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ViSaGe
Why do I need a ViSaGe?

Getting from that brilliant insight to the crucial experiment can be the hardest part of any research project. The choices for visual stimulus generation can be bewildering, but false starts waste your time and money.

Computer graphics seem the obvious solution, but it's not always that simple. Most systems are really designed for games: they are difficult for novices to program and unsupported by the manufacturer. Often their dynamic range is limited, with inadequate contrast and colour control for experimental applications, and timing is unpredictable.

You need the ViSaGe advantage:

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  • Real-time driver for Windows guarantees frame-synchronous presentations even at 100Hz+ frame rates
  • 14bit colour and luminance control with integrated support for gamma correction and colour calibration
  • Dedicated PCI Express framestore to buffer sequences of precalculated images
  • Integrated digital I/O interface for controlling third-party equipment like electrophysiological amplifiers
  • Toolbox for MATLAB means experimental scripts are easy to generate; no Windows programming in C is required for most applications!

Specifications

 

Technical Specification
  • Graphics engine: x4 PCI Express
  • Graphics configuration: Dedicated stimulus display (the ViSaGe is not a replacement PC graphics card and does not run Windows)
  • Video output: 14 bit video DACs; 14 bit resolution per colour channel; 160MHz pixel clock; 200kHz line scan rate; 200Hz frame rate
  • Display memory: 256MB video memory; configured as 32 bits per pixel; separate pixel and overlay planes
  • Offscreen memory: Dependent on PC RAM; used for storage of precalculated image sequences
Connectivity
  • Digital I/O: Ten TTL-compatible inputs; ten TTL-compatible outputs
  • Analog in: Six inputs, 16 bit, ±5V signal range, 500Hz bandwidth, free running or synchronised to the stimulus display
  • Analog out: Two outputs, 16 bit, ±5V signal range, updates are frame synchronous
  • Response box: Built in infra-red receiver; built in speaker for feedback; compatible with CB6 & CT6.
  • Compatible with FE-1 stereo goggles
Connectors
  • Video output: DVI-I output for connection to analog stimulus display
  • Analog I/O: Six BNC inputs; two BNC outputs
  • Digital I/O: Trigger In BNC, bi-coloured status LED; Trigger Out BNC, bi-coloured status LED; 25 way D connector
  • Computer interface: USB B input
  • Ancillary equipment: Dual 5 pin Tyco Triad type 01 circular connectors
Supplied Software
  • MATLAB: CRS Toolbox for MATLAB (R2007 or later)
  • Windows programming:VSG Software Library v8.1 for 32 bit Windows XP
  • Demonstration programs: For MATLAB, Delphi, C++Builder, Visual Basic; source code provided
  • Backwards compatibility: Native VSGv6 programs for the VSG2/2, VSG2/3, VSG2/4 and VSG2/5 can be recompiled and run on ViSaGe
Packaging
  • Framestore: x4 PCI Express card (modified 3DLabs R500 PCIe card)
  • Control Unit: 280mm x 100mm x 100mm black anodised aluminium tower
  • Supplied cables: 2m DVI-D video cable for connection between framestore and Control unit; 2m DVI-I to VGA video cable for connection to stimulus display; DVI-I to VGA adapter Windows desktop output; 1.5m USB cable
  • Software: Internet download only. Register your VSG serial number at our web support portal
  • Power: Region-specific 7.5V wall mount PSU
Minimum System Requirements
  • Computer: Dell Precision T3400 Workstation or similar with unoccupied x4 or x8 PCIe slot, one free USB2 port; contact CRS for details of the latest models
  • Dual displays: SVGA display for Windows desktop (i.e. 800x600 @ 60 Hz), VGA CRT monitor for Stimulus Display (i.e. 640 x 480 @ 60 Hz)
  • Operating system: 32-bit Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3 only. We do not support the x64 edition of Windows XP Pro, or any version of Windows Vista.

A comparison of the ViSaGe with legacy VSG hardware versions

Hardware feature VSG hardware version
ViSaGe PCIe ViSaGe AGP VSG2/5 VSG2/4 VSG2/3
PC bus type 4 lane, PCI Express 66 MHz, 64 bit, 4x AGP 33 MHz, 32 bit PCI 8 MHz, 16 bit ISA 8 MHz, 16 bit ISA
Max. transfer rate from PC DRAM >40 MB/s, plus hardware acceleration >40 MB/s, no hardware acceleration 4 MB/s 1.5 MB/s 1.5 MB/s
Output resolution 14 bit 14 bit 15 bit 15 bit, 8 bit 12 bit, 8 bit
DAC system 3 x various manufacturers 3 x various manufacturers 2 x ADV7162 2 x Bt460 2 x Bt460
Graphics processor 3DLabs Wildcat P25 3DLabs Wildcat P9 TMS34020 TMS34020 TMS34020
Graphics processor speed N/A N/A 50 MHz 40 MHz 40 MHz
Framestore - standard configuration (AKA "VideoPage" memory area) 256 MB 256 MB - [1] 8 MB 4 MB 4 MB
Framestore - add-on sizes N/A N/A 24 MB 32 MB, 16 MB 32 MB, 16 MB
Max. framestore size 256 MB 256 MB - [1] 32 MB 68 MB (2 x 32 MB) 68 MB (2 x 32 MB)
Framestore pixel size 4 bytes 4 bytes 1 byte or 4 bytes 1 byte 1 byte
VideoPage video modes 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette 8 bit palette
Overlay plane size (AKA "OverlayPage" memory area) 16 MB 16 MB 2 MB 2 MB 2 MB
OverlayPage pixel size 4 bytes 4 bytes 1 byte 1 byte 1 byte
OverlayPage video modes 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 2 bit palette 4 bit or 8 bit palette, 4 bit or 8 bit palette
On-board, non-display memory (AKA "ScratchPage" memory area) 8 MB - [2] 8 MB - [2] 8 MB 4 MB 4 MB
ScratchPage pixel size 4 bytes or 1 byte 4 bytes or 1 byte 1 byte or 4 bytes 1 byte 1 byte
ScratchPage video modes 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette 8 bit palette, 8 bit palette
Local, non-display memory (AKA "HostPage" memory area) Unlimited - [3] Unlimited - [3] Unlimited - [3] Unlimited - [3] Unlimited - [3]
HostPage pixel size 4 bytes or 1 byte 4 bytes or 1 byte 1 byte or 4 bytes 1 byte 1 byte
HostPage video modes 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette
24 bit true colour		 8 bit palette, 8 bit palette
Digital I/O Ten in
Ten out		 Ten in
Ten out		 Ten in
Ten out		 Eight in
Nine out		 Five in
Nine out
Analog I/O Six 16 bit in
Two 16 bit out		 Six 16 bit in
Two 16 bit out		 Five 12 bit in
One 12 bit out		 Seven 12 bit in
One 12 bit out		 Seven 12 bit in
One 12 bit out
Hardware reaction timing
(requires CB6, CT6, CB3 or CT3 response box)		 Yes (only CB6, CT6) Yes (only CB6, CT6) Yes Yes Yes
Max. pixel clock 160 MHz 160 MHz 150 MHz 120 MHz 120 MHz
Max. line rate 200 kHz 200 kHz 200 kHz 200 kHz 200 kHz
Max. frame rate 200 Hz 200 Hz 500 Hz 500 Hz 500 Hz
Support for VSGDSP No No No Yes Yes
Support for RG1, RG2 No No No Yes Yes
Supported in VSG software version 8.1 8 8, 6 8, 6, 5, 4 8, 6, 5, 4
Important Notes

[1] - The original ViSaGe framestore was provided on a dual-head AGP graphics card. The framestore memory space was shared between the Windows desktop and the VSG Stimulus Display. This means that some of the 256MB area was reserved for use by the Windows display.

[2] - The ViSaGe on-board, non-display memory space is emulated using main PC memory and is provided only for backwards compatibility. There is no additional benefit in using this memory space compared to the off-board, non-display, virtual memory space.

[3] - The off-board, non-display memory space is a virtual VSG memory area which uses main PC memory. The memory space size is dependent on the amount of free RAM in your PC.

 

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