ComproPVR 2 User’s Guide Compro Technology, Inc. www.comprousa.
Copyright © 2001-2006. Compro Technology, Inc. No part of this document may be copied or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of Compro Technology, Inc. Compro, VideoMate, Poladyne, Play with Power, and the Compro logo are trademarks of Compro Technology, Inc. Other names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners.
Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................ 1 Key Features................................................................ 2 Installation .................................................................... 4 Updates........................................................................ 4 Remove the Software................................................... 4 2 Remote Control ..........................................................
ComproPVR User's Guide Why can’t I choose MPEG-4 format for recording?50 Why does the remote control fail? ......................... 51 Why does ComproPVR start by itself? .................. 51 Contacting Compro Technical Support ..................
Introduction 1 Introduction ComproPVR is a complete digital entertainment solution for your PC. Watch and record TV programs on your PC, in full-screen mode or in a window. Timeshifting lets you watch TV, pause live TV, or review your favorite scenes without missing a minute of the program. Integrated deinterlacing technology assures the highest picture quality. All this, with the industry's first universal remote control.
ComproPVR User's Guide Key Features Watch and record TV programs. Supports all TV channels. View all available TV programming. Never miss a second with Timeshifting. Advanced PIP/POP feature Video desktop to watch TV and playback video file in the same time Powerful and easy to use schedule recording functioning. Capture video from analog video sources and encode them to digital MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 formats. 12 and 16 channels surfing.
Introduction Brightness, hue, contrast, saturation, and sharpness options for adjustment. It’s also available for each channel. Auto splitting of recording files. Support for plug-in CODECs. Auto tune for best picture quality frequencies. Parental control to lock out selected channels. Note ComproPVR cannot duplicate VHS tapes and DVDs protected by Macrovision™ technology.
ComproPVR User's Guide Installation Usually, ComproPVR is automatically installed upon inserting the installation CD into your CD drive. Follow the instructions of the software installer. You can also manually install it by inserting the installation CD. Open Explorer, double-click on the “setup.exe” in the folder named ComproPVR. ComproPVR will be installed right away. Updates User satisfaction is the first priority for Compro Technology. Your opinion is crucial in improving our products.
ComproPVR User Interface 2 Remote Control Definitions and Usage Remote control keypad lets you control the ComproPVR application with a familiar, user-friendly interface. The next two pages describe how to use the remote control to operate ComproPVR. Note Not all products support remote function. Please check the description on the product box. There are different kinds of remote controls. The following illustrate one of the kinds only. Please refer the product installation guide for more information.
ComproPVR User's Guide Remote Control Key Definition and Use Please refer to the buttons and their corresponding function listed on the opposite page.
ComproPVR User Interface 3 ComproPVR User Interface Control Panel The ComproPVR control panel resembles the controls on a VCR. Keep in mind that not all options are available at all times, and may be grayed out or inaccessible depending on your hardware setup and TV services available. The following describe the ComproPVR control panel functions, and tips for using ComproPVR. The following figure gives you the function of the button with (Hot Key.
ComproPVR User's Guide Icon HotKey n/a Description A Enable/Disable Always-on-Top function for TV window.(Oregon circle on the upper-right corner of the TV window) L Sleep function Note: Language select is only available while the program supports it. Watching After installation, just press the PVR/TV button on the remote or double click the ComproPVR icon on the desktop you will be able to watch TV. The first time you start ComproPVR, Autoscan will automatically scan for available TV channels.
ComproPVR User Interface Configuration Click on the Options button to open the Options dialog box.
ComproPVR User's Guide Follow these steps to customize and configure your channel list. Video Source First, select your video source, Cable or Antenna. Autoscan The first time you start ComproPVR, Autoscan will automatically scan for available TV channels for both Cable signal and Antenna signals. You can rescan the channels at any time by pressing the Autoscan button. 1. ComproPVR will automatically scan all available channels for content.
ComproPVR User Interface Step3. Repeat steps 1 through 2 for any other channels you wish to rename. Step4. Click OK to confirm your modifications. Note If you enable the checkbox of “Clear Description field while Autoscan,” then the text in the field will be erased while Autoscan. The default is disabled. Set Mem+ During the Autoscan process, ComproPVR automatically detects and enables channels with valid signal. By default, every available channel will be enabled and marked with the green icon.
ComproPVR User's Guide Step2. Click on the Password button and enter the new password in the fields labeled Password and Confirm. Step3. If you previously set a password, you must also enter the old password in the appropriate field. Step4. Click on the OK button. Change Password Click on the Password button. Enter the old password in the field labeled Old Password. Then enter the new password in the field labeled Password and Confirm.
ComproPVR User Interface My Favorite Channels List ComproPVR includes a channels sorting and re-ordering feature. Check the “Use My Favorites as My Channel Lists” checkbox. You can see the window below. Select the channel you wish to add to my favorite and press the proper arrow button. You may double-click on the channel to move it as well. In addition, adjusting the channel order by using the proper arrow button. Fine Tuning ComproPVR includes a fine-tuning feature.
ComproPVR User's Guide Video/Audio Options Source Select the video source from among TV, S-Video, or Composite. Also you can click the control panel to switch video sources.
ComproPVR User Interface Preview Video Size ComproPVR supports the resolution from 160*120 to 720*480 for NTSC and from 160*120 to 720*576 for PAL. You can choose the resolution here. Note This influences the snapshot resolution. Country/Region Use the pull-down menu to select the country you are in. This allows ComproPVR to use the correct set of frequencies for TV tuning. Video Format Select the proper video format for your area from the drop-down menu.
ComproPVR User's Guide Contrast: Adjusts the gradation of tone between the image highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. Saturation: Adjusts the color intensity of the image. Sharpness: Adjusts the sharpness of the image. Press the Default button to reset the sliders to their original positions. Note Pressing the Default button for Video Properties sometimes fixes the situation where you have audio but a blank (black) or off-color video. Audio Mode You can select Mono, Stereo or SAP in this dialog box.
ComproPVR User Interface Recording Options Path (Recorded Programs Folder) Click on the button to set the folder where recorded programs are stored. Check that you have ample disk space to store recorded programs.
ComproPVR User's Guide Quality Here you can select the video and audio quality settings of recorded programs. ComproPVR includes useful quality presets, from VCD to DVD-quality. However, Custom settings may not be compatible with standard formats. Use it with caution You can also use custom settings by following these steps. Advanced Settings Here you can select the details of video and audio quality settings of recorded programs. Format: Choose between MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video encoding formats.
ComproPVR User Interface Audio Bit Rate: Choose the audio bit rate you like here. Audio bit rate is expressed in kilobits per second. Frame Rate: NTSC system uses 29.97 FPS (Frame Per Second) while PAL system uses 25 FPS. Variable Bit Rates: Checking this box will use variable bit rates to record. Usually, this will have better video quality. However, CPU loading is higher as well. Audio Frequencies: Standard DVD audio frequencies are 48 KHz while other formats use 44.1 KHz.
ComproPVR User's Guide http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forma t/codecdownload.aspx After installing the CODEC software, you will see the MPEG-4 format appear in the field of recording quality. Compro does not guarantee compatibility or performance with third-party CODECs. Performance You can choose the encoder performance here. The better you choose, the picture quality will be better. However, more processing power is required to record. If CPU usage reaches 100%, the video will become jumpy.
ComproPVR User Interface Timeshifting Options Buffered Time Set the amount of programming that is stored, or “buffered” during Timeshifting. It also shows the total recording time available. Do not set the Buffered Time to consume all free disk space.
ComproPVR User's Guide Path (Buffer file storage location) Choose the folder where the Timeshifting buffer file is stored. Choose a folder in a disk partition with ample free disk space. See the video format table for estimates of the amount of disk space needed. Quality Choose the recording quality used during Timeshifting. Higher quality levels consume more disk space.
ComproPVR User Interface User Interface Path (Snapshot file storage location) Choose the folder where the snapshot pictures are stored. Choose a folder in a disk partition with ample free disk space. See the video format table for estimates of the amount of disk space needed.
ComproPVR User's Guide File Type (Snapshot file type) Choose the snapshot file type. There are BMP and JPEG format available. If you choose JPEG format, you can also adjust the JPEG Compression Quality on the bar of right side. Channel Surfing Choose the number of channel surfing. There are 12 and 16 options available. Aspect Ratio Select the display screen aspect ratio, the ratio of screen width to screen height. The default ratio is 4:3. You may also choose the 16:9 wide-screen or custom ratios.
ComproPVR User Interface the TV picture. ComproPVR, on the other hand, can show you the entire picture, including the "green line." OSD (On-Screen Display) When you select the checkbox next to enable OSD, channel information such as channel numbers, channel names, and audio quality will be displayed as you switch channels. When this box is unchecked no information will be displayed. Also you can customize your own text color, position, and size.
ComproPVR User's Guide System Devices Options Video Device Please refer the product manual for more information about it. If you don’t see the device name here, then you didn’t install the device driver properly. Please refer the trouble shooting section in the product manual.
ComproPVR User Interface Audio Device ComproPVR automatically detects the audio input devices available in your system. Here, you must select the appropriate audio input devices for your system. Note: You must select the proper Video and Audio devices for correct operation. If you do not see the appropriate Video and Audio devices, the drivers are not properly installed. Please reinstall these drivers and see product manual for more information.
ComproPVR User's Guide When you contact the Compro Support team about a problem, please write enough details to help us determine the problem. Please also provide the product serial number (19 digits numbers) on the PCI TV tuner card. You can submit your problem in the support form provide by our website. http://comprousa.com/ support/form.htm Notes Check the troubleshooting chapter of in this manual for more information before you submit an email for support.
Using ComproPVR 4 Using ComproPVR Watching After installation, just press the ComproPVR button on the remote or mouse click ComproPVR icon on the desk you will be able to watch TV. Same as operate a normal TV set. Watch TV programs on your PC, in full-screen mode or in a window. Channel up and down. Close ComproPVR and even shutdown the computer with full function remote control keypad.
ComproPVR User's Guide Channel Surfing While watching TV, the channel surfing feature displays a 4x4 grid of channel images to give you an overview of available programming. To start the channel surfing feature, press the Channel Surfing button on the ComproPVR control panel. Thumbnail images will begin to appear in the display window. With your mouse, click on the program you wish to watch and you will exit surf mode. You can also return to normal mode by clicking on the Channel Surfing button again.
Using ComproPVR Right-Click Mouse Menu If using mouse to right-click on the TV screen, you can see the menu below. There are many useful options for your convenience. Zooming image If you like to see more detail on the part of video image, you can press the mouse right button to drag a zone of the screen. You will see the zooming image. Also you can press the mouse right button and move on the screen to shift the zone area of the image. Just click the mouse left button to resume the normal mode.
ComproPVR User's Guide ComproPVR. The dialog box will pop up as follow. ComproPVR can let you re-order channel number if necessary. After Autoscan channels, channel number is as same as default channel number. What if your local TV station uses different channel number, you can click mouse on the column of the channel to drag up or down to the channel order you like.
Using ComproPVR Note The Difference between “Custom Channels” and “My Favorite Channels List” are: Using “My Favorite Channels List” will only shows the channels you have selected and rotate with up and down in the order you have set.
ComproPVR User's Guide “Using “Custom Channels” you will be able to assign a new channel number to a frequency and therefore will be able to press the number to select the channel. Combine both function as you need it can be very convenient. This manual only provides basic information for the ComproPVR 2. For more information on using applications, please see the User’s Guides in the programs, on the CDs, or at our website for the latest manuals.
Using ComproPVR Recording ComproPVR is a digital video recorder. ComproPVR can record full-motion video and audio from your video source and save it to your hard disk. ComproPVR supports MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 encoding, which saves disk space while providing high video quality. To instantly start recording: . ComproPVR starts 1. Press the Record button recording the video source currently showing in the display window. It will save it to a file on your disk.
ComproPVR User's Guide Video File Formats Table Format NTSC DVD NTSC 1/2-DVD NTSC 1/4-DVD NTSC VCD NTSC SVCD NTSC PC MPEG-2 NTSC 1/4-PC MPEG-2 PAL DVD PAL 1/4-DVD PAL VCD PAL SVCD PAL PC MPEG-2 PAL 1/4-PC MPEG-2 Screen Size 720*480 352*480 Video Bit Rate (Mbps) 6.4 3.6 Audio Bit Rate (Kbps) 224 224 Typical Disk Usage 3 GB/hr 1.7 GB/hr 352*240 1.8 224 1 GB/hr 352*240 1.1 224 480*480 720*480 2.2 6.4 224 224 600 MB/hr 1 GB/hr 3 GB/hr 720*480 1.8 224 1 GB/hr 720*579 352*288 352*288 6.4 1.
Using ComproPVR Scheduled Recording ComproPVR can be scheduled to record a TV program later or remind you of an upcoming program. The schedule can be set for a one-time or a recurring session. You can repeatedly record any regularly scheduled programming. Relax. Never miss your favorite shows. Press the icon to open the Schedule Recording dialog box. Scheduled Program Lists Create: Create a new scheduled recording event. Modify: Modify an existing recording event.
ComproPVR User's Guide Event Information: Shows details about your recording schedule. Scheduled Recording Settings You can see the following after clicking Create. Event Name: Type the event name. The saved recording file will also use this name. If you leave this field blank, ComproPVR will automatically create the Event Name and file name. The Format button lets you select the file name format.
Using ComproPVR Channel Number: Check this box to add channel numbers to the names of the recording files. Start Date: Check this box to add the start date to the names of the recording files. Start Time: Check this box to add the start time to the names of the recording files. Power Up Scheduling feature Note Your VideoMate U880/U900 USB 2.
ComproPVR User's Guide Power up will wake up your computer at 3:55. Therefore, you need to shut down the computer before 3:54 in order to let Power Up start the computer. There are three possible actions after recording is complete: Shut down the system: After recording, shut down the system. System stand by: After recording, put computer in stand by mode. Keep system power on: After recording, does not shutdown system.
Using ComproPVR Password: Type in your password. Domain: ComproPVR will automatically detect your Windows Domain name, if any. In most home PCs, this field will be blank and need not be changed. (See Note below). Do not modify this field unless you need to logon to a different Windows Domain during the Power Up process. Press the OK button to proceed. Notes Enabling the automatic logon function is only necessary when you need to type user name and password to logon to Windows.
ComproPVR User's Guide Audio mode: Select the audio source you want to record. Mute speakers while recording: Check this box to mute speakers while recording. This feature is useful if the program is to be recorded while you are asleep. Quality Settings Quality settings: Select the video quality at which you wish to record. Refer to the Video File Formats Table (page 30) to better understand the relationship between video quality and disk usage.
Using ComproPVR You may play, rename and delete with this list. You may also change the folder to select other files. PlP or POP for Playback ComproPVR features PIP or POP for playback window. You will see a window popping up after choosing a file for playback as following. Main window has all features while slave window has limited functions only. Double-click on the slave window can switch the TV program to the main window.
ComproPVR User's Guide Note PIP or POP can’t let you watch two different channels at the same time due to one tuner can only tune to one frequency. Running additional windows consumes more CPU usage. If CPU usage reaches 100%, then video lag will occur. Please close the slave windows for this case. Slave window has no full screen mode. Please double-click on slave window to switch program with main window in order to do so. It is available to hear audio on multiple programs at the same time.
Using ComproPVR Timeshifting Timeshifting lets you pause, replay, or skip commercials during live TV, without interrupting an ongoing recording session. Timeshifting gives you absolute control over how you watch television, like never before. For example, you watch your favorite sporting event, pause the live action and help yourself to an ice-cold beverage from the fridge. button and the Time Press the Timeshifting Monitoring bar will appear. (See below.
ComproPVR User's Guide Additional Discussion In timeshifting, you are recording to and playing back from the same video file or buffer. You can playback from various locations in that buffer. Similar to video playback, you can pause, fast-forward, and rewind. A major difference, however, is that ComproPVR is simultaneously recording live television. This means you will see greater CPU utilization during timeshifting because you are simultaneously recording and playing recorded videos.
Using ComproPVR Still Image Capture Click on the capture icon on the control panel or hit the "Space Bar" of the keyboard shortcut to capture an image of the display window. You can see the screen capture dialog as below. Click on the Shoot to take another shot. Serial Shoot will shoot 6 straight shots at once. This is useful for action scenes. There are BMP and JPEG format available for snapshot file type. Check “Save as JPG” box will save the shapshot as JPEG file type.
ComproPVR User's Guide Playback ComproPVR can play recorded video files. Press the Play button to open the Play dialog box. Highlight the file name in the program list, double-click or press Play to start playback. During playback, the display area of the control panel provides information about currently playing program and provides playback control functions. To delete a recorded program, open the Play dialog box, highlight the file name on the program list, and press the Delete button.
Troubleshooting 5 Troubleshooting OS requirement ComproPVR 2 has to work on Windows XP / Windows 2000 or above OS. It’s recommended to www.WindowsUpdate.com website for the Service Pack update of Microsoft. Driver Installation The most common cause of problems with ComproPVR is incorrect installation of TV Tuner product drivers. If you have problems watching, recording, or timeshifting live TV, please refer the product installation FAQ to check the status of TV Tuner product drivers with Device Manager.
ComproPVR User's Guide Please refer to your hardware installation guides for more information. No audio on the recorded file This may be a result of choosing the wrong record audio source in the System Device in ComproPVR Settings. Check the ComproPVR in the Record tab of Settings dialog for recording volume levels that is not too low. Please refer to your hardware installation guides for more information.
Troubleshooting In general, you can download MPEG-4 CODEC from the following web sites. http://www.divx.com/ After you install the CODEC software, you will see the MPEG-4 format appear in the field of recording quality. Why does the remote control fail? Not all products support remote function. Please check the description on the product box. The remote control sensor, which is plugged into the TV card, may be loose. Please unplug it and plug it again.
ComproPVR User's Guide keypad. And make sure there is no button getting stocked. Contacting Compro Technical Support Before you submit an email for support, please check support FAQs on our web site. http://www.comprousa.com You can download the latest update from our website. Many issues should be solved on the newer version. When contacting Compro for technical support, please use the Compro support request form and provide as much of the requested information as possible.
