CaptionKeeper Help

Overview

• Introduction
• Quick Start
• FAQ

Screens

• Main Screen
• General Preferences
• Input: Line-21 Serial
• Input: Line-21 USB
• Output: Breeze Meeting
• Output: Breeze Connection
• Output: Breeze Text Params
• Output: QuickTime
• Output: QT Connection
• Output: QT Text Params
• Output: Real
• Output: Real Connection
• Output: Real Text Params
• Output: Windows Media
• Output: Windows Media Connection
• Output: Windows Media Text Params
• Capture: Offset and Save

Platform-Specific Issues

• Breeze Meeting
• QuickTime
• Real
• Windows Media (CKwme)

Contacts

• Contact

Input: Line-21 Decoder

The Line-21 Serial input window contains:

• Serial port setup button: To set up the serial port for inbound data, press the Setup button. The default parameters are:
  COM1:, 1200 baud, Odd parity, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit, and no device init string This is the default for many (but not all) line-21 hardware devices. Make sure the CaptionKeeper setup and your hardware match.
  Note: If you are using a modem, you should use the following settings for the port setup:
  • baud: set to the rated speed of the modem (e.g. 57600 for a 56K modem)
  • parity, data bits, stop bits: set to match those of the stenocaptioner who will be dialing in.
  If your input device requires an initialization string, enter it here. For example, the TextGrabber (tm) device requires a 'control-A O' string in order to recover field-1 caption data. That string would be entered as: ^AO
• Serial port open/close button: The Open/Close button opens and closes the serial port. The port needs to be open before you'll begin seeing data flowing to the decoder. When the Line-21 input module opens, it attempts to open the last-used port automatically. If it can't, you'll receive an alert message. Change the port setup to a valid port and try again.
• Displayed and Non-Displayed Memory fields: The Displayed and Non-Displayed Memory fields emulate a line-21 caption decoder like you'd find in a television set. For pop-on captions (like on movies and sitcoms), you'll see text flip from non-displayed to displayed memory. For roll-up captions (like on the news), you'll just see text showed directly in displayed memory (CaptionKeeper doesn't try to emulate the scrolling visually).

CaptionKeeper allows a stenocaptioner or other data source to be connected via a modem attached to a serial port. On laptops, the modem is often built into the computer, but you can also attach an external modem to the serial port. There are many brands of external modems, common ones being Hayes, Supra, Zoom, U.S.Robotics, etc. Most modern modems are rated for 56K baud. The Modem Control buttons allow you to accept connections via a phone line. You must have a modem connected to the serial port specified in Setup.

• Auto-Answer button: The Auto-Answer button allows you to set a connected modem in auto-answer mode. When the modem is in auto-answer mode, it will answer the telephone line after a single ring.
• Hang-Up button: The Hang-Up button allows you to hang up the modem if you need to manually disconnect.

The stenocaptioner should set up his/her software to communicate with a standard line-21 caption encoder. CaptionKeeper will ignore any encoder commands and will simply decode the caption data.

© 2007 WGBH National Center for Accessible Media