VidCap: Preview Is Black and White with Video Blaster (95417)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Sound System 1.0

This article was previously published under Q95417

SUMMARY

When you capture a video input signal using Creative Lab's Video Blaster capture card with Video for Windows, the preview window in VidCap may appear in black and white. This will be noticed whenever the video format in VidCap is set to 8-bit palletized. This occurs because the default palette used by the Video Blaster consists of greyscale, black and white colors only. To capture in color when the desired color depth is 8 bit, a previously created palette must be applied, or a new palette must be captured from VidCap.

The following steps describe the method to apply a previously created palette to the current capture file:

  1. From the File menu in VidCap, choose Load Palette.
  2. Select the .PAL palette file and choose the OK button.
The following steps describe how to create a palette from the incoming video signal:

  1. From the Capture menu, choose Palette or click the Capture Palette button on the toolbar.
  2. Select the number of colors to be used in the palette (must be less than 256).
  3. Choose the Start button to create a palette from the incoming video signal or click the Frame button to build a palette from the currently displayed frame.
  4. Click the Close or the Stop button to build a palette from the selected frame(s).
NOTE: A Windows palette may hold 256 colors; however, 20 of these colors are normally reserved by the system, leaving 236 colors that may be specified by the system. Palettes that do not redefine the 20 system colors will be processed more quickly within the Windows environment. This "236" color palette is known as an "identity palette" and may be created in PalEdit.

Creative Lab's Video Blaster is manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:9/30/2003
Keywords:KB95417