Q: What is FireWire ?
A: FireWire is an Apple trademark for the IEEE 1394 standard.
Q: What is i.LINK ?
A: i.LINK is a Sony trademark for the IEEE 1394 standard.
Q: Who is
the target customer for the 1394/FireWire Card?
A: Notebook computer users without an IEEE 1394 port. The card includes two 1394
(FireWire) ports in the PCMCIA version and 3 in the PCI version, and once
inserted it enables your computer to communicate with 1394-enabled consumer
electronic and peripheral devices.
Q: Why is 1394
(FireWire) good for video editing?
A: In the world of video editing, 1394-enabled cameras remove the need for
analog-to-digital converters and frame buffers, otherwise known as "video
cards".
1394 also improves upon existing interfaces such as SCSI (traditional storage
for digital video).
1394 provides higher speed, lower cost and more user-friendly than other
existing video interfaces.
Q: What is Digital Video?
A: Digital Video is mostly an all-encompassing term meaning video being viewed
or manipulated in the digital domain (e.g. computer), or sometimes simply video
stored in a digital tape format. The video may have originally been analog
source material digitized into a computer or it may have been stored directly to
a digital tape format.. People talk about "Digital Video" when they discuss
video editing on a computer, called non-linear editing (NLE). There are some
confusion about that term when used generically. Traditionally, digital tape
formats were only available at the professional level (D-1, Digital Betacam,
etc.) but now digital tape formats have emerged onto the consumer scene.
DV (and DVCAM & DVCPRO) is a relatively new digital tape format. It was
initially developed by a consortium of 10 companies as a consumer digital video
format. There are now over 60 companies in the DVC consortium including SONY,
Panasonic, JVC, Philips and other brand names.
DV (also called mini-DV in its smallest tape form) was originally known as DVC
(Digital Video Cassette). It uses 1/4 inch (6.35mm) metal evaporate tape to
record very high quality digital video. The video is sampled at the same rate as
D-1, D-5 or Digital Betacam video, although the color information is only half
the D-1 rate 4:1:1 in 525-lines (NTSC), and 4:2:0 in 625-lines (PAL) formats. DV
images are compressed with a superior technique to motion-JPEG, allowing for
higher-quality 5:1 compression. DV video information is a constant data-rate of
about 36 Mbps.
Q:
Does the 1394 card come with video editing software software?
A: Certain cases yes, Depends on the configuration, If included it is
VideoStudio from ULEAD or Video Wave from MGI. Either VideoStudio or Video Wave,
lets you capture video from a camcorder, television, VCR, DVD, laserdisc or
WebCam. Packaged templates make it easy to configure your hardware for video
input, and most digital cameras and capture devices are supported.
Q: Are there any software
requirements?
A: Windows users do not need any additional software; the 1394 drivers are
included in Windows 98 SE or later. MAC user should have MAC OS 8.6 or higher
Q: What
are the advantages of IEEE 1394 over other interfaces?
A: IEEE 1394 replaces today’s bulky and expensive interfaces by using a thin
serial cable. Plus IEEE 1394 is very easy to use, it eliminates the need to load
software or perform time consuming and tedious setups. And IEEE 1394 is known
for its speed; it supports guaranteed delivery of time critical data that
enables high-quality audio and video applications.
Q:
What is the difference between 1394 (FireWire) and Universal Serial Bus (USB)?
A: Anyone experienced with both USB and 1394 (FireWire) probably considers the
latter a complement to USB, rather than a replacement.
It offers much higher speeds and synchronous and asynchronous video / audio /
data transfer. USB is easy to use and works well for computer peripherals
requiring less speed, such as keyboards and trackballs.
1394 (FireWire) is just as easy to use but works at a much higher speed, ideal
for mass storage and dozens of other applications.
Many new desktops and portable PCs and Macintosh computers offer both ports.
FireWire is like USB in many ways and the two technologies coexist on Pentium
systems. While USB is great for lower-speed input devices such as keyboards,
mice, joysticks, etc, FireWire is aimed at higher-speed multimedia peripherals
such as video camcorders, music synthesizers and hard disks. Both technologies
offer incredible convenience through their Hot-Plug capabilities, eliminating
any need to turn off or restart the computer when attaching a new peripheral.
They also feature automatic configuration, no device Ids or terminators and
simple-to-use cables. USB can support up to 127 devices per computer and
FireWire up to 63 devices.
Q: Does 1394 (FireWire)
replace SCSI?
A: For many users and application, yes! Like SCSI, FireWire is a high-speed
protocol.
But SCSI devices require they be daisy chained in a line one after another.
You cannot "Hot-Swap" SCSI devices without risking damage, and unique Ids and
terminators are required.
FireWire chains can be set up in a much more flexible topology.
You can plug-in more devices with FireWire, extend them for longer distances and
connect / disconnect them in real time. Some new computers have been released
without SCSI ports in favor of a 1394 (FireWire) interface.
Q: What
Operating Systems does our 1394 cards support?
A: Our 1394 cards supports Windows 98SE, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Mac OS 8.6
or later. A 300MHz or faster CPU is recommended.
Q:
What are the system
requirements to use 1394 Card?
A: Windows - One Type II CardBus slot or a PCI slot and a 300MHz or faster CPU
is recommended. Apple - Macintosh PowerBook G3 Series with CardBus bay or PCI
bay.
Q: Do
all the IEEE 1394 peripherals have to be the same speed?
A: No, the IEEE 1394 Card supports multiple speeds. It will sense the speed of
the device attached and matches it allowing support for 100, 200 and 400Mb
(megabit) devices on the fly.
Q: Can you use the 1394 to boot
from?
A: No, at this time IEEE 1394 devices are not supported as a bootable drive.
Q: What does hot swap mean?
A: Hot swap means you can plug in and unplug the FireWire CardBus PCMCIA card
(Only) without restarting the Operating System every time.
Q:
What kind of products can talk to each other using a IEEE 1394 connection?
A: IEEE 1394 is for connecting digital electronic devices such as DV camcorders,
DV VCRs, digital still cameras, digital set-top boxes, and many computer
peripheral devices (scanners, CD-ROM's, disk drives, etc.) that have a 1394
connector.
Q: How many devices does
IEEE 1394 support?
A: IEEE 1394 can connect up to 63 devices and up to 16 consecutive cable hops.
Q: What does 1394 Card include?
A: The package includes, PCMCIA - FireWire CardBus Card, 15-pin to 6-pin
FireWire Cable, 15-pin to 4-pin FireWire Cable, Ulead’s VideoStudio video
editing software. PCI - FireWire Card, and on certes a 6 pin to 4 pin FireWire
Cable, and/or video editing software
