
- ISA/PCI Slot 4: ARCO Mirroring IDE Controller
- PCI Slot 5: ET6000/4M VGA
- PCI Slot 6: Optibase MPEG2 Decoder
- PCI Slot 7: Intel 10/100 NIC
- COM1: DB9 Powershute cable to UPS
- COM2: DB25 to Davis Weather Station
- LPT1: Scala Dongle
- COM3: USR 33.6 Modem (external)
- COM4: Future VCR
- COM5: Future VCR
- COM6: Future VCR
- COM7: Future VCR
- COM8: Future VCR
- COM9: Future VCR
- COM10: Future Switcher
- Possible configurations include...
Configuration 1: Full screen MPEG or full screen Scala, no overlay.
Video chain is from SVGA to Vine to Optibase card to the RF modulator. Audio chain is from Optibase card to Sound card to Balanced AGC to the RF modulator.
NOTES: In this configuration, any debugging on the Player should be done with a VGA monitor connected to the Vine Scan Converter since the composite output will be blocked by the Optibase card until the Optibase card is initialized by Scala. This has the added benefit of not having the Windows desktop ever on-the-air during startup. This configuration only allows full screen MPEG or full screen Scala with no overlay or inlay. Please see the Optibase EX Acrobat file included with Service Pack 4 for more details on the Optibase EX.
Configuration 2: Full screen MPEG with full screen Scala with overlay.
Video chain is from black burst to Optibase card to Vine Genlock combining with SVGA to the RF modulator. Audio chain is from Optibase card to Sound card to Balanced AGC to the RF modulator.
NOTES: This configuration is similar to Configuration 1, but is able to provide full screen MPEG with VGA overlays of text and graphics. A black burst house sync is needed to provide a reference for the Optibase card. Please see the Optibase EX Acrobat file included with Service Pack 4 for more details on the Optibase EX. When using the Vine Genlock in overlay mode, please note that it is not possible to control the transparency from Scala. You must set the transparency and "forget it". Please also note that dark blue colors in the VGA graphics will be considered transparent (the same as black).
Configuration 3: Full screen MPEG or VCRs with full screen Scala with overlay.
Video chain is from VCRs and Optibase card to Switcher to TBC to Vine Genlock combining with SVGA to the RF modulator. Audio chain is from VCRs and Optibase card to Switcher to Sound card to Balanced AGC to the RF Modulator.
NOTES: The Optibase card must have a stable video signal on the video input either from the house sync (black burst) or from a TBC or Scan Converter such as the Vine Genlock. Failure to do this will produce unstable video both in sync and colorburst. This configuration requires additional serial ports to control the VCRs and Switcher and the optional appropriate VCR and Switcher EXes. When using the Vine Genlock in overlay mode, please note that it is not possible to control the transparency from Scala. You must set the transparency and "forget it". Please also note that dark blue colors in the VGA graphics will be considered transparent (the same as black).
Configuration 4: All video sources feed into the Switcher. No overlay, but very clean.
The video and audio chain is very easy here. All sources feed into the switcher. This includes the outputs from the Vine Scan Converter, each VCR, and the Optibase card. The output from the switcher is fed into a TBC to clean up the video (either from poor quality tapes or from switching) prior to feeding into the RF Modulator. The audio output from the switcher is fed into a Balanced AGC box before connecting to the RF Modulator.
NOTES: No overlays are possible in this configuration but the hookup is very straight forward, even with a large number of video and audio sources. Please note that you will need to control the switcher EX directly when playing MPEG in this configuration. The VCR EXes can however automatically control the switcher EX without creating a special event.
Can you give me an example of a hardware configuration for running a broadcast digital signage network?
Hardware FAQ Solution #8, Broadcast Example (last modified 12/02/2002):
Scalable Example Configuration for Broadcast Corporate Communications.
A large midwestern manufacturing firm needed a system to broadcast corporate information to over 300 factories nationwide with an architecture that can scale up to cover all corporate communications needs worldwide, both internal and external, into the next century. They chose Scala.
Seamless Integration Satellite Network.
Scala's InfoChannel IC200 Broadcast product allows seamless integration with their newest satellite infrastructure provided by Hughes Network Systems in Germantown, MD. Hughes DirecPC Enterprise Edition (code named Brighton) was being deployed for distance learning applications for the company. Scala was able to simultaneously broadcast the Newsline channel (a daily corporate information script) at the same time as the satellite was being used for video classroom work. A corporate broadcast master and corporate broadcast server (located at the company satellite uplink site) were installed in Detroit. All sites had a broadcast receiver and player, and many sites also had local masters for adding local content to the TV monitors available throughout their factories.
Uninterrupted On-Air Playback
Players were configured with single Pentium II 400MHz on an ASUS P2B-F motherboard with 128MB of SDRAM, ATI XPERT@Play98 8MB 2X AGP with composite video output, ESS 1938, one 6.4 GB EIDE Hard Drives, Intel Pro 100 NIC, 3.5" FDD, 32x CD, USRobotics Sportster V.90 56K External Modem, and a Triplite UPS. The BIOS was set to automatically power up (which prevents ATX power supplies from turning off on a reboot of the player).
The software load on the Players consists of Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation with Service Pack 5 with Internet ExplorerTM 4.01SP2, Microsoft Windows NT Workstation Resource Kit (supplement 2) [note: new installs should use supplement 3, we're still testing supplement 4]; Current chipset-vendor supplied drivers for Video, Audio, Network, and UPS, and Scala IC200.
The hard disk drive was FDISK'ed with three partitions: a 1 GB NTFS Operating System and Utility partition, a 1 GB NTFS Temp & Swap file partition and an approximately 4.4 GB NTFS 'Scala' partition for IC200, Scripts, MPEG-video, Image, and Audio files. The CDROM drive was installed as a single 'Master' device on the secondary IDE interface.
The NT OS is configured with a fixed swap file on the 'Temp & Swap' partition of 512 MB -- 4x physical memory is the practical limit for effective virtual memory under Windows NT. The system "TEMP" and "TMP" environment variables were configured to point to this partition. All "Spool" and "Log" files are configured to write to this partition as well. The NT defrag service is configured to defragment files on the 'SCALA' partition every Sunday morning between 03:00 and 05:00 a.m. [this activity adversely impacts playback] The NT 'Scheduler' service is configured using the Resource Kit's 'WinAT' utility to dump the System and Application Event Logs to a specific directory every Sunday at 05:15 a.m. A system Shutdown & Reboot is scheduled as well for 05:30 Sunday morning. When possible, services and applications were configured not to display dialog boxes or alert messages but instead to place these notices in the Application or System Event Logs.
What hardware and software is unsupported by Scala and can not be recommended?
Hardware FAQ Solution #7, Unsupported (last modified 12/02/2002):
It's unfortunate that we have to have such a list, but we've done quite a lot of testing with various configurations and can save you a lot of time if you were thinking of choosing one of these.
Please note that many manufacturers release new drivers regularly, so this information may change. We recommend that before any system is deployed that it is tested to operate without error for at least one week between system reboots.
Motherboards:
Intel AL440LX
Very bad "Plug & Play" behavior, picky about SDRAM.
Video Cards:
Video cards based on the 3DLabs Permedia 2 chip
Device driver instability.
Matrox G100, G200 or G400 video card
Device driver instability.
Intel Express 3D i740 AGP 4 MB Display Adapter.
Device driver instability.
Hercules Thriller 3D Verite Rendition V2200 AGP 8 MP Display Adapter
Device driver instability.
STB Velocity 128 nVida Riva 128 PCI 4 MB Display Adapter.
Device driver instability.
Many video cards EXCEPT those based on ATI or Tseng ET6000 series chips may be unstable. Trident, Cirrus Logic and S3 have been known to have unstable DirectX drivers in a 7x24 environment.
Sound Cards:
Creative/ENSONIQ ES 1370 and ES 1371 parts
These are used in the Creative Ensoniq PCI 64 and Creative Ensoniq SoundBlaster PCI 64 products. We have found these parts and their device drivers to be unstable in all Win9x and NT4 configurations we have tested.
The Creative SB Live!
Wonderful product--immature. We will be looking at this one in the future. Right now it is NOT viable in any playback environment.
The Cirrus Logic/CRYSTAL CS4334/5/6/7/8/9 parts that are found embedded on many motherboards made by Intergraph, IBM, DEC, and NEC
We have found these parts and their device drivers to be unstable in all Win9x and NT4 configurations we have tested.
The Yamaha OPL3-SA (YMF701) Single Chip PC Audio Solution
We have found these parts and their device drivers to be unstable in all Win9x and NT4 configurations we have tested.
NOTE: Some of these parts may be O.K. for 1-4 hour runs. Our test criterion requires that the part show itself to be stable for playback for at least a 10 days continuous run. We do not test for audio recording capability--there are too many variables provide meaningful information as to a given audio solution's suitability for "quality" analogue recording.
MPEG Cards:
The following cards were not able to play a looping MPEG file for more than a day or two without problems, and therefore cannot be recommended for use with Scala InfoChannel:
Matrox Marvel II with Media XL MPEG decoder
Matrox Mystique with Rainbow Runner MPEG decoder
Sigma Design Hollywood II MPEG decoder
Sigma Designs NetStream II MPEG decoder
Sigma Designs Real Magic Ultra MPEG decoder
Quadrant International Cinemaster version 2.2 or 2.3 MPEG decoder
Creative Labs Video Blaster MPEG decoder
Creative Labs PC-DVD card and drive
TeleVideo TeleMPEG Pro
The half hardware/half software MPEG decoders that some video card manufacturers provide today generally do not work with Scala. We recommend either using ActiveMovie or a dedicated MPEG hardware decoder card.
What is the maximum length of cable for a DVI and VGA?
Hardware FAQ Solution #6, DVI VGA cable (last modified 07/28/2004):
DVI
Using copper cable it would appear that the limits are approximately 1600x1200@60Hz to one meter and 1024x768@60Hz to 9 meters with appropriate signal strength from the graphics adapter. [repeater may be required for longer lengths and there are "Fiber-Optic/electrical-to-light-to-electrical cables available that permit lengths to 100's of meters--see below]
DVI-D Copper Cables:
http://store.kayye.com/kayye/dvidcables.html
These cables are designed to carry digital-only signals from a graphics card to a display. If your requirement is interfacing two digital only devices, then you should use a DVI-D cable.
Our cables are configured for single or dual link operation, and use super high resolution (24-gauge wire) cables, while most consumer-grade DVI cables use smaller, 28-gauge wire. This limits consumer-grade cables to lower resolutions and distances of less than 5 meters.
The maximum recommended resolution is listed with each cable length, however all cable lengths support up to 1920x1200 resolution at 60Hz with the use of the DVI Repeater.
http://store.kayye.com/kayye/dvirepeater.html
DVI Extension/Repleater:
This converter regenerates the DVI signal, allowing for greater distance than is normally possible with DVI signals.
DVI signals remain in their performance specification only to 9.6 meters using the best quality copper cable. The DVI Repeater allows two cables to be joined together for long distances.
Compatible with any of our DVI-D, DVI-I, or long length cables Supports all single-link resolutions up to 1920x1080 Self-powered from any PCI or AGP graphics card (PC-Cards, such as the Margi Display-to-Go and longer cable lengths require the use of the included AC adapter)Compact size of 2.75W x 1.0H x 4.5D (inches)
Availability: Usually ships the next business day.
DVI-7100$399.00
http://store.kayye.com/kayye/lonlendvicab.html
DVI-D Fiber-optic extension cables:
These fiber-optic cables are specially designed to overcome the barriers of sending DVI digital signals over copper wires. Using the latest technology, these cables incorporate fiber-optic converters in each connector to convert the DVI signal into light pulses, and then back again at the display. These ultraflexible cables are almost as pliable as our copper cables, and can easily be routed in walls and ceilings for the connection of projectors or remote displays. Long length DVI solutions are now as simple as connecting a cable!
These cables are self-powered from almost any PCI or AGP graphics card. (PC-Cards and some specific cards, such as the Margi Display-to-Go require the use of an optional power adapter or a DVI Repeater.)
The maximum recommended resolution is listed with each cable length, however all cable lengths support up to 1920x1080 resolution at 60Hz with the use of the DVI Repeater.
Also see: http://www.opticis.com/productlist.htm
VGA
VGA-Analogue is not going to have as long a range. Using high quality cables I would say that 10 meters would be the maximum for 1024x768@60Hz. There are VGA-Analogue repeater solutions as well that can also permit 10's and 100's of meters of signal--at lower
resolutions--e.g. 800x600@60Hz.
Analogue VGA Distribution Amps:
http://www.inlineinc.com/products/distamp/3262D.htm
The IN3262D is a high resolution dedicated VGA distribution amplifier designed to feed the VGA signal from a single computer video card to two data grade display devices. The most common application for the IN3262D is to provide signal for a local computer monitor and a second display device such as a data monitor, data projector, or LCD panel.
Universal VGA Signal Compatibility - The IN3262D operates with analog video signals from a wide variety of IBM and compatible PC computer video formats including VGA, SVGA, XGA, and SXGA. The IN3262D includes a 6' long detachable input cable terminated with a high quality molded 15-pin HD male connector allowing easy connection to VGA video cards. For applications requiring a longer input cable, an IN8000 Series high resolution VGA extension cable may be used to extend the input source up to 100' away from the distribution amplifier. The IN3262D can also connect to MAC, SUN, SGI and other high resolution workstations and local monitors by using input and output adapter cables.
Ultra High Resolution Amplification - Featuring 400 MHz video bandwidth, two buffered outputs and a high resolution coaxial input cable, the IN3262D provides no-compromise performance, ensuring maximum image clarity with VGA-type video signals at any resolution.
Sync Format / Polarity Preservation - Some display devices depend on receiving VGA signals as RGBHV with unchanged horizontal and vertical sync polarities to ensure proper operation. The IN3262D output signals have the same sync format and polarity as the input signal, ensuring excellent operation with a wide range of compatible CRT, LCD, DMD, Light Valve, and Plasma data display devices.
Two Buffered Outputs - The IN3262D features two buffered outputs which can drive two display devices such as local monitors, LCD panels, data monitors or data projectors. The two buffered outputs provide the amplification necessary to extend data displays as far as 100 feet away from the source computer when used with high resolution coaxial cables. The IN8000 Series VGA extension cables (available in various lengths from 6' to 100') are specifically designed for this purpose.
ALTINEX VGA Distribution Amp:
http://catalogs.infocommiq.com/AVCAT/CTL98/index.cfm/mlc_id/98/SID/7976499/pin_i...
The MT VGA DA series consists of several 1-in, 3- or 6-out VGA Distribution Amplifier Cards designed for use in one or two slots of the MultiTasker™ enclosures. These cards enable the connection of a single computer video source to three or more monitors or projectors. Resolutions supported range from VGA to UXGA; in the case of the MT103-102 and MT103-103, QXGA is supported. Each output is buffered, and does not require termination if unused.
Female 15-pin HD (VGA-type) connectors are provided for each input and output. If used together with 15-pin HD to 5 BNC adapter cables available from ALTINEX, the MT VGA DA series can pass RGBHV format computer video signals as well.
For maximum power and flexibility, the MT103-102 and MT103-103 offer 350 MHz bandwidth performance, and the ability to turn each output on or off through RS-232 control. On-off control is augmented by Screen Blanking, which eliminates annoying signal-loss messages by maintaining the Sync signal on all attached projectors and monitors. To expand the number of outputs, either of these two cards can be connected to one of the MT VGA DA Expansion cards, which offer 6 additional VGA output connectors. For more information on expansion see the MT103-104, MT103-109 & MT103-110 product descriptions.
For the most economical configurations, the MT103-107 and MT103-108 offer solid 250 MHz performance, and the standard features of Microsoft Windows™ Plug & Play compatibility and a Power LED.
Features
15-pin HD input & output connectors
350 MHz bandwidth
Output on/off control
Signal detect
GLI on-board™
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
What TV Tuner Cards are supported for the IC3 TV Tuner EX and HDTV EX?
Hardware FAQ Solution #5, TV Tuner cards (last modified 07/17/2007):
NOTE: The following TV Tuner EX information is for InfoChannel 3 only. For InfoChannel 5 supported TV Tuner cards please see the follow FAQ:
http://www.scala.com/infochannel-5-tv-tuner-faq/infochannel-5-tv-tuner.html
Supported TV Tuner Cards for InfoChannel 3 (requires IC3 Tuner EX):
ATI ( http://www.ati.com/products/tvwonderve/specs.html)
ATI TV Wonder™ (PCI version)
ATI TV Wonder™ VE (PCI version)
Canopus (http://www.canopus.com/Index.asp)
Canopus QUOSYS USTV2004 (USB)
Hauppauge (http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvr250_datasheet.htm )
Hauppauge PVR 250 (IVAC-16)
Hauppauge PVR 350 (IVAC-15)
Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2
The following MMOS.ini switch is required for all supported Hauppauge cards prior to IC3 Release 7.4:
DSHOWRENDER_UseHauppaugePVRx50Kludge=1
Leadtek (http://www.leadtek.com)
Leadtek WinFast TV2000 XP Expert
The following MMOS.ini switch is required for the Leadtek WinFast TV2000 XP Expert prior to IC3 Release 7.4:
DSHOWRENDER_ChangeTVCaptureToYUV = 1
Lifeview (http://www.lifeview.com)
Lifeview® FlyVideo '98 PCI card
Melco Buffalo
Melco Buffalo PC-SMP/2E
The following MMOS.ini switch is required for the Melco Buffalo PC-SMP/2E prior to IC3 Release 7.4:
DSHOWRENDER_UsePVRx50LeakKludge=1
Pinnacle Systems: (http://www.pinnaclesys.com)
Pinnacle PCTV Rave
Pinnacle Studio PCTV PCI
Pinnacle Studio PCTV PRO
The following MMOS.ini switch is required for the Pinnacle PCTV Rave prior to IC3 Release 7.4:
DSHOWRENDER_UsePinnaclePCTVRave550Kludge=1
SKNET WEB (http://www.sknet-web.co.jp)
SKNET WEB MonsterTV
Xpert (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=15-100-112&depa=0)
Xpert DVD Maker USB 2.0
This is an A/D Transferring / Editing device from V-Stream. It is not a TV tuner device, however it can be used with the IC3 TV Tuner EX for presenting an external video source such as a video camera. This is great device for TV Tuner demos where PCI slots are not available such as with laptops. Supports composite and S-video input.
Other Brooktree BT848- or BT878-based PCI TV tuner cards
The following cards are very similar to cards we have tested, and likely work the same way:
ViewCast Osprey®-100 ( http://www.viewcast.com/products/osprey/osprey100.html )
LeadTek® WinFast TV2000 PCI ( http://www.leadtek.com.tw )
AverMedia® AVerTV PCI ( http://www.avermedia.com )
ProLink PixelView™ Play TV PCI ( http://www.prolink-usa.com )
Sigmacom CyberTV PCI ( http://www.sigmam.com/Eng )
LifeView® FlyVideo 2000 PCI ( http://www.lifeview.com )
TV Tuner cards not supported
There are essentially two types of card. TV Tuner add-on cards that are separate from your existing graphics card, and integrated cards that combine graphics and TV Tuner functionality. Due to a limitation of the overlay features of DirectX, we currently do not support any of the integrated cards (examples: ATI All-in-Wonder®, nVidia® Personal Cinema™, Matrox GxxxTV).
Currently we do not support the use of Firewire® based TV Tuner devices. USB™ based TV Tuner solutions have not been tested, therefore cannot be recommended at the time of this writing.
There are known problems that are still unresolved with the new CX2388x-series of parts used in cards such as the new ATI TV-Wonder PRO.
Others not supported:
Hauppauge PVR 150
ATI HDTV WONDER
ATI TV WONDER ELITE
Pinnacle PCTV USB2
Adaptec VIDEOh! DVD Media Center USB 2.0 Edition
The following will cards work with InfoChannel 3 but are unstable and are not recommended:
ATI TV Wonder Pro
The following MMOS.ini switch is suggested:
DSHOWRENDER_UseOverlayLeakKludge=0
ATI TV Wonder USB
The following MMOS.ini switch is suggested:
DSHOWRENDER_AudioOnVideoCapture = 1
Support HDTV Tuner Card (requires IC3 HDTV EX):
MyHD MDP-120
http://www.mitinc.co.kr/mitinc/e_site/prod/prod_mdp100.jsp
Regards,
Scala Technical Support
How do I select a stable and high performance motherboard for use with Scala?
Hardware FAQ Solution #4, Motherboards (last modified 05/13/2005):
A motherboard is literally the 'backbone' of a PC -- it's the thing that everything else is attached to. The basic performance, stability, and flexibility of an IC solution are defined by this selection. For Scala Broadcast Multimedia "Player" applications, the following motherboards and computers can form the basis of supportable, stable, cost-effective systems.
Intel Motherboard chipsets .
Intel i845GLL, i845GL, i845G, i845GE, i845GV
Examples:
Intel D845GERG2, D845GEBV2. D845GRGL2, D845GEBVL2
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/rg2/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d845g...&
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/bv2/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d845g...&
MSI MS-6243GL: [this unit has been extensively tested and used in large scale Scala IC3 Player deployments, the 845GV unit is stable however there is an issues involving "warm reboots" with some sample units]
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/slim_pc/slm/pro_slm_detail.php?UID=416&MO...
NOTE: The "i845GV" variation of this system is showing a problem with warm-reboots!
IBM "NetVista S-Series" [this specific unit has not been tested--however it is an OEM version of the MS-6243 that is simply "badged" by IBM]
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId= 840&storeId=1&categoryId=2575618&langId=-1&dualCurrId=73
Compaq/HP DeskPro D510 Small Form Factor: [this unit has been extensively tested and used in large scale Scala IC3 Player deployments]
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/12454-64287-89301-89324-f10-316517...
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/12454-64287-89301-89324-f10-316510...
Intel i865G, i865PE
Examples:
Intel D865GLC:
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/lc/index.htm?iid=ipp_dlc_deskmb+spot_d865gl...&
Intel D865GBF, D865PERL:
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/bf/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d865gb...&
http://www.intel.com/design/motherbd/rl/index.htm?iid=ipp_browse+motherbd_d865pe...&
Intel i875:
For Very High End Single CPU Players, use either a single FSB800Mhz P4C "Northwood Core" ***with*** HT enabled or a FSB800MHz Pentium4EE "Extreme Edition" CPU Intel 875P chipset motherboard. [with at least two 66/132 PCI-X slots] with Single or Dual Intel PRO/1000 Ethernet. [this 1000bT NIC is integrated into the Southbridge--this avoids PCI bus traffic]
--Example motherboards that meet this specification:
http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/P4/875/P4SCT.cfm
Recommended for a Really High End Dual CPU Scala IC3 Player,
Dual P4-XEON. [2xSMP ___without___ HT enabled--FSB 533 Mhz P4C "Northwood" Core CPU's with 512KB Cache--HT Disabled]
Intel 875P chipset motherboard. [with at least two 66/132 PCI-X slots] Single or Dual Intel PRO/100 or PRO1000 Ethernet. [this 1000bT NIC is integrated into the Southbridge--this avoids PCI bus traffic]
--Example motherboards that meet this specification:
Iwill DH800: