Evaluation version

The evaluation version of the TVideoGrabber SDK has no time limit and includes all the features of the licensed version, with a watermark on the video and the differences below.

Watermark

The text "TVideoGrabber SDK - evaluation version" (followed by "watermark removed in the licensed version") is drawn at the center of the video frames: in the video window, in the recorded and reencoded clips, and in the frames delivered to the application (OnFrameBitmap, CaptureFrameTo, GetLastFrameAsHBITMAP, etc.).

The watermark is drawn by the frame grabber. In the evaluation version, the following settings keep their default value (a warning is reported by OnLog when they are changed):

• FrameGrabber stays fg_BothStreams,
• FrameCaptureWithoutOverlay, OverlayAfterTransform and RawVideoSampleCapture stay disabled,
• the PlayerForcedCodec keywords 'FASTEST' and 'OUTRENDER' are ignored,
• StartReencoding always reencodes the video through the frame grabber (Reencoding_UseFrameGrabber is ignored); a reencoding whose video cannot go through the frame grabber is refused.

Recordings without watermark

Some recordings cannot carry the watermark:

• recordings in native format: the compressed video stream recorded as is, e.g. H.264 or MJPEG from a camera, a video clip or a URL (RecordingInNativeFormat enabled),
• IP cameras recorded as is by the Datastead RTSP/RTMP/HTTP/ONVIF Source Filter,
• audio-only recordings,
• recordings where the frame grabber could not be inserted in front of the multiplexer.

In the evaluation version these recordings are limited to 5 minutes of recording time in total per application run (all the TVideoGrabber components together, pauses excluded):

• when such a recording starts, a warning reports the remaining time (OnLog),
• when the 5 minutes are used up, the recording stops as if StopRecording was invoked (the clip is finalized and OnRecordingCompleted occurs),
• the next recordings without watermark are refused until the application is restarted.

The recordings that carry the watermark are not limited. To record with the watermark and without time limit, disable RecordingInNativeFormat: the video is then recorded through the frame grabber and compressed by the selected video compressor.

License keys

The evaluation version does not accept the TVideoGrabber license key. The license keys of the other Datastead products (e.g. "DTSTDRTSP:...", "DTSTDMPE:...", "DTSTDNDI:...", "DTSTDGEN:...") are accepted through the LicenseString property.

The licensed version has no watermark and no limitation: https://www.datastead.com/purchase/