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BCD ProductNews
Volume 5, Issue 5
14 March 2005
As of March 2005, Apollo release 1.7 is available and included in the
TransForm A - Suite CD shipped with every TransForm A Windows
system. On top of some considerable improvements of the existing
functionalities, two outstanding features have been added:
Scenario management and the Cottus gateway server.
Release note
Apollo – Release 1.7
Introduction
A
POLLO Release 1.7 comes with two major new features:
• Scenario Management
• Cottus Gateway server
In addition, A
POLLO release 1.7 includes the following enhancements:
• additional and improved viewer decoration (status border, placement of IDCs)
• enhanced image quality and quality control of FRG viewer
• support of the
QUAD SDI INPUT CARD via FRG viewer
• automatic loading of layouts and area for unexpected windows
• device control support of O
VERVIEW CPU67-DL
• get/set viewer decoration and change the codec of a streaming source via the A
POLLO API
Scenario Management
Scenario Management is based on the A
POLLO API and allows the automation of actions in
combination with triggers and a schedule via a graphical user interface. The user interface for
defining scenarios is a Java web start application and can run on every workstation on the
network.
Release 1.0 of the Scenario Management includes a.o. actions for loading/unloading layouts,
switching pre-defined sources of the viewers, defining new streaming sources, changing the
active lamp, switching projectors to and from standby etc. The scheduler allows setting every
imaginable start time and repetition of executing the scenario.
Scenario Management comes for free. It has a separate installation procedure. Besides the
client installation of the A
POLLO API, it also requires Java runtime environment, the Apache
TomCat server and Wasp4tomcat (all included on the TransForm A - Suite CD-ROM).
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BCD ProductNews
Cottus Gateway
Cottus Gateway is an optional enhancement to the Cottus Viewer. Identical copies of a
desktop in multiple Cottus viewer windows can be shown at the same time on one or more
displays on the network. Next to that Cottus Gateway enables recording and/or playback of
desktop sessions. The Cottus Viewer can now also be used to show recorded sessions.
The Proxy Gateway Server acts as a central communication hub. It also stores and retrieves
recordings of previous host sessions. When recorded, a typical desktop takes between one
and two Megabytes per minute. Therefore the hard disk capacity has to be well considered
when selecting the Proxy Gateway Server workstation.
Cottus Gateway is an option and requires additional licenses equal, and in addition to the
number of Cottus licenses in a project.
Viewers
All Viewers benefit from the enhanced driver support of the “In Display Captions”: Now IDCs
are no longer part of the source stream, but of an additional layer to the content. Besides
requiring less system resources, this implementation also allows to place IDCs outside the
source content.
In addition, all viewer windows can be surrounded by a colored status border, both static or
blinking, in order to catch the attention of the operator.
Following frequent requests, signal-loss detection handling has been implemented for the
ProViewer, the Cottus Viewer and the FRG viewer: if the connection to the source is lost, a
chosen background image and/or IDC text can be displayed.
The Cottus Viewer has been enhanced by the viewport functionality: now an area of a
desktop can be selected and zoomed between 0% and 2000% while keeping the aspect ratio.
In addition the Cottus Gateway option is available.
The FRG viewer in A
POLLO Release 1.7 now provides the controls to take benefit from the
enhanced image quality of video applications introduced by the Windows Driver Suite
Rel. 3.51 (see BCD ProductNews Vol.4, issue 18). The pixel format for video and RGB can be
set interactively, depending on the individual requirements. However the default format for
video is YUV 4:2:2, and the default format for RGB is RGB5:6:5. For RGB8:8:8 it has to be
considered that the bandwidth requirement increases by 50%.
Besides, the FRG viewer now supports also the Q
UAD SDI INPUT CARD and has enhanced
support for the
STREAMING VIDEO CARD: the firmware of the SVC is shown, and new
placeholders for stream names have been introduced.
Device Control
A
POLLO Release 1.7 extends the list of supported devices with OVERVIEW CPU67-DL. Switching
the projector to and from standby, selecting the operation mode, changing the active lamp,
selecting a source, setting serial numbers and runtimes of lamps are some of the supported
features. By means of the virtual IR remote control dialog window all functions of the OSD
can be accessed.
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BCD ProductNews
Desktop Management
A
POLLO Desktop Management now offers the possibility to position unexpected windows in a
dedicated area, which can be explicitly configured in both position and size. It is now possible
to prevent windows to overlay critical information on the display wall by moving them into
this reserved area. However, if desired, applications may also be excluded from this window
management feature.
Especially to mention is also the auto load functionality of a configured layout and the hidden
property. Auto loading is very handy e.g. for pre-loading viewers, which considerably reduces
the time needed for starting a viewer. To ensure that e.g. preloaded viewers are not
unloaded, the property of the respective layout can be set to “hidden” thus preventing any
manipulation of this layout.
Synchronization of loading/unloading of layouts ensures a structured and well-defined
loading/unloading of layouts on the display wall. As soon as a layout has been selected to be
loaded/unloaded, all other layouts get disabled and cannot be managed until
loading/unloading of the first layout has been completed.
Known issues
Since in the long run device control for the O
VERVIEW D projectors will be consigned
completely to the O
VERVIEW CONTROL MANAGER, also release 1.7 of APOLLO does not include
support of the dual DVI input of the O
VERVIEW DR+ projection systems, which is also foreseen
for the O
VERVIEW CONTROL MANAGER.
Running O
VERVIEW CONTROL MANAGER requires stopping the BARCO RC AGENT. The next release of
O
VERVIEW CONTROL MANAGER (April 2005) will allow running the BARCO RC AGENT simultaneously.
Availability and article numbers
A
POLLO Rel. 1.7 and APOLLO Scenario Management Rel. 1.0 are included on the
TransForm A - Suite CD-Rom and will be shipped from now on with every T
RANSFORM A
Windows system.
A
POLLO Scenario Management is for free and included with every APOLLO delivery. It does not
require any license. If Cottus Gateway option is selected, additional Gateway licenses are
required equal the number of Cottus licenses in a project.
Article number Description
R9842701 BCD Cottus Gateway+rec&playback lic 5
R9842702 BCD Cottus Gateway+rec&playback lic 10
R9842703 BCD Cottus Gateway+rec&playback lic 25
Please note:
The Apollo Full package does not include any Gateway license.
Apollo Release 1.7 does not support Windows NT!
For further information, feel free to contact karel.buijsse@barco.com and to read the manuals
(Apollo, Apollo API, Apollo Scenario Management), which are all available on the Partnerzone.
On the Partnerzone you find also a presentation about the new features (presentation held
during the ISM 2005).
Karel Buijsse
Product Manager Software
karel.b[email protected]
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