Copyright: Fhg IIS


WinPlay3 Help Index
Welcome to WinPlay3 V1.4

The world's first real-time ISO/MPEG Audio Layer 3 Player
for PCs running Microsoft® Windows™

Click any control to get more information.

General

- System Requirements

- What is ISO/MPEG Audio Layer 3 Coding?

- Supported ISO/MPEG Audio Files

- About the Authors

- Technical Support

- How to buy WinPlay3

Menus in WinPlay3

- File

- Options

- Help

Trouble Shooting

- Known Problems

- Dos Boxes


How to buy WinPlay3

All information you need to buy WinPlay3 is given in the file register.txt which is part of this DEMO-package.

For on-line registration refer to http://www.opticom.de/

For further information and dealer requests, please contact:

OPTICOM	Fax:	+49-9131-691325
Dipl.-Ing. Michael Keyhl	Email: info@opticom.de
Am Weichselgarten 7
D-91058 Erlangen
Germany


System Requirements

Processor:

For using WinPlay3 you need at least a 80486 class CPU with a built-in floating-point-unit
(although a Pentium™ is recommended).

The following matrix shows the real-time performance of WinPlay3 on INTEL machines:

 	Pentium	486DX2-66	486DX-50	486DX-33
MPEG-1 stereo	yes	no	no	no
MPEG-1 downmix*	yes	yes	no	no
MPEG-1 mono	yes	yes	yes	no
MPEG-2 stereo	yes	yes	yes	no
MPEG-2 downmix*	yes	yes	yes	yes
MPEG-2 mono	yes	yes	yes	yes

*downmix: mono audio output generated from a stereo input

Audio Output:

A 16-bit stereo sound card is recommended. The card's MCI driver should support sampling frequencies from 8 kHz to 48 kHz.

A 8-bit stereo sound card is also OK, but the sound quality lacks much.

Graphics Card:

A standard VGA graphic card is necessary.

Memory:

About 1 MB free physical memory must be available, because WinPlay3 buffers up to 4 seconds of sound data due to limitations of the Microsoft® Windows™ multitasking architecture.

Operating System:

Microsoft® Windows™ 3.1/3.11 - running in 386 enhanced mode, Windows 95 and Windows NT (long filenames are not supported in this version of WinPlay3).


About ISO/MPEG Audio Coding

Basic scheme:

The ISO/MPEG Audio Coding Standard describes the compression of audio signals using high performance perceptual coding schemes. It specifies a family of three audio coding schemes, simply called Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3.

Compression gain (Sound quality per bit) and encoder complexity increase from Layer 1 to Layer 3.

All Layers use the same basic structure. The coding scheme can be described as perceptual noise shaping or perceptual subband/transform coding.

The encoder analyses the spectral components of the audio signal by calculating a filterbank or transform and applies a psychoacoustic model to estimate the just noticeable noise-level. In its quantization and coding stage, the encoder tries to allocate the available number of data bits in a way to meet both the bitrate and masking requirements.

The decoder is much less complex. Its task is to synthesize an audio signal out of the encoded spectral components.

Compression rates:

You can achieve a compression rate of

1:4	with Layer 1 (or 192 kbps per audio channel),
1:6..8	with Layer 2 (or 128..96 kbps per audio channel), and
1:10..12	with Layer 3 (or 64..56 kbps per audio channel),

and the reconstructed audio signal will maintain a CD-like sound quality.

Getting more Information:

For more information about ISO/MPEG Audio Layer 3, feel free to contact us:

Fraunhofer-IIS	Fax:	+49-9131-776-399 (Harald Popp)
Weichselgarten 3	Email:	layer3@iis.fhg.de
D-91058 Erlangen	WWW:	http://www.iis.fhg.de
Germany	ftp:	ftp://ftp.fhg.de/pub/layer3


Supported ISO/MPEG Audio Files
Supported MPEG Audio Files

Currently, WinPlay3 supports ISO/MPEG-1 (IS 11172-3) and
ISO/MPEG-2 (IS 13818-3) Layer 3 audio files.
MPEG-2 multichannel extensions are not supported in this version of WinPlay3.

WinPlay3 decodes Layer 3 bitstreams in full quality and real-time.


About the Authors

WinPlay3 was developed by

Fraunhofer Gesellschaft - Institut für Integrierte Schaltungen
Department Audio/Multimedia

in Germany.

Getting more Information:

Visit our WebSide for information about our research activities.

http://www.iis.fhg.de/

For more information about WinPlay3, feel free to contact us:

Fraunhofer-IIS	Fax:	+49-9131-776-399 (Martin Sieler)
Weichselgarten 3	Email:	winplay3@iis.fhg.de
D-91058 Erlangen	WWW:	http://www.iis.fhg.de/
Germany	ftp:	ftp://ftp.fhg.de/pub/layer3


Free Demo ISO/MPEG Layer 3 Files

Check out

http://www.iis.fhg.de/departs/amm/layer3/winplay3/

for free demo files

Select Save only and check the Play after box in the URL Options Dialog if you have a slow connection to the Internet.


Technical Support

If you are a registered owner of WinPlay3, you may get technical support by:

OPTICOM	Fax:	+49-9131-691325
Dipl.-Ing. Michael Keyhl	Email: support@opticom.de
Am Weichselgarten 7
D-91058 Erlangen
Germany


File Menu

- Play File

Play an ISO/MPEG Layer 3 File from local drives.

- Play Location

Play an ISO/MPEG Layer 3 File from a WorldWideWeb-Server.

- Exit

Exit WinPlay3.


Options Menu

- Output

Select WinPlay3's output parameters to match your PC hardware capabilities.

- Play

Select Repeat or Shuffle mode. (Note: Shuffle is not yet implemented in this version of WinPlay3.)

- Proxy

Let's you select a Proxy in case you are behind a firewall.
If you are not sure whether you need a Proxy or not - look at the settings of your WorldWideWeb-Browser or ask your system-administrator
(You won't need a Proxy, if you are directly connected to the Internet).

- Url

Select the mode in which WorldWideWeb-connections are handled.

- Register

Register your copy of WinPlay3 to get its full capabilities by entering your name and registration-code.


Help Menu

- Index

Open this Helpfile.

- How to Buy

Get Information on how to get your personal registration-code

- Using Help

Open the Microsoft® Windows™ "Help on Help".

- About

Display WinPlay3's version and copyright information.


Known Problems

WinSock.DLL

WinPlay3 won't start if there is no WinSock.DLL on your system (normally in the windows directory).

If starting WinPlay3 fails with an error message saying "File not found: winsock.dll" rename the file Mozock.DLL to Winsock.DLL (Mozock.DLL is distributed with the WinPlay3 package).

Note: Mozock.DLL is not supporting Play Location - remember to delete this Winsock.DLL (the renamed Mozock.DLL) if you install TCP/IP on your PC.

Video adapter & Sound cards

Some video adapters influence the DMA transfer to the sound card.
There may be drop-outs - most likely when you move or scroll windows - even if you have a fast CPU.
This is not a bug in WinPlay3 - it will happen as well if you use the Windows Media Player.

Incompatible Layer3 files

Some first-generation layer3 encoder produce layer3 files which are not compliant with the ISO/MPEG standard. A message box will pop-up to indicate such files.


DOS Boxes

DOS boxes influence significantly the multitasking behaviour of Microsoft Windows. Since WinPlay3 requires cooperative multitasking, the use of DOS boxes may cause drops of audio data during a play process, especially on slow machines.


Titlebar

Displays the name of the current track.


Track

Displays the current track number.


Time

Displays the current playing time.


Status

Displays wether WinPlay3 is playing or paused.


Synchronization Status

Displays the Synchronization Status.


Frame Counter

Displays the number of decoded Frames.


Sample Rate

Displays the sample rate of the current track.


Stereo

If current track is stereo recorded, this indicator is lit.


ISO/MPEG Version

Displays the current ISO/MPEG Version

(ISO/MPEG-1 or ISO/MPEG-2).


Bitrate

Displays the Bitrate of the current track.


ISO/MPEG Layer

Displays the ISO/MPEG Layer of the current track

(Always "III" in WinPlay3).


Play

Play a Layer 3 audio track or continue playing if Pause was pressed.

Replay the current track by a double-click.


Stop

Stop playing a Layer 3 audio track.


Pause

Pause playing a Layer 3 audio track.


Last track

Seek to the last Layer 3 audio track of the playlist.


Next track

Seek to the next Layer 3 audio track of the playlist.


Eject

Open the Play dialog.


Progress Status

Displays the Progress Status.


HTTP Indicator

This indicator gets highlighted if you play directly from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


File Indicator

This indicator gets highlighted if you play a file from one of your local drives.


Play File Dialog

Click any control to get more information.


Select File

Specify ISO/MPEG Layer 3 audio files to play.

You can use the CTRL and the SHIFT key to select multiple files.


Select directory

Selects the current directory.


Select filter

Selects the current file extension filter.


Select drive

Selects the current drive.


OK

Confirm and save your selection.


Cancel

Discard your selection.


Play Location Dialog

Click any control to get more information.


Url Location

Enter a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) here.


Popup

Press this button to get a list of last recently selected URLs.


OK

Confirm and save your selection.


Cancel

Discard your selection.


Options Output Dialog

Click any control to get more information.


Output Frequency

If you have an audio device that does not support the sample rates

of the MPEG audio files (32 kHz, 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz),

or your CPU is 486 class, select Half or Quarter.

User of Pentium CPUs should select Full.

(Default setting when you start WinPlay3 the first time)


Output Resolution

Select 8 bit if you only have an 8 bit audio board.

Otherwise, select 16 bit.

(Default setting when you start WinPlay3 the first time)

Note: Only 16 bit audio boards guarantee full listening satisfaction.


Output Stereo Mode

If you only have a mono output device, or you want to speed up the decoding process,

select Downmix. This is especially necessary on the 486 machines with stereo bitstreams.


CPU Type

Select the CPU Type of your PC.


OK

Confirm and save your output settings.


Cancel

Discard your output settings.


Options URL Dialog

Click any control to get more information.


Play & Save

WinPlay3 will prompt for a filename before playing a file from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


Play only

WinPlay3 will play files from a WorldWideWeb-Server without saving to disk.


Save only

WinPlay3 will save files from a WorldWideWeb-Server without playing them.


Ask user

Let WinPlay3 popup a dialog every time you play a file from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


Play after save

WinPlay3 will play a file after downloading it from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


Default Directory

Enter the default directory in which you want to store files
downloaded from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


Browse

Click here to point & select the default directory.


OK

Confirm and save your URL settings.


Cancel

Discard your URL settings.


Ask User Dialog

Click any control to get more information.


Play & Save

WinPlay3 will prompt for a filename before playing the file from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


Play only

WinPlay3 will play the file from a WorldWideWeb-Server without saving to disk.


Save only

WinPlay3 will save the file from a WorldWideWeb-Server without playing it.


Play after save

WinPlay3 will play the file after downloading it from a WorldWideWeb-Server.


Cancel Request

Cancel a request for playing a file form a WorldWideWeb-Server.