Wageningen, 4 December 1997 - Noldus Information Technology today announced the release of version 4.0 of The Observer Video-Pro. The Observer Video-Pro combines the flexibility of The Observer software with the latest developments in video and multimedia technology. The system turns a computer into a professional workstation for organizing, analyzing and presenting video material. The Observer Video-Pro is a complete system, comprising two software packages (Base Package for Windows and Support Package for Video Analysis) and a variety of time code, video and multimedia hardware components. The system is used for a wide range of applications such as usability testing, labor and time studies, neuroscience, psychology, animal behavior, entomology, toxicology and sports. 

The Observer Video-Pro now supports all common video storage media (e.g. digital video), has highly interactive search options, provides excellent presentation tools (e.g. Video Play List and Event Summary) and offers greatly improved data entry features (choice of data entry methods, view and score a 'live' video image, easy fixing of errors).

Greatly Improved Data Entry. The Observer Video-Pro offers two different modes of data entry: coding, using pre-defined codes for actors, behaviors and modifiers, and annotation, i.e. entering free-format text strings. One can now even view and score a 'live' video image which is simultaneously being recorded. Changes within a record can simply be made by double-clicking the corresponding event.

Highly Interactive Searching. Regardless of the length of the observational data set, one can use different ways to locate records anywhere from the start of the observation. You can search for a keyword, event or video time by defining a query. When using digital video, the corresponding video image(s) will be shown instantaneously. Thus one can review video clips minutes or hours apart with a minimum of effort.

Excellent Presentation Possibilities. Selected video episodes can be added to the Video Play List in any order, with a user-defined duration and descriptive title. Next, one can run the list for an on-screen summary presentation. This way hours of video can be reduced to minutes with meaningful information. When using digital video (e.g. MPEG) and an MPEG decoder with analog output, one can even play the clips straight to a VCR, and thus create a highlight tape! With the new Event Summary you drag records to a list that can be edited, sorted and printed. This way you can easily create a report.

Choice of Video Media. The Observer Video-Pro supports all common video storage media. It is up to the user to decide which medium is most suitable for his or her application. Lucas Noldus, Managing Director at the company's international headquarters explains: "Our customers can now choose to work with analog video tape, digital video tape or digital video on disk. Analog tape is widely used and inexpensive but the picture quality deteriorates after multiple tape runs, copying, and prolonged storage. Digital video tape can be an appropriate alternative. However, the equipment for digital video is still rather expensive. And still, searching events on a video tape is a slow process. Digital media files on hard disk or CD offer very fast random access and as with digital tape, the image quality is not affected by storage or copying. One can even use multi-point playback, i.e. play a single digital movie from a central server on several workstations at the same time. The use of digital media files is a giant leap forward for video analysis applications."  

For more information, please contact the product manager of The Observer.