Jonas Dannert Posted June 20, 2011 Report Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi all, This is what we say about WATCHOUT 5 & Windows 7, 32- or 64-bit: ———————————————————————————————————- SOFTWARE/Operating system WATCHOUT 5 supports a 64-bit OS, but is a 32-bit application, like QuickTime and many codecs/drivers used in Windows. WATCHOUT don’t need or run any faster/better with more memory than 4 GB. If you have a system with more memory than that, and want to use all of the memory for other purposes, you’ll need a 64-bit OS. We recommend 32-bit Windows 7 SP1, Basic, Home Premium or Professional versions Latest QuickTime installed, 7.7.1 or newer: http://www.apple.com...ktime/download/ ———————————————————————————————————- Some other comments: There has always been a need to tweak a PC for stable media playback, and very much more so with Windows 7, especially 64-bit. There are many things that could be done to a WATCHOUT Display PC, to make it run more reliable & stable than a off-the-shelf PC. Like always having the latest BIOS, peripheral, graphic- and capture-card drivers installed. Here are a list with guidelines on how to achieve this: http://www.dataton.c..._turned_off.png http://www.dataton.c...eatures_off.jpg http://www.dataton.c...ng_list_2.0.pdf Implement the full list on one machine, test and verify playback, and then image the others from that PC. WATCHOUT is sold, mainly, as software only, this does not mean that it will run flawlessly on any combination of hardware, software, codecs and drivers. It is up to the PC supplier/builder to test and verify a machine for stable media playback. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Zhivago Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 If you want the Windows Operating System to access more than 2GB of RAM or for it have access to ALL 4GB of RAM that you have installed, you need a 64 Bit version of Windows, period. Under 32 Bit Windows, the OS only has access to 2GB of Memory Space regardless of how much memory is installed. 32 bit applications also only have access to 2GB of Memory Space unless set to use the /3GB switch. Even then, they need to be coded to access memory above 2GB. Running 64 bit Windows, each 32 bit application or process will have access to 2GB of Memory Space and that memory will be managed far better in a 64 Bit version of Windows than the 32 bit version. There IS a performance benefit to running 64 Bit Operating Systems even if you're only running 32 Bit applications. Memory is made available and is used much more effectively. At this point in time, over 8 years after the introduction of the first 32/64 Bit mainstream CPU's by AMD and 3 generations of 64 Bit Windows Operating Systems, there just isn't any reason to cling to 32 Bit Windows. If you're having difficulty coding your software to run properly on these platforms, maybe you ought to work on correcting those problems instead of posting stuff like this. Also, it's possible to write software that is fully UAC compliant. Don't get me wrong, I like Watchout. I think it makes really interesting presentations possible. I just feel this post of yours is a bit misleading and factually inaccurate. Peace. Dr. Z 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Stratton Posted July 6, 2011 Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Hi Jonas-just wondering if you would recommend I move up to Windows 7 from XP? Have been using XP with WO 3.42 happily for years but am now migrating to WO5. Thanks Neil 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faico Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Hi, We're building a new system for version 5. I see you recommend the 32 bit version of Windows 7. Since we're also planning to use this system for other purposes and to make it more future proof we're also looking into the possibility of using a 64 bit version of Windows 7. I'm sure Watchout 5 will run, but how will it handle the codecs and what will this mean performance wise? Thanks 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datosm Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 I also use windown7, feeling suddenly stuck sometimes, but usually still very good use. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
origos Posted July 28, 2011 Report Share Posted July 28, 2011 Has anyone try to write a script for tweeking the win7? >> "http://www.dataton.com/downloads/watchout/support/tweak/Windows_7_Tweaking_list_2.0.pdf" 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Steve Farris Posted December 15, 2011 Member Report Share Posted December 15, 2011 Hi Jonas I was wondering if you might have any thoughts on Dr. Zhivago's post above. He brings up some good points concerning memory management under 64 bit windows. It would seem based upon this that using 64 bit windows makes sense for Watchout in order to maximize resource usage. BTW, any plans to move Watchout to be e true 64 bit application? steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator jfk Posted December 16, 2011 Moderator Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 Hi Jonas I was wondering if you might have any thoughts on Dr. Zhivago's post above. He brings up some good points concerning memory management under 64 bit windows. It would seem based upon this that using 64 bit windows makes sense for Watchout in order to maximize resource usage. BTW, any plans to move Watchout to be e true 64 bit application? steve WATCHOUT is not memory restricted, can't think of any situation where an out of memory condition is encountered. I believe the issue is movie decoders. Most Windows movie decoders remain 32 bit, including QuickTime. So until all those key components of Windows get upgraded to 64 bit, not sure what the benefit would be to WATCHOUT. And I beleive Microsft would disagee with the suggestion there is a 2 Gb limit in 32 bit: Memory Limits for Windows Releases 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis Hutchins Posted December 16, 2011 Report Share Posted December 16, 2011 Thanks! The tweaking list PDF was just what I was after. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Zhivago Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 Actually, the 2GB limit I made mention of was referring to how much memory the 32 Bit versions of Windows Operating Systems can allocate to the OS and to programs. It's 2GB of memory space for the OS, and this is a hard coded limit, and 2GB memory space PER program, regardless of how much memory is actually installed. You can set a /3GB switch in the boot.ini and/or the BCD file to allow programs to access up to 3GB of RAM, but then you're reducing the available memory space to 1GB for the OS. And, since 32 Windows can only address 4GB of memory space, you'll never have access to all 4GB of installed RAM since due to the way memory is allocated and the way drivers are loaded, they reduce the amount of physical RAM that is available to the OS and to programs. If you install a video card that has 2GB of VRAM, that 2GB is subtracted from the 4GB memory space that 32 Bit Windows can address. So, you're shooting yourself in the foot if you want to use high-end video cards and sticking with a 32 Bit version of Windows. Here's 2 articles that detail how this works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier http://www.dansdata.com/askdan00015.htm If you want access to ALL the RAM you have installed, you NEED to use a 64 Bit version of Windows. It doesn't hurt performance for 32 bit programs. They can run just fine under 64 bit Windows on modern processors. If you are using an Intel Itamium, you will see a performance reduction for 32 bit processes since that processor can't run 32 bit code natively and has to run it in emulation. But, those processors shouldn't be something that someone would use to build a Watchout system. I hope this clears things up. Dr. Z 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorin Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 We have recently bought two Watchout computers for use in Theatre productions here at the college. They are on order and will be delivered next month. In the mean time I am working on our lab computers getting them set up to use the demo version of watchout so the students can play/test/learn on non-production equipment. The lab is set up as a dual booted Mac with Win 7 64bit professional and 10.6. I just downloaded the Demo from Dataton but I am getting the "This version of the file is not compatible with the version of Windows you're running....." Am I missing something or is the demo version different from the purchased copy? I was under the impression that the demo was the same as the full version (minus dongle). Thanks for the help in advance! Jorin College-Conservatory of Music University of Cincinnati 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Fahl Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 I was under the impression that the demo was the same as the full version (minus dongle). That is correct. I've not seen the error message you're mentioning. WATCHOUT generally works fine under 64 bit Windows. When do you get the error message you're mentioning? Mike 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 So can i use the list above to tweak my pc for watchout 4 aswell? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonas Dannert Posted April 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 So can i use the list above to tweak my pc for watchout 4 aswell? Yes, if you are on Windows 7, you can. Here is the newest Tweaklist 2.1 enclosed regards/jonas Windows_7_Tweaking_list_2.1.pdf 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michele Posted May 22, 2012 Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Can i installal version 4 on window 7? Is There a link where can i download version 4? Becouse i have to build a watchout project at home. i dont have any licenses, but the service have watchout version 4. My question is: Can i download watchout installer tryal version 5.1, build my project, then bring the file project 5.1 at the show and open it with watchout 4? Thank you for help. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator jfk Posted May 22, 2012 Moderator Report Share Posted May 22, 2012 Can i installal version 4 on window 7? Yes, Windows 7 support was added in version 4.1 That and any later version is compatible. Is There a link where can i download version 4? Yes, it is found on dataton.com under WATCHOUT Downloads (scroll down until you find WATCHOUT 4.5.1). Note, your service must also have version 4.5.1 or newer on their system, or you may not be able to open the v4 show file you make. Becouse i have to build a watchout project at home. i dont have any licenses, but the service have watchout version 4. My question is: Can i download watchout installer tryal version 5.1, build my project, then bring the file project 5.1 at the show and open it with watchout 4? Thank you for help. There are no trial versions of WATCHOUT per se, only the full release version. That said, the full release Production software has almost full function without the USB license key. Functions disabled without the key are 'online' (transfer of content to the displays you do not have), export movie, and some of the control related functions. The rest work fine without the license key - open, save, preview, all tween functions, etc are all full function no matter what. You may see a logo "bug" overlaid on some movie file playback in the preview without a key. No, you can not build in v5 and open in v4. For that matter, you can not build in any version and open in an earlier version. i.e. a show built in 5.2 can not be opened in 5.1, etc. The other way is true of course, you can always open an older WATCHOUT version show file in a newer version of WATCHOUT. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted May 25, 2012 Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 What to do with the fact that the latest drivers for Decklink (9.xx) possible to install only on Win7 x64? The most recent driver version that I could install on Win7 x32 was 8.6.1 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonas Dannert Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 Use Windows 7 64-bit is the only way, works well with WATCHOUT. We are using 64-bit primarily ourselves, on most Demo & Test-machines. WATCHOUT is still a 32-bit application, though. /jonas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreyes Posted June 6, 2014 Report Share Posted June 6, 2014 Hi, I am planning to assemble 1 production PC and 3 display PC for me to use WO via 4 dongles set. I am wondering what computer specifications (OS, Ram{memory}, Video Card, Processor, etc) would you recommend? im trying to search a system specifications however i am only getting a result from watchout system Rack 4U.. I will appreciate any response. thanks! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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