One of the most powerful features of INTV! is that it allows stations to broadcast from a number of different audio and video sources. This chapter outlines the installation of various video and audio input and output devices, along with installation notes for supported video capture boards.

This chapter discusses:

The INTV! Station allows workstations that support audio to transmit audio to viewers. Typically a microphone or VCR will provide audio input for the station.

Most audio devices can be classified as producing either a microphone-level or a line-level output signal. A microphone-level signal is one that is essentially not amplified, producing output levels of less than 1 millivolt. Most microphones produce a microphone-level output signal. VCRs, on the other hand, typically produce line-level output signals. Line-level signals typically produce output levels of up to 1 volt.

When connecting audio equipment to your workstation, you need to select the correct input port based on its type of output signal. Most workstations offer both microphone-in and line-in jacks.

To connect a microphone or other device that produces a microphone-level output signal to your workstation, insert the phono plug from the microphone into the microphone-in jack on your workstation. For best results, use a high-quality unidirectional microphone, such as the one available directly from MDL. It is also important that you adjust the Station’s Silence Sensor to a value appropriate for the environment and microphone. (Refer to Chapter 7, "The Admin Tool", for information on the Silence Sensor.)

To connect a VCR or other device that produces a line-level output signal to your workstation, connect a phono or RCA cable from the audio output of the VCR into the line-in jack on your workstation. Most line-level output devices require an inexpensive RCA-to-miniplug converter to facilitate connection to your workstation.

A viewer can play back the audio received through the workstation’s internal speaker (if available), the headphone jack, or the line-out jack. You will probably want to connect a set of external speakers to your workstation for the best audio quality with INTV!.

There are two basic types of external speaker systems available. The most common type connects to your headphone jack, while the other connects to your line-out jack. To connect a pair of external speakers to your workstation, insert the speaker set’s phono plug into the appropriate jack on your workstation. If your speakers feature tonal control or an equalizer, you can usually improve the audio quality by reducing the treble control.

In order to transmit video from a station, you need a video capture board and a source for video input. Two of the more common choices for a video signal are VCRs and video cameras.

Your workstation’s video capture card should have an input jack appropriate to your video source’s output plug. If it doesn’t, you will need an adapter. Connect the video source’s output plug to this input jack.

If your card supports multiple inputs, you can connect several video sources and use the INTV! Admin Tool to switch between them.

Broadcasting video captured from a real television station requires a device that has both a composite output and a television tuner. Most VCRs have both a tuner and a composite output, which makes them well suited for use with INTV!. Once you have the VCR connected properly, the INTV! Station will broadcast video from the station that the VCR has tuned in.

The SunVideo video card is supported only on Sun SPARCstation compatibles running the Solaris 2.3 or higher operating system. Install the SunVideo video card in an SBus slot inside your workstation according to the directions in the "SunVideo 1.0 Users Guide" included with the card.

You need the following system packages installed on your workstation to use a SunVideo video card:

• SUNWxilrt   v2.0 or higher
• SUNWxildg   v2.0 or higher
• SUNWxiler   v2.0 or higher
• SUNWxilow   v2.0 or higher
• SUNWrtvc     v7.0 or higher
• SUNWrtvcu   v6.0 or higher

Use the following command to find which packages have been installed on your system.

# pkginfo -x

After installing the SunVideo video card and the necessary system packages, verify its correct operation as discussed in the "SunVideo 1.0 Users Guide".

You need to set the following environment variables properly to use the SunVideo video card with INTV!:

LD_LIBRARY_PATH—specifies the paths the system must search to locate special libraries. Usually it is set to /usr/openwin/lib:/usr/lib. However, it must also point to the XIL libraries, so it should be defined as /usr/openwin/lib:/usr/lib:$XILHOME/lib. If you are running INTV! under the Motif environment, be sure that the Motif libraries are located in your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable; typically, these are located in the directory /opt/SUNWmotif/lib.

XILHOME—specifies the directory in which the XIL packages are installed. The directory where these packages are installed varies according to your workstation’s configuration but is normally /opt/SUNWits/Graphics-sw/xi1.

The Parallax XVideo 24SVC, XVideo 24SVC-VIO, and PowerVideo video cards are supported on SPARCstations running the Solaris 2 operating system. Install the Parallax video card in an SBus slot inside your workstation according to the directions in the "Parallax Installation Guide" included with the card. Connect your monitor directly to the frame buffer on the Parallax card.

Solaris 2 systems need the following set of Parallax software installed on the workstation in order to use a Parallax video card:

• Parallax Software Essentials v 1.0 or higher

You must install the XVideo driver and the OpenWindows device support module as outlined in the Parallax documentation. Use the standard X-Server, but direct it to use the Parallax card as your workstation’s frame buffer. Refer to your Parallax documentation for information on installing and starting OpenWindows or Motif using the Parallax card. To verify that your XVideo driver has been installed properly, issue the following command and look for the tvtwoO entry:

# modinfo

After installing the Parallax video card and the necessary system packages, verify its correct operation as discussed in the "Parallax Installation Guide" included with your card.

The Parallax PowerVideo 700 video card is supported on HP workstations running the HP-UX operating systems. Install the Parallax video card in an EISA slot inside your workstation according to the directions in the "Parallax Installation Guide" included with the card. Connect your monitor directly to the frame buffer on the Parallax card.

Your system needs the following set of Parallax software installed in order to use a Parallax video card:

• Parallax PowerVideo 700 Toolkit v 9.05 or higher

You must install the XVideo driver and kernel modification included with the Toolkit. Refer to your Parallax documentation for information on installing the Parallax driver and kernel modification.

After installing the Parallax video card and the necessary system packages, verify its correct operation as discussed in the "Parallax Installation Guide" included with your card.

The HP-DVC is an external SCSI device that is supported on Hewlett Packard workstations. Connect your HP-DVC to your workstation according to the instructions provided with the unit. Connect your video input source to the appropriate connector on the HP-DVC unit.

In order to use the DVC, you must install the DVC libraries. The libraries enable you to use the DVC unit, and encode and decode H.261 video streams.

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