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PC Hardware
Last reviewed: December 2014
Creation and, in particular, playback of an HDAV presentation make quite high demands on
hard and software. This is why we would like to make a few recommendations with regard to
the setup of your system. We would like to inform you about components we or our
customers have had positive experience with. However, with computer technology being
continuously developed further, we can neither assume responsibility for completeness nor for
correctness of these recommendations. These tips have been compiled to the best of our
knowledge and belief. Despite this fact, we cannot guarantee full operability of a computer
based on these specifications.
What should be in it....?
It may be quite tempting to buy the computer equipment on offer in supermarket chains. Past
experience, however, has shown that their "performance described in the brochure" is usually
much better than what they've got to offer in practice. Very often no information is available
as to the type of components these computers contain. Sometimes misleading component
names are used which tend to be similar to those of brand components and which suggest a
brand component quality that does not come up to expectations in the hard reality of practice.
E.g. onboard chips are very used instead of sound, exchangeable brand components. For these
reasons we cannot comment on special offers currently available in a number of chain stores.
Computer for HDAV presentation
Main boards
High-quality and high-performance main boards are available from a number of
manufacturers. To an increasing extent, main boards are equipped with components and
interfaces that can be selected in accordance with personal requirements. We recommend Intel
chip sets, e.g. X99 which is currently a very powerful chip set or H97 and Z97. Moreover, the
board should have good fan control to allow for efficient and silent ventilation.
Barebones: These compact computers usually come as a complete unit with a main board and
a case. Recommendable units are barebones by Shuttle, e.g. XPC SX79R5 for Intel systems or
SH87R6 with 500W power supply and separate WLAN module. For thermal and power
supply reasons, the choice of further components (graphics card and power supply) is rather
critical. We therefore recommend contacting an experienced dealer for that purpose.
Processor
Playback of high-resolution HDAV shows and HD videos requires extra performance and you
should acquire a very fast processor. We recommend processors with four or more processor
cores and hyperthreading, e.g. Intel i7 series 4000 or 5000. For PCs that serve as a
multidisplay system and supply contents to several video projectors or displays we
recommend using Hexacore processors. Please bear also in mind that latest generator
processors use thinner layers, i.e. currently 22 nanometer, and feature lower heat dissipation
than the previous processor generation (low TDP value, specifies maximum power
dissipation) which results in reduced fan activity.
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RAM
For Wings Platinum, the computer should have a minimum RAM of 4096 MB or, preferably,
even 6144 MB. If you are planning to do video editing by means of supplementary software a
RAM of 12 GB or up would definitely make sense. However, this requires also a 64-bit
operating system. We recommend 64-bit Windows 7 Professional. In such a case, Wings
Platinum can make use of up to 4 GB RAM!
Graphics card
For playback of images and videos, the graphics card is a decisive factor. Medium- and higher
priced graphics card by Nvidia and ATI/AMD are suitable, e.g. Nvidia Geforce GTX 750 TI,
GTX 760 to GTX 790 or AMD Radeon R7 265, R9 270X to R9 290X. For 4K applications
we recommend Nvidia TGX 970 and GTX 980 as they also feature HDMI 2.0 outputs.
Modern and powerful graphics cards offer two or more outputs (frequently in different
versions, e.g. DVI, HDMI and Display Port) and good acceleration due to hardware 3D
rendering, which is used extensively by Wings Vioso. Some models consume a lot of power
which may turn out to be a problem for barebone power supply and cooling units. With
barebones you should therefore make sure that their power consumption is only moderate.
Dual slot graphics cards usually have more cooling power and lower noise levels. Narrow
single slot cards do not block PCI slots, which may be important for barebones which usually
have only one additional PCI slot. What is also important is the graphics memory which
should have a capacity of at least 1 GB, or 2 GB or more for more demanding applications.
For multidisplay shows from one computer we had very positive experience with Nvidia
graphics cards.
A very high screen resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels and higher) and usage of two monitors also
uses up a lot of graphics memory. In this case you should possibly have a slightly larger
graphics memory.
If you want to use live video / TV in a presentation you need a graphics card supported by
Wings Platinum. In principle, all input cards with WDM or "Video for Windows" driver are
suitable, although we cannot guarantee proper function in all cases. We had very good
experience using Datapath Vision-RGB E1S/E2S or VisionSDI2 for HD-SDI. They ensure
faultless operation, excellent results and minimized delay. See also Settings for commonly
used video input/TV cards.
Hard disks / controller
Today's hard disks offer sufficient capacity and speed for playback of HDAV presentations.
Hard disks with "Eco Green" function and variable speed cannot be recommended (e.g.
products by WD) as access may be delayed. Make sure hard disks feature a constant speed of
7200 Rpm. For extensive video editing you need a very large hard disk as one minute of DV
or HDV video requires about 250 MB. Nowadays, Seria-ATA-6G-Controllers are state-ofthe-art. Combined with Serial-ATA hard disks they are able to supply data, via the
Southbridge, directly to the RAM and offer excellent performance. If you would also like to
use external hard disks, the computer should be provided with an eSATA or even a USB 3
port.
We recommend SSDs for the operating system. They feature a very fast flash memory which
accelerates booting and writing of temporary files considerably. Booting in less than 30
seconds is standard.
Tip: If you do not want to use a separate computer for presentation you should arrange for an
additional hard disk or SSD for separate installation of the operating system. This installation
can be kept "slim" and be adjusted for optimum presentation performance.
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Sound card
In addition to high audio quality, the sound card should also feature a fast driver which does
not put any extra strain on the CPU. These demands are very often met even by low-cost
sound cards or onboard soundchips. An interesting alternative are also external sound
interfaces which are available with a variety of different features. Make sure they can be
connected via Firewire or USB 2 ports although it must be mentioned that the current PC
generation does not longer offer Firewire very much. We cannot recommend connection via a
USB 1.1 port as usage of this older interface could interfere with the system performance.
Please note also that there are also interfaces that use Steinberg UR22, which can only be
connected to USB 2 but not USB 3.
When it comes to balanced outputs or multi-channel sound, you can also choose between
internal and external solutions. For a number of years and with a whole range of different
operating systems we have been quite successful with RME sound cards. Sound solutions by
M-Audio, Motu or ESI-Audio can also be recommended.
Asynchronous audio playback, e.g. for loop playback of some interval music while Wings
Platinum is pausing at a pause marker and the speaker is making his live comments, requires a
sound card with "multi-client capability". While the normal, up-to-date stereo sound cards
usually have "multi-client capability", this is not necessarily so for professional sound cards
and interfaces. If you want to use a professional multi-channel sound card, you may need to
use an additional stereo output for asynchronous playback to allows synced soundtrack and
asynchronous interval sound to be mixed externally. This, however, requires the Wings
Platinum Pro License featuring multi-channel support.
Tip: Those who use sound cards with unsymmetrical outputs for events should always have a
ground isolation circuit or a DI box handy to help eliminate ground loop hum problems. Good
ground isolation circuits with suitable cables for your computers are available from specialists
dealers.
Monitor
Sound solutions by M-Audio, Motu or ESI-Audio can also be recommended. The higher the
screen resolution, the easier editing gets with a great number of tracks. We recommend dual
monitor mode as the extended desktop offers double the space for editing and the screen can
be moved to a separate monitor. For a large angle of view we recommend LCD displays using
VA or IPS technology. By contrast, TN displays only offer a very restricted angle of view.
By now, there are also more cheaply priced monitors with a resolution of 2560 x 1080 pixels
(panorama 21:9), 2560 x 1440 pixels (16:9) and 2560 x 1600 pixels (16:10) or 4K with up to
4096 x 2160 pixels available, that make watching of photographs and HDAV shows great fun.
Monitors or projectors with resolutions above 1920 x 1200 pixels require a graphics card with
outputs that are able to output the required resolutions and frame rates.
DVI Single Link 1920 x 1200 pixels with up to 60 Hz
DVI Dual Link 2560 x 1600 pixels with up to 60 Hz
HDMI 1.2 1920 x 1200 pixels with up to 60 Hz
HDMI 1.4 1920 x 1200 pixels with up to 60 Hz and 4096 x 2160 pixels with up to 30 Hz,
from UHD and up, 3840 x 2160 pixels, only with croma subsampling 4.2.0 instead of
4.4.4)
HDMI 2.0 4096 x 2160 pixels with up to 60 Hz, from UHD and up (3840 x 2160 pixels)
only with croma subsampling 4.2.0
Display Port 1.2 4096 x 2560 pixels with up to 60 Hz
On monitors with 4K resolution the menu names and icons in Wings Vioso are only difficult
to recognize. From Windows 8.1 and up this is no longer a problem as the program window is
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scaled up and is displayed at the same size as for Full HD resolution. In the meantime there
are also 5K monitors available (5120 x 2880 pixels), e.g. by Dell or HP, that need to be
supplied via two display ports.
Those who want to use videos in their shows should get hold of a monitor that features sRGB
mode, which is particularly suited for web and video applications. This mode is necessary for
a correct joint display of images and videos, since it is used as the standard default output
color space by the HDTV standard. Good monitors and video projectors in particular have a
distinctly larger color space than sRGB which may lead to oversaturated colors in videos. For
images this problem can be remedied by correcting the output device's color profile. See also
Global Options - Color management.
Further components
Most of the other computer components, such as keyboard, mouse, etc. have no influence on
the operation of Wings Platinum, provided they are in working order. Refer to Valuable
information about DVD systems for info about DVD players or writers and to Information
about data projectors for info about video projectors.
Notebooks for HDAV presentation
Using a notebook for a mobile presentation is quite a tempting idea. However, we advise you
not to use notebooks for ambitious and professional HDAV presentations to an audience and
when HD videos are included. They differ from conventional computers in three aspects.
2.5" Hard Disks
The 2.5" hard disks that are customary for notebooks tend to create a bottleneck during
presentations. Their performance is frequently only half or only one third of that of
conventional 3.5" hard disks. An accumulation of several HD videos may result in loading or
display problems. When SSDs are used these arguments no longer hold true if the show data
are also located on the SSD.
Graphics Hardware
Usually, the main processors of notebooks have an integrated graphics feature that is active by
default and is meant to save energy. This graphics solution is unsuitable for HDAV shows. If
the notebook is additionally equipped with a “real graphics card” with its own memory it must
be activated for ERROR: Variable (Produktname) is undefined.. However, there are various
energy-saving models of GPUs and memories around which are distinctly inferior to desktop
models. Tests have shown that very often only half the performance of desktop computers is
achieved. Moreover, current graphics drivers are less easily available than those for desktop
variants, since suppliers of notebooks do not take such an active interest in them.
Thermal problems
Intensive use of a notebook often causes temperature problems for graphics card and
processor. This is mainly due to the compact build of notebooks and the fact that the graphics
processor is seldom or not at all provided with a fan, which, on top of all this, tends to be
undersized. All this, combined with continuous strain such as a presentation, may lead to
delays (cooling periods) of the processor and irritating jerky playback. Usually, these effects
only show after a period of 20 minutes or more. A slight improvement of this situation can be
achieved by using a cooling pad for notebooks, which is available in specialist shops. These
cooling pads, however, can only cool the outside, which is not the optimal solution.
Configuration for trouble-free operation.
If you still want to use a notebook to run Wings Platinum it should have an S-ATA hard disk
with at least 7200 rpm and a fast graphics system with separate graphics memory. Shared
memory systems usually offer modest performance for playback of HDAV shows. Also the
integrated sound chips have a bad reputation for the interfering noise they produce and the
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fact that the cannot meet the high demands in terms of audio quality. A solution might be
external sound interfaces to be linked up via a USB 2/3 port.
To achieve best-possible performance and long battery operating time, you should give
preference to dual-core processors designed for mobile applications and low power
consumption. Suitable medium to high-performance graphic chips are available by AMD
Radeon or Nvidia. Helpful information on the classification of numerous variants can be
found at the following location:
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Vergleich-mobiler-Grafikkarten.358.0.html
If you are planning to get hold of a notebook you should perform extensive tests by running
high-resolution HDAV videos on the models in question. The problem is that once you have
bought it, you can't replace the components any more. Notebooks with integrated graphics
and real graphics chip by AMD Radeon and Nvidia Optimus require usage of the better
graphics chip to be activated for Wings Platinum. See also Activating the Nvidio Optimus
graphics chip.
Bei Notebooks mit integrierter Grafik und echtem Grafikchip von AMD Radeon und Nvidia
Optimus, müssen Sie die Verwendung des besseren Grafikchips für Wings Platinum
aktivieren, siehe auch Activating the Nvidio Optimus graphics chip.
An alternative might be a standard PC in a compact housing adapted for mobile operation by
adding handles, etc. A compact computer to be acquired would be a barebone version. In this
context, barebones by Shuttle can be recommended. They have been used successfully for
HDAV applications by many users. See also further above under Barebones.
See also
Software configuration for presentation computers
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Manuel Peirleitner