Copyright: TV Help Copyright © 1999 ATI Technologies Inc.
Citation: TV Help Copyright © 1999 ATI Technologies Inc.


Introduction

WELCOME to TV on-line Help

Watch TV in full-screen or in a window, capture and save TV and video images, display and record closed-captioned text.  You can do it all with TV.  Click a feature for more information ...

Using TV

Setting up your TV

Capturing video and still images

Displaying closed-captioned text

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

Play live video, with a delay that you specify, while you watch TV


TV

The TV control panel

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.

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.

The 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.

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] Video Editing, CD Audio, DVD, Video CD [image] a TaskList menu displays available and active features.

Notes

Stereo TV is not available in European versions of the TV.

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

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

Instant Replay

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 streaming video or stop-motion video

Adjust and mute the audio volume

Set up your TV

Turn Closed Captioning on and off

Un-zoom

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, or 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.


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, click the Setup button, then click the Display tab, then click the Initialization button to start the First Run Wizard, which will help you set up your display, TV channels, audio, video capture, and Instant Replay.


Display panel

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

Your media play in the Display panel.  It's 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.  If you have more than one feature installed [image] Video Editing, CD Audio, DVD, Video CD [image] a TaskList menu displays available and active features.


Display settings

Sizing the Display panel

Capturing still frames

Zooming and Unzooming

On-screen Picture Adjustment

Instant Replay


Sizing the Display panel

You can resize the Display panel using:

Your mouse,

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 Unzooming

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 continue to zoom in on the enlarged image as many times as you wish.

To Zoom in

Use the mouse to click and drag a rectangle on the Display panel.

The portion of the screen you selected is enlarged.

To Zoom out

Click the Unzoom button in the TV control panel.


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

Click the Closed Caption button in the TV control panel.

TV displays closed-captioned text in the Display panel, or in its own window; you can select this in the Closed Caption Settings page.

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.

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.

To close the closed caption window

Click the Exit button in the upper-right corner.


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 specify the size of captured images:

As Is

240x180

320x240

800x600

1024x768

Desktop size

640x480 true capture.

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 from TV

Full-motion video.  You can use the Digital VCR to capture a stream of full-motion video plus audio from your video source and save it as an .AVI file on your computer's hard disk.  You also have the option of capturing only audio.  Full-motion video files play in the Windows Media Player, or you can open them in the Video Editor.

To record a stream of video and audio  or stop-motion video from TV.

Video editing.  The Video Editing feature lets you trim your captured video and save the selected portion.

You can use the Digital VCR Custom Settings option to compress your captured video and save it in several industry-standard formats (see Format in the Digital VCR custom settings page).


Digital VCR settings

Digital VCR advanced settings

Digital VCR custom settings

Capturing a stream of audio and video

Getting the best results with MPEG video capture

Capturing still frames

Preallocating file space

Saving and compressing captured files

Video editing

Stills Gallery


Digital VCR

The 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 stream of full-motion video plus audio from your video source and save it as an .AVI file on your computer's hard disk.  You also have the option of capturing only audio.  Full-motion video files play in the Display panel.

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 set up the Digital VCR

Click the Setup button in the TV control panel.

Click the Digital VCR tab to open the Digital VCR settings page.

To start the Digital VCR

Click the Record button in the TV control panel.  The Digital VCR opens.

If you have selected Stream Capture, recording starts immediately.

If you have selected Sequence Capture, one frame is captured each time you click the camera button.

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


Digital VCR Custom Settings

Digital VCR Settings

Digital VCR Advanced Settings

Video editing


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.

Recording Quality	Best Quality Good Quality Medium Quality Longest Time Custom For extremely fine control, click this selection, then click Set to open the Custom Settings page.
Duration Check to record.	Record for  Type the number of minutes you wish to record.
Current Video Settings	Displays the video format, size, and frame rate for captured video.
Current Audio Settings	Displays the audio format for captured audio.
Advanced Settings	Click the Advanced Settings button to open the Advanced Settings page, where you can set up capture options, specify a target drive, and pre-allocate file space.


Digital VCR Custom Settings

Digital VCR Advanced Settings


Digital VCR advanced settings

Click the Advanced Settings button in the Digital VCR Settings page to open the Advanced Settings page, where you can set up capture options, specify a target drive, and pre-allocate file space.

General Options	Prompt before Recording  Do all the capture setup, and then display a dialog that starts capture. Add to Recent Documents  Add captured AVI’s to the recent documents list under the Windows Start menu. Show in minutes Display remaining recording time in minutes.
Temporary Recording files	Record to Drive  Choose the drive to store captured video. Amount of free space to  leave on the hard drive:   Move the slider to increase or decrease the amount of space to leave on your hard drive.  Use this to prevent the recording from completely filling your drive.
Enable Pre-allocate file	Reserves disk space for captured video.  Move the slider to increase or decrease the amount of disk space.


Digital VCR Settings

Digital VCR Custom Settings


Digital VCR custom settings

When you select Custom in the Recording Quality section of the Digital VCR Settings page and click the Set button, the Digital VCR Custom Settings page opens.

The Digital VCR Custom Settings provides very fine control over video and audio capture.  You can set properties for format, size, and frame rate.  You can capture only video or only audio, and specify capture time in seconds.

Capture Video Check to  capture video	Format: ATI Packed YUV Data  Produces the best quality, but uses the most memory. YUV9 Planar (Indeo Raw) YUV12 Planar (MPEG Raw) ATI VCR 1.0  Dramatically reduces required disk space.  Requires a Pentium 166 or faster, and dramatically reduces required disk space. ATI VCR 2.0  Uses on-the-fly compression to achieve up to 9:1 compression over YUV16.  Requires an MMX or Pentium II class machine. Capture in MPEG-1 Format Requires a Pentium III or Pentium with MMX technology. Capture in MPEG-2 format  Requires a Pentium III or Pentium with MMX technology. Dimension  Select a size at which to capture video.  The larger the size, the more space the file will use. Frame Rate  Type a custom frame rate.  The higher the frame rate, the more space the file will use.
Capture Audio Check to  capture audio	Format: Choose the audio format.  The greater the sampling rate (KHz) and sample size (bit), the more space the file will use.  Stereo requires more disk space than mono.
Limit Recording to	Enter a maximum recording time, in seconds.
MPEG Settings	If your computer uses a Pentium III or Pentium with MMX technology, and if you select Capture in MPEG-1 Format or Capture in MPEG-2 Format, this button is enabled.
To capture in MPEG format, click Capture in MPEG-1 Format or Capture in MPEG-2 Format, then click the …MPEG Settings button.  For more information, see Getting the best results with MPEG video capture.


Digital VCR Settings

Digital VCR Advanced Settings

Real-time MPEG encoding


Getting the best results
with MPEG video capture

To access MPEG properties

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

•	Click the Digital VCR tab.

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

•	Choose MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, then click the …MPEG Settings button.

MPEG Properties Setting Page 1 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.

Set Frames in Group to 1.

Set Frames in Subgroup to 1.

To select I, B, P frame MPEG capture

This uses more CPU, but greatly reduces the bit-rate required to achieve good quality video.

Set Frames in Group to 12.

Set Frames in Subgroup to 3.

Click NEXT > to go to MPEG Properties Setting Page 2.

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.

Click NEXT > to go to MPEG Properties Setting Page 3.

For North American users, the defaults should not need to be changed.

Click NEXT > to go to MPEG Properties Setting Page 4.

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 still images from TV, the Stills Gallery opens to let you save images in a variety of graphics formats and sizes.  The Stills Gallery controls let you save images, delete them, hide them, save them as wallpaper, and print them.

Double-click the capture window 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 page to compress your captured video and save it in several industry-standard formats.  When you compress a file, a progress indicator displays the amount of file processed.

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 from TV

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


Stills Gallery


Capturing a stream of video and audio.

Capturing video and audio from TV

You can record a continuous stream of video and audio or a sequence of still frames.

To record a stream of video and audio

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

The Digital VCR panel opens, and starts recording video and audio to an .AVI file on 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... page 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.

To record a sequence of still frames

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

The Digital VCR panel opens, and prompts you to click the camera button.  Each time you click the camera button, you record a frame.

To start video editing mode

•	In the Windows taskbar, click Start, then point at Programs.

•	Point at ATI Multimedia, then click Video Editing.  Or,

When you save captured video from TV, check the Launch Video Editing Feature checkbox in the Save As dialog—the Video Editor will open automatically when you stop capturing.


Playing captured video

Double-click the .AVI file to open it in the Windows Media Player.  If you have ATI Video CD, you can use it to play.AVI and MPEG-1 files.  If you have ATI DVD, you can use it to play MPEG-2 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 [image] in the TV control panel.

•	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.  Always On Top Display TV on top of other applications.
Hide Player Hotkey	Enter a keyboard key that hides/displays TV.
Initialization	Re-runs the First Run Wizard.


Video settings

Use the video settings page to select the video input connector, specify the general properties of your captured video, adjust your display, and set still capture size.

To open the Video settings page

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

•	Click the Video tab.

Connector	Cable Selects cable (CATV) input. Composite Selects composite video  input. S-Video Selects S-Video  input.
Standard	Selects the TV broadcast standard (NTSC, PAL, or SECAM).
About  Driver	Displays a current configuration dialog box.
Video Capture	Interlaced Captures both fields of an interlaced image.  Some blurring may be visible in objects that are rapidly moving sideways, and scrolling text. Both Fields (double-rate video) Captures both fields of an interlaced image and displays them one after the other, to produce video at double the normal refresh rate.  The edges of stationary images (especially long, horizontal lines) may appear slightly blocky. One Field Captures one field of an interlaced image.  Some blurring may be visible in sideways-scrolling text.
Color Temperature	Warm Accentuates warm tones (the red end of the spectrum).  This can be useful for correcting or enhancing skin tones. Cool Accentuates cool tones (the blue end of the spectrum).  Use this to correct an image that is too "hot".
Color	Adjusts the amount of color in the image.
Brightness	Adjusts the amount of white in the image.
Contrast	Adjusts the gradation of tone between the image's highlights, midtones, and shadows.
Tint	Adjusts the balance of red-to-blue in the image.  Note that Tint is not adjustable for PAL or SECAM.
Capture Still 640x480	Capture still images at 640x480 pixels.


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 [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

AutoScan	Scans for all available TV channels, and stores them when you press the Set button.
Cable Standard	Selects the TV broadcast format.
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.
Each channel displays three checkboxes; from left to right they do the following:

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

To add the channel to your favorites, check the box.  To remove the channel, uncheck it.

0	Autoscan automatically sets checked channels.

•	  The channel has a program lock.

•	  The channel is in the Visual Selection list.

To add a channel to the Visual 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 Selection 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 [image] in the TV control panel.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click Details…

Channel Name	Type in a name for the channel.
Channel Number	Displays the channel number.
Channel 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 Details…

•	Click Audio.

•	Click Details…

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…

Color Setting	Warm Accentuates the red end of the spectrum.  This can be useful for correcting or enhancing skin tones. Cool Accentuates the blue end of the spectrum.  Use this to correct an image that is too “hot”.
Video Capture	Interlaced  Captures both fields of an interlaced image.  Some blurring may be visible in objects that are rapidly moving sideways, and scrolling text. Both Fields Captures both fields of an interlaced image and displays them one after the other, to produce video at double the normal refresh rate.  The edges of stationary images (especially long, horizontal lines) may appear slightly blocky. One Field  Captures one field of an interlaced image.  Some blurring may be visible in sideways-scrolling text.
Broadcast Standard	Select the broadcast standard for your country. NTSC  PALNCOMB
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.


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 Details…

•	Click Program Lockout.

•	Click Details…

Note

Once you set a password, attempting to change parental control 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 & Duration	Time of lockout, and length of lockout, in minutes.
Next Lock Time	Next time to lock out program.


Closed Captioning Channel Settings

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…

Note

Closed captioning is a North American feature.

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

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.

Note

Closed captioning is a North American 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

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.

Note

HotWords is a North American feature.

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 (NTSC, PAL, or SECAM).

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 the connectors setting to make sure you have selected the correct input (CATV, Composite, or S-Video) for your video source device.

For more information, see the Video Settings page.


No video or audio

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.

Check the VFC and audio cables to make sure all connectors are securely plugged into the correct jacks.


No audio

Ensure that another Windows audio program is not muting the sound.


Captured images have jagged edges

If you are capturing One Field (non-interlaced), images may appear jagged. Click Both Fields in the Video Settings page.

For more information, see the Video Settings page.


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
Sequential 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).


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 TV 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


Double-Rate Video

The Both Fields option in the Video Settings page captures both fields of an interlaced image and displays them one after the other, to produce video at double the normal refresh rate.  The edges of stationary images (especially long, horizontal lines) may appear slightly blocky.


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.
Color  Temp	Select Warm or Cool.
Video Mode	Select One Field, Both Fields, or Interlaced.
Reset	Press ·  key to reset video to default values.
None	Clears the display.


Video settings


Visual Channel Selection

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.

To add or remove the current channel from the Visual Channel Selection list

Right-click the Visual Channel button, and click Add or Remove in the drop-down menu.


Autoscanning for TV channels


Schedule

The Scheduler lets you set up TV to play particular files and/or watch 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

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.

You can track up to five minutes of closed-captioned data, and delay the display of closed-captioned data.  Simply use the up/down arrow buttons to specify time values.

When closed-captioned text is displayed in its own window, a scroller appears, which you can use to set the delay.  Dragging the scroller all the way to the right sets the delay to zero.

When closed-captioned text is displayed over video, the delay is controlled by the setting in the Closed Caption Settings page.


Transcribing closed-captioned text

HotWords


TV Tray

When you minimize TV in a video desktop, a TV 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 TV 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, this control panel [image] containing volume and mute controls [image] is available.


TV Magazine

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.

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.

•	Click the TV Tuner tab.

•	Click the channel you want.

•	Click Details…

•	Click Program Lockout.

•	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.

Note

Passwords are case-sensitive.

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


Parental Control


Instant Replay

Instant Replay replays live video, with a delay you specify, while you watch TV.  You can:

Pause and restart capture

Search, pause, and play the captured video

To start Instant Replay  Click the Instant Replay button in the TV control panel.

The Instant Replay panel opens beside the display panel.

To display or hide the Instant Replay panel  Right-click the Instant Replay button in the TV control panel, and click Show Window in the drop-down menu.

To close the Instant Replay panel  Click the Exit button in the upper-right corner of the panel.


Disable Instant Replay recording

Replay video

Set the playback position and delay time


To disable Instant Replay

Click this button in the Instant Replay panel to disable Instant Replay recording.


Replaying video

Click the Play button in the Instant Replay panel to play the video in the Instant Replay recording buffer.  Captured video plays in a continuous loop until you exit the Instant Replay window or click the Disable button.

Note

You can only replay when you are not capturing.


Setting playback position and delay time

Click the position slider to navigate through the replay video.  Click the time display to change the delay time.


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 Television 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, Video Editor, 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.

When you run the First Run Wizard (see Initialization in TV display settings), the TV Video Capture Initialization Wizard provides MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats.  Three, pre-set MPEG recording configurations are available, 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 Default button to return to the pre-set values.

•	In the Digital VCR Custom Settings page, click Custom, then click the Set button.

The Custom Settings page opens.

•	In the Format list, click Capture in MPEG-1 format or Capture in MPEG-2 format.

•	Click the …MPEG Settings button.

The MPEG Properties Settings Wizard opens.  Follow the steps in the MPEG Properties Settings Wizard to customize Frames in Group, Frames in Subgroup, Frame Rate, Video Bit Rate, Motion Estimation Performance, Aspect Ratio, Video Format, HD1 Mode, Audio Mode, Audio Bit Rate, and Audio Frequency.

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

MPEG Properties Setting Page 1 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.

MPEG Properties Setting Page 2 is used to set the video bit rate and motion estimation performance.  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.

MPEG Properties Setting Page 3 is used to set the picture properties—aspect ratio, video system, and HD1 (Half D1) option.  HD1 format (for MPEG-2 only) is 352x480 pixels, and improves picture quality for MPEG-2.  HD1 has a lower bit rate, and does not require a Pentium III for compression.  When you select HD1 Mode, capture takes input such as 352x240 and compresses it as 352x480.  When you select HD1, the picture size displayed in the Current Video Settings group in the Digital VCR Settings page will have the vertical value doubled.  For example, if you set the size to 352x240, the Current Video Settings will be 352x480, indicating that HD1 Mode is on.  If you change the MPEG-1 settings, this option is disabled.

MPEG Properties Setting Page 4 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).


First Run Wizard

When you first start TV, the First Run Wizard guides you through setting up the TV feature.  If you want to change these settings later, you can re-run the First Run Wizard at any time.

Note

The first time you start TV, you must complete the First Run Wizard.  After that, the Wizard will not run unless you want to re-run it.

To run the First Run Wizard

•	 Click the setup button in the TV control panel, then click the Display tab.

•	Click the Initialization button, and follow the Wizard’s instructions.

The TV Display Initialization Wizard helps you set up your TV Display.  Click the button for more information.


First Run Wizard - TV Display

The TV Display Initialization Wizard lets you set up the following features for your TV display:

Video Desktop

Fixed Aspect Ratio

Always On Top

Show Tool Tips

Show Shortcut

Hide Player Hotkey

The TV Channels Initialization Wizard helps you connect your TV to your cable or antenna.  Click the button for more information.


First Run Wizard - TV Channels

The TV Channels Initialization Wizard helps you connect your TV to your cable or antenna.

Step 1 of the Wizard helps you to select the proper cable or antenna for your region.

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.


First Run Wizard - TV Parental Control

The TV Parental Control Wizard lets you block access to specified programs and channels and some TV settings.  Your password must be entered to gain access to those programs, channels, or settings.  The Wizard asks you to enter a password.

Note

Passwords are case-sensitive.

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

The TV Sound Initialization Wizard helps you to set up your TV sound.  Click the button for more information.


First Run Wizard - TV Sound

The TV Sound Initialization Wizard helps you to set up the audio connection between TV and your sound card.

The TV Video Capture Initialization Wizard helps you to set up TV video capture.  Click the button for more information.


First Run Wizard - TV Video Capture

The TV Video Capture Wizard helps you to specify the quality of captured video and the temporary drive to store it.  The Wizard asks you for:

The default capture format

Whether to launch the Video Editor automatically when you stop capturing

The temporary drive to store captured video

This is the last page of the First Run Wizard.  You can re-run the Wizard any time:

To run the First Run Wizard

•	 Click the setup button in the TV control panel, then click the Display tab.

•	Click the Initialization button, and follow the Wizard’s instructions.