Introduction

EvolutionTV supports various capture formats, which can be played back by most if not all software video applications. However, you may need to install additional video codecs in order to play back some formats. A Video codec is an extenstion, which enables a software video player (like QuickTime Player) to read a video file.

I.Software Video Players

Miglia currently recommends two software video players:

QuickTime Player: QT Player is part of a standard Mac OS X installation. You will find the software in the Applications folder on your hard drive.

VLC Media Player: VLC (Video Lan Client) Media Player is an open source project available on several platforms. VLC provides broad compatibility and excellent performance.

II.Required Codecs

You may need to install a video codec to playback some formats. The requirements are listed below:

MPEG-2:MPEG-2 playback is directly supported by VLC, without any additional software installation. If you wish to play back an MPEG-2 file in QuickTime Player, you will need to install the MPEG-2 Playback component available from Apple’s website (Note: The MPEG-2 Playback component is not free of charge).

MPEG-4:No additional codecs are required to playback an MPEG-4 file. Simply open the file in QuickTime Player or VLC.

• DivX:

To playback DivX files, you will need to download the free of charge DivX

 

component available from http://www.divx.com

III. Playback problems

Please note that playing back video files requires more processor resources than recording them with the TV hardware.

If you have slower G4 processor, you may not be able to playback full size video. Should the image stutter while you play back the movie, please open the ‘Show Info’ window located in QuickTime’s Window menu. The info will help you determine the current frame/sec rate for the file you are playing.

Note that the normal frame rate for PAL (Europe, Asia, Australia) is 25 fps, while NTSC (North America, Japan) is 30 fps. If the frame rate is below these values while playing back, try quitting other applications or reduce the screen size.

AlchemyTV DVR™ User Guide

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Miglia Technology EvolutionTV manual Software Video Players, II. Required Codecs, III. Playback problems