The adjustments to power, sleep, and graphics card for best user experience.
The Scout (SCA200) camera is a USB device, designed to simultaneously stream 2 video channels (visual/thermal) constantly. Certain events, most notably power events (e.g., sleep, hibernation, USB selective suspend, OS updates, etc.), can lead to device instability. To minimize these events, it is recommended to configure the system for maximum power.
Note: These settings are only required on computers used for taking images at the bedside.
Display Adapter Driver
Scout uses DirectX9 to display the imager video streams. While DirectX9 is still supported by Microsoft, some chip manufacturers including Intel have dropped native support for DirectX9 in their device drivers, instead opting to rely on Microsoft provided emulation (D9D9On12), which cause some errors or memory related issues in Scout. We STRONGLY recommend setting the computer's graphics card to use the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter, which does natively support DirectX9, in order to provide a more stable experience for the user. For more information, see Graphics Driver Issues in Scout.
Screen Resolution
Scout requires the system resolution be set to 1920×1080 or greater with no scaling applied to ensure the best imaging experience. Open Display Settings (Right click on desktop and select ‘Display Settings’ or ‘Screen Resolution’). Scale must be set to 100% (or 96 DPI) and Display resolution must be set at or above 1920×1080.
Power Settings (Maximum Performance)
Scout performs best when the operating system is configured for best/maximum performance, especially when there are situations when the computer is running low on battery power. Go to Power & battery settings to disable sleep, set Power mode to Best Performance, and turn off Battery saver in Windows 10 or 11.
USB Battery Saver
If a user does not power down the imaging device after use and the system stops the USB device, the windows video subsystem may become unstable requiring a system reboot to recover. To prevent this scenario, we recommend disabling USB battery saver option in Bluetooth & devices of Windows Settings.
Note: For Windows 10, use the USB selective suspend setting to achieve the same results.
USB Serial Bus Controllers
When a laptop or battery powered cart is used, the USB controller settings need adjusted to further stop Windows from managing power to USB devices. In Device Manager, scroll down to the Universal Serial Bus controllers category, and right-click each device. Choose Properties and go to the Power Management tab. Uncheck the box 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' and click Ok to save. Do NOT need to perform these steps on USB Composite Device.
Best Practices
- We recommend powering off the camera/computer when not in use for an extended period of time.
- Charge the cart/computer when battery is less than 30%.
- Reboot promptly after installing system updates/patches.
- Plug the camera USB cable directly into the computer (no USB hubs).