the CF Card Reader by TR-CFR Compact Flash Reader and Conversion Software Installation and User’s Guide Please Read All Instructions Carefully Before Beginning Installation Document Part Number: 700-0021-01
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Introduction The Trooper TR-CFR Compact Flash Card Reader and Conversion Software are used in conjunction with The Trooper Digital Video Recorder (DVR) to transfer images and video from the DVR to a Personal Computer (PC). Once on the PC, the images or video can be archived, e-mailed, printed, or transferred to another media for distribution and storage. Please install the equipment and software as shown in this manual. A working knowledge of Microsoft Windows® is required to install and use this product.
Contents OVERVIEW............................................................................................................................... 1 System Requirments............................................................................................................ 1 Installation Support ............................................................................................................. 1 INSTALLING THE CF CARD READER .........................................................................
Overview The Trooper Compact Flash Card Reader and Conversion Software are important accessories for The Trooper Digital Video Recording System. The Digital Video Recorder (DVR) has a Compact Flash (CF) Card slot on the front that allows the user to quickly download images and video to a versatile, robust, portable CF Card. The user has the ability to search for events on the DVR and then press a single button to download an image to the CF Card.
Installing the CF Card Reader The TR-CFR CF Card Reader supplied by Seon Design interfaces to a PC using the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. A USB connector on the end of the CF Card Reader plugs into a mating USB connector on the PC. A USB extension cord is also provided to make the CF Card Reader easier to access. USB Connector CF Card Slot WINDOWS® 98 INSTALLATION In PC’s using the Microsoft Windows® 98 operating system, the computer may not recognize the CF Card Reader when it is installed.
Installing the Conversion Software The CF Card that accompanies the CF Card Reader comes pre-loaded with the Seon Conversion Software. This program will convert the proprietary files from the DVR into a format that can be played back on PC’s. Insert the CF Card into the CF Card Reader and use Windows® Explorer to copy the ‘CF Card Conversion’ folder to a temporary folder on the PC. Enter the ‘CF Card Conversion’ folder and run the ‘SETUP’ program by double-clicking on the ‘setup.exe’ file.
The next screen allows the user to select the destination folder for installing the program. The default is in ‘C:\Program Files\Compact Flash Card Reader’. Use the ‘Browse’ button to select a different location. The next screen shows the current Program Folders in the PC and allows the user to add the Seon CF Card Reader program to an existing Program Folder. Press the ‘Next’ button to continue.
After installation is completed, the window above will be displayed. Select ‘Finish’ to close the installation program.
Downloading Images from the DVR The Trooper TR1-10, TR4-10, and TR4-20 DVR’s have a similar interface. The Trooper TR1-10 DVR is shown below for reference. Refer to the user manual that accompanied your system for details of the slight differences in some of the controls and functions.
32x, and 600x the normal speed. The play-speed will be displayed on the screen. Turning the ‘SHUTTLE’ wheel counter-clockwise will provide the same speed increases, but the video is played backwards. If the ‘PAUSE’ button is pressed while playing, the center ‘JOG’ wheel can be used to move forwards or backwards one image at a time by turning the wheel forwards or backwards, respectively. Using the ‘SHUTTLE’ wheel while paused will start playing the video either forwards or backwards at very slow rates.
Searching by the ALARM LIST allows the user to quickly identify any problems that the driver may have indicated by pressing the Alarm Input Switch. An example of a list of Alarm Events from The Trooper TR1-10 DVR is shown below: ALARM 1 2 3 4 SEARCH Alarm 2004/05/11 Alarm 2004/05/11 VLoss 2004/05/12 PLoss 2004/05/12 16:42:23 16:46:37 08:17:44 08:21:18 After the Alarm number, the type of alarm is indicated. An external Alarm Input is indicated as ‘Alarm’.
Searching by Time and Date is straightforward. DATE/TIME SEARCH YYYY/MM/DD HH:MM:SS 2004/05/11 16:42:23 Choose the desired time and date by using the ‘UP’ and ‘DOWN’ arrow buttons to change a field. Use the ‘LEFT’ and ‘RIGHT’ arrow buttons to move between fields. Pressing the ‘ENTER’ button will start the DVR playing from the chosen time. FORMATTING THE CF CARD Before copying images to the CF Card, the card must first be formatted by the DVR.
COPYING The user can save either individual images or video sequences to the CF Card. To save a single image, review the video until the desired image is seen. Press the ‘PAUSE’ button on the DVR to freeze the image. Use the ‘JOG’ wheel to move backwards and forwards through the images until the desired image is viewed. Press the ‘COPY’ button to save the image to the CF Card. After the image has been successfully saved, the word Success’ will be displayed.
The number after ‘COPY . . . .’ is the number of individual images saved in the chosen video sequence. The number after ‘CF USED’ indicates the total amount of the CF Card has been filled with images. The ‘SEGMENT’ number is the video segment that the stored video came from.
Converting and Playing Back on the PC To begin the conversion of the images on the CF Card into a format that can be played on a PC, ensure that the CF Card reader is attached to the PC and then plug the CF Card into the reader. Do not attempt to view the contents of the CF Card with Windows as the operating system will not recognize the file structure on the card; Windows will ask if the card should be formatted – choose the ‘Cancel’ button.
Select the a video segment from the Segment List and then the ‘Segment/Image Info’ tab will show the specific details of the video segment as well as the DVR the recorded the segment. If the CF Card is removed from the reader, the above information will not be shown. If another card is plugged into the reader, the program will automatically scan the card and show the new information.
VIDEO TEXT OVERLAY The user has the choice of what elements of the on-screen text should be displayed with the video. Choose the ‘Setting’ tab and the following screen will be shown: The Watermark option will put a small ‘SEON’ graphic onto the video to indicate that it has been generated from the Trooper system. Check this box to display the Watermark on the converted video. In this example, the ‘Vehicle Signals’, ‘Channel Title’, and ‘Extra String’ options are not available.
CONVERSION OPTIONS The conversion software can generate a video file using a variety of different ‘codecs’. A ‘codec’ is a program module that Codes or Decodes information from one format to another. Choose the ‘Codec Setting’ tab to choose a suitable codec. The following screen will be displayed: The codecs shown in the ‘Compressor’ box are the programs that the CF Card Conversion program has found to be installed on the PC. Usually, the most common codec is the Microsoft Video 1 codec.
The user can also enter information and notes about the video images. Choose the ‘Author Info’ tab and the following window will be displayed: Enter any information that may be necessary and select the ‘OK’ button when done. CONVERTING THE IMAGES The ‘Convert’ tab at the top of the window is used to select the file name and folder to which the video will be saved.
Type in a suitable file name followed by the ‘.avi’ extension. The AVI file extension is a common file format that contains video and audio. Many different playback programs can read this format. Press the ‘Save’ button and a screen will pop up to allow a choice of different cameras. For the TR1-10 DVR only the Camera 1 option will be available. For the TR4-10 and TR4-20 DVR’s, the other available cameras can be chosen, as shown in the image below.
some of the parameters in the ‘Codec Setting’ selection. For example, changing the Compression in the Microsoft Video 1 codec from 75% to 50% will change a 10Mbyte file to a 2Mbyte file. Alternatively, Seon Design is investigating the use of different codecs that may provide even great gains in file size efficiency. Please contact Seon for the latest information on codecs that we have tested and approved for use with the CF Card Conversion Software.
Service If any component of The Trooper System is to be returned to Seon Design for service, please call and ask for a Return Authorization (RA) number. An RA number allows our Service Technicians to better track your product when it comes in for service. Please show the RA number on the outside of the package. ANY PRODUCT SENT TO SEON DESIGN WITHOUT AN RA NUMBER MAY BE REFUSED. The contact numbers for Seon Design are toll free 877-630-7366, or 604-5246437.
