CompuServe Messages

Hi Marc, wow … here goes … VGA overlay (as I understand it) is the ability to overlay computer generated output over the live video signal. FAST can do this … Miro does not … This is not a bad thing as the two devices are designed to do slightly different purposes. FAST is designed to process you video LIVE while it happens. ('online') Miro is designed to capture to Hard disk and you can then edit and create overlays to your hearts content and THEN re-play it and record it out ('offline') Y/C inputs are a higher quality video signal. With a conventional signal, ALL the elements that make the signal are combined. This creates some degredation of the signals as a whole. With the Y/C signal the Chromanance and Luminance portions of the signal are seperated 'at birth' if you like, and therefore can be transmitted with less loss and distortion. TBC Acronym for Time Base Corrector. Althogh I cannot explain in detail how this works, I can say that as you copy tapes, each generation becomes successivly worse (VHS usually streches to about 3 or four copies before becoming completely unusable). This is because as each generation is re-copied the 'sync' or 'controll' information on the tape becomes degraded. Throuh each copy this degradation is amplified. A TBC will 're-write' this information thus preserving the quality of the transferr. I was interested to see that the FAST board would not show images from my Cannon UC10 without the it's (FAST's) TBC turned on. With no TBC the best I could get was a very wavy B&W image. With the TBC … no problem. MJpeg for FAST (If you buy the MJPEG option) MJpeg for Mirro Disk BW is vital …. also clean unfragmented disk. A slow disk means dropped frames which are entirley visable when played back ! Compression variable ? FAST .. not sure (don't remember), Miro YES. changing image quality ? with the mirro I did notice a slight strobing of the background during a fast panned shot. Did not get to try this with FAST. FAST comes bundled with ADOBE PREMIER (if you buy the MJPEG option) Mirio comes with anther product that looks pretty good, but it's the shortened version. I think $200 get you the upgrade to the full version that includes video and sound editing, image editing, morphing, etc. New Media mag has been running add for a product called RAZOR which looks pretty good at approx $150 US. Hope this helps, Regards, Wit C.