Quartz Beta Status (1st weekly report)

Greetings Everyone,

Please find below the latest Quartz development update as of 7/15/2002. This report will be updated and posted weekly to Announcements every Monday evening.

Any questions can be emailed to info@snapstream.com

Sincerely,
-- The SnapStream Development Team

Key: (*)=done (o)=not done

PVS Quartz Beta 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* record always capability with daily record always updates
o Installation/Configuration Wizard (almost done)
o .NET integration
o Fixing all known bugs ( 28 of 241 remaining )

Security:
* Remote Admin security
* Multiple levels of users
* Allows you to give users permission to watch, but not set recordings

Infrared:
* supports multiple remotes
* retrieve info from (and send to) central remote database
(training the IR Blaster is no longer required, but still possible)
* standalone commandline IR channel changing utility

.NET:
* User can add recordings from TitanTV
* User can add recordings from SSPG (.NET)
* Automated show lineup updating
o Automated channel lineup updating
o UI for SS.NET (in progress)
o SS.NET configuration wizard (almost done)


Additional Items Prior to the Release of PVS Quartz 1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o Live TV viewer w/ integrated program information and channel flipping
o Divx AVI encoding



Pocket PVS:
(We expect for the Quartz version of Pocket PVS to be released shortly
after the Quartz version of PVS -- this isn't for certain but is likely.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Much faster syncing
* Better feedback / Clearer messages
o Improved UI (in progress)
o Fullscreen Playback
o Streaming to PocketPC via wireless/cellular modem (almost done)

[srigby]

Thanks for the update, Indra.

Hopefully next week's report will contain a link!

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[Jason Bottjen]

Keep it up guys!

You've actually made me put my credit card away for now (had full plans on buying Showshifter due to lack of updates).

I really hope though that the 'Divx encoding' is actually more modular and will possibly support other codecs... For instance what about Windows Media v9 that will be out Sept 4 (beta form)?

Jason Bottjen

Originally posted by Indra Datta:
Greetings Everyone,

Please find below the latest Quartz development update as of 7/15/2002. This report will be updated and posted weekly to Announcements every Monday evening.

Any questions can be emailed to info@snapstream.com

Sincerely,
-- The SnapStream Development Team

Key: (*)=done (o)=not done

PVS Quartz Beta 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* record always capability with daily record always updates
o Installation/Configuration Wizard (almost done)
o .NET integration
o Fixing all known bugs ( 28 of 241 remaining )

Security:
* Remote Admin security
* Multiple levels of users
* Allows you to give users permission to watch, but not set recordings

Infrared:
* supports multiple remotes
* retrieve info from (and send to) central remote database
(training the IR Blaster is no longer required, but still possible)
* standalone commandline IR channel changing utility

.NET:
* User can add recordings from TitanTV
* User can add recordings from SSPG (.NET)
* Automated show lineup updating
o Automated channel lineup updating
o UI for SS.NET (in progress)
o SS.NET configuration wizard (almost done)


Additional Items Prior to the Release of PVS Quartz 1.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
o Live TV viewer w/ integrated program information and channel flipping
o Divx AVI encoding



Pocket PVS:
(We expect for the Quartz version of Pocket PVS to be released shortly
after the Quartz version of PVS -- this isn't for certain but is likely.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Much faster syncing
* Better feedback / Clearer messages
o Improved UI (in progress)
o Fullscreen Playback
o Streaming to PocketPC via wireless/cellular modem (almost done)

[srigby]

Jason,

I'd be interested to see what sort of quality SnapStream manages with DivX encoding. IMO, you can't effectively record in real-time to DivX - so, that leaves only re-compressing.

Maybe it's do-able at 320x240, but those days are gone.

I'm not too worried about the windows media 7, 8, and 9 issues. Windows Media 7-based media works one way or another on all OS's and does the job without choking the CPU.

I'm surprised Snapstream is thinking of divx encoding. I thought they'd do .mpeg first.

[Jason Bottjen]

In Showshifter I can record 640x480 in Divx 5 just fine. Usually use 3Mbit bitrate (sometimes higher), no audio recompression.

Use maybe 60% CPU while doing this on an Athlon XP 1800+.

I think there are better coedcs to use for realtime encoding though. Just pointing out that it can be done, at fairly high bitrates. The quality is actually pretty decent. There are some issues with real-time Divx encoding with artifacting on stationary backgrounds, etc though which is why I say there are better real-time encoding codecs.

Jason Bottjen

Originally posted by srigby:
Jason,

I'd be interested to see what sort of quality SnapStream manages with DivX encoding. IMO, you can't effectively record in real-time to DivX - so, that leaves only re-compressing.

Maybe it's do-able at 320x240, but those days are gone.

.... there's no way you're doing de-interlacing at 640x480 and having it only use 60 percent... de-interlacing is the single most cpu intensive part of all this... not doing de-interlacing is fine if you're outputting back to a television, but I'm outputting to a projector... so i need it. right now, divx with de-interlacing isn't possible in realtime, even on my 2.2ghz p4 box that I just got.

[brianh4321]

Excellent summary. I think you've set a new standard for the development of software.

If I could ask about the PocketPC upgrade. The current version's *recording* webpage doesn't render properly on a pocketpc in that it doesn't allow the ability to schedule a new recording using the pocketpc. Is this one of the fixes scheduled for the new version?

Not sure if the fix would be to the pocket or full size version.

Thanks again

[Jason Bottjen]

Absolutely correct. I am NOT deinterlacing.

I'm just going from my computer straight to my projection TV. Picture is great.

Jason Bottjen

Originally posted by <festivalman>:
.... there's no way you're doing de-interlacing at 640x480 and having it only use 60 percent... de-interlacing is the single most cpu intensive part of all this... not doing de-interlacing is fine if you're outputting back to a television, but I'm outputting to a projector... so i need it. right now, divx with de-interlacing isn't possible in realtime, even on my 2.2ghz p4 box that I just got.

[srigby]

Festivalman:

DivX 5, 640x480, 3M bit rate, but at what frame rate?

[srigby]

Jason:

DivX 5, 640x480, 3M bit rate, but at what frame rate?

[Scott McNay]

SSW already does a post-process step when it indexes WMV files, so perhaps they can work in 2-phase DiVX files also.

Indra?

--Scott.

Originally posted by srigby:
I'd be interested to see what sort of quality SnapStream manages with DivX encoding. IMO, you can't effectively record in real-time to DivX - so, that leaves only re-compressing.

Maybe it's do-able at 320x240, but those days are gone.

[Jason Bottjen]

30 fps, and I have rarely, if ever, seen it drop frames.

Jason Bottjen

Originally posted by srigby:
Jason:

DivX 5, 640x480, 3M bit rate, but at what frame rate?

We've talked about using a low-compression format and then postprocessing it using a more cpu intensive codec, but this brings up a number of issues:

1) We were thinking about this for PVR (hardware mpeg encoding) cards, but if you're re-encoding in software, you've gotten rid of the point of hardware encoding, right?

2) If a slow machine is constantly recording video, then the backlog of unprocessed video will just grow ad infinitum.

Because of this, we decided to just let you pick. If your computer is fast enough for Divx, go for it. If not, wmv is still there and still works great.

-Indra

[Daniel Broad]

Wrong decision.

1) The point of the hardware encoding cards is that the quality you can record at is not limited by the speed of your CPU so its the ideal companion to a post processing task to get smaller or pocket pc compatible files.

2) This is the users problem, and hardly likely to occur anyway.

I would like all my shows recorded at full frame pal (720x576), deinterlaced, 25 frames per second and no more than 750mb per hour, they don't make a CPU that can do that in real time but my dedicated Snapstream PC sits idle for 17 hours per day. Post processing is a sensible solution to these needs.