What is Sigview? SIGVIEW is a
complete real-time spectral analysis software with wide range
of powerful FFT spectral analysis tools, statistics functions
and a comprehensive visualization system How much does it
cost, and what do I get for my money? Single
license price for Sigview is US$ 139.00 for online (download)
version. For additional US$ 30.00, you can get a boxed CD
version. This price includes a license for the current SIGVIEW
major release (v2.x) and all later minor updates (all
v2.x versions). For quantity discounts or special whishes,
please
. After
purchasing Sigview license, you will get a registration key to
unlock the trial version which can be downloaded from this web
site. If you need technical support, you can purchase one of
our Premium support packages . What kind of support do I get? SIGVIEWlicenses do not include technical support for
program usage or your specific application. We offer
different Premium support packages
which provide you direct e-mail contact with our support.
Which data acquisition hardware is
supported by Sigview? SIGVIEW supports real-time
data acquisition from following device types:
NIDAQ and NIDAQmx compatible DAQ devices from National Instruments® (Please
click
here to get NI devices at very affordable price).
All MS Windows compatible sound cards (DirectSound
and ASIO driver models are supported)
Which file formats are supported in
Sigview? WAV, Tab/Comma/Semicolon delimited ASCII
files, compressed WAV, MP3, WMA, ASF, Audio Interchange File
Format (.AIF, .AIFC, .AIFF), Sun Microsystems and NeXT audio
files (.AU,.SND), Raw file formats (8, 16, 32-bit), European
Data Format (EDF). We have also developed support for many
exotic file types for different customised Sigview versions -
you can simply send us an e-mail and ask about the support for
your specific file type. What are minimum hardware and software
requirements for Sigview? Sigview works
on 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems
(Win XP, Vista, Windows 7). As for hardware requirements,
it depends on your analysis. For simple analysis, any computer
capable of running Windows will be enough. For more complex
analysis, CPU power and amount of RAM are important. For
example, to calculate 16 million samples FFT, you will need at
least 1GB RAM. Does Sigview work on Linux? Sigview is originally developed for MS Windows operating
systems, but there is an easy way to make it work on Linux
too: You just need to install Wine, an Open Source
implementation of the Windows API on top of X-Windows and
Unix. Then, simply install Sigview by using its installer.
Most Sigview functions will work just like under Windows OS.
Loading compressed signal files like MP3, WMA, etc., as well
as support for professional A/D cards is not yet included.
Is there a limitation in file size, FFT
size or sample rate? Only physical
limitations of your RAM, hard disk space and CPU power apply.
Please note that Sigview keeps all data in RAM or in system
swap file; therefore, the size of signals should not exceed
available RAM size to achieve best performances. All signals
are internally stored as 4-byte float values so you can easily
amount of memory needed to store and display the signal. To
calculate 16 million samples FFT, you will need at least 1GB
RAM. I find Sigview too difficult to learn. What
should I do? Take a look at Sigview examples
(under Help/Examples menu option), try reading this FAQ and
Sigview help file. If you need technical support for Sigview
usage, you can purchase one of our Premium
support packages.
What kind of documentation is available?
Sigview documentation is delivered
electronically in form of a Windows Help file (available from About/Help menu option)
and a PDF manual (Available from Start menu). The content of both documents is the
same - only the format is different. Several "How to" chapters are included to
help you understand basic concepts and for step-by-step explanation of some common applications.
If you need a further technical support for Sigview
usage, you can purchase one of our Premium
support packages.
Sigview
usage
I have a
signal I would like to analyze. How do I start?
Load it in Sigview by using "File/Load
signal" menu option. To take a first look at spectral
characteristics of the signal, try "Signal tools/Time-FFT"
menu option with default settings. You will get a 3D graphics
showing the changes of all signal's frequency components
through time. I would like to analyze recordings from my
sound card in real-time. How do I do it? Try
opening one of Sigview examples first (Help/Examples option).
You can start with: "Live stereo spectrum with 3D.sws" or
"GetFrequency.sws". After loading, simply choose Data
acquisition/Start menu option to start monitoring live
signal. How can I exchange data with Microsoft
Excel or other applications? To import Excel data
in Sigview, save it as "Tab delimited (*.txt)" file from
Excel. You should remove all unnecessary headers or additional
text from the sheet before you do that. You can import such
files in Sigview by using File/ASCII/Import... menu option. To
import Sigview data in Excel, save it as tab delimited file by
using File/ASCII/Export... menu option, and load those in Excel
as Text-file. Can Sigview trigger some external event,
in case of some analysis result? Yes, you can use
"Trigger external application" option of Sigview Instrument
windows. These windows can measure different values from the
signal and call external applications in case the measured
value is in some defined range. As an example, Sigview
distribution includes application "Logger.exe" which can be
used to simply log instrument values in a log file. Help file
describes the requirements for such applications. How do I set default parameters for
spectral analysis calculations? Use Signal
tools/Spectral analysis defaults menu option. After you set
your preferences here, all new FFT calculations will use these
settings. I would like to explore very low
frequencies, under 1Hz. How do I get those in FFT
graphics? The lowest frequency of FFT result
depends on the sample rate of the signal and the length of a
signal segment used for FFT calculation. It will always be
equal to SampleRate/SegmentSize. This is not a Sigview
limitation, but a mathematical rule for DFT and FFT. For
example, if your signal is sampled at 22050Hz, and you perform
FFT on its first 512 samples, the lowest frequency will be
22050/512=43.066Hz. If you perform FFT on 1sec segment from
the same signal, the lowest frequency will be
22050/22050=1Hz. How can I improve the spectral
resolution of FFT result?The difference
between two adjacent FFT points is 40Hz, and I would like to
make it 1-2Hz. The spectral resolution of FFT
result depends on the sample rate of the signal and the length
of a signal segment used for FFT calculation. It will always
be equal to SampleRate/SegmentSize. This is not a Sigview
limitation, but a mathematical rule for DFT and FFT. For
example, if your signal is sampled at 22050Hz, and you perform
FFT on its first 512 samples, the difference between two
adjacent FFT points will be 22050/512=43.066Hz. If you perform
FFT on 1 sec segment from the same signal, the resolution will
be 22050/22050=1Hz. There is only one FFT button - how
can I get power spectrum, PSD, etc.? All spectral
analysis tools in Sigview are integrated under FFT option. By
default, this option will calculate and display standard
Magnitude (Amplitude) FFT plot. If you open Properties dialog
for the FFT window, you will be able to change all calculation
parameters and to define what will exactly be the result of
the calculation: Magnitude, Power spectrum, PSD,... You can
change default settings by using Signal tools/Spectral
analysis defaults menu option. I would just like to determine peak
frequency from the signal - what are all these FFT
parameters? By default, Sigview will calculate
spectrum values with optimal parameters - you don't have to
bother with complicated things. Just load your signal, press
FFT button and then choose Signal tools/Instruments and
markers/Maximum position menu option, and an instrument with
wanted result will appear along with the marker in the FFT
graphics. Can Sigview display signals or FFT results
as overlay graphics? Yes, you can create overlay
graphics by using context menus of each signal window, or by
using Control window's context menu (select wanted signals
first). Can I display spectrum on logarithm
X-Axis? Yes, you can open Axes settings for a FFT
window (Edit/Axes settings menu option) and select "Logarithm
X-Axis" option. Can I display spectrum graphics with
Y-axis values in dB? Yes, you can set spectrum
values to be in dB (logarithm axis) in Spectral analysis
defaults or in properties for each FFT window. I would like to compare two signals - how
can I do it with Sigview? You can compare signals
in time domain by showing them as overlays in one coordinate
system (context menus or from Control window) or by
subtracting them to determine the difference (Signal
tools/Signal calculator). To compare signals in frequency
domain, you can calculate their FFTs and compare them, or you
can use some of cross spectral functions available through
Signal calculator. For example, coherence function will show
you similarities between signals for each frequency component
on 0...1 scale. How can I set marker in signal
? Markers in Sigview are closely related with Instruments.
Most Instrument can place corresponding marker in a signal.
For example, if you use Maximum instrument to show you the
maximal signal value, marker will be displayed on the signal
graph maximal value location. You can turn marker on/off or
set its parameters by editing instrument properties. If you
want simply to set marker on some specific location in the
signal, please use "Marker at..." instrument or "Place marker
here" option from the signal's context menu. I performed FFT, but the Y-axis is not
labeled. Which units are on Y axis? Since spectral
analysis is used in many different fields, acoustics,
vibration analysis, electronics, etc. , there are also many
interpretations and units used for Y-axis values. Sigview
should be useful for spectral analysis in all of these
application fields and therefore are the units simply omitted.
Each user can define own units by using Axes settings for the
FFT window. Can I show X axis in RPM instead of
Hz? Yes, you can select corresponding option on
spectral analysis defaults or on Properties dialog for each
FFT window. How can I print Sigview graphics? Sigview does not directly offers printing services,
because there are simply much better applications for this
purpose. You can simply use "Edit/Copy picture to clipboard"
menu option to transfer the bitmap of the active window to the
clipboard. After you do that, you can open any other
graphics-capable application (MS Word, Excel, Visio, Corel
Draw, MS Paint) and paste the picture there. That way you can
integrate Sigview graphics with the rest of your text or you
can edit graphics and print everything when you are
finished. How can I save my work? By
using options in File menu: "Load Workspace..." and "Save
workspace...", you can save all currently opened SIGVIEW
windows (workspace) in a file and load it later. SIGVIEW does
not save the actual content of every signal - it saves only a
structure of your analysis system and file names for loaded
files. For example, if you load a signal, perform an FFT on it
and save that workspace, SIGVIEW will not save the actual
values from the signal or values from the FFT. Only the name
of the signal file will be saved along with information that
you performed FFT on it with certain parameters. Therefore, if
you change the data in original signal file and reload SIGVIEW
workspace, you will get changed signal data and the FFT from
it. Generally, workspace file contains the information you see
in Control Window plus properties for each window including
axes properties and zoom info.
Troubleshooting
My
toolbars are all messed up. How can I reset those to the
original state? Open your windows explorer, go to
Sigview installation folder (usually \Programm Files\Sigview),
find Toolbars.reg file and execute it (double-click). Your
toolbars will be restored to default state. When I play sound, there are strange
periodic crackling noises. What can I do about
it? If you select a small part of the signal and
then try to play it, Sigview will slide along the signal
sending each small segment to the sound card. That way, it is
possible to synchronize analysis and signal playing. The
problem is that some sound cards have problems when receiving
small data segments to play (for example under 128 samples).
Similar problems are possible if your computer is too slow, or
your analysis system takes too much time to calculate after
each block is recorded. As a workaround, increase the visible
signal segment size. I can not load my signal file.
Why? If your file type is on the supported file
list, maybe you do not have the codec needed to open that file
type (possible for MP3, WMA, etc.). To solve this, simply
install the latest version of Microsoft MediaPlayer. It
includes all codecs you need. How to fix error: "Count must be
integer multiple of packet size for continuous mode" when
performing data acquisition from Measurement Computing USB
devices? Some devices have restrictions regarding
the "Block size" parameter in data acquisition window. It has
to be a integer multiple of internal device packet size. For
1208LS and MiniLAB 1008, this packet size is 64, for 1208FS
and 1608FS is 31, for 1616FS is 62 etc. You can find the exact
value for your device in Universal Library Online Help. I have saved my signal as WAV file, but it
looks empty when loaded back to Sigview? Standard
WAV format contains only integer values (usually 8 or 16-bit).
When you save to WAV from Sigview, all samples will be rounded
to a nearest integer value. Therefore, if your signal values
are, for example, between 0 and 0.5, Sigview will round all
values to 0 and save those to the WAV file. You can
avoid this by increasing values of signal samples, for
example by multiplying signal with 10 through Signal
calculator or by using Normalize/Scale option.
Customization
Could you make Sigview read my file
format or record data from my device? Yes, it is
possible. If you can provide the device or example files you
would like Sigview to support, and if this support can be
important for other users, then this customization can even be
free of charge. If not, we will make an offer for this
customization at very affordable price. We would like to
bundle Sigview with our device, is it possible to get
customized version? Yes, many different options
are available for OEM Sigview version. You can freely define
changes you need. Payment methods range from license-based up
to royalty free.
Not sure if you are ready to install a
trial version? Download SIGVIEW
PDF manual firstto see
what is included.
New in v2.2:
New functions for batch processing and
automation. Use those to control SIGVIEW from your application
or to automate signal processing tasks.
New in v2.0:
SIGVIEW v2.0 introduces support for ASIO and
DirectSound audio card drivers.
Academic prices?
We offer huge rabates for academic
institutions. See our order page for
details
Custom development:
We provide custom development of
the signal analysis software or complex algorithms.
Contact us or see some project
examples.
Premium support needed?
Our premium support packages will provide
you professional and fast support at very affordable price.
See our order
page for the current 20% discount
action.
Did you know?
You can save any part of your SIGVIEW
analysis as custom tool and reuse it later as it were a native
function.
