Package Contents Let's take a look at the software HIS has packaged with the Excalibur 9550 VIVO Edition. Besides the driver CD, HIS has included 3D-Album for creating digital photo albums, a full version of CyberLink's PowerDVD 5, as well as Ulead's VideoStudio 7 SE for basic video capturing. PowerDVD is a program I'm sure most of you are familiar with, as it is included with many DVD drives. VideoStudio may not be as familiar. The included version allows you to create VCD files from the captured source. You can then add your own sound to the video you have just captured. I did not find a way to capture the audio track of a movie or TV show in this version, but you can purchase more options for VideoStudio from Ulead through their website.
Also included are an S-video cable, a DVI adapter, and the video-in/video-out dongle. The VIVO dongle is color coded to help keep you from getting your input and output wires crossed. It also has both S-video and component video connectors, so you won't be without a way to send or receive a feed from your Excalibur 9550 VIVO Edition card.
The Card Let's take a look at the Excalibur 9550 VIVO card itself. It comes on a red PCB with HIS' iFan cooler mounted on the graphics chip. It has the standard trio of 15-pin VGA, S-video, and DVI ports available. It also uses TSOP packaged DDR RAM, rather than the smaller and more expensive BGA packaged DDR RAM, to help keep the cost of the card down. There is no need for an external power connector, as the card runs just fine off of the voltage supplied by an AGP 4X or 8X port.
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