I have the DV68 but haven't gotten to trying it yet. Looks very straightforward. No moving parts to wear out and sounds very easy to run. I have the PIR motion sensor to trigger it as well.
According to MedeaWiz website, "The DV-68 allows you to store and playback full-motion DVD audio/video clips with high-speed Compact Flash memory cards (CF). In addition, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (DivX), JPEG, and MP3 file formats are also supported." http://www.medeawiz.com/products/Dv68.htm Dana Dana Hutchins Image Works/XhibitNet 541 Congress St. Portland, ME 04101 207.773.1101 ext.102 dana at imagewks.com www.ImageWks.com On 11/9/08 6:49 AM, "Michael Borthwick" <mb at michaelborthwick.com.au> wrote: > Hi Dana et. al. > > I used the DV-66 in a small installation at the Monash University > Computer History Museum. It continuously plays a short video "attract > loop" with playback of the main programme triggered by a touch sensor > I designed to sit in a graphic panel adhered to the inside of the > display case. This saves drilling through the glass for a switch or > using some sort of sensor to detect visitors. > > The model I used only played MPEG-1 but I note that the DV-66B also > plays MPEG-2 - is that the model you have Dana ? I would be interested > in your experiences with the DV-66 as I had some issues with the > system as a whole although I could not isolate them to the player. > MPEG-1 compression at that time was more of black art than it is today > with more mature software such as Final Cut Pro. > > I have also used the much more expensive but very robust players from > Alcorn McBride. 7 players have been running for 7 years at the Royal > Australian Air Force Museum at RAAF Base WIlliams in Victoria without > incident. > > A DVD player is arguably the most cost effective option for many > smaller installations without a high turnover of content, but like a > number of people on this list I have steered clients towards hard > drive or "solid state" playback devices on the grounds of reliability, > ease of interfacing with external buttons and controllers and the > ability to begin playback from a cold start (ie at power up). > > However with domestic DVD player reliability improving and costs > falling to around $30 they are an increasingly compelling option. To > solve the startup problem I recently designed an exhibition controller > for the Nick Cave exhibition developed by the Victorian Arts Centre. > This small module can learn the power on and play commands from the > DVD player remote control and emit them when the gallery or temporary > exhibition main power is turned on. > > The discussion of computer video playback in this thread has been very > interesting - please keep sharing your approaches. > > I developed a workshop on Digital Video in Museums for MCN 2003 - if > anyone on the list would like a PDF copy of the slides please email me > off list. > > Michael Borthwick > Director > Michael Borthwick Consulting Pty. Ltd > www.michaelborthwick.com.au > > > > > > On 09/11/2008, at 1:08 AM, Dana Hutchins wrote: > >> Have you looked into the MedeaWiz DV76 HD Player? Sounds like it >> does what >> you need and it's $385. >> >> http://www.medeawiz.com/products/Dv76.htm >> >> Sold through Team Kingsley in St. Louis. >> >> http://www.teamkingsley.com/MedeaWiz.htm >> >> Please let me know if this does what you're looking for or if anyone >> else >> has experience with this product. I'm about to use their DV68 for >> the first >> time for a project now. I'm curious about the HD player. >> >> Thanks >> >> >> >> Dana Hutchins >> XhibitNet >> 541 Congress St. >> Portland, ME 04101 >> 207.773.1101 ext.102 >> dana at xhibit.net >> www.xhibit.net >> >> >> >> On 11/7/08 5:51 PM, "Jason Bondy" <jbondy at okhistory.org> wrote: >> >>> Daniel, >>> >>> Thanks for your response. We have an 80GB hard drive in the >>> computer. Many >>> of the video clips are 5-10 minutes long, except one that is 32 >>> minutes. We >>> are planning more long documentary type films, so we need to be >>> ready for >>> the larger files. >>> >>> We currently own a few of the Firefly digital video players for >>> standard-definition video, but their HD players are out of our >>> budget at >>> this time, as are the Adtec devices. Also, we already have the >>> computers >>> installed, so we were going to try to use those if we can. As far as >>> Blu-ray, we are concerned about wear and tear on it if the film is >>> repeating >>> continuously for nine hours per day. A hard drive is much cheaper to >>> replace when it wears out. >>> >>> We are still learning about various HD formats and playback >>> options. We >>> were using H.264 originally because we have a Flash program that >>> plays the >>> files using QuickTime. We need a playback format and application >>> that goes >>> straight to full screen as soon as the computer boots up. Do you >>> know of any >>> good reference material that explains some of the formats more in >>> depth? >>> >>> Thank you. I really appreciate your time and assistance! >>> >>> Jason >>> >>> _______________________________________________________ >>> Jason Bondy >>> Exhibit AV/IT Systems >>> Oklahoma History Center >>> 2401 N. Laird Ave. >>> Oklahoma City, OK 73105 >>> 405-522-0783 - Office >>> 405-522-5402 - Fax >>> www.okhistory.org >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On >>> Behalf Of >>> Daniel M. Bartolini >>> Sent: Friday, November 07, 2008 4:02 PM >>> To: Museum Computer Network Listserv >>> Subject: Re: [MCN-L] HD video in the galleries? >>> >>> Hi Jason- >>> >>> How much hard drive space do you have available on these machines and >>> how long are your videos? I ask because HD playback on computers is >>> significantly improved when you use codecs that create discrete >>> frames >>> versus heavily compressed MPEG formats like H.264. For example >>> running >>> your video out to something like DVCPro HD or the Animation preset >>> creates all independent frames of the movie. Your hard drive >>> overhead is >>> enormous (possibly 2 Gb for every 3 minutes, depending on bit rate) >>> but >>> the computer has to think far less about the process as there are no >>> i-frames going on. >>> >>> Alternatively, if you need really small file sizes, mess with the H. >>> 264 >>> bit rate. Start high at 1500kb/s and move down to around 900 or less >>> until you find something that allows you to maintain your full frame >>> rate. The lower you go of course the more you will see those motion >>> artifacts, but perhaps not jumpiness. >>> >>> The dirty sort-of-secret of that format is it's really processor >>> intensive and upgrading video cards won't matter a lot unless you >>> specifically buy something like the latest NVidia cards that have >>> built >>> in hardware rendering support of H.264 and other MPEG codecs, or if >>> you're willing to use a program like Max/Jitter (or comparable VJ >>> system), or environment like openFrameworks to display your video in >>> OpenGL so all work is done on the video card. >>> >>> Finally, have you considered standalone HD players, like those from >>> Adtec, or going to Blu-Ray (I know, more money, may not work)? >>> >>> Oi. That was long. Sorry. Hope that helps. >>> >>> Have a good weekend. >>> >>> Daniel >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Jason Bondy wrote: >>>> Hello all, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> We have recently begun moving toward High-Definition video for all >>>> of our >>>> interviews, documentaries and other footage to be used in >>>> exhibits. We >>> are >>>> using internally produced video as well as video shot by outside >>> producers. >>>> However, we are running into some obstacles determining the best >>>> solution >>>> for playback in the galleries. We will be playing the HD video >>>> files from >>>> Windows-based computers connected to plasma monitors. Currently >>>> we are >>>> trying it with H.264 encoded QuickTime files, but they are very >>>> "jumpy" on >>>> video clips with a lot of motion. We have upgraded the RAM and >>>> video >>> cards >>>> in the computers, but with very little improvement. Also, we >>>> using Cat5 >>>> DVI/HDMI extenders as there is quite a bit of distance from the >>>> computer >>> to >>>> the monitor. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Who else out there is using HD video in your exhibits? How are >>>> you doing >>>> it? We would welcome any suggestions or input you may have. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thank you so much, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Jason >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________________ >>>> >>>> Jason Bondy >>>> >>>> Exhibit AV/IT Systems >>>> >>>> Oklahoma History Center >>>> >>>> 2401 N. Laird Ave. >>>> >>>> Oklahoma City, OK 73105 >>>> >>>> 405-522-0783 - Office >>>> >>>> 405-522-5402 - Fax >>>> >>>> www.okhistory.org >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum >>>> Computer >>> Network (http://www.mcn.edu) >>>> >>>> To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu >>>> >>>> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >>>> http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum >>> Computer >>> Network (http://www.mcn.edu) >>> >>> To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu >>> >>> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >>> http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l >> >> _______________________________________________ >> You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum >> Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) >> >> To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu >> >> To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >> http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > Michael Borthwick Consulting Pty. Ltd. > Postal: GPO Box 1950, 380 Bourke Street, Melbourne 3001 > Physical: Level 1, 384 Bridge Road, Richmond > Mobile Ph: + 61 418 345 800 > Mobile Fax + 61 418 344 875 > http://www.michaelborthwick.com.au > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l
