Copyright: TV Help v7.0.1 Copyright ©2000 ATI Technologies Inc.
Citation: TV Help v7.0.1 Copyright ©2000 ATI Technologies Inc.


Introduction

WELCOME to TV on-line Help

Watch Television in full-screen or in a window.  Use the TV-On-Demand™ feature to watch delayed video while you capture live video.  Capture and save TV and video images, display and record closed-captioned text, and use the TV Listings feature to schedule recording and viewing.

Using TV

Setting up your TV

Capturing video and still images

Displaying closed-captioned text

Using Parental Control to restrict access to TV programs

Using TV-On-Demand to watch delayed video while you record live TV

HOW TO ...

Display shortcut keys and/or tool tips

Autoscan for TV channels

Lock out selected programs

Have your computer watch TV for you

Transcribe closed-captioned broadcasts, including pictures


Television(1)

TV

Display cable or broadcast television and smooth, full-motion video on the whole screen or in a window.  You can use TV to:

Watch television on your computer as you work in another software application.

Watch a videotape or laserdisc movie on your computer.

Capture, save, and print TV and video images.

Display and record closed-captioned text.

Each control displays its function and any keyboard shortcuts when you point at it with your mouse.  Most controls also display a menu of options when you right-click them.

TV accepts a wide range of video inputs from just about any device that has a VIDEO OUT connector:  TV antenna or cable, VCR, Video camera, laserdisc, and video games.  Video is displayed in the Display panel.


Television(2)

TV

When you click the logo in the upper left corner of the display panel, the "About …" notice appears.  If you have more than one feature installed [image] CD Audio, DVD, Video CD [image] a TaskList menu displays available and active features.

Notes

Stereo TV is not available in European versions of TV.

Secondary Audio Program (SAP) is not available in European or Japanese versions of Television.

Closed-captioning, TV Magazine, HotWords, and TV Listings are only available in North America.

If there is no TV tuner in your computer system, a small control panel with controls for composite and S-Video inputs is available for capturing video from external video sources.


TV Magazine

Digital VCR

Program Lockout

Channel Organizing

Autoscanning for TV channels

HotWords

Video Desktop

Schedule

On-screen Picture Adjustment

Secondary Audio Program (SAP)

TV Out

Resource conflict


Change channels

Channel surf (Visual Channel Selection)

Recall the previous channel

Add and remove channels from your favorites list

Record video

Adjust and mute the audio volume

Set up your TV

Watch Time-Shifed video

Use the TV Listings

Turn Closed Captioning on and off

Zoom and Pan

Capture still images

Use LaunchPad to start Multimedia Center features


Changing channels

Click the up and down arrows to step up and down through the channels; hold the mouse button down to step quickly.  You can also click the TV control panel or display screen, and type channel numbers from your keyboard.


Recalling the previous channel

Click the Previous Channel button to return to the last channel.


Adding and removing channels from your favorites list

To add channels to your favorites list

See TV Tuner Settings.

To remove channels from your favorites list

Right-click the current channel number or name to display a menu where you can remove channels.


Adjusting and muting audio volume

Move the volume control slider to increase or decrease the audio volume.

Click the Mute button to mute/turn on the audio.

Right-click the Mute button to change Secondary Audio Program settings (if available), specify stereo or mono audio, and to control Closed Captioning when muted.

Note

If you do not hear audio from TV, try the suggestions in Troubleshooting.


Setting up your Television

Setting up your TV

Click the Setup button in the TV control panel to open the user settings pages, where you can specify settings for Display, Video, Tuner, Closed-Captioning, HotWords, TV Magazine, Digital VCR, Stills Gallery, and Schedule.

When you first start TV, you must run the Initialization Wizard, which will help you set up your TV channels, Parental Control, Sound, and TV-On-Demand.


Display panel

Each control displays its function and any keyboard shortcuts when you point at it with your mouse.

The Display panel is a familiar, TV-style display that you can resize and, place on top of other windows.

The controls in the upper right corner are standard Windows controls: Help, Minimize, Maximize, and Exit.

When you click the logo in the upper left corner of the display panel, the "About …" notice appears, and a menu displays available and active features.


Display settings

Sizing the Display panel

Capturing still frames

Zooming and Unzooming

On-screen Picture Adjustment


Sizing the Display panel

You can resize the Display panel using:

Your mouse, to drag an edge,

the Maximize button in the TV control panel, or

You can use the CTRL key to display these preset sizes:

160 x 120 pixels	CTRL + 1
240 x 180 pixels	CTRL + 2
320 x 240 pixels	CTRL + 3
640 x 480 pixels	CTRL + 4
Toggle between full-screen and current size.	CTRL + F ALT + F


Zooming and Panning

You can zoom in on the video in the Display panel  to enlarge a selected portion of the screen, and return your display to normal.  You can also pan in the zoomed area.

To Zoom in
Use your mouse to click and draw a rectangle on the Display panel.  The portion of the screen you selected is enlarged.

Or
Right-click the 1:1 button to open a menu where you can set the zoom level [image] Zoom x2, Zoom x4, or Zoom x8.

To pan in the zoomed area

Move your mouse within the zoomed area to pan horizontally or vertically.

To unzoom or use predefined zoom levels

Right-click in the Display panel to open the control menu, then click Unzoom.

Or
Click the 1:1 button in the control panel to unzoom.


Autoscanning for TV channels

Autoscanning searches for all available channels and stores them.

To autoscan

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the AutoScan button.

Before scanning, use the drop-down list box to select the broadcast format and the cable standard.  TV scans for all available channels and stores them.  When scanning is complete, you can type in a name for each channel.


Visual Channel Selection


Displaying closed-captioned text(1)

Displaying closed-captioned text

North American feature

To display closed-captioned text, click the Closed Caption button in the TV control panel.

Closed-captioned text appears on top of the video in the Display panel and/or in its own window.  You set these options in the Closed Caption Settings in the Setup dialog.

Using the closed-caption window

If you position the scroller so that the "live" text, appears, the display scrolls to keep the most recent text visible.

If you scroll back into the text so that the "live" text is not visible, scrolling stops to let you easily read the text.

The display has a maximum capacity of 500 lines of text; if the display is full and you scroll to the end, the text will disappear off the top of the window.


Displaying closed-captioned text(2)

Displaying closed-captioned text

North American feature

To close the closed caption window

Click the Exit button in the upper-right corner.

Right-clicking the Closed Caption button opens a menu where you can control the type of captioning: over video, in a window, display alternate text, TV Magazine, HotWords, captions when muted.


Transcribing closed-captioned text

Closed-captioning Look Back

HotWords


Capture

Still images.  You can capture full-color, 24-bit-per-pixel still images from television, save them on your computer's hard disk, and print them.  The images are placed on the clipboard, or you can display them "thumbnails" (miniature images) in the Stills Gallery.

You can save captured images in the following sizes:

Default size

Custom size

240x180

320x240

800x600

1024x768

Desktop size

640x480

TV saves still images as Windows-standard bitmaps (.bmp).  It also supports most industry-standard graphics file formats, so you can insert the images into reports, presentations, letters, and other documents, to add impact to training applications and presentations.

To capture still images


Capture

Full-motion video.  You can use the Digital VCR to capture a clip of full-motion video plus audio from your video source and save it as an MPEG file or an .AVI file on your computer's hard disk.  Full-motion video files play in the File Player.

To record a clip of video and audio from TV.

You can use the Digital VCR Custom Settings option to compress your captured video and save it in several industry-standard formats.


Digital VCR settings

Digital VCR custom settings

Capture Wizard

Capturing a clip of audio and video

Getting the best results with MPEG video capture

Capturing still frames

Preallocating file space

Saving and compressing captured files

Stills Gallery


Digital VCR

The Digital VCR provides simple controls and powerful options for capturing video and audio.

Full-motion video  You can use the Digital VCR to capture a clip of full-motion video with audio from your video source and save it as an MPEG file or an .AVI file on your computer's hard disk.  You can play captured files in the File Player.

Still images  You can capture full-color, 24-bit-per-pixel still images from television, save them on your computer's hard disk, and print them.  The images are placed in the Stills Gallery.

To change the Digital VCR settings

Click the Setup button in the TV control panel, then click the Digital VCR tab to open the Digital VCR settings page.

To record full-motion video

Click the Record button in the TV control panel.  The Digital VCR opens, and starts recording.

When you record, a recording status display shows the number of frames captured and the time remaining on your hard disk.

Note: You cannot use TV-On-Demand when you use the Digital VCR.


Digital VCR Custom Settings

Digital VCR Settings

Capture Wizard


Digital VCR settings

Use the Digital VCR Settings page to set up recording quality and duration for the Digital VCR.  The status box displays the amount of time available for recording, at the quality option you specify.

To open the Digital VCR Settings page, click the Setup button in the Control panel, then click the Digital VCR tab.

Recording Quality	Best Quality Good Quality  Longest Time Custom For extremely fine control, click the Set Custom… button to open the Custom Settings list, where you can create and modify preset capture formats.  Click the Create New button to create a new, preset capture format.  The Capture Wizard will guide you through the process.  Click the Edit button to modify an existing, preset capture format. The Capture Wizard will guide you through the process.
Disk  Space  Settings	Allocates the amount of disk for capture.  Record to Drive  Select the drive to hold captured video.  Amount of disk space to leave free  Use the slider to set the amount of space to leave on your hard drive.  Use this to prevent the recording from completely filling your drive.
Current Settings	Displays the video format, size, frame rate, and audio format for captured video.
Capture Still at  640 x 480	Capture still images in 640x480.
Prompt  Before  Recording	Do all capture setup, then display a dialog that starts capture.
Record  For	Check the box, then type the number of hours and minutes you wish to record.


Getting the best results with MPEG capture


Capture Wizard

The Capture Wizard guides you through editing existing capture formats and creating new ones.  You can capture in AVI or MPEG format.

To start the Capture Wizard

Click the Setup button in the TV Control panel, click the Digital VCR tab, then click the Set Custom … button.

To create a new AVI capture format

Suggestion: edit an existing preset that is similar to what you want, then give it a new name.

Click the Create New… button.  Capture Wizard (Step 1) appears.

Enter a name and description (if desired) for the preset, and select the capture type (AVI).

Click Next >.  Capture Wizard (Step 2) appears, where you specify video and audio capture properties and AVI compression .

Select the Video Standard, Size, Frame Rate , Audio Format, and video codec.

Click Finish.  Your new, AVI capture preset appears in the Custom Settings dialog.


Capture Wizard

To edit an AVI capture format

Select AVI Capture in the Custom Settings dialog, then click the Edit… button.  Capture Wizard (Step 1) appears.

Enter a name and description (if desired) for the preset, then click Next.>.  Capture Wizard (Step 2) appears, where you specify video and audio capture properties and compression.

Select the Video Standard (NTSC, or PAL), FrameRate, and Size.

Select the Audio Format and video codec.  If you select  DV Video Encoder, you can click the Configure button to customize its settings.

Click Finish.  Your edited, AVI capture preset appears in the Custom Settings dialog.


Capture Wizard

To create a new MPEG capture format

Suggestion: edit an existing preset that is similar to what you want, then give it a new name.

Click the Create New… button.  Capture Wizard (Step 1) appears.

Enter a name and description (if desired) for the preset, and select the capture type (MPEG).

Click Next.  Capture Wizard (Step 2) appears, where you can set up audio stream properties and MPEG type.

Select the Video Standard Lines and Size.  To keep high resolution display during capture, check the box.

Select the Audio Format.

Select MPEG-1 or MPEG-2.

To deinterlace captured video, check the box.  To use Visual Masking, check the box.

Click Next >. Capture Wizard (Step 3) appears, where you can specify the frame sequence in the MPEG output stream.  For information on frame sequences, see Getting the best results with MPEG video capture.

Select the Number of P Frames in Group and the Number of B Frames in Subgroup.


Capture Wizard

Click Next >.  Capture Wizard (Step 4) appears, where you configure MPEG encoding parameters.  For more information, see MPEG technical notes.

Use the upper slider to set the Video Bit Rate. Use the lower slider to set Motion Estimation Quality.

Select the Horizonal and Vertical Motion Estimation Search Ranges.

Click Finish.  Your new, MPEG capture preset appears in the Custom Settings dialog.


Getting the best results with MPEG capture


Getting the best results with MPEG video capture

To access MPEG properties

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel, then Click the Digital VCR tab.

•	In Recording Quality, click the Set Custom … button.

•	Click Best Quality, then click the Edit … button.  Capture Wizard (Step 1) opens.

•	Enter a name and description (if desired) for the preset.

•	Click Next >.  Capture Wizard (Step 2) opens.

•	Select MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, then click Next >.  Capture Wizard (Step 3) opens.

To select I-frame-only MPEG capture

This uses less CPU, but requires 2 to 3 times the bit-rate, which produces larger files.

Click the I Frames Only button.  Click Next >, then click Finish.

To select I, B, P frame MPEG capture

This uses more CPU, but greatly reduces the bit-rate required to achieve good quality video.  In Capture Wizard (Step 3),

Set Number of P Frames in Group to 12.

Set Number of B Frames in Subgroup to 3.

To achieve full 29.97 frames/second capture performance in MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format, we recommend the following settings (ranges are given, as some video compresses better than others, depending on the amount of rapid motion and the number of complex scenes).

Video Format	IBP Frames (Mbps)	Minimum CPU Required	I-Frame Only (Mbps)	Minimum CPU Required
176x144 QCIF	0.8 – 1.2	P200 - MMX	1.2 – 2.0	P166 - MMX
352x240 CIF	1.2 – 2.0	PII - 300	3.2 – 4.0	P200 -  MMX
352x480 Half-D1	2.0 – 3.2	PII – 400	3.0 – 6.0	PII - 350
640x480	3.2 – 4.0	PIII – 450	4.0 – 8.0	PII - 350
720x480 D1	3.2 – 5.0	PIII – 500	5.0 – 8.0	PII - 400

Mbps = Megabits (millions of bits) per second.  1 Mbps is approximately equal to 125 Kbytes per second.

The motion estimation slider can be used to control the quality of the video – a high setting (15 or more) uses more CPU, but provides better quality video.  A low setting (5 or less) speeds up encoding, but produces lower quality video at a given bit-rate.

The above bit-rate settings are based on a motion estimation setting of 10.

If your system is not capable of achieving smooth-looking video at 29.97, try the following:

  Capture I frames only.
  Capture at 24 fps.
  Capture using a smaller frame size.
  Capture video only, with no audio.

MPEG-2 is best suited for Digital VCR use.

MPEG-1 is suitable for video editing using MGI VideoWave II.

In Capture Wizard (Step 2),

For standard quality audio in mono, use 80kbps.

For standard quality audio in stereo, use 160kbps.

For high quality audio in mono, use 128kbps.

For high quality audio in stereo, use 212kbps.


MPEG technical notes

Real-time MPEG encoding


Stills Gallery

When you capture a still image, the Stills Gallery opens (if it is not already open), and the captured image is added to other captured images in the Stills Gallery.  You can save any image in a variety of graphics formats and sizes, but if you close the Stills Gallery without saving them, they are deleted.  The Stills Gallery controls let you save images, delete them, hide them, save them as wallpaper, and print them.

Double-click a thumbnail image to resize it to the actual size of the captured image.

For help on Stills Gallery, click here [image].


Saving and compressing captured files

You can use the Digital VCR tab's Custom Settings to compress your captured video and save it in several industry-standard formats.

Notes

When you compress a file, your original file is deleted.  If you want to keep the original file, save it under a different name.

YUV9 and YUV12 compression preserve image quality very well, but result in a high data rate, which may not play back acceptably on all machines.  YUV12 requires more space than YUV9.

If your computer uses a Pentium® III processor or a Pentium® processor with MMX technology, you can capture video and save it in MPEG format, in real time.


Capturing still frames

Click the camera button in the TV control panel to capture the current frame and place it in the Stills Gallery.

Note

If the program is restricted by Parental Control, still capture is disabled.


Stills Gallery


Capturing video and audio

You can record a clip of full-motion video with audio.

To record a clip of video and audio

Right-click the Record button in the TV control panel, and choose Stream Capture.

The Digital VCR opens, and starts recording video and audio to your computer's hard disk.

To stop recording, click the Stop button in the Digital VCR.  A Save As dialog opens, so you can name and save the captured video.

You can use the Digital VCR Custom Settings... to compress your captured video in real time and save it in several industry-standard formats.

The Schedule feature lets you record TV programs on the date and time you specify.


Playing captured video

Double-click .AVI files to open them in the Windows Media Player.  If you have ATI File Player, you can use it to play AVI and MPEG files.


Display settings

Use the Display Settings page to set up your display's general appearance and functions.

To open the Display Settings page, click the Setup button in the TV control panel, then click the Display tab.

Screen Size	Indicates the sizes available for the current panel.  If the current panel does not support resizing, the values are greyed-out.
Tool Tips	Show Tool Tips.  Show Shortcut.
Display Feature	Video Desktop  Fixed Aspect Ratio  Click to preserve the aspect ratio when you resize or zoom the display.  Crop Edges  Crop image edges.  Always On Top Display TV on top of other applications.  Auto hide controls when in full screen  Hide TV controls when displaying TV in full screen.
Hide Player Hotkey	Enter a keyboard key that hides/displays Television.
Initialization Wizard	Re-runs the Initialization Wizard.


Video settings

Use the Video settings page to select the video input connector and to adjust your display’s color.

To open the Video settings page, click the Setup button in the TV control panel, then click the Video tab.

Connector	Selects the video input connector: Cable Selects cable (CATV) input. Composite Selects composite video  input. S-Video Selects S-Video  input.  If you select Composite or S-Video, you must specify the Broadcast Standard.
Broadcast  Standard	Selects the TV broadcast standard: NTSC, PAL, SECAM.
About  Driver	Displays a current configuration dialog box.
Video  Properties	Color  Adjusts the amount of color in the image. Brightness  Adjusts the amount of white in the image.  Contrast  Adjusts the gradation of tones between light and dark areas.  Tint  Adjusts the balance of red-to-blue in the image.  Note that Tint is not adjustable for PAL or SECAM .


Tuner settings

Use the Tuner settings page to autoscan, set up channels and specify the cable TV format.  The large box in the left side of the page displays a list of all available channels, and lets you add or remove channels.  To set up properties for specific channels, click the Details… button.

To open the Tuner settings page, click the Setup button in the TV control panel, then click the TV Tuner tab.

Channel  name	You can type in a name for channels.
Details…	Opens the Channel Property Details page, where you can set up various aspects of channels.
AutoScan	Scans for all available TV channels, and stores them when you press the Set button.
Cable Standard	Selects the country and cable or antenna.
Each channel displays three checkboxes:

From left to right, they do the following:

• 26
The channel is in the favorites list.  When you change a channel up or down, the next channel in this list is selected.

Autoscan automatically sets checked channels.

• 27
The channel has a program lock.

• 28
The channel is in the Visual Channel Selection (Surf) list.

To add a channel to the Visual Channel Selection list, check it; a magnifying glass appears in the checkbox.   To remove the channel, uncheck it.

Autoscan automatically includes all channels in the favorites list in the Visual ChannelSelection list.


Video settings

Channel Organizing

Visual Channel Selection

Schedule

Channel Property Details page


Channel Property Details

Use the Channel Property Details page to set up various aspects of a particular channel.  For example, in the Channel Specific Settings Video page, you could change a channel to SECAM when the other channels are (by default) PAL.  In the Closed Captioning page you could enable a set of HotWords specifically for a particular channel.

To open the Channel Property Details page, click the Setup button in the TV control panel, then click the TV Tuner tab, then click the Details… button.

Channel Name	Type in a name for the channel.
Channel Number	Displays the channel number.
Tunes to Station	Choose the TV station you want this channel to receive.
Channel in Favourite List	Click the checkbox to add the channel to your favourite list.  Uncheck to remove it.
Channel in Visual Selection List	Click the checkbox to add the channel to the Visual Selection list.  Uncheck to remove it.
Channel Specific Settings	Audio Click the Details… button to open the Sound Details page. Video Click the Details… button to open the Channel Based Video Settings page. Program Lockout Click the Details… button to open the Program Lockout page. Closed Captioning Click the Details… button to open the Closed Captioning Channel Setting page.


Sound Details

Channel Based Video Setting

Program Lockout Channel Settings

Closed Captioning Channel Settings


Sound Details

Use the Sound Details page to control muting and SAP for all channels or a selected channel.

To open the Sound Details page

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the Details… button.

•	Click Audio.

•	Click the Details… button.

Mute Settings	Global Applies mute settings to all channels. Mute On Mutes audio. Mute Off Cancels mute.
SAP Settings	Global Applies SAP settings to all channels. Stereo Enables stereo TV audio. Mono Enables monaural TV audio. SAP Enables Secondary Audio Program. Both Enables both regular TV audio and SAP.


Channel Based Video Settings

Use the Channel Based Video Settings page to set up video options for specific channels.  For example, you can change a channel to be SECAM when all the other channels are (by default) PAL.

To open the Channel Based Video Settings page

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the channel you want

•	Click Details…

•	Click Video.

•	Click Details…

Video Properties	Move the sliders to control Color  Amount of color in the image. Brightness  Balance of light and dark shades in the image Contrast  Gradation of tone between the image’s highlights, midtones, and shadows. Tint  Balance of red, green, and blue in the image.
Broadcast Standard	Select the broadcast standard for your country. NTSC  PALNCOMB


Program Lockout Settings

Use the Program Lockout Settings page to set up Program Lockout for specific channels.

To open the Program Lockout Settings page

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the channel you want.

•	Click the Details… button.

•	Click Program Lockout.

•	Click the Details… button.

Note

Once you set a password, attempting to change lockout settings without a password, or entering the wrong password three times consecutively will close the dialog with no changes.

Current Channel	The current channel.
List all Lockouts	Displays all locked-out programs.
Name	Channel name to lock.
Channel	TV channel to lock.
When	Time of lockout.
Next Lock Time	Next time to lock out program.
Create  New	Create a new lockout.  When you click this button, the Program Lockout Wizard opens to guide you through the process.


Closed Captioning Channel Settings

North American feature

Use the Closed Captioning Channel Settings page to set up closed captioning for specific channels.  For example, you can enable a set of hot words for a specific channel.

To open the Closed Captioning Channel Setting page

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click Details…

•	Click Closed Captioning.

•	Click Details…

Placement	External Window Displays closed-captioned text in its own window.  Click Font… to select the display font. Video Window Displays closed-captioned text superimposed on the video.  Click Font… to select the display font. Solid Background Displays closed-captioned text over a solid background. Shaded Background Displays closed-captioned text over a shaded background.
Hot Words	Enable Click this box to activate HotWords when Closed Captioning is turned on. HotWords Setup Opens the HotWords Setup Wizard.
TV Magazine	Enable  Activates the TV Magazine feature. TV Magazine Setup  Opens the TV Magazine Setup Wizard.
Closed Caption On Mute	Display closed-captioned text when the audio is muted.
Show  Alternate Text If  Present	If T1 mode closed-captioned data is present in the caption stream, checking this box displays a full page of T1-mode, scrollable, closed-captioned text.  If you turn off Closed Captioning or change channels, the page is hidden.


Closed Caption settings

North American feature

The Closed Caption settings page is only available for NTSC video in TV mode.  Use it to specify how closed-captioned text is displayed, and to set up the HotWords feature.

To open the Closed Caption Settings page

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the Closed Caption tab.

Placement	External Window Displays closed-captioned text in its own window.  Click Font… to select the display font. Video Window Displays closed-captioned text superimposed on the video.  Click Font… to select the display font. Solid Background Displays closed-captioned text over a solid background. Shaded Background Displays closed-captioned text over a shaded background.
Hot Words	Enable Click this box to activate HotWords when Closed Captioning is turned on. HotWords Setup Opens the HotWords dialog.
TV Magazine	Enable  Activates the TV Magazine feature. TV Magazine Setup  Opens the TV Magazine Setup Wizard.
Closed Caption On Mute	Display closed-captioned text when the audio is muted.
Show  Alternate Text If  Present	If T1 mode closed-captioned data is present in the caption stream, checking this box displays a full page of T1-mode, scrollable closed-captioned text.  If you turn off Closed Captioning or change channels, the page is hidden.


HotWords

Closed captioning Look Back


HotWords

North American feature

Use the HotWords Setup Wizard to specify words and phrases that TV will detect in closed-captioned text.  When they appear, you can:

Display the matched text

Restore TV

Play a sound

Enable TV Magazine

You can enable HotWords, and then minimize TV; when the specified words occur, TV opens.  You can also have TV automatically transcribe the text when the specified words occur.

To set up HotWords

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the Closed Caption tab.

•	Click the HotWords Setup button.

To enable HotWords, check the Enable box.

The two-step HotWords Setup Wizard will guide you through HotWords setup.

First Word	Type the word that will open TV.
Match Type	Choose the type of match you want: By itself   Open TV when the Hot Word occurs. Followed By   Open TV when the Hot Word occurs, and is immediately followed by the Optional Word you specify. Not Followed By   Open TV when the Hot Word occurs, if it is not immediately followed by the Optional Word you specify. In Sentence With   Open TV when the Hot Word occurs, if it is in a sentence with the Optional Word you specify.
Optional  Word	Type the word you want to match with the Hot Word.  (When you specify an Optional Word, the system only looks for the Hot Word+Optional Word combination.)
Partial	Check this box to start TV when a part of the Hot Word occurs.
Use the Add and Remove buttons to add and remove words from the list.

Actions to take when your HotWords occur	Show Matched Text Displays the text that matches your Hot Word(s). Restore Player Opens TV in its current state. Beep Beep when the HotWord(s) occur.
Recording	Enable TV Magazine Activates TV Magazine . Enable Digital VCR Activates the Digital VCR .


Displaying closed-captioned text

Closed-caption Settings

Closed-Captioning Look Back


End of "Hot Words"


START TROUBLESHOOTING


Video is unstable

Check that you’re using the correct broadcast standard format.  For proper operation, you must specify your country in the TV Channels Initialization Wizard.

Check the quality of your incoming TV signal on another receiver; bad reception may be the cause.

For more information, see the Video Settings page.


Video is in black and white only

Check that you’re using the correct broadcast standard format.  For proper operation, you must specify your country in the TV Channels Initialization Wizard.

Check the quality of your incoming TV signal on another receiver; bad reception may be the cause.

For more information, see the Video Settings page.


No video or audio

Ensure that your cable or antenna is connected.

Ensure that the video connector is set to the correct source.

Check that the audio and video connectors are securely plugged into the correct jacks.

Check that your video card is securely seated in its slot.  Please refer to the user guide for the card location.


END TROUBLESHOOTING


START GLOSSARY DEFINITIONS


AMC
ATI Multimedia Channel.  The AMC is a 40-pin connector, located on the graphics board and AMC peripheral devices, which provides for multimedia expansion and VESA feature connector (VFC) backwards compatibility for the graphics board.  AMC connects ATI-TV to the graphics board via the AMC ribbon cable.


Aspect ratio
Relationship of width (x-axis) to height (y-axis).


.AVI
Audio-Video Interleaved.  Microsoft's specification for the integration of digital motion video under Windows.


Bitmap
Representation of characters or graphics by individual pixels arranged in row and column order.


Composite video
Video signal format that includes the complete visual waveform, including chromatic (color) and luminance (brightness) picture information, as well as control signals.


Compression
The process of reducing the size of data files to decrease storage and computer processing requirements.


Frame
A single, complete picture in television and video.


Frame rate
Number of video frames displayed per second.


INI files
Initialization files that provide Windows with information about your system configuration.


Interlaced video
Interlaced displays paint the screen in two passes - first, the odd-numbered screen lines then the even-numbered screen lines.


MPEG
Moving Pictures Experts Group.  Group under ISO auspices that defines standards for compression/decompression of digital video and audio.  MPEG-1 was optimized for CD-ROM or applications at about 1.5Mbit/sec.  The MPEG-2 concept is similar to MPEG-1, but includes extensions to cover a wider range of applications.  The most significant enhancement over MPEG-1 is the addition of syntax for efficient coding of interlaced video.


NTSC
National Television Systems Committee.  North American and Japanese television technical standards organization.  Frame rate is 30 per second.


Overscan
The area between the displayed image and the edge of the display screen.  Normally, this area is black.


PAL
Phase Alternate Line.  European (excluding France) television standard.


Pixel
Picture element.  The smallest addressable area of the computer screen.


RGB24
True color: Also known as RGB color or 24-bit color. True color graphics systems are usually equipped with at least 24 bits per pixel.  In the 24-bit system, for instance, three primary colors in the color graphics system - red, green, and blue - are allotted eight bits each, providing a palette of 16.7 million colors.


SECAM
Systeme Electronique Couleur A Memoire.  French color TV system (also adopted in Russia).


S-Video
Type of video signal used in Hi8 and S-VHS videotape formats.  It transmits luminance (brightness) and chrominance (color) portions separately, using multiple wires, avoiding the NTSC encoding process and the resultant loss of picture quality.  Also known as Y-C video.


StartUp file
A Windows StartUp file contains applications that start whenever you start Windows.  See Windows online help for more information.


Shortcut key
A key or combination of keys that provides one-stroke access directly to a command or dialog box.  Also called "Accelerator key" or "hot" key".


Tool Tips
Helpful aids for using programs that appear when you point at a control with your mouse.


D1
A digital recording and playback format that uses component video (S-Video).


Panning
Traditionally, rotating a camera about its vertical axis.  With digital video you can pan vertically, too.


END GLOSSARY DEFINITIONS


Channel Organizing

When you select a channel from the channel list in the Channel Properties Details page, you can use the Channel Number and Channel Tunes to Station checkboxes to change channel assignments.  For example, entering 5 in the Channel Number box and 2 in the Channel Tunes to Station box will tune to channel 2 when channel 5 is selected.

Double-clicking the slider returns the current channel´s assignment to normal; for example, selecting channel 2 tunes in channel 2.

Autoscanning returns all channel assignments to normal.


Video Desktop

When you select Video Desktop in the Display settings page, minimizing TV replaces your desktop pattern with a TV display.  Closed-captioned information is not displayed.

A Television icon appears in your Taskbar.  Click the icon to display a small control panel that you can use to change channels and control the volume.

To restore your desktop pattern and TV

Click the TV button in the Windows taskbar.


Display settings

TV Tray


# IDH_tvDoubleRateVideo$ Double-Rate VideoK Double-Rate Video;video;double-rate> Taskwin1


On-screen picture adjustment

Use on-screen picture adjustment to fine-tune the picture quality on-screen.

•	To start adjustment, press the TAB key.

Each time you press TAB, one of eight values is available for adjustment.

•	Use the ·  keys to adjust the value.

Color Tint Brightness Contrast	Press ·  to decrease/increase from 0% to 100%  (decrease/increase 45 degrees for Tint). Note  Tint is not available for PAL or SECAM.
Reset	Press ·  key to reset video to default values.


Video settings


Visual channel selection (channel surf)

Visual channel selection lets you browse through several TV channels simultaneously, and select channels by clicking on "thumbnail" images (miniature representations) of the channels.  Each thumbnail displays the channel number, and is regularly updated to display the current program.

Click the Visual Channel Selection button in the TV control panel.  A grid of thumbnails appears over your TV display.

•	Click the thumbnail for the channel you want.  The channel you clicked becomes "live", and plays video and audio for a few seconds.

•	To select a channel for viewing, double-click a thumbnail.  The grid of thumbnails disappears, and the selected channel appears on your screen.

Notes

After an autoscan, all detected channels are included in the selection list.  A magnifying glass appears to the left of the lock-out icon.  Click the magnifying glass button to add or remove the channel from the selection list.

Most controls are disabled during Visual Channel Selection.


Autoscanning for TV channels


Schedule

The Scheduler lets you set up TV to play particular files and/or watch or record selected TV channels, start TV Magazine, and capture video at times you specify.  If you have the features installed, you can also schedule events for CD Audio and Video CD.  For help on Schedule, click here [image].


Closed captioning Look Back

North American feature

Closed captioning Look Back is used with the HotWords feature, to allow you to see the item in the closed-captioned text that triggered HotWords.


TV Magazine

HotWords


TV Tray

When you minimize TV in a video desktop, a Television icon appears in the "tray" [image] located in the lower-right corner of your screen [image] that holds the volume control, ATI icon and system clock. Click the Television icon to display the TV control panel.

If you have a TV tuner in your computer system, this control panel [image] containing channel up/down, volume, and mute controls [image] is available.

If you do not have a TV tuner, a control panel containing volume and mute controls is available.


TV Magazine

North American feature

Use TV Magazine to transcribe closed-captioned broadcasting [image] including pictures and text.  You can save files as RTF (Rich Text Format), which preserves formatting and can be used in many word processors, plain text (TXT), or HTML.

When TV Magazine is enabled, it transcribes closed-captioned text even if the Closed Captioning button is off.

To open TV Magazine

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the Closed Caption tab.

•	Click the TV Magazine Setup button.

To enable TV Magazine, check the Enable box.

The first time you use TV Magazine, the two-step TV Magazine Setup Wizard will guide you through the setup process.

File Name	Type a name for the file.
File Format	Select a file format.
Options	Overwrite files  Check to overwrite existing files.  Uncheck to keep existing files. Remove Advertising Skip commercial advertising when displaying or transcribing closed-captioned text. This works best with programs that use scrolling transcripts rather than "text bubbles" to record closed-captioned text.  For example: Talk shows News broadcasts Sports Soap operas (Depending upon the closed-captioning format, commercials may occasionally be recorded [image] a little experimentation will show you how to get the best results.) Case Conversion Convert all characters to upper- or lower-case.
Stop Transcribing After	Specify the number of minutes to transcribe.
Select Layout	No Image No images are saved. Images on Left Images are placed on the left, text on the right. Images on Right Images are placed on the right, text on the left. Alternate Images Images and text alternate left and right. Use black & white pictures Save images as black & white, to save disk space. Image Density Specify the number of images per page.


Program Lockout

Program Lockout lets you block particular programs at specific times, and specify the password required to unlock them.

To set program lockout

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel , then click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the channel you want to lock, then click Details…

•	Click Program Lockout, then click Details…

•	Click Create New.

The Program Lockout Wizard guides you through the lockout procedure.  A padlock appears to the right of locked-out programs.

To remove program lockout

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel, then click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the channel you want to unlock, then click Details…

•	Click Program Lockout, then click Details…

•	Select the program you want to unlock.

•	Click Delete.  To remove all program locks, click Delete All.

•	Click OK.

Note

Passwords are case-sensitive.

If you forget your password, you will have to uninstall and re-install your TV software.


Parental Control


Secondary Audio Program (SAP)

The Secondary Audio Program (SAP) can be used to broadcast, for example, language translations, reading services for the visually impaired, weather forecasts, or information about a show.

To hear the Secondary Audio Program, switch from stereo to mono, and show closed captioning when muted

Right-click the Mute button in the TV control panel to display a menu where you can change audio settings.

Notes

Not all television stations broadcast stereo or SAP.

SAP is not available in European or Japanese versions of TV.


TV Out

TV Out lets you display your PC output on a television.

To enable TV out

•	Right-click on your desktop, then click Properties.

•	In the Display Properties page, click Settings, then click Advanced.

•	Click Displays.

•	Click the TV checkbox.

•	Click OK.

To cancel TV Out, click the Television checkbox to clear it.

Note

You must attach a TV before enabling TV Out.


LaunchPad

The LaunchPad provides a convenient way to start all your Multimedia Center applications [image] just click the feature you want.  For Help on LaunchPad, click here [image].


Resource conflict

TV, DVD, and Video CD use some of the same resources.  If you try to start one of these features while another is running, a message appears informing you of resource conflict.  You have four choices:

Run both features with reduced performance.

Suspend the first feature while the other feature is active.

Close the first feature.

Press Cancel to continue without starting the second feature.


Real-time MPEG encoding

If your computer uses a Pentium® III processor or a Pentium® processor with MMX technology, you can capture video and save it in MPEG format, in real time.

The Digital VCR Custom Settings provide four, pre-set MPEG recording settings, and you can customize video and audio settings for your particular purposes.

To customize MPEG recording settings

Note

You should have a good understanding of MPEG before changing these settings.  Of course, experimentation is a great teacher, and if the results are not to your liking, you can simply click the Cancel button to return to the pre-set values.

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV Control panel, then click the Digital VCR tab.

•	Click the Set Custom… button.  The Custom Settings page opens.

•	Select the MPEG format you want to use.
To change preset values, click the Edit… button.  The Capture Wizard opens to guide you through making changes.
To create a new capture preset, click the Create New… button.  The Capture Wizard opens to guide you through making changes.

A comprehensive, technical discussion of MPEG is beyond the scope of this Help file, but for a brief overview, see MPEG technical notes.

There are many sources of information you can explore; a good starting point is the Moving Picture Expert Group’s website.


Getting the best results with MPEG video capture


MPEG technical notes

Capture Wizard (Step 3) lets you set up the Frame Sequence—the mix of I (intra) frames, P (predicted) frames, and B (bi-directional) frames in a GOP (group of pictures).  B frames take the longest to encode, followed by P frames, then I frames.

I frames consume the most space, producing the highest bit rate.  During playback, I frames take the most time to decode; this is not a concern if the same machine is used for capture and playback because encoding is far more computationally intensive than decoding.  It is a matter of balancing capture speed and disk space.  Most cases also allow settings that use only I frames.

Capture Wizard (Step 4) is used to set the video bit rate and motion estimation quality.  When capturing large images, increase the video bit rate.  The value is approximately 1.6Mbit for SIF (Source Input Format) images.  Usually, you must sacrifice some quality to achieve the speed required for real-time encoding.  For MPEG-2 capture, this can be up to 8Mbit/second.  The default is 0.8Mbit/second.

MPEG video’s temporal prediction technique is based upon motion estimation—in most cases, consecutive video frames will be similar except for changes introduced by objects moving within the frames.  The range for this setting is 1 (fastest) to 20 (slowest); depending upon your computer’s speed, you can increase this value to improve quality.

Capture Wizard (Step 2) is used to set the audio format.

Mono combines left and right channels, and uses a lower bit rate and CPU speed.

Stereo compresses left and right channels separately, and requires a high bit rate and medium CPU speed.

Dual Channel stores a monaural signal in two channels.

Joint Stereo finds redundancies between left and right channels, and achieves a higher compression ratio.  It works with a medium bit rate and a higher CPU speed (for example, Pentium III).


TV Channels Initialization Wizard

The TV Channels Initialization Wizard helps you to set up the broadcast standard for your cable or antenna, and searches for active channels.  If you have TV Listings installed with its current database, it will also add the channel name for each channel.

Step 1 of the Wizard helps you to select the proper cable or antenna for your region.  When you choose your country, the Wizard determines the correct broadcast standard.  You must also choose Cable or Antenna.

Step 2 of the Wizard helps you to autoscan for available TV channels.

The TV Parental Control Initialization Wizard helps you to set up Parental Control.  Click the button for more information.


TV Parental Control Initialization Wizard

The TV Parental Control Wizard is used to set or change your Parental Control password.

Note

Passwords are case-sensitive.

If you forget your password, you will have to uninstall and re-install your TV software.

The Sound Initialization Wizard helps you set up your audio connection.  Click the button for more information.


Sound Initialization Wizard

The Sound Initialization Wizard helps you set up your audio connection.  If you do not hear TV audio, ensure that the TV is tuned to a broadcasting channel, and that you have made the correct audio connections.  See Troubleshooting for more information.

The TV-On-Demand Initialization Wizard helps you specify the drive and allocate space for time-shifted video.  Click the button for more information.


TV-On-Demand Initialization Wizard

The TV-On-Demand Initialization Wizard helps you to set up a temporary file, allocate file space, and indicates available time.  The Advanced button lets you customize settings for image quality and processor load.  Click the Finish button to complete the Initialization Wizard.


Initialization Wizard

The first time you start TV, you must complete the Initialization Wizard.  After that, the Wizard will not run unless you want to re-run it.  The Initialization Wizard guides you through setting up TV Channels, Parental Control, Sound, and TV-On-Demand.

For more information on all the Initialization Wizards, click here .

If you want to change the settings later, you can re-run the Initialization Wizard at any time.

To re-run the Initialization Wizard

•	Click the Setup button [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the Display tab, then click the Initialization Wizard… button, and follow the Wizard’s instructions.


TV-On-Demand(1)

TV-On-Demand

TV-On-Demand lets you watch delayed video while you capture live video.  You can switch between the live broadcast and time-shifted video with a click of your mouse.  You can also export time-shifted video as an MPEG (.MP2) file.

You cannot time-shift Macrovision-protected video sources.

To view time-shifted video, click the TV-On-Demand button or the Pause button [image] in the TV Control panel.  If you click the Pause button, the Control panel changes to the TV-On-Demand Control panel, the last frame of video is displayed, and TV-On-Demand captures live video.  When you click the Play button [image], time-shifted video is displayed.

The Control panel changes to the TV-On-Demand Control panel, and time-shifted video is displayed.

To return to live broadcasting, click the Live TV button in the TV-On-Demand Control panel.


TV-On-Demand(2)

TV-On-Demand

To play time-shifted video, click the Play button [image] in the TV-On-Demand Control panel.

To pause time-shifted video.  The Pause button is displayed in live TV mode or in TV-On-Demand mode while time-shifted video is playing.  When you click the Pause button, time-shifted video stops playing, a still image is displayed, and the Pause button changes to the Play button [image].  When you press the Play button, time-shifted video resumes playback, and the Play button changes to the Pause button.

To change playback speed in time-shifted video, click the Speed button to select playback speeds: Slow Play (half-speed), Normal Play, and Fast Play (1.5x speed).  Right-clicking the Speed button also displays a menu of speeds, and Goto Time lets you choose a time from which to start viewing time-shifted video.


TV-On-Demand(3)

TV-On-Demand

To skip backwards and forwards in time-shifted video, click the left button to skip back; click the right button to skip forward.  The default settings are: forward - 10 seconds, backward - 30 seconds.  You can right-click the button to change the time settings to 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, or two minutes.

To move within the time-shifted video, drag the slider with your mouse.  The time display indicates the position in the recorded video.  As you move the slider all the way to the right, the time display indicates Live.

To export time-shifted video, click the Export button in the TV-On-Demand Control panel.  A dialog appears, where you can select the portion of time-shifted video you want to save (Range:), and the location to store it (Output File:).  Exported video is saved in MP2 format. Note: You cannot use the Digital VCR while in TV-On-Demand mode.


TV Listings(1)

TV Listings

North American feature

Gemstar’s GuidePlus+ is an electronic television programming guide for Microsoft Windows.  It provides advanced program information, such as station names and numbers, as well as program names.  You can schedule recording and viewing sessions, search for programs, and maintain a list of your favorite shows.  For more information, see the GuidePlus+ Help.

Click the TV Listings button in the Control panel to start TV Listings.

When you Autoscan, TV Listings provides station names.

When you change channels, the current program name, and the station name and number are displayed.

When you right-click the Display panel, or one of the Channel Surf thumbnails, you can display elapsed/remaining time, program and station name, and program details.


TV Channels Initialization Wizard


TV Listings(2)

TV Listings

Notes

When you use TV Listings, the TV Control panel is hidden, and the following features are unavailable:

On-screen display of channel information

Resizing the Display panel

Zoom and Pan

Video Desktop is deactivated when you open TV Listings, and re-activated when you close TV Listings.

In TV-On-Demand mode, viewing goes to near-real-time.

TV Listings is unavailable when you use the following features:

When you Channel Surf, TV Listings is disabled.

When you capture video, TV Listings is disabled.


WebTV for Windows

WebTV™ for Windows

North American feature

WebTV for Windows adds TV to your computer.  With Windows 98 Second Edition and a TV Tuner card installed in your computer, you can watch TV and work on your computer at the same time, enjoy interactive television, and download information from the Internet.

If you do not have an internet connection, you can download the same program information over a cable connection!  You will want to use the ATI Multimedia Center TV for advanced features such as TV-On-Demand and video capture , and WebTV to access interactive program guides and interactive web content.

To launch WebTV for Windows, click the TV icon in your Windows taskbar.


Control Menu

You can access TV functions by right-clicking the Control panel or the viewing area of the Display panel.  The following control menu appears:

Setup	Open the TV. Setup page.
Always On Top	Display TV on top of all other applications.
Hide Controls	Hide the Control panel.
Unzoom (if already zoomed )	Return display size to normal (1:1).
Video Size	Indicates the sizes available for the current panel.  160 x 120  240 x 180  320 x 240  640 x 480  Full Screen
Connector	Specifies the video input:  TV Tuner  Selects TV tuner input. Composite   Selects composite video input. S-Video  Selects S-Video input.
Sound  Mode	Sets the audio mode: Stereo   Enables stereo TV audio SAP  Enables Secondary Audio Program.  Both   Enables both regular TV audio and SAP.  Mono   Enables monaural TV audio.
Channel  Surf	Starts the Visual Channel Selection feature.
About	Displays the About… dialog.
Exit	Closes the Television application.


Parental Control

North American feature

Parental Control lets you restrict access to TV programs, depending on their content rating.  The video and audio of programs that you restrict will be scrambled until the correct password is entered.  The first time you start TV, the TV Parental Control Initialization Wizard guides you through setting up Parental Control.

Parental Control is only available for computer systems that have a TV tuner.

The capture still frames feature is disabled for scrambled programs, and video capture records only scrambled material.

To set a Parental Control level

Right-click the Parental Control button in the TV Control panel to display a menu of choices.  The selected level is checkmarked.

Click the level you want.  The password dialog appears.


Troubleshooting(1)

Troubleshooting

If you have problems with your TV software, try these suggestions.

Audio problems …

I can’t hear the TV

If you have external speakers, ensure that they are plugged into your sound card.

Click here to test your speakers.  This will open Windows Media Player and play a sound.

If you still do not hear any sound, open the Volume Control [image] (click here to open the Volume Control) and ensure that the WAVE channel is not muted or set very low.  Also ensure that the MIDI (or Synthesizer) channel is not muted.

You can also open the Volume Control by clicking Start [image]  Programs [image]  Accessories [image]  Entertainment [image]  Volume Control.  Or, right-click the speaker icon [image] (usually in the lower-right corner of your screen), and click Open Volume Controls.


Troubleshooting(2)

Troubleshooting

Captured video has no sound

Open the Volume Control (click here), click Options, click Properties, then click Recording in Adjust volume for.  Ensure that Line (or the Audio Input you selected in the Sound Initialization Wizard) is checked, then click OK.

The Recording Control opens.  Ensure that the Select box in Line is checked, and set the Volume slider at its mid-point.

Video problems …

Video is unstable

There is no video or audio

Video is black & white only