DV PC display utility? at DVinfo.net

Bill Ball · April 21st, 2004, 08:00 AM

I recently discovered that the capture utility inside of Premiere Pro does an excellent job of displaying DV over the firewire connection in real time--full motion, sharp as a tack, and in proper aspect ratio (i.e. 16:9). I'd like to do something like this on my mini-laptop (which has an excellent screen for this purpose), so I can use it as a field monitor.

However I cant size the capture window to full screen in Premiere and I'd rather not install the full Premiere app just to display the video feed over the firewire link.

Does anyone know of a (Windows based) display or capture utility that will work for me? It needs to preview video over firewire, show 16:9 properly, be full screen, and be at least as sharp as the on camera display. I dont care if its not quite full frame rate as I would use it for framing and focus. I dont need capture, just display. Movie Maker wont do this.

Rob Lohman · April 21st, 2004, 09:20 AM

I would not resize to fullscreen. Why? because you are doing
interpolation then. Which results in a different image basically.
You need to see the feed as is, not through another filter.

Rob Hester · April 21st, 2004, 10:00 AM

true.

i was thinking that you could lower your screen resolution to 720x480 (use powerstrip to create a custom resolution) and then you'd see it 1:1

however laptops are lcd's and in that they only have *one* native resolution (which is usually 1024x768 or 1280x1024) so this wouldn't be a good solution either as the monitor does its own interpolation.

Bill Ball · April 21st, 2004, 10:26 AM

Good point about losing resolution on full screen upsizing.

I'm trying to use the Sony TR3a, which has the following screen "10.6" Wide (1280x768) TFT display with XBRITE technology ." The screen is extra wide and amazingly good -- very bright but with deep dark blacks. Its not like other laptop or DVD player screens that are all washed out. Of course its also extra wide. It also doesnt hurt that the whole PC is tiny and weighs only 3 lbs. I'll fiddle around with the resolution settings. The Premiere cap program works, but I can only get about 50% screen coverage with it.

Rob Lohman · April 21st, 2004, 01:02 PM

Stick to that Bill. Rob H. has another good point on lower
resolution of the screen. It will interpolate up again. Just stick
with 50% screen.

Adrian Douglas · April 22nd, 2004, 08:01 PM

Try using Scenalyzer, it allows you to resize the preview window to any size you want. onne thing you will find though is that unless your mini-laptop has a fast processor/plenty of RAM your real-time playback may suffer.

April 21st, 2004, 08:00 AM	#1
Bill Ball Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NEW JERSEY Posts: 216	DV PC display utility? I recently discovered that the capture utility inside of Premiere Pro does an excellent job of displaying DV over the firewire connection in real time--full motion, sharp as a tack, and in proper aspect ratio (i.e. 16:9). I'd like to do something like this on my mini-laptop (which has an excellent screen for this purpose), so I can use it as a field monitor. However I cant size the capture window to full screen in Premiere and I'd rather not install the full Premiere app just to display the video feed over the firewire link. Does anyone know of a (Windows based) display or capture utility that will work for me? It needs to preview video over firewire, show 16:9 properly, be full screen, and be at least as sharp as the on camera display. I dont care if its not quite full frame rate as I would use it for framing and focus. I dont need capture, just display. Movie Maker wont do this.

April 21st, 2004, 09:20 AM	#2
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	I would not resize to fullscreen. Why? because you are doing interpolation then. Which results in a different image basically. You need to see the feed as is, not through another filter. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 21st, 2004, 10:00 AM	#3
Rob Hester Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 113	true. i was thinking that you could lower your screen resolution to 720x480 (use powerstrip to create a custom resolution) and then you'd see it 1:1 however laptops are lcd's and in that they only have one native resolution (which is usually 1024x768 or 1280x1024) so this wouldn't be a good solution either as the monitor does its own interpolation. __________________ JVC DV3000U - 30P (non-interlaced) capture on a budget - tests@http://robvideo.netfirms.com

April 21st, 2004, 01:02 PM	#5
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Stick to that Bill. Rob H. has another good point on lower resolution of the screen. It will interpolate up again. Just stick with 50% screen. __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

April 22nd, 2004, 08:01 PM	#6
Adrian Douglas Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Chigasaki, Japan. Posts: 1,660	Try using Scenalyzer, it allows you to resize the preview window to any size you want. onne thing you will find though is that unless your mini-laptop has a fast processor/plenty of RAM your real-time playback may suffer. __________________ Adrian DVInfo.net Search for quick answers Where to buy? From the best in the business...DVInfo.net sponsors

April 21st, 2004, 10:26 AM	#4
Bill Ball Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: NEW JERSEY Posts: 216	Good point about losing resolution on full screen upsizing. I'm trying to use the Sony TR3a, which has the following screen "10.6" Wide (1280x768) TFT display with XBRITE technology ." The screen is extra wide and amazingly good -- very bright but with deep dark blacks. Its not like other laptop or DVD player screens that are all washed out. Of course its also extra wide. It also doesnt hurt that the whole PC is tiny and weighs only 3 lbs. I'll fiddle around with the resolution settings. The Premiere cap program works, but I can only get about 50% screen coverage with it.