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</font><font face="Arial" size="6">Cougar Video Edition</font><font face="Arial" size="7"><br>
</font><font face="Arial" size="1">By Darin Genereux&nbsp;
000221</font></td>
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<h1><a name="_Toc475735514"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="4">Summary</font></span></a><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial"><o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Built
around the TNT2 M64 graphics chipset from NVidia, the Guillemot
Cougar Video Edition provides respectable 3D acceleration and
excellent video capture for value oriented consumers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Don’t let the low price fool you, this is a complete
video solution in a small package.</font></span></p>
<h1><a name="_Toc475735515"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="4">Introduction</font></span></a><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial"><o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Guillemot
has been getting a lot of attention these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>After releasing the highly acclaimed GeForce 3D Prophet and
with the recent acquisition of Hercules, Guillemot has attempted
to secure itself as one of the few remaining video card
manufacturers who do not produce their own chipsets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Through all the mergers last year, it was inevitable that
only a handful of companies would survive the ensuing cataclysm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Undaunted, Guillemot’s aggressive product development and
marketing departments have positioned their company into the top
tiers of an ever-changing multimedia marketplace.<o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">However,
even amongst all the rave reviews and glamorous publicity that
follows today’s hottest products, Guillemot has not forgotten
the needs of the special few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>They realize that out in the real world exist customers who
are need of more than the fastest polygon pusher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>These consumers want more video features without the
wallet-bleeding wizardry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>They
want video cards that can do it all, from video capture to DVD
acceleration, and without breaking the bank in the process.<o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">The
idea of producing an ultimate all-in-one consumer video board is
not new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>I believe it
was ATI who pioneered the trend, and thus set the stage for more
powerful and versatile products such as their latest All-in-Wonder
32MB Fury, the Matrox Marvel G400, and the ASUS V6600 Deluxe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Still, as great as those products may be, they are very
expensive and therefore not very practical to a large majority of
consumers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span><o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Thankfully,
Guillemot has introduced the 32MB Cougar Video Edition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Using the ever-popular NVidia TNT2 M64 chipset, it comes
standard with video capture, TV output, 3D acceleration, and DVD
decoding abilities.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp;</span><o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Throughout
the rest of this review I will examine the Cougar Video in detail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>I will include 3D benchmarks against a NVidia TNT video
board, provide test results of the video capture feature, and
describe my experiences with the card’s user friendliness and
image quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>In
addition, the video capture tests will be performed on two degrees
of computing power—a high end Athlon 700Mhz and a more moderate
K6-2 300Mhz system.<o:p>
&nbsp;</font></span></p>
<h1><a name="_Toc475735516"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="4">Features</font></span></a></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:375pt;height:264.75pt'
fillcolor="window">
<v:imagedata src="file:///f:/Temp/FrontPageTempDir/wpe3.jpg" o:title="cougar-small"/>
</v:shape><![endif]-->
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;mso-fareast-font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype
id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t"
path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/>
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<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"/>
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<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"/>
</v:formulas>
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<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t"/>
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_i1025" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:375pt;
height:264.75pt' fillcolor="window">
<v:imagedata src="../allegiance/images/index.37.jpg" o:title="cougar-small"/>
</v:shape><![endif]-->
<img src="images/index.37.jpg" v:shapes="_x0000_i1025" width="500" height="353"></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">G</span></font></b><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">ENERAL
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">S</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">PECIFICATIONS</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line"><o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">125MHz
128-bit NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 M64 processor<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">32MB
on-board Synchronous RAM clocked at 150MHz<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Vision-friendly
32-bit SVGA display performed through a 300MHz RAMDAC<o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Extended
display resolution up to 1920x1200 in 16 million colors<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">2X/4X
AGP interface with full AGP texturing support<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo5;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Meets
all Microsoft PC 98 hardware design requirements<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">3D
F</span></font></b><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">UNCTIONS<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></b></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line"><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;</span>Complete
DirectX 6.X and OpenGL ICD support<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">100%
hardware triangle setup<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Anti-aliasing<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">TwiN
Texel (TNT) 32-bit graphics pipeline<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Texture
blend support (Bump map - texture modulation - reflection
map…)<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Backend
blend (32-bit ARGB rendering - bilinear, trilinear and
anisotropic filtering…)<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Per
pixel perspective correction mapping (fog, light, mip-mapping)<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo4;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">32-bit
Z-buffer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>24-bit
Z-buffer and 8-bit stencil buffer<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">2D
F</span></font></b><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">UNCTIONS</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line"><o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Optimization
for minimal software overhead on Windows GDI calls<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">DirectDraw
acceleration:<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>Direct Frame Buffer (DFB) access<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Accelerated
primitives for color translation, points, line display<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Pipeline
optimized for multiple color depths (8, 15, 16, 24, 32 bits
per pixel)<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Execution
of all Microsoft Windows defined 256 raster operations<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Fast
text rendering from a hardware font cache<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">DMA
Pusher using NVIDIA Vanta multi-tasking features in the 2D
graphics pipeline<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">True
color hardware cursor, hardware color dithering <o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l7 level1 lfo3;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Multi-buffering
(double, triple and quad-buffer) smoothing animation</span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">DVD
V</span></font></b><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">IDEO
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">A</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">CCELERATION</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line"><o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line"><font size="3" face="Arial">Palette-DAC
pipeline. This accelerates full-motion video playback,
sustaining</font></span> <span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line"><font size="3" face="Arial">30
frames per second while retaining high quality color
resolution, implementing true bilinear filtering for scaled
video and compensating for filtering losses using edge
enhancement algorithms.<o:p>
</o:p>
</font></span></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Video
Acceleration for Microsoft DirectShow, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">DVD
sub-picture alpha blending composition<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Backend
hardware video scaling for video playback<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Hardware
color space conversion (YUV 4:2:0 and 4:2:2)<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Planar
YUV 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 conversion for software MPEG acceleration<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Multiple
video windows with hardware color space conversion and
filtering<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Per-pixel
color keying<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Support
for scaled field interframing to reduce motion artifacts<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l11 level1 lfo2;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">Multi-tap
X and Y filtering<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan lines-together;
page-break-after:avoid"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode:line"><font size="3" face="Arial">V</font></span></b><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">IDEO
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode:
line">I/O</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode:line">P</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; layout-grid-mode: line">ORTS<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></b></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">1
SVGA monitor jack<o:p>
</o:p>
<br>
1 S-VHS video input<o:p>
</o:p>
<br>
1 Composite video input<o:p>
</o:p>
<br>
1 S-VHS video output and <o:p>
</o:p>
<br>
1 S-VHS to composite converter cable<o:p>
</span></font><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US" style="layout-grid-mode: line">&nbsp;<o:p>
</o:p>
</span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.0pt"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">S</font></span></b><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt">OFTWARE</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>
</o:p>
</span></b></font></p>
<ul>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo12;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ulead
VideoStudio 3.0 SE</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo12;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Netshow
3.0 Encoder and Tools</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo12;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Xing DVD
Player 2.0.5</span></font></li>
<li>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo12;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Variety of
game and graphics demos</span></font></li>
</ul>
<h1><a name="_Toc475735517"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="4">Installation</font></span></a></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Installation
of the Cougar VE couldn’t be any easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>For those unaccustomed to adding and removing new hardware,
Guillemot has provided a very comprehensive manual on the entire
procedure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For even
further info, a PDF manual on the driver CD explains all the
advance D3D and OpenGL settings that are available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial"><i>Be
warned that due to the video capture feature, you must install the
drivers from the CD or else the video capture device will not be
recognized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Even
though the drivers on the CD are fairly outdated, based off
NVidia’s 2.40 reference drivers, I did not encounter any
noticeable bugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>However,
the later reference drivers provide better 3D performance and it
is possible to install them without compromising the video capture
functionality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></i></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">After
the initial drivers are loaded, the CDROM setup program installs
all the necessary software and video CODECs required for jumping
into the video capture fray.</font></span></p>
<h1><a name="_Toc475735518"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="4">2D
Windows</font></span></a></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">With
a 300Mhz RAMDAC and the NVidia TNT2 chipset, the Windows desktop
never looked better.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>The Cougar VE definitely delivers the sharpest imagery I have
ever witnessed on my trusty 17” monitor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>I definitely have no complaints concerning the Cougar’s
2D abilities.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">I’ve
noticed that a lot of video cards will tend to lose image quality
when pushed to their maximum refresh rate, especially text
crispness which can be very distracting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>By incorporating a 300Mhz RAMDAC, Guillemot has pretty much
assured that this card will not suffer the same fate.</font></span></p>
<h1><a name="_Toc475735519"><span lang="EN-US"><font face="Arial" size="4">Video
Capture</font></span></a></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">The
first thing I noticed after installation was a new icon in the
system tray.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>This handy little icon provides quick access to the video
editing and recording tools, as well as adjusting monitor settings
and launching a video-in monitoring window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The video window is great for watching a TV program or
movie from an external source, and even has nifty feature that
places the video into the Windows background.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="_x0000_s1027" type="#_x0000_t75"
style='position:absolute;margin-left:237.6pt;margin-top:6.2pt;width:225pt;
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mso-position-vertical-relative:text' o:allowincell="f">
<v:imagedata src="file:///f:/Temp/FrontPageTempDir/wpe4.jpg" o:title="ulead_screenshot_small"/>
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<img border="0" src="images/index.38.jpg" width="300" height="216"></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Of
course live video capturing is what it’s all about, and here is
where the bundled software comes into play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Ulead’s VideoStudio makes the process as simple as
pointing and clicking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The
basic interface may seem a bit too user-friendly with its stylish
buttons and curvaceous control panel--typically a sign of reduced
functionality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>However,
after a few sessions all the appropriate icons become very
familiar and its clear that versatility has not been compromised.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">VideoStudio
(VS) functions as a complete video-editing package.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>It captures video and audio to AVI and MPG files using
practically any CODEC (compression/decompression routines)
currently installed on your system (thankfully the Cougar VE setup
program installs the latest CODECs).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Each CODEC usually has its own set of parameters for
adjusting the image quality vs. compression ratio, and VS allows
you to modify them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>In
addition to basic capturing, VS uses a film-style motif for
creating compilations of video, images, music, voice-overs, title
pages, and fancy transition effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>For those who have never experienced video capture,
VideoStudio makes the whole experience very smooth and addicting.</font></span></p>
<h2><a name="_Toc475735520"><font face="Arial" size="4"><u><span lang="EN-US">Capture
Performance</span></u></font></a><font face="Arial" size="4"><u><span lang="EN-US"><o:p>
</span></u></font><span lang="EN-US"><u><font size="3" face="Arial"></o:p>
</font></u></span></h2>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">I
captured video using two different machines to get an idea of how
much horsepower is really necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The first consisted of an AMD K7 700Mhz, UDMA/66 hard
drive, and 256MB of SDRAM<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>(see
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">3D Performance</b>
section for complete details).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The second machine had the following hardware:</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo8;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ø<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>AMD K6-2 300Mhz</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo8;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ø<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>FIC VA-503+ mainboard</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo8;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ø<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>128MB SDRAM</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo8;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ø<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>Quantum Fireball 1.0GB hard drive</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo8;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ø<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>IBM Deskstar 4.3GB hard drive</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo8;
tab-stops:list 18.0pt"><font size="3" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-US">Ø<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</span>Aztech PCI-338 A3D soundcard</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">I
tried capturing with a variety of CODECs and audio formats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>For best quality capture, I used the Full Frames
(uncompressed) option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>To
reduce the file size, I tried several compression CODECs including
Intel Indeo 5.06, Microsoft MPEG-4 V3, and Radius Cinepak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Unfortunately the only one that would successfully compress
on the fly was an Indeo RAW format.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The RAW format produced files about 25% smaller, but at a
cost of performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Image
quality appeared to be similar to the uncompressed captures.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">All
tests were performed at a standard resolution of 320x240 and 30fps
(the NTSC frame rate).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For
the test sequence, I chose to use the snow speeder sequence from
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back<sup>®</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>This sequence has lots of full motion video that provide a
good stress test for the compression algorithms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>After capturing, I used the Windows Media Player to verify
the actual capture rate and image quality.</font></span></p>
<h4><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">System 1 - K7
Athlon</font></span></h4>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">As
expected, this machine had no problems with capturing full motion
video at 30fps using the uncompressed capture method.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Of course the file sizes are pretty large, roughly 2.7MB
per second of video and 44Khz stereo audio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>A 5 minute clip required approximately 800MB of free space,
not very appealing for long vid</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Even
with 700Mhz of Athlon power, the most the RAW CODEC could capture
at was about 22 frames per second using my test sequence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The frame rate varied slightly depending on the amount of
action in the video stream, as scenes with slower moving video
needed less CPU power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></font></span></p>
<h4><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">System 2 - K6-2</font></span></h4>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">First
off, DMA would not function properly using the old 1GB Fireball
hard drive.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>The most I could capture was at about 15 fps with DMA
disabled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After
adding the IBM Deskstar, DMA mode functioned properly and helped
the framerate quite a bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>However,
still using uncompressed capturing, it was limited to around 23
fps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Not bad really,
as I had expected worse.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>Limiting the capture rate to 24 fps helped to significantly
reduce lag effects in the final output.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Of course RAW mode faired worse, though a constant 15 fps
was attainable.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">After
capturing and editing, the next step was to compress/recompress
the video segments into a single AVI or MPG file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>Again, VideoStudio provides a choice of CODEC and
compression options for tweaking the desired quality vs. file size
ratio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The final
rendering process can take a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">long</i>
time (depending on the CPU), but it’s worth the wait.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes">&nbsp; </span>For example, using the MPEG-4 V3 CODEC, a 40 second 110MB
clip reduced was reduced to approximately 20MB with very little
loss in quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sacrificing
image and sound quality can attain much higher compression rates.</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><font size="3" face="Arial">Alternative
to recompressing with VideoStudio, the provided NetShow encoder
can also be used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It
managed some really spectacular compression ratios, though the
setup options aren’t quite as inclusive as I was looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The Netshow encoder is geared for streaming over the
Internet and therefore it doesn’t have a lot of high quality
options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>However, it
managed to do a respectable job on 1GB uncompressed AVI file
recorded at 172Kbps stereo and 24fps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>The final output was only 96Kbps stereo and 15 fps, but the
file size was a mere 10MB!</font></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-left:0cm"><font size="3" face="Arial"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal"><span lang="EN-US">Bottom line:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;
</span>To adequate capture video, you’ll need a) plenty of hard
drive space, b) a properly functioning DMA mode, and c) a decent
amount of CPU power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>From
my experience, I’d say that the K6-2 300 would be a realistic
minimum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span></span></font></p>
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