Video Capture

scsiCam Sample Picture taken with Hitachi camera

semi-live scsiCam webcam picture taken near Bellevue, WA, USA

Sample Pictures

These pictures are compressed JPEG versions of images captured using MDL's scsiCam. The left picture is available in the original, uncompressed, 24-bit .BMP format by clicking on it. The right picture is updated from a server using a scsiCam and camera overlooking Lake Sammamish near Seattle, WA.

Multi-Platform Video Capture

Captures Video from Any PAL or NTSC Source

Fast, Narrow SCSI Interface

Up to 720x576 Frame Size

Up to 30 Frames Per Second

Up to 24-Bit Color Image Capture

Two or Three Switchable Video Inputs

Includes Video Camera

Includes Win95, Win NT and UNIX Drivers

Includes Windows and Unix Viewers

Perfect for Video Conferencing

No matter what kind of workstation or personal computer you use, you can now add high-performance video capture. scsiCam is the only video capture product that works through a SCSI bus. You can capture still images or streaming video, with excellent quality. Ideal for video conferencing and web cameras.

High-Quality Video

scsiCam captures video at up to 24-bit quality, in frame sizes up to 720x576. scsiCam supports both NTSC and PAL video, in both grayscale and color formats. The included NTSC camera produces a sharp and clear image, and the manual focus control lets you choose close up or distant subjects. You can also use any standard video source such as a camcorder or a VCR.

High Performance

The scsiCam hardware captures video images 60 times per second. Then, an efficient SCSI transfer sends each video image to the host computer system. scsiCam can easily capture 30 frames per second, even on a 100 MHz Pentium system. You can capture a single frame of video even more easily. scsiCam also supports up to three video inputs, and will switch between them on request.

Multi-Platform

Whatever kind of UNIX or PC workstation you use, it almost certainly has a SCSI bus. High-performance SCSI cards are available at low cost to upgrade older Windows computers.

No Slot Needed

scsiCam does not take up a slot! Great for laptops whose docking stations have few or no slots, or any computer that you have already stuffed full of cards.

Windows Drivers

Any Win32 application that supports video will work with scsiCam. Efficient 32-bit code makes the most of Pentium and Pentium Pro CPUs, even under Windows 95. (Windows 95 video drivers have a 16-bit interface, and some Windows 95 video drivers are completely 16-bit. The scsiCam driver has a 32-bit "engine" wrapped in a 16-bit layer. Everything that can be 32-bit code, is 32-bit code.)

Flash Upgradeable

scsiCam's BIOS is stored in a flash-ROM chip. When updates are available, you can simply download them from the MDL Web site, and run the scsiCam upgrade installer. There is no need to open up the computer or the scsiCam .

Custom Video Applications

scsiCam is perfect for custom applications. Normal video capture hardware needs kernel-mode driver support, which is a lot of work. scsiCam lets you take advantage of existing SCSI drivers, and your custom application can use straightforward user-mode code to control scsiCam and retrieve video data. It’s as easy as opening a file and reading from it! (For information on the scsiCam programming interface, contact: info.) Even better, you can roll out your custom application cross-platform without having to re-write your video capture code, and only keep one video capture device in your inventory instead of one per each supported platform.

Video Conferencing

scsiCam is the most convenient way to add video conferencing, no matter what kind of workstation you use. It will work with any Win32 video conferencing software right out of the box. Contact MDL for a list of supported video conferencing software on other platforms.

Support

A complete one year parts and labor warranty, with overnight exchange, is included as a standard feature.

Specifications

Performance

MTBF	150,000 hours
Max SCSI transfer speed	10 MB per second
Max SCSI bus traffic	7.3 MB per second (640x480 at 12 FPS)
Typical SCSI bus traffic	742 KB per second (176x144 at 15 FPS)

Connectors

Fast, narrow SCSI	50-pin Centronics
Video In	RCA
S-Video In	optional

Physical Characteristics

Dimensions (W x H x D)	10 in. x 10 in. x 2.625 in.
Weight	10 lbs. complete

Power Requirements

100 - 230 VAC, 1.0 Amps

Operating Environment

Temperature	32° to 122° F 0° to 50° C
Humidity	8% to 80% (non-condensing)
Shock	2 G peak, 11 msec maximum
Vibration	0.5 G (5 - 500 Hz)
Position	Horizontal or Vertical
Altitude	-1,000 to 10,000 ft. -305 to 3,046 m.

Here is an example of scsiCam in use at the Utah Department of Transportation.

Current version of scsiCam software available from our FTP site.