New World Symphony

 

Fujitsu Comet PCI Working notes

 

The Comet PCI card is a hardware device for streaming DV25 video over IP developed by a division of Fujitsu in Japan. It works on a Windows host. Other than a GUI control interface, the hardware/software does not touch or use system PC resources—it has its own NIC interface. The Comet card auto recognizes 1394 input and output as long as your I/O devices are arranged correctly.

 

The Fujitsu Comet PCI is compatible with DVTS software.

 

 

Bugs

·         Card may not receive multicast unless there is another source receiving the same multicast on the same switch. For example, you might have DVTS running side-by-side on the same PC receiving multicast.

 

 

Tech specs

 

IP Protocol:

UDP

Port:

8000 (default), or any of your choosing

Datagram length:

1400 bytes (default)

Datagrams/sec:

2670 (default)

Throughput:

~29 Mbps

I/O

x 3 4-pin firewire, auto recognizes input vs output

 

Onboard 100 Mbps NIC, static IP assigned in software

For DV25 audio/video specs please see The DV FAQ

 

 

Other Notables

 

·            The Comet PCI card has about the same latency as DVTS software receive. Therefore receiving on the Comet has lower latency than receiving hardware out of DVTS.

·            Outside of a power outage, other CPU usage does not affect the Comet card—it is more or less a separate system. This makes it an ideal Rx device for hardware out.

·            The above point is a blessing and a curse however—when the Comet screws up, the entire PC must be power cycled to reset the Comet. This typically happens when a user inputs a faulty firewire device, two input devices, or two output devices. That’s right folks, “pilot error.”

·            One of the Comet’s troubleshooting downsides vs. DVTS is that traffic monitoring is not continuous. One can only view a snapshot of network and firewire statistics on the Comet.

 

 

Incompatibilities

 

·            The basic ADS Pyro brand DV converter cannot be used on the output/decode/Rx side. However, it functions normally as an encoder/Tx into the Comet.

·            Not PAL compatible, only NTSC—made in Japan. DVTS though recognizes both.

·            The older Panasonic DV1000 VTR cannot be used as an input/encode/Tx device. It does work as the output/decode/Rx device.

 

 

Usage Recommendations

 

·            Always first verify that your firewire devices are connected properly and that the Comet is receiving information on the firewire buss. You can check this by showing stats and referencing the firewire 1394 counter. A count of 0 means something is not right, so try plugging it in again, resetting, and reinitializing. A stats snapshot usually shows 7999 for healthy 1394 I/O.

·            After you have verified 1394, the same idea goes for Tx/Rx IP packets—you are looking for 2670.