Chapter 9

The TV Tool

Overview

The TV Tool provides users with motion video, enabling video conferencing over LANs and WANs. With the TV Tool you can both send and receive real-time video while conferencing with other Communique! users.

Topics covered in this chapter include:

• The TV Tool window
• TV Tool Setup
• Starting a video conference
• Basic TV Tool controls
• Advanced TV Tool controls

The TV Tool Window

The TV Tool’s interface is divided into five main sections: the Menu Bar, the Toolbar, the Video Viewer, the Video Framerate Control, and the Status Bar.

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar is located at the top of the TV Tool interface and consists of the Video, Edit and Help menus.

There are nine options in the Video menu:

Send/Stop—Starts/stops video transmission

Format...—Video format configuration (not available for all video capture cards; refer to your card manufacturer’s documentation for details)

Source...—Video source configuration (not available for all video capture cards; refer to your card manufacturer’s documentation for details)

Display...—Video display configuration (not available for all video capture cards; refer to our card manufacturer’s documentation for details)

Compressor...—Allows you to select a video compression format

Recipients—Allows you to select which conference members you wish to send video to

Auto Send—When Auto Send is selected, you will begin sending video to other conference members as soon as you join a conference

Self-View—If supported by your video capture card manufacturer, allows you to choose between Preview and Overlay modes

Monitor—Allows you to choose whether the TV Tool Monitor reports Dataflow or Framerate information

Close—Quits TV Tool

There is one option in the Edit menu:

Copy—Copies a still video image to the Windows Clipboard

There are two options in the Help menu:

Contents—Opens the TV Tool’s Help window

About...—Revision information on TV Tool

Information on how to use the Help window can be found in Chapter 2, "Conference Manager".

Tool Bar

Underneath the Menu Bar there are seven different buttons that represent shortcuts to some of the menu options. Pausing the mouse cursor over any button for a few seconds will display the Tool Tip with the function the button performs.

Video Viewer

The Video Viewer is the area in which Self-View video, if enabled, is displayed. If the window is resized such that the area is larger than the actual video frame, the frame is matted.

Video Framerate Control

The Video Framerate Control allows you to select the desired speed of your outgoing video and monitor the actual framerate achieved.

Status Bar

The Status Bar provides hints on the usage of menu items and information from the TV Tool Monitor. When you position your mouse pointer over a menu item, a short note appears in the Status Bar to remind you of that item’s functions (positioning your mouse pointer over a button displays a Tool Tip containing the name of that button).

The right hand corner of the Status Bar is reserved for the TV Tool Monitor. The TV Tool Monitor reports information on the frame- and datarate of the video you are sending.

TV Tool Setup

To send video to other conference members, you need to first verify that your equipment and software are set up properly.

If you are using TV Tool for the first time, you will need to configure your equipment before sending video. Because the TV Tool works with any Video for Windows compliant video capture card, the exact setup procedure for your installation may be slightly different than those presented here. Please refer to your manufacturer’s documentation for details on configuring your video capture card hardware and software.

1. In the Conference Manager window, click on the TV Tool button (the one with the picture of a move camera) to bring up the TV Tool window.

Pointing the mouse at any tool button for a second or two will display a Tool Tip containing the name of the tool.

The TV Tool window will appear.

2. Select the Source... or Format... (depending on your video card) option under the Video menu.

A video configuration window will appear. The type of window that appears and the selections it offers is dependent upon the type of video capture card installed in your PC.

3. If your video capture card has more than 1 input port, check that the correct port has been selected.

For example, if your camera is connected to port 2 of your video capture card, input 2 should be selected in the Source or Format dialog box. Refer to your video capture card’s documentation for details.

4. If necessary, specify which video input format you are using: NTSC, PAL, or SECAM.

Not all video capture cards support all video input formats. Refer to your video capture card’s documentation for details.

Starting a Video Conference

Once you have everything configured correctly, you are ready to send video to other conference members. You can only send video while a conference is active.

1. Select one of the Self-View options under the Video menu. You can also enable Self-View by clicking on either the Preview or Overlay buttons in the tool bar (the ones with the picture of the film and the video camera respectively).

If your video capture card and camera are connected correctly, video from your camera will appear in the video preview area.

If you do not see an image in the video preview area, check that the proper settings have been selected in the Video Format, Source, or Display windows if they are available with your video capture card.

2. If necessary, fine tune the image using the available slider(s) in the Video Format or Video Source window.

Depending on the type of video capture card you have, you will be able to adjust such image attributes as color, contrast, and brightness.

Refer to your video capture card’s user manual for details on adjusting your video image.

3. Select the Send option under the Video menu. You can also click on the Send/Stop button (the one with the picture of the broadcast tower).

Your Self-View, if enabled, will pause (Self-View is disabled while you are transmitting) and Communique! will begin sending video to other conference members.

Basic TV Tool Controls

The TV Tool features a simple set of controls for Communique!’s video conferencing.

Choosing Video Recipients

Unless otherwise specified, Communique! sends your video to all conference members. You can use the Video Recipients list to select who you wish to send video to.

1. Select the Recipients option under the Video menu. You can also access the Video Recipients list by clicking on the Recipients button on the toolbar (the one with picture of people on it).

The Video Recipients dialog box will appear.

Everyone involved in the conference (except for yourself) will be listed with a corresponding check box. If a person’s check box is selected (marked with an "X"), they will receive video from you any time you send from the TV Tool.

2. Select the conference members from which you wish to receive video. Click on Close when you are satisfied with your selections.

If you are currently sending video, your changes will take effect immediately. Otherwise, video will be send only to the selected members the next time you start sending video.

Note: The Video Recipients information is not saved from conference to conference. If you do not want to send video to all conference members you will need to update your Video Recipients list each conference.

The TV Tool Monitor

Any time you are sending video, the TV Tool Monitor will provide you with information about the outgoing video on the status bar. The TV Tool can report one of two statistics:

Dataflow—Reports the amount of network traffic that is being generated by your TV Tool to each Video Recipient.

Framerate—Reports the actual speed (in frames per second) of your outgoing video.

The TV Tool Monitor is always enabled. Select the statistic that you wish to be reported with the Monitor option of the Video menu. Double-clicking on the Monitor area of the Status Bar will also toggle between Dataflow and Framerate.

Video Framerate Control

Communique! allows you to control the speed of the video (in frames per second) that you are sending to other conference members. You can adjust the Video Framerate Control at any time, even while you are sending video.

The blinking yellow bar below your Video Viewer area is the Framerate control slider. Dragging this slider to the right increases the framerate of your outgoing video, while dragging this slider to the left decreases it (the graduations below the slider are in 5 frame-per-second increments). As you drag the slider the TV Tool Monitor area of the status bar will report the framerate you are selecting.

You can select any frame rate from 1 to 30 frames per second. A higher frame rate will give you smoother video, but will generate more network traffic and could slow down other applications such as the Whiteboard. By reducing the framerate of your outgoing video, you can reduce the amount of network traffic you are creating and boost your PC’s performance. For video conferencing a framerate of 10-12 frames per second should be sufficient.

Processor and network limitations may limit the speed of the video you can send and prevent you from achieving the framerate selected with the Video Framerate Control. A red bar graph inside the slider area will report the actual outgoing framerate. The graduations below the slider are in 5 frame-per-second increments and will help you gauge the outgoing framerate if you have not selected the TV Tool Monitor to report Framerate statistics.

Ending a Video Conference

The TV Tool will stop sending video if you leave the conference or exit Communique!. If you wish to stop video at any other time you can select Stop from the Video menu or click on the Start/Stop Sending Video button on the Toolbar (the button with the picture of a broadcast tower).

Stopping your video will not affect your Video Recipients list or other TV Tool settings. You can begin sending video again at any time by selecting Send from the Video menu or clicking on the Start/Stop Sending Video button on the toolbar (the button with the picture of a broadcast tower).

The Windows Clipboard and the TV Tool

While you are not sending video from the TV Tool, a single frame of the video image can be copied to the Windows Clipboard where Communique! Plugins and other applications supporting the Windows Clipboard will be able to use it. If you have enabled Self-View, a "snapshot" of the video is taken. If the video image is already paused, the image will be copied.

1. Select the Copy option under the Edit menu.

The image will be copied into the Windows Clipboard. Since the Clipboard can hold only one image at a time, any previous contents will be overwritten.

The image is now available in the Clipboard and can be pasted into any application supporting the pasting of captured video (i.e. the Communique! Whiteboard).

2. Go to the target application and paste it. This is usually accomplished from the application’s Paste option in its Edit menu.

The image will appear in the application. A copy of the image will remain in the Windows Clipboard until it is overwritten by another Copy command from the TV Tool or another Windows application.

Advanced TV Tool Controls

The TV Tool will allow you to configure advanced video options that control aspects of both capture and compression.

Video Source Control

If your video capture card has a Video Source dialog, you can select the Source option from the Video menu to access its controls. The exact options available to you through your Video Source dialog will depend on your video capture card, but typically you can make adjustments to the video’s color and select from available input ports.

Video Capture Formats

Sending video with the TV Tool takes place in two stages: capture and compression. In the capture stage the video is captured from the video board and then, in the second state, passed to an optional offline (software) compressor.

When capturing video date you will generally have several options from which to choose. You can capture either raw video, which usually must be processed by an offline compressor before being transmitted, or precompressed video which may not require offline compression, depending on your recipient’s system configuration.

If your video capture card provides a Video Format dialog, you can select the Format option from the Video menu to access its controls. The exact options available to you will depend on your video capture card, but typically you can make adjustments to the video’s color, the size of the video image, select from available input ports, and if available, adjust onboard compression options.

Offline Software Compressors

Offline compression allows you to reduce the amount of network traffic generated by the TV Tool. After you have captured video from the video capture card you can compress it with an offline compressor.

Using offline compression allows you to select from several different compression formats instead of just the compression format (if any) that is built into your video capture card. Communique! can use any Video for Windows compliant compressor. Several common codecs are discussed below.

CellB—CellB compression was developed by Sun Microsystems to support compression and decompression of video with minimal hardware requirements. CellB is supported by all Communique! platforms (including PC which implement CellB in software). The MDL CellB codec has the ability of transcoding. This means that it can recompress video that has already been compressed with another format.

DVE2—DVE2 compression was developed by MDL to support compression and decompression in software. DVE2 provides a high level of image quality by taking advantage of today’s more powerful processors. DVE2 is currently available to PCs only. The MDL DVE2 codec also has the ability to do transcoding.

Indeo—Indeo is a video codec developed by Intel. Indeo provides high image quality and very efficient software decompression. However, Indeo does not lend itself well to compressing in software, so generally you will want to use this format only if your video capture card supports Indeo compression in hardware. Indeo is currently available to PCs only.

JPEG—JPEG, developed by the Joint Photographic Experts Group, generally produces the highest quality video image, but requires more processing power than other compression algorithms. Unlike Indeo, JPEG requires substantial processing power to decompress in software so you will generally want to use this format only if your video capture card supports JPEG compression and decompression or you are using a fast PC such as a 90 MHz Pentium-based system.

The following table summarizes the compression options available to Communique! users.

 

 

Communique! Supported Compressions

Choosing the Best Format and Compressor Settings

Your best choice of capture format and compressor depends on your hardware configuration and the configuration of those you will be conferencing with.

If you are using a video capture card that supports Indeo compression and your other conference members have the ability to decompress Indeo video, then you will generally want to set your capture format to "Indeo" and your offline compressor to "None".

If you will be using one of the offline compressors such as DVE2 or CellB, then you will want to set your capture format to "Raw", "YUY2", or other minimally compressed format to prevent the compressor from having to transcode the information. You will then need to select the appropriate compressor from the Video menu’s Compressor option. If you will be conferencing to a Unix workstation you will need to use CellB as your offline compressor.

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