tems, we use 1 GB or larger drives with data transfer rates of at least 11 MB/second (ATA Mode 3) and seek
times of 14 ms or less.
In general, we recommend that you have a display with at least 256 colors and preferably 64K colors minimum.
Videogram Creator will work on systems even with 16 colors but the quality will be very poor since the original
data was compressed from 16 million colors. Videograms created on systems displaying less than 64K colors will
appear to have more compression artifacts due to the compression of colors necessary to reduce 16 million colors
down to 64K.
Q. Does the recipient of a Videogram need to have a multimedia kit, or a sound card and speakers, to play it
back?
Yes, in order to hear the audio portion of the Videogram. Without a sound card and speakers, the audio cannot
be played back. The video, however, will run normally.
In general, we recommend that a recipient have at least a display with 256 colors and preferably 64K colors
minimum. The Videogram will play on systems even with 16 colors but the quality will be very poor since the
original data was compressed from 16 million colors. In systems with 256 colors or less, additional work must
be done to map the colors to the limited set. This will slow down playback and cause more frames to be drop-
ped.
Q. What are the parameters you can adjust when creating a Videogram?
You can adjust the resolution of the Videogram, the audio and video codecs used for compression and the quali-
ty level of the compression. You can trim the beginning and ending points of the video clip, and you can also
specify the title (appears in the title bar during playback) of the Videogram.
Q. Can I capture using an editing program, such as Adobe Premiere? How do I do this?
Yes. You can capture video directly from Adobe Premiere. You can also capture video using Videogram Creator
and save it to an AVI file using the Save Captured Video to File command in the File Menu. Adobe Premiere
can then read the AVI file.
Q. In what formats can I save video clips captured with the Philips PCA635VC Camera?
Philips PCA635VC capture video in a standard AVI format. Only after the captured video has been compressed
into a Videogram is the file saved as an ‘.EXE’ or ‘.VGM’. The captured video can also be saved as an AVI file.
Q. How does Videogram compression compare to QuickTime?
QuickTime is a file format standard for video and audio first used on the Macintosh. QuickTime movies typi-
cally have an extension of MOV on a PC and are similar to Video for Windows files (which have an AVI exten-
sion). Both file formats support different video and audio codecs including Indeo and Cinepak. When compa-
ring compression ratios, users should compare the VG codec to Indeo, Cinepak, MPEG, Microsoft Video, or
any others. In general the ’ codecs are 2 to 3 times more efficient in both audio and video compression.
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