[English]
README.TXT                     MATROX GRAPHICS INC.                  1999.05.12

                       Matrox Video Tools for Windows NT 4.0
                                 Version 1.23.030


Table of contents
=================

- Description of this release
- New features for this release
- Other features
- Installation
- Notes, problems and limitations


Description of this release
===========================

Matrox Video Tools for Windows NT 4.0 lets you use your Matrox video capture
card. This software supports Matrox Productiva G100 MMS (with a TV tuner),
Marvel and Rainbow Runner G-Series cards.

This software includes Windows NT 4.0 drivers for your Matrox video capture
card, and the Matrox PC-VCR Remote program for Windows NT 4.0, which lets you
quickly access Matrox video features.


New features for this release
=============================

- Support for the Matrox Productiva G100 MMS (with a TV tuner), Marvel and
  Rainbow Runner G-Series cards.
  (Matrox Rainbow Runner Studio is NOT supported with this release.)
- Instantaneous RGB and MJPEG recording with Matrox PC-VCR Remote.
  (Not all Matrox products include MJPEG hardware. If your system doesn't
  have MJPEG hardware, MJPEG controls are unavailable.)
- Support for window resizing while recording.
- Support for dual-CPU computers (with Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 or later
  installed).


Other features
==============

- Limited support for capturing RGB video to disk and video conferencing
- Limited support for capturing MJPEG video to disk and hardware accelerated
  MJPEG video playback.
- Option for saving PC-VCR Remote video snapshots as JPEG files
- Option for scaling PC-VCR Remote video snapshots up to 400%
- Improved speed of snapshots with PC-VCR Remote
- Support for channel ordering in PC-VCR Remote
  ("TV Setup" property sheet)
- Matrox HD Benchmark program lets you select which drives to test
- European TV tuner audio support, including: FM, NICAM support and language
  selection
- PC-VCR Remote option to view full-screen "TV", "LINE" or MPEG
  video with more detail
- With PC-VCR Remote, option to simultaneously preview up to
  30 channels in a single window
- With PC-VCR Remote, automatic TV channel fine-tuning to get the best
  reception
- Separate cropping settings saved for "TV" and "LINE" input with PC-VCR 
  Remote
- Information dialog box for video files opened with PC-VCR Remote
- PC-VCR Remote "Pause" button freezes "TV" or "LINE" video input
- Controls for setting your audio recording levels in PC-VCR Remote
- Option for automatic TV standard (NTSC, PAL, SECAM) detection with
  PC-VCR Remote
- Interactive mode indicators on PC-VCR Remote
  (click them to toggle features)

For more information on Matrox video software, see your Matrox video capture
card manual.


Installation
============

- For video software to work properly, Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 or later
  must first be installed. To obtain a Microsoft Service Pack, contact
  your system vendor or see the Microsoft Web site (www.microsoft.com).

- The Matrox Video Tools setup program stops if a Matrox video capture card
  supported by this video software isn't properly installed in your computer,
  or if recent Matrox display drivers aren't installed.

- If you see a message indicating that DirectX Media can't be installed, it
  may be because DirectX Media is already installed on your computer. If you
  see this message, click "OK" and continue the software installation.

- To remove Matrox Video Tools software, click "Start" -> "Settings" ->
  "Control Panel" -> "Add/Remove Programs" (double-click) -> "Matrox Video
  Tools" -> "Add/Remove". You should restart your computer immediately after
  you remove the software.


Notes, problems, and limitations
================================

- Matrox Video Tools requires Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 for dual-CPU
  computers.

- The Matrox Video Tools software doesn't support the Matrox add-on for
  DFP (Digital Flat Panel) monitors.

- On some systems you may experience problems with jerky video file playback. 
  This can especially happen at larger video frame sizes (352 x 480/576 and 
  704 x 480/576). To help avoid this problem, make sure your hard disk is 
  using DMA (Direct Memory Access). For most computers, a DMA driver is 
  available for Windows NT 4.0 (for example, the "PIIX Bus Master IDE" driver 
  supports many computers). For more information on how to get this driver, 
  contact your system vendor.  

- For optimal performance of capturing/playback, we recommend that DMA is 
  enabled from within Windows NT. By default Windows NT will not enable DMA.
  You would have to obtain a utility called DMACHECK or similiar utility in 
  order to enable DMA support under Windows NT.

- Because of a limitation in Microsoft Video for Windows, video files you 
  capture are limited to a 2 GB size. (The Matrox PC-VCR Remote program lets
  you work around this limitation by creating consecutive video files.) 

- When recording more than 2 GB of video with the Matrox PC-VCR Remote 
  program, there may be a small gap between video files. The amount of 
  video missing depends on the performance of your system.

- Recording RGB video files with a Matrox G100-MMS card at a data rate 
  over 2 MB/sec will result in a high number of dropped frames. (The playback 
  of the resulting video will be jerky.)

- Because of a limitation in Microsoft Video for Windows NT 4.0, there's a
  maximum number of frames (cumulative) you can capture with an RGB capture
  setting. The number depends on the amount of main memory in your computer
  and the speed of your computer's CPU. If the maximum number of frames is
  exceeded, you may get an error message stating that video can't be captured
  because the data rate is too high or your disk is full. (You may get this
  error message even though your disk is not full.) If this happens, close
  the capture program you're using and then restart it. If your video capture
  program lets you allocate a video file size before capturing, you can use
  this feature to avoid this limitation.

- If your display is using a 32-bit color palette, you may notice lines in a
  video window while viewing TV tuner input or MJPEG video files. To avoid 
  this problem, try reducing the video window size to a size that is smaller 
  than the resolution of the original video (size "x1"). Also, you can try 
  reducing the vertical refresh rate of your monitor to below 85 Hz. (For 
  more information on changing monitor settings, see Matrox PowerDesk online 
  documentation.)   

- Using a DOS window or changing display settings (resolution or color palette)
  may cause problems if, at the same time, you're playing back or recording a 
  video file, or using the Closed Captioning feature.

- PC-VCR Remote may stop responding or playing back files while playing back 
  multiple video files using the looping option. To restore PC-VCR, click 
  "Stop" and then "Play", or close and then restart the program. 

- After you click the "Auto Scan" button on the "TV Setup" property sheet of 
  Matrox PC-VCR Remote, live video may not be properly displayed in the
  current video window. To restore the video window, simply select "LINE" or 
  "FILE" input, then reselect "TV" input. 

- If you have a Matrox Marvel G200 or Rainbow Runner G-Series card, Matrox
  video software can't be used with a 640 x 480 display resolution. This is
  because of a limitation in the version of Microsoft DirectDraw used with
  Windows NT 4.0. If you're using this display resolution and you have one
  of these cards, change your display resolution before using a video program.

- If you use the Matrox QuickConnect program with a Matrox G100 MMS card and
  a 640 x 480 display resolution, the navigation buttons may be cut off by the
  bottom of your display. Before using QuickConnect, make sure your display
  resolution is higher than 640 x 480.

- There are maximum video window sizes for viewing MJPEG video files or live
  video ("TV" or "LINE" input). These maximum video window sizes depend on
  your display settings and graphics card. For more information, see the
  "Display information" section of your Matrox video capture card manual.

  Note: Not all Matrox products include MJPEG hardware. If your system doesn't
  have MJPEG hardware, MJPEG controls are unavailable.

- Because of a limitation with the DirectDraw 3 software used with Windows
  NT 4.0, Matrox Video Tools software only supports multi-display mode
  with the Matrox Productiva G100 MMS cards.

- You may experience problems if another Matrox graphics card is installed
  with a Matrox G100 MMS card.  

- The Matrox VidCap driver is designed to work only with 32-bit programs
  (programs designed for Windows 95, 98 or NT). You can't use 16-bit programs
  (programs designed for Windows 3.1) with your Matrox video editing
  hardware.

- Only one program at a time can use Matrox video editing hardware. Before
  starting a video program, close any other video program that may be running.

- With Matrox Video Tools software installed on your computer, you may 
  experience problems using video editing software. To recover from 
  these problems, save your work and then try restarting your video editing
  software.

- MediaStudio updates are available at Ulead's Web site (www.ulead.com/tech) 
  These updates should improve stability and performance. The following entry 
  can be added to ulead32.ini for improved MediaStudio performance.
  [HardwareAcc]
  AlwaysKeepLastFrame=1

- You may experience problems with a video capture program if it's not closed
  before logging off a Windows session.

- When you drag-and-drop video files onto the PC-VCR Remote icon, long file
  names are converted to the old 8.3 DOS-naming style in the PC-VCR Remote
  menu window and on the video window title bar.

- Suspend mode is not supported by Matrox video software.

- With Matrox G200 graphics cards and Matrox Video Tools for NT, you can 
  view video while previewing TV channels in PC-VCR window. (Matrox Video 
  Tools for Windows 95/98 doesn't support this feature.)

- If Microsoft Media Player stops responding, try clicking on the Windows
  desktop background, then clicking on Media Player -- this may restore
  control.

- While playing back an MJPEG video file with Media Player, you may experience
  problems if you double click on the title bar. To fix this, download an 
  updated version of Media Player from the Microsoft Web site
  (www.microsoft.com).

- After installing Matrox Video Tools, the default tuning settings on the 
  "Video" property sheet of PC-VCR Remote are 0% (even thought the video 
  window displays properly). To restore the appropriate levels, click "Default 
  Tuning". (To access the "Video" property sheet, first select "TV" or "LINE" 
  input.)

- Ensoniq Sound Cards: Certain models of Ensoniq sound cards (for example the
  SoundScape Vivo 90) will lose audio when seeking or stopping and restarting
  any video file. This happens when double-clicking on a file or using
  DirectShow through Media Player. To avoid this problem, use the Matrox
  PC-VCR Remote to view your video files.

- ESS sound chips: Certain sound card models equipped with the ESS audio chip
  (for example the ESS 1878 found on laptops) may experience a loss of
  audio-video synchronization when playing back video files. Video will be
  late compared to audio whenever pausing and restarting the playback. To
  correct this problem, click on the PC-VCR Remote playback status bar to jump
  to a particular area in the file.

