Knowledge Base

Problem

In EthoVision XT, the arena settings or detection screen fails to render correctly — appearing black, frozen, or producing graphical artifacts — when attempting to grab a background frame or view the video input. The issue is related to GPU-accelerated video processing.

Details

EthoVision XT 17.5 and later versions support GPU video processing for improved performance. However, on some systems — particularly those with certain GPU drivers, shared GPU resources, or GPU conflicts with other software — GPU rendering can cause the detection/arena settings screen to fail. Symptoms include a black screen when grabbing a background image in Arena Settings. This is distinct from the intentional UI darkening during zone drawing.

Solution

Switch EthoVision from GPU to CPU video processing:
1. In EthoVision XT, go to the application settings or detection settings.
2. Locate the video processing option and switch from GPU processing to CPU processing.
3. Restart EthoVision if prompted.
4. Re-open Arena Settings and attempt to grab the background frame again.
5. If the issue is resolved, continue using CPU mode for this workstation.

Note: CPU processing may be slightly slower on very large or high-resolution videos but is more compatible across varied hardware configurations. If GPU processing is preferred, ensure GPU drivers are up to date and no other applications are using the GPU during EthoVision acquisition.