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S3(R)/Xing(TM) Native-MPEG(TM) Driver for SST-2065
Version 1.1
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INTRODUCTION
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The S3/Xing Native-MPEG software decoder brings a new level of video
quality to the PC. Native-MPEG eliminates the need and expense of
specialized MPEG playback hardware while providing a level of audio and
video quality superior to software codecs such as Cinepak(TM) or
Indeo(TM). Using Native-MPEG, you can play full screen, full motion MPEG
video files with synchronized audio on your Windows PC.
Native-MPEG can operate in any resolution supported by the graphics
accelerator subsystem. While Native-MPEG will operate in 256 color
graphics mode, image quality will be improved if the color depth of the
graphics driver is set to 64K or 16.7M colors. The MPEG video window can
be stretched or shrunk to any arbitrary size within the performance
limits of the graphics/video accelerator.
Synchronized audio playback is accomplished through the host system's
sound board or motherboard audio codec. Audio sample rates and modes are
user configurable for optimum playback performance.
The Native-MPEG software decoder supports the popular new VideoCD format
(.dat files), also known as "White Book," linear CD-i movies, also known
as "Green Book," Karaoke CDs, OM-1 interactive titles and multiplexed MPEG
files containing audio and video (.mpg files). Playback of RealMagic
interactive titles and encrypted MPEG files is not supported. MPEG
video files can be read from either a CD-ROM or hard disk.
Native-MPEG supports both the Media Control Interface (MCI) and Object
Linking and Embedding (OLE) 2.0 specifications enabling simplified
control and playback of MPEG movies ina wide variety of popular Microsoft
Windows applications such as Word(TM) and PowerPoint(TM).
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HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
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HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:
* A 486/DX2 is the the minimum speed host CPU. A Pentimum P5-90 or
faster is optimal.
Performance, as measured by the number of displayed frames per second,
will scale with the CPU's processing power.
* Minimim 8MB of system memory. 16MB of system memory is optimal.
* S3 graphics controllers Trio32(TM), Trio64(TM), Vision864(TM),
Vision964(TM) is minimal (no hardware color space conversion or scaling
support). S3 multimedia controllers Vision868(TM), Vision968(TM) is
optimal (color space conversion and scaling supported).
* Minimum of 1MB video memory. 2MB or more of video memory is preferred.
* An 8-bit or 16-bit sound card or a motherboard audio codec
* CD-ROM XA-compatible player - 1X transfer speed is minimal;
2X or faster is optimal.
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS:
* Microsoft Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups(TM)
* Video for Windows 1.1E (includes Media Player 2.0)
* S3 Windows driver or other vendor equivalent:
- Vision868 and Vision968 drivers (Version 1.4b6 or later)
- Trio(TM) and Vision964 drivers (Version 1.3b8 or later)
- Vision864 driver (Version 1.3b7 or later)
* A .WAV-compatible sound board driver
* Video files for playback must be in compliance with the MPEG-1 standard
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Native-MPEG INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
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Installation from a floppy diskette:
* Install an S3 Windows driver compatible with DCI 1.6.
* Launch Windows 3.x.
* Insert the Native-MPEG diskette in the appropriate
diskette drive.
* Run the SETUP program on the diskette in the Windows environment.
This installs the Native-MPEG drivers and related files and makes
modifications to the Windows SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI and CONTROL.INI
files. After a successful installation, the SETUP program will
automatically restart Windows.
Installation from a hard disk or a network drive:
* Create a subdirectory on the hard disk or network drive.
* Copy the contents of the Native-MPEG diskette to the subdirectory.
* Install an S3 Windows driver compatible with DCI 1.6.
* Launch Windows 3.x.
* Run the SETUP program in the subdirectory in the Windows environment.
This installs the Native-MPEG drivers and related files and makes
modifications to the Windows SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI and CONTROL.INI
files. After a successful installation, the SETUP program will
automatically restart Windows.
The SETUP program
* The SETUP program will examine your system for previous installations
of an MCI driver of type MpegVideo; if previous installations exist,
you will be given the choice of replacing all previously installed
MpegVideo drivers with the new driver or adding the new driver(default).
* The setup installs files to a user-specified destination directory
(default: C:\MPEG, if previous installations do not exist); if this
directory already exists, you may change directories or install
(possibly overwriting files) to this directory.
* The setup will:
- copy MPEGVID.DLL, MPEGAUD.DLL, OEMSETUP.INF, and README.TXT (this file)
to the specified destination directory,
- copy MPEG110.DRV to the Windows System directory,
- update the Windows SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI and CONTROL.INI files.
===========================
* SYSTEM.INI Files Changes
===========================
The setup will modify SYSTEM.INI as follows:
- in the [mci] section: CDIVideo is set to MPEG110.DRV
- in the [mci] section: MpegVideo is set to MPEG110.DRV
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
===========================
* WIN.INI Files Changes
===========================
The setup will modify WIN.INI as follows:
- in the [Extensions] section: mpg is set to mplayer.exe /play ^.mpg
- in the [Extensions] section: dat is set to mplayer.exe /play ^.dat
- in the [Extensions] section: mpv is set to mplayer.exe /play ^.mpv
- in the [Extensions] section: vbs is set to mplayer.exe /play ^.vbs
- in the [Extensions] section: vid is set to mplayer.exe /play ^.vid
- in the [mci extensions] section: mpg is set to MpegVideo
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
- in the [mci extensions] section: dat is set to MpegVideo
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
- in the [mci extensions] section: mpv is set to MpegVideo
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
- in the [mci extensions] section: vbs is set to MpegVideo
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
- in the [mci extensions] section: vid is set to MpegVideo
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
- in the [mpeg110] section: mpeg110path is set to the user-specified
destination path
===========================
* CONTROL.INI Files Changes
===========================
The setup will modify CONTROL.INI as follows:
- in the [drivers.desc] section: MPEG110.DRV is set to
[MCI] Native-MPEG(TM) Driver
** If you choose to add a new driver, Native-MPEG Driver is replaced
by Native-MPEG Driver N where N = 1,2,3,...
- in the [Userinstallable.drivers] section: MpegVideo is set to
MPEG110.DRV
** If you choose to add a new driver, MpegVideo is replaced by
MpegVideoN where N = 1,2,3,...
===========================
* RENAMED BACKUP FILES:
===========================
If an older version of DCIMAN.DLL already exists on your system, the
setup will copy it to a backup file(DCIMAN.OLD) in the Windows System
directory and overwrite it.
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Native-MPEG(TM) Installation Disk Contents
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This release consists of the following components of Native-MPEG:
- MPEG110.DRV - Native-MPEG MCI Driver, an MCI device driver for
playback of MPEG files within the Windows environment. This driver
was developed in compliance with Microsoft Corporation's "MPEG
Command Set for the Media Control Interface (Part #098-37538).
Native-MPEG provides the basic playback capability used by multimedia
applications that control "MPEG Video" devices.
- MPEGVID.DLL - Native-MPEG Video driver.
- MPEGAUD.DLL - Native-MPEG Audio driver.
- DCIMAN.DLL - DCI (Display Control Interface) Manager driver
developed jointly by Microsoft Corporation and Intel Corporation.
After a successful installation, you can use MCI-compliant applications to
play MPEG files. Native-MPEG should be used with Microsoft Corporation's
Media Player 2.0 (11/19/93 or later) from Video for Windows 1.1E.
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PLAYBACK MEDIUM
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While playback of MPEG files from either a CD-ROM drive or from a hard
disk is supported, most MPEG files you will encounter will be stored on
CD-ROMs as .mpg files or on VideoCDs as .dat files. Because playback of
MPEG files stored on a compact disc is generally 20-25% slower than
playback from a hard disk, you may prefer to transfer small MPEG files to
the hard disk to improve playback performance However, since MPEG files
are typically very large, storing numerous video files on the hard disk
is often not practical.
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To play an MPEG file from the CD-ROM:
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* In Windows, open up the Program Manager window
* Select the "Run" command from the Program Manager's "File" menu.
* Click on the "Browse" button to select an MPEG file from the CD-ROM
(change the Drives to the D: drive or your CD-ROM designated drive).
* Click on the OK button to launch Media Player and play the selected
MPEG file from the CD-ROM.
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To play an MPEG file from the hard disk:
* FOR OPTIMAL PLAYBACK *
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* Copy the desired MPEG file from the CD-ROM to your Software MPEG
destination directory by typing: COPY D:\[desired MPEG file] [destdir]
* In Windows, open up the Program Manager window
* Select the "Run" command from the Program Manager's "File" menu.
* Click on the "Browse" button to select an MPEG file from your hard disk
in the Software MPEG destination directory.
* Click on the OK button to launch Media Player and play the selected
MPEG file from the hard disk.
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To play an MPEG file using Media Player:
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* Launch Media Player.
* Select the "Open" command under the File menu or the "Native-MPEG 1.1..."
menu item under the Device menu.
* Choose an MPEG file to open.
* Click the PLAY button to play the file.
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To play a CD-i movie from the CD-ROM:
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* Insert a CD-i movie disc into your CD-ROM drive.
* Launch Media Player.
* Select the "Native-MPEG CD-i Movie Driver 1.1" menu item under the Device
menu.
* Click the PLAY button to play the file.
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For more detailed information on playing MPEG files,
please refer to the Native-MPEG User's Guide.
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You can also create icons in a Program Manager group specifying the .*.MPG
file (on your hard disk or the CD-ROM) in the Command Line to facilitate
running Software Mpeg files within the Windows environment. To do this:
* Choose "New" from the Program Manager's "File" menu; the "New Program
Object" window appears;
* Select the "Program Group" radio button and click the "OK" button; the
"Program Group Properties" window appears;
* Type: Software MPEG in the Description field; click on the "OK" button;
a Software MPEG Program Group window appears;
* Choose "New" from the Program Manager's "File" menu; the "New Program
Object" window appears;
* Select the "Program Item" radio button and click the "OK" button; the
"Program Group Properties" window appears;
* Click on the Browse button to select an MPEG file from the hard disk or
the CD-ROM; click the "OK" button;
* Type descriptive text in the "Description" field; click the "OK" button;
a Media Player icon will be created which you can double-click on to
launch Media Player and play the specified MPEG file.
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To Adjust Viewing Characteristics of the MPEG files
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* Use File|Open and/or Device|MPEG Decoder to select an MPEG file.
* From the Device menu, select "Configure..." to launch the configuration
dialog box.
DCI SUPPORT:
============
By default, the "Use DCI if Available" option is active. When this option
is disabled, the S3/Xing Native-MPEG(TM) Driver will not use the
capabilities of the DCI.
** Due to the significant benefits of using the DCI, you should disable
this feature only in very rare situations (e.g., you want to perform
video playback tests in DIB mode or demonstrate the performance with
and without DCI).
RATE CONTROL:
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When Rate Control is ON, the S3/Xing Native-MPEG Driver plays the
loaded MPEG file at normal speed. If the driver cannot maintain the frame
rate, it skips video frames and gives priority to playing audio.
When Rate Control is OFF, the S3/Xing Native-MPEG Driver ignores the
frame rate, displays every video frame, and disables audio playback. The
rate at which frames are displayed is determined by the speed of your PC
and the nature of the MPEG file being played.
** Since rate control insures proper video playback speed, you should
disable this feature only in very rare situations (e.g., you want to
perform a frame-by-frame scan of the file).
AUDIO:
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The sample rate options (11kHz and 22kHz) specify the rate at which the
S3/Xing Native-MPEG Driver decodes the MPEG file.
The audio playback mode options (Stereo and Mono) specify the decoding
mode of the S3/Xing Native-MPEG Driver. Mono-encoded files will always
be decoded in Mono mode.
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Controlling the Appearance of the Media Player Video Playback Window
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The Media Player window consists of a menu bar, a track bar, and the
following control buttons:
- Play/Pause button
- Stop button
- Seek to Home button
- Page Left button
- Page Right button
- Seek to End button
- Mark In button
- Mark Out button
The menu bar provides four main command menus:
* File Menu - to access and close files
* Edit Menu - to copy a media sequence to the Clipboard and paste it
into another application
* Device Menu - to select or configure a device
* Scale Menu - to modify the scale unit (Time/Frames) for the track bar
Media Player also provides an abbreviated form of its controls which
includes the track bar and the Play/Pause and Stop buttons.
======================================================================
To toggle between the abbreviated display and the normal Media Player
display:
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- Double-click on the title bar of the Media Player window (in normal
display) or the title bar of the abbreviated form of the playback
window (in abbreviated display).
Refer to the Microsoft Video for Windows User's Guide for more information
about Media Player.
