Frequently Asked Questions  

1. Cannot restore with evaluation version
2. The "Save" session ends before the end of the files
3. What happens if I delete the recording info from the list, will dvstreamer still be able to retreive the info on the tape even if it's not in the list anymore?
4. NTSC or PAL? How do I know which version to use?
5. How reliable is the backup, is it safe enough for me to delete the files I backed-up from my drive?
6. I get a message "Cannot find DVStreamer filter" (or DVStreamerPRO)
7. I get a message "Could not find DV Camcorder
8. I get a "no pin" message?
9. The Active Movie Window is too large
10. The Camera does not start to record (or to restore)!
11. The diagnostic tool says "Windows95". I have Windows98 SE. What' s wrong?
12. Do you need to do the install twice on dualboot system?
13. Can I save DV AVI clips using DVStreamer?
14. Does the protection algorithm use RS FEC?
15. Do you support the DVCAM format and tapes up to 40GB?
16. I have an analog capture card. Why can't I use it? What about my VHS? 
17. Is there a risk of damaging my DV? Will it wear the heads and prematurely age my Camcorder?
18. What happens after the one month evaluation period?

Answer : Your question is quite interesting. The header is stored in redundant way (3 times spaced apart by 2 second), and, normally, is always recovered even on old tape. The only reasons why it would not be recovered are :

1. The evaluation period is finished, and for some reason, DVStreamer believes that the clock has been moved to trick it.
2. DVStreamer detected that the clock has been moved back (even if not beyond evaluation period).
3. DVStreamer detected something strange like use of debugger or other such tool.
4. The software (evaluation version) was reinstalled after the data was saved to tape.
5. The data was saved on one computer and you are trying to restore with another one.
6. DVStreamer detected the software executable was modified.

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Of course, you can save AVI files using DVStreamer in the same way as any other file, but ....

DV camcorders are designed to store DV video in native format. DVStreamer uses a trick to fill in data into video frames, so the data can be copied and restored from the DV tape. You can always save a DV AVI file to tape using DVStreamer, but by doing this, you loose about 30% capacity (compared with native DV). The only thing you win is error protection. 

In native DV mode, there are very few errors transferring to tape and back, and DV is not too sensitive to a few errors. So we don't recommend that you use DVStreamer to save DV format files. Use native DV mode, with your capture software. 

On the other hand, DVStreamer is very convenient to save MPEG, DIVX, MP3 or JPEG files to tape.

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Depending on your settings, the default active movie windows could be quite large. A simple reghack changes the play resolution to 1/2 or 1/4 the size of the original. CPU load also benefits by becoming lower. Copy the red text to a notepadfile and save as *.reg, then doubleclick on it. (user input from the Forum)

Full res:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectShow\DVDecProperties]
"PropDisplay"=dword:000003e8

1/2 res.:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectShow\DVDecProperties]
"PropDisplay"=dword:000003e9

1/4 res.:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\DirectShow\DVDecProperties]
"PropDisplay"=dword:000003ea.

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Your question is quite valid. If you have a dual boot computer, you need to do the installation two times : one time for each OS. The P_Gen.ax (or DVSPRO_Gen.ax) component is in fact a DLL. Each OS has to be informed of its location (the directory) and its capabilities. This is done by the registration process. If the capabilities change, then the only way to update is to un-register and re-register. This is like installing MS Office on a dual boot system : you need to do it twice, even if it is installed the same directory for both OS.

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DVStreamer generates a standard DV video stream. The data is hidden within the video information, and the DV does not see any difference with the upload of an AVI file. So far, nobody has ever reported any damage at all to the DV camcorder. The worst case has been a spontaneous reboot of the DV camcorder itself - it crashed- (2 occurences on JVC camcorders - problems of  DV-in programming suspected in those two cases).

One hour of use of the DV for saving and restoring data generates strictly the same wear and tear on the DV mechanism and recording heads as one hour saving and capturing video.

All DVStreamer development and qualification tests are made with my personal Sony PC100. Over the last 3 years, its been used both for personal video (150 hours) and DVStreamer tests (300 hours). It survived being dropped by my 2 1/2 years old son. It's been used with both Sony and TDK tapes, and its heads were never cleaned. It still produces error free recordings. Most debugging tests being done with very short files, the Play, Record, Search, Rewind functions has been used extensively (thousands of times), and work flawlessly. 

DV tapes on the other hand are another story. The errors on any given part of the tape increase with the number of write or reads performed on this tape segment. Brand new tapes and recent tapes (less than 10 writes or read) provide error free recording. However, the number of errors increase with tape wear. Towards 100-200 write or read on any given tape segment, this tape segment becomes unusable for DVStreamer.

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No, DVStreamer does not use Reed-Solomon Forward Error Correction. The DVStreamer technology is  subject of domestic and international patent application (Pat. pending.), and cannot be described in details for the moment. Be assured that the error detection and protection mechanism is particularly suited to DV, and is extremely reliable, and when the pop-up message says "no errors" or "errors can be/were repaired", it is 100% sure to the last bit.

The Header information is redundant (in fact several copies spaced by one second intervals), and one copy OK is enough to recover it. Even if the header is totally lost, the file could be recovered (although you would need a special version of DVStreamer for this), and as the name of the file is visible in the video, you could also restore it to its real file name...

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The short answer is : yes. DVStreamerPRO has been tested successfully with DVCAM. 

• In theory, the concept implemented should work not only with DV, but also all equivalent formats (DVCAM and DVCPRO), although we never had any chance of trying DVCPRO. The only requirement is that the video frame must be a standard DV video frame, i.e. 12 (or 10 for NTSC) DIF sequences, 135 video compressed macroblocks, 9 audio, etc... of exactly 144 000 bytes or 120 000 bytes. If you can capture your video to PC using standard DV capture software through the firewire link, it should work. 
• Re filesize, there is not longer an internal limitation within DVStreamer (there is one for the Evaluation version). The current registered version should be able to go up to 99GB, except for the fact that the software  has never been tested for such high numbers, in particular re memory leaks.

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It seems that your camera does not accept ATN search (searching automatically for a specific position on the tape). You should try using the non-ATN search. To do this, open the "More options" window, and untick the use "ATN search" box. If it does not improve the situation, it means that you should use the manual mode as follows :

I suggest you switch back to the normal mode for your first tries, and not use the unprotected mode (because it helps getting a feeling about the behavior of your PC and DV, if there are errors or not, lost frames, etc....). 

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As stated by its name, an analog card captures the video from the DV camcorder from the composite video port. The video which was originally digital is converted to analog , and then reconverted by the capture card back to digital for editing on the PC. Because of what is called "quantification effect", the digital-analog-digital conversions required to upload and retrieve data on tape doe not restitute the exact original data. This is why an analog card cannot be used with our products. Nor can you use your VHS..... 

On the other hand, when using the IEEE 1394 interface, all transfers are seamlessly digital, and it is exactly the same data which gets uploaded to the camcorder, written to tape, read and downloaded back to the PC. 

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This may happen due to problems reading the files to be saved. For some reason, the current file is not read fast enough to feed the camcorder.

During the whole Save session, the bottom left hand Status should show "Saving xxx MB Buffers 128 128 128". The 3 buffer values are internal queues in DVStreamer. The first buffer value should always be close to 128 (except at the end of the session, where it will go down to 0). When it reaches 0, the session ends.

If this value drops significantly below 128, it means the current file is not read fast enough.

There are several possible reasons for this you must consider :

1. disk fragmentation
2. the disk speed is globally too slow, and the current file data is in a slow access part of the disk
3. the antivirus (e.g. Norton) is active and slowing down file read
4. another application has started and is accessing the disk

You might loose an awful lot of time trying to (unsuccessfully) save and restore files due to any of these reasons. For example, Norton Antivirus might suddenly slow everything down after you have successfully saved 300 MB without problems, and then you notice the queue dropping to 60 and then to 30 and then going up again to 128. Even if the session is not stopped prematurely, there are good chances that this has caused an unrecoverable number of lost frames.

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There are several possible reasons for this :

1. You connected or powered up the DV after launching DVStreamer. Close DVStreamer, connect the DV and then relaunch DVStreamer.
2. DirectX is not correctly installed. Check the correct installation using the DXDiag.exe utility.
3. Another video application is running and has already captured the DV driver. Close this application, reconnect the DV and relaunch DVStreamer.
4. You have a Sony Vaio. Sony delivers its Vaio PC configured with a specific DirectShow DV video capture filter, instead of the standard Microsoft one. To use DVStreamer, you must switch your PC back to use the Microsoft component. Adobe provides a utility (SonySwitcher.exe) which can be downloaded from Adobe's web site in the Premiere download section (http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=1187). The SonySwitcher can be used to switch back and forth between the two drivers.

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Nothing. The tool checks the internal system name : major and minor version number and system built as defined by Microsoft and reported by the system, not the "commercial name" under which the systems are known. The table below provides the matching commercial name.