InfoCaster 2.

0 Service Pack 4

Release Notes
Improvements in • Inca Port regions
Service Pack 4 • Folder Mode for players to recieve InfoCasts via satellite
• Blackmagic DeckLink is supported output device
• Preference to set amount of time to save temporary images in the temp images folder
• PostgreSQL is now supported
• Video streaming using third party VBrick Video Stream Player software is now supported

Inca Port Regions If you have purchased the Inca Port option, you can add content to layouts in InfoCaster that has
been created in other Inscriber products such as Inca RTX. Use the following instructions to add
content to your layouts using an Inca Port region.
Your Inca RTX 1 Make sure that Inca RTX is open on your system. If you do not have a development
application will not run environment installed on your system, you will need to download .NET framework from the
if there is a purple
Network Manager Microsoft Windows Update website.
dongle attached to your
system. 2 In InfoCaster, draw a region in your layout using the Inca Port region tool.
3 Select your Inca Port item in the Regions window.
4 In the Name field of the region details section, enter the name of the Inca RTX
surface area exactly as it is found in the RTX .exe code. This name is set in the
SharedID property of the Framebuffer object.
5 Run the RTX application to output the RTX application.
You can open the Inca Port region in the Items window, but you cannot schedule Inca Port
regions using the Sequencer. Inca Port content will output when you play your InfoCast and
you run the RTX application.

Satellite Once you install the upcoming Network Manager 2.0 Service Pack 2, you will be able to set your
Distribution InfoCaster player to receive InfoCasts from a folder on a satellite.

Network Manager 2.0 Use the following instructions to select the satellite folder for your player.
Service Pack 2 has not
been released yet. For 1 On your player system, select Start > Programs > Inscriber > InfoCaster > Utilities >
more information and InfoCaster Configuration Utility.
updates please visit the
InfoCaster website, 2 Switch to the Folder Mode Distribution tab.
http://www.infocaster.tv.
3 To set up a new folder, click New.
4 Click the browse button and navigate to the folder on your satellite. The folder and folder
sharing permissions need to be set up using the satellite software.
5 Click OK to save the folder.
6 Ensure the folder is selected on the Folder Mode Distribution tab.
Your player is now set to receive InfoCasts from the satellite folder.

© 2004, 2005 Leitch Technology International Inc. 1

 Known Issues
1 The Folder Mode Distribution tab in the InfoCaster Configuration Utility is not applicable
unless you have Network Manager 2.0 Service Pack 2 installed on your Network Manager
machine.
2 If your player will be recieving InfoCasts via satellite using folder mode, you will be allowed to
select more than one folder location, however the player will only use the first folder in the
list.
3 If your players will be receiving InfoCasts via satellite using folder mode, each player must
specify a unique folder. Two players cannot specify the same folder.

Blackmagic You can select the Blackmagic DeckLink card as an output device. Currently, DeckLink and the
DeckLink DeckLink PRO have been tested for NTSC, PAL and SDI output.
Inscriber suggests using DeckLink 5.2 drivers. To find out more about DeckLink drivers, you can
visit http://www.blackmagic-design.com/support/detail.asp?techID=130.
Some customers are reporting problems with output with their Blackmagic DeckLink card. If you
are seeing unexpected output, please contact Inscriber technical support (support@inscriber.com)
for troubleshooting steps.
You can select your Blackmagic DeckLink card as your output device using the InfoCaster
Configuration Utility.
1 Select Start > Programs > Inscriber > InfoCaster > Utilities > InfoCaster Configuration
Utility.
2 Switch to the Video/Audio Standard Change tab.
3 From the Select Output Device drop-down list, select Blackmagic DeckLink.
4 Click OK to close the Configuration Utility.

Known Issues
1 If you are using a Blackmagic Decklink card for outputting live video, you may notice high
CPU usage due to a known issue with the supported Blackmagic DeckLink drivers.
2 You cannot control the volume of embedded audio from your Blackmagic DeckLink card.

Delete Images from ODBC and HTTP sources are stored in the region’s temp images folder each time an
Temporary image is updated. InfoCaster deletes images in the temp images folder when pages transition
during output, or when playback stops. However, if you are playing one page for a long period of
Images
time and your images are being updated frequently, your disk space may become full. You can set
InfoCaster to delete inactive images to clear disk space.
1 In InfoCaster, select Edit > Preferences.
2 In the Image file life time interval field, enter the amount of time (in minutes) that inactive
images should be stored.

2 © 2004, 2005 Leitch Technology International Inc.

 Inscriber Broadcast Products

3 Images that haven’t been output or used in layout creation in the designated amount of time
will be deleted. If you keep the default setting of 0 minutes, temporary images will not be
deleted.

Known Issues VBrick Streaming Video

1 If you are linking to streaming video with VBrick software, the live video stream might freeze a
few seconds after playback starts. Stop playback and restart your InfoCast.
2 If your InfoCast is playing streaming video and the connection to the video stream is lost or
the video stream ends, the live video region in your InfoCast may go black or freeze on a
frame. The rest of your InfoCast will continue to play as normal.
3 You may see a small increase in memory usage over time if you are streaming video in your
InfoCast.

PostgreSQL
1 If you are using databases created in PostgreSQL, Inscriber recommends that you label your
columns and tables with lowercase letters.
2 If you are using databases created in Postgre SQL, your players may not receive the correct
DSN information along with the InfoCast. Inscriber recommends that you manually assign a
DSN on your players which points to the PostgreSQL server. This makes sure the player
recognizes changes to the database to display new content.

VGA Output
1 If you are using VGA for output, animations will play twice as fast as expected. If you double
the number of frames when you create your animation, the animation will play back at the
speed you expect.
2 If are using VGA for output, you will get a significant performance boost by turning off the
Confidence Preview option in the InfoCaster Configuration Utility.

General
1 If you have audio and GPU acceleration enabled and you select TV Out as your output device,
InfoCaster may not output as expected.
2 InfoCaster cannot control live audio feeds using the Line In channel on a sound device.
3 The test pattern may not display on the selected output device the first time you try to output
it.
4 Conditional playback triggers are not frame accurate. It may take some time to get items set up
before they appear on output.
5 If you modify the duration of items in a sequence and then exit the Items window, the new
timing of the items will not appear when you return to the Items window. However, playback
will continue as scheduled.
6 Initially, regions that contain graphic crawl prefixes in layouts from InfoCaster 1.3 will not
display the graphic crawl prefix. Open your InfoCaster 1.3 layout in InfoCaster 2.0 and save the
region with the Crawl Quick Editor to see the graphic crawl prefix.

© 2004, 2005 Leitch Technology International Inc. 3

 7 Live video items from the same device and live video items from a URL (streaming video) will
not play back to back.
8 InfoCasts with streaming video may take a few moments to begin playback while the
connection to the URL is made. You may see delays of up to 30 seconds depending on
connection speed of the URL.
9 Page transitions may cause temporary audio delays in video clips. Faster systems may not
experience this problem.
10 It is recommended that you do not attach audio to roll and crawl items. With InfoCaster 2.0,
you can create an audio item and schedule it in the sequencer to play with your roll and crawl.
11 Animations which link to external data take some time to render. This process should not be
interrupted.
12 InfoCast, Page, Region and Item names can be no longer than 89 characters in total length.
13 If you press CTRL-ALT-DELETE while an InfoCast is playing on VGA or TV Out, the InfoCast
will stop playing. Windows may close InfoCaster display drivers.
14 The Network Manager reports players as being Not Connected when the Network Manager
system is rebooted. After five minutes, the Network Manager will report the correct player
status.
15 1394 live video can appear jittery when displayed using the Desktop Video option.
16 You cannot open an animation template that contains more than one line of text.

Technical If you are having problems with InfoCaster 2.0 SP4 operation, contact Inscriber Corporation for
Support assistance:
Email: support@inscriber.com
Web: www.inscriber.com
Copyright (c) 2004-2005 Leitch Technology International Inc., 26 Peppler Street, Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada N2J 3C4.
All rights reserved. Inscriber is a registered trademark, and Inca is a trademark of Inscriber
Technology Corporation. All other product and brand names mentioned are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective companies.

4 © 2004, 2005 Leitch Technology International Inc.