ELSA VideoControl

With ELSA VideoControl, you can record and play back videos. It is possible to record stills, and if DVD software is installed, to play back DirectShow-supported DVD's (e.g. ELSAMovie).

Record video and stills

Select input source

Select input format

Set recording mode

Target file

Start and stop recording

Play back video

Play back DVD

Video text

Color calibration

Color

Brilliance

Control volume

Layout

Generate your own layout


Video and still recording
Recording video and stills

1.	Select input source
To make a recording, select one of the three input channels. The video standard of the input signal (PAL or NTSC) will appear in the display or if no signal is present ‘no signal'.

2.	Select input format
If you right-click one of the three input channels, a dialog box appears, in which you can define the frame speed and size to be used for recording.

Note: The faster the frame speed and the larger the size, the more data must be processed and stored. The maximum allowable values for preventing picture loss during recording is dependent on the computer system.

3.	Set recording mode
If you want to record a video, select the 'Video' button, and for stills, the 'Single' button.

a.	Video
Videos are stored in AVI format, using MJPEG compression. This compression reduces the file size, without seriously affecting picture quality.
You are able to limit the recording time. You select this by using the 'Timed' button. The display shows the currently set recording duration. By clicking this display, or by moving the slider near the 'Timed' button, the recording duration can be changed. The minimum recording duration is one second, and the maximum is five hours.

b.	Single
Stills are stored in Windows BMP format.
ELSA VideoControl can be used as a Web cam. Namely, stills are recorded at regular intervals. To do this, select the 'Wcam' button. The display shows the interval, at which the stills are recorded. To define the interval length, click this display, or use the slider near the 'Wcam' button. The shortest possible interval is one second, and the longest is one hour.

4.	Target file
The display shows the current target file. You can determine this, by right-clicking the record button. Depending on the recording mode, this will be a video file (AVI) or a graphics file (BMP).

a.	Video
For video recording, simply enter a file in the dialog box. The AVI extension is automatically attached, if none is entered.

b.	Single
For still recording, also enter a file in the dialog box. The BMP extension is automatically attached, if none is entered.
In WebCam mode, this file is continually updated. If you want to save the successive pictures in different files, use the number sign (#) in the file name. Now the files are numbered, in that this symbol is replaced with a successive number, beginning with 0. In addition, if you specify a number after the number sign, only that many pictures are saved. The next following picture then gets the number 0 again.
Example: B#3TEST.BMP generates the pictures B0TEST.BMP, B1TEST.BMP, B2TEST.BMP, B0TEST.BMP, etc.

5.	Start and stop recording
Recording is started by means of the record button. Depending on the recording mode, recording is automatically stopped, or you can end the recording by pressing the stop button.
When video recording is ended, ELSA VideoControl automatically switches to playback mode.


Play back video

Select the playback mode for ELSA VideoControl by using the 'File' button. Both AVI and MPEG videos can be played back. You can select the type of file to be played back by clicking the 'Select' button.


Play back DVD

Select the DVD playback mode for ELSA VideoControl by using the 'DVD' button. To do this, you require installed DVD software that supports DirectShow (e.g. ELSAMovie), and a DVD drive. When the DVD is started, the DVD main menu is displayed. Depending on the DVD, you can then start the movie, or let it display additional stuff. By clicking the 'Eject' button, you can open the DVD drive, to insert a new DVD.

Note: DVD films often feature copy protection. Some DVD software does not handle this protection mechanism correctly.In some cases, it may be necessary to restart the computer before the playback of a DVD film can be repeated.


Video text

If the input source video signal includes video text, you can display this by selecting the video text button. The video text page is changed by clicking the page number on the displayed page, or by directly entering the number on the keyboard.

If you select the 'HTML' button, the video page text is saved as an HTML page. To select the directory, in which these files are saved, right-click the 'HTML' button.


Volume
Control volume

Volume can be controlled for video recording, as well as the playback of videos and DVD's. There are two pairs of controls for this, 'Volume In' and 'Volume', each with a left and right channel. When the left mouse button is pressed, this control can be moved. When the right mouse button is used, the left and right channels are moved together.

Note:

1.	With mono-recorded videos, both controls are automatically moved together.

2.	If your sound card does not support recording volume adjustment in DirectShow, you need to control the volume with the Windows mixer, or with software that came with your sound card.


Color calibration

The color settings for the video inputs can be adjusted to meet your needs. This is accomplished by using the 'Color' and 'Brilliance' control interfaces.

1.	Color
The 'Color' control interface is used to control color saturation, and the sharpness (PAL) or color shift (NTSC). Saturation is changed by moving the control element vertically, and sharpness/color shift is changed by moving it horizontally.

2.	Brilliance
The 'Brilliance' control interface is used to control input signal contrast and brightness. Contrast is changed by moving the control element vertically, and brightness is changed by moving it horizontally.


Layout

ELSA VideoControl can have different configurations. Its appearance depends on the installed layouts. If you right-click the interface, a menu appears, which contains a 'Layout' menu item. In a submenu of this item, all installed layouts are shown. From this list, a layout can be selected.

Generate your own layout

You can also generate your own layout. The simplest way to do this, is to copy an existing layout file, rename it, then edit it.

For the valid parameters of the individual sections, please refer to the file 'Layout.txt', which is located in the EVLAYOUT sub-directory of the ELSA VideoControl installation directory.

 Although it is not necessary, we recommend that each layout be contained in a separate sub-directory.

 ELSA VideoControl searches the EVLAYOUT directory and all sub-directories for layout files.