SETTING UP YOUR SERVER
MAKE SURE THINGS ARE UP TO DATE
- Are you using the latest graphics driver?
- Have you installed Media Feature Pack (for N and KN versions of Windows 10)?
TIPS
On your display nodes you will benefit from:
Software Optimization
- Running as few background programs as possible
- Turning off notification and popup programs
- Disabling Windows Explorer if needed (via
taskkill /im explorer.exe /f
) - Increasing the priority of visual renderer processes (via Task Manager or using WMIC)
Hardware Considerations
WATCHOUT puts significant strain on your SSD and GPU. These components can overheat during intensive operation. WATCHOUT performs prolonged read operations and requires consistent bandwidth over time.
- Ensure your SSD is heat-tolerant and doesn't throttle under load
- Verify your GPU has adequate cooling for sustained operation
- Consider using enterprise-grade SSDs for installations requiring 24/7 operation
- Monitor component temperatures during extended testing
CAPTURE
WATCHOUT can capture video using the following interfaces:
- Deltacast VideoMaster
- Windows Media Foundation
- NDI
For all capture sources, timestamps are used to schedule frames for rendering. Different hardware provides timestamps of varying quality and accuracy. WATCHOUT determines the lowest latency possible while maintaining smooth playback.
Deltacast VideoMaster Limitations
Deltacast VideoMaster is limited to the GPU Extension for Nvidia, allowing low latency video capture directly from the capture device to the GPU without going through the CPU. Only HDMI, SDI and mixed interface (SDI and HDMI) boards are supported.
Windows Media Foundation
Windows Media Foundation requires a driver that supports this interface. Plug & play USB devices use Microsoft's USB Video Class driver that comes with Windows. Other devices require a driver from the video capture device manufacturer. Tested brands:
- Magewell
- Pro Capture
- Datapath
- Datapath VisionLC
- Datapath VisionSC
Note: Performance depends on many factors including CPU speed, available PCIe lanes, and BIOS settings.
Interlaced Frames
WATCHOUT works with progressive frames at full framerate and will de-interlace video streams where missing lines are interpolated from existing lines. Different interfaces provide interlaced frames in different formats. Deltacast and NDI provide interlaced fields with lower latency, while Windows Media Foundation mostly de-interlaces in hardware or delivers line-interleaved frames at half the framerate.
What we test
We test on or Watchpax hardwares. WE have also tested Magewell Pro Capture Quad SDI, driver V1.3.0.4323 28-12-2022, firmware: Firmware 1.34
Use GPU Connectors as Channels
Windows can re-number display outputs when connections change or after system updates. If this behavior causes issues, you can add an environment variable to maintain consistent channel numbering:
USE_GPU_CONNECTORS_AS_CHANNELS=TRUE
This will lock each physical GPU connector to a specific channel number, creating a more stable mapping. However, the resulting channel order might not match your preferred arrangement.
NOTE: After setting this environment variable, restart all WATCHOUT components for the change to take effect.