ATI Technologies 137-40188-60 User manual

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ATI Multimedia Center 7.1
User’s Guide
Version 6.0 P/N137-40188-60 Rev. F
© Copyright 2000, by ATI Technologies Inc.
All rights reserved, including those to reproduce this guide or parts thereof, in any form without
the express written permission of ATI Technologies Inc.
Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Trademarks and/or registered
trademarks are the properties of their respective owners:
ALL-IN-WONDER 128, ALL-IN-WONDER 128 PRO, ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON,
RADEON VE – ATI Technologies Inc.; Athlon – Advanced Micro Devices Inc.;
CDDB – Escient; Windows – Microsoft Corp.; GuidePlus+ – Gemstar Technology Development
Limited; HydraVision – Appian Graphics; Pentium, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium with MMX
Technology – Intel Corporation.

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Disclaimer
The manufacturer (MFR) reserves the right to make changes to this
document and the products which it describes without notice. The
MFR shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions
made herein; nor for incidental or consequential damages resulting
from the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

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Table of Contents
Using Your ATI Multimedia Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Starting ATI Multimedia Center.................................................................... 8
Starting from LaunchPad........................................................................ 8
Starting from Windows®taskbar........................................................... 9
Attaching and Detaching Panels.................................................................... 9
Online Help.................................................................................................. 10
TV .................................................................................................... 11
Video-In................................................................................................ 12
Setting up TV ...................................................................................... 13
Sizing the TV display........................................................................... 14
TV Control menu.................................................................................. 15
TV display settings............................................................................... 16
TV video settings.................................................................................. 17
TV Tuner settings................................................................................. 18
TV Stills Gallery settings ..................................................................... 21
TV Schedule settings............................................................................ 21
ATI TV Bar .......................................................................................... 22
Channel Surfing.................................................................................... 23
Closed Captioning ................................................................................ 24
Hot Words™........................................................................................ 26
TV Magazine........................................................................................ 28
Secondary Audio Program (SAP) ........................................................ 30
Zooming and panning........................................................................... 30
Video Desktop...................................................................................... 31
Program Lockout.................................................................................. 32
Parental Control.................................................................................... 33
Capturing Video and still images ......................................................... 34
TV-on-Demand™............................................................................ 36
Digital VCR ..................................................................................... 39
Saving and compressing captured video .............................................. 39
Digital VCR settings ............................................................................ 40
Real-time MPEG encoding .................................................................. 41
Achieving the best results with MPEG video capture.......................... 42
TV Listings...................................................................................... 44
Setting up TV Listings ......................................................................... 45
Getting around...................................................................................... 46
Recording ............................................................................................. 46
Viewing ................................................................................................ 47
Views.................................................................................................... 47
Filter options......................................................................................... 48

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Actors tab ............................................................................................. 48
Categories tab ....................................................................................... 49
Searches................................................................................................ 49
Favorite search ..................................................................................... 49
Movies tab ............................................................................................ 50
Schedules tab ........................................................................................ 51
Searches tab .......................................................................................... 51
Setting search parameters..................................................................... 52
Sports tab .............................................................................................. 53
Stations tab ........................................................................................... 53
Titles tab ............................................................................................... 54
Days and dates...................................................................................... 54
Stills Gallery ................................................................................... 55
Stills Gallery settings............................................................................ 55
CD Audio......................................................................................... 57
CD Audio settings ................................................................................ 58
CD Database......................................................................................... 59
CD Audio Schedule settings................................................................. 60
Video CD ......................................................................................... 61
Video CD Control menu....................................................................... 62
Capturing still frames from Video CDs ............................................... 63
Zooming and Panning .......................................................................... 63
Video CD Display settings ................................................................... 64
Video CD Preferences settings............................................................. 65
Video CD Stills Gallery settings .......................................................... 66
DVD ................................................................................................. 67
What can I play on my DVD drive?..................................................... 68
Sizing the Video Display panel ............................................................ 68
Full-screen controls .............................................................................. 68
Playing DVD Video Disks ................................................................... 69
Selecting audio streams ........................................................................ 69
Setting up sub-titles .............................................................................. 69
Using the menus ................................................................................... 70
Searching DVD disks ........................................................................... 70
Selecting viewing angle........................................................................ 70
Parental Control.................................................................................... 71
Zooming and Panning .......................................................................... 71
DVD Control menu .............................................................................. 72
DVD display settings............................................................................ 73
DVD Preferences settings .................................................................... 74
DVD Video settings ............................................................................. 75
DVD Closed Captioning ...................................................................... 75
DVD Schedule settings ........................................................................ 76
Region codes ........................................................................................ 77

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File Player ....................................................................................... 78
File Player Control menu ..................................................................... 79
Zooming and Panning .......................................................................... 80
File Player Display settings.................................................................. 81
File Player Preferences settings............................................................ 82
File Player Stills Gallery settings ......................................................... 82
File Player Schedule settings................................................................ 82
Schedule ......................................................................................... 83
Schedule settings ................................................................................. 84
TV Out ............................................................................................. 85
Multi-monitor support.................................................................... 86
Teletext ........................................................................................... 86
Troubleshooting............................................................................. 87
Audio problems ... ................................................................................ 87
Video problems ... ............................................................................... 91
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Index - 1

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7
Using Your
ATI Multimedia Center
This chapter explains how to use the special features that your
ATI Multimedia Center offers. The Multimedia Center is a suite
of products that provides TV, Video CD, CD Audio, DVD, and
File Player in one package.
Because North American and European television use different
broadcast standards, closed-captioning and related features are
available only in North America.
IN THIS CHAPTER...
■Starting ATI Multimedia
Center on page 8
■TV on page 11
■AT I TV B a r on page 22
■TV-on-Demand™ on page 36
■Digital VCR on page 39
■TV Listings on page 44
■Stills Gallery on page 55
■CD Audio on page 57
■Video CD on page 61
■DVD on page 67
■File Player on page 78
■Schedule on page 83
■TV Out on page 85
■Multi-monitor support on
page 86
■Teletext on page 86
■Troubleshooting on page 87

8 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
Starting ATI Multimedia Center
Starting from LaunchPad
The LaunchPad provides a convenient way to start all your
Multimedia Center features — just click the feature you want.
LaunchPad opens automatically when you start your computer,
or if you prefer, you can right-click LaunchPad, and uncheck
Load on Startup in the drop-down menu.
• To dock LaunchPad, right-click it, then click Dock in the
menu. To change the docking position, right-click
LaunchPad while it is docked, point to Side , then choose a
location.
• To change the size of the LaunchPad when it is not docked,
double-click it or right-click it, and choose a size.
The buttons in the upper right of LaunchPad let you access your
desktop settings, get Help, and close LaunchPad. If your
system does not have a TV tuner, Video In appears in place of
TV in the LaunchPad.
Note
TV, DVD, Video CD, and File Player use some of the
same resources. If you try to start one of these
features while another is running, a resource conflict
message appears. You have four choices:
•Run both features with reduced performance,
where possible.
•Suspend the first feature while the other is active.
•Close the first feature.
•Press Cancel to continue without starting the
second feature.

Using Your ATI Multimedia Center 9
Starting from Windows®taskbar
1In the Windows taskbar, click Start.
2Point at Programs .
3Point at ATI Multimedia Center .
4Click CD Audio,DVD, LaunchPad, File Player, TV, or
Video CD.
For information about using the ATI Multimedia Center
features, see the online help.
Attaching and Detaching Panels
You can detach the DVD, Video CD, TV, CD Audio, and File
Player, control panels from their display panels, move them to
any location on your screen, and re-attach them.
To detach a panel
Move the cursor to the border of the panel you want to detach.
As the cursor reaches the border, it changes to the detach
symbol. Click the panel, and drag it away.
To attach a panel
Drag a panel to the panel you want to attach until its outline
changes, then release the mouse button. The panels will snap
back together.

10 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
Online Help
Feature Help. Click the Help button in any display panel to
open the online help.
Context-Sensitive Help. Context-sensitive help is always
available for each feature; just press the F1 key.
Tool Tips . Simply move the mouse cursor over a control to see
a description of its purpose. As you become familiar with your
ATI Multimedia Center, you may want to turn off Tool Tips —
click the Show Tool Tips checkbox in the Display tab (for more
information, see TV display settings on page 16).
ATI Desktop Help. For help on your ATI video card’s graphics
features, double-click the ATI icon in the lower-right corner of
your screen.
F1

Using Your ATI Multimedia Center 11
TV
Watch Television on your
computer! You can
receive up to 125 cable
television channels and 70
antenna channels in
smooth, full-motion video
on the whole screen or in
a window.
TV delivers advanced
features: Closed
Captioning, Video/Still
Capture, Channel Surfing,
Scheduled Events, TV
Listings, Parental Control, and more.
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, a Task menu displays available and active
features.
For information about using TV controls, see the online help
and Tool Tips.
Note
•All channels may not be available in all countries.
•Not all TV features are available with Video-In
cards.

12 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
To s ta r t TV
from LaunchPad
Click TV in the Launchpad. For information on LaunchPad,
see page 8.
from Windows®taskbar
1In the Windows taskbar, click Start, then point at
Programs .
2Point at ATI Multimedia Center , then click TV.
You can also start TV from other Multimedia Center
features installed on your system—DVD, Video CD,
CD Audio, and File Player. Click the ATI logo in the upper left
corner of the feature’s control panel, then click TV.
Video-In
If there is no TV tuner in your
computer system, a small
control panel with controls
for composite input is
provided for capturing video from external video sources.
Note
If you have a Video-In card, the following dialogs and
features are unavailable:
•TV Tuner settings (see page 18.)
•Channel Surfing (see page 23.)
•TV-on-Demand (see page 36.)
•Program Lockout (see page 32.)
•Parental Control (see page 33.)

Using Your ATI Multimedia Center 13
Setting up TV
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 in order to change settings. The Initialization Wizard
guides you quickly and easily through setting up TV channels,
Parental Control, Sound, and TV-on-Demand.
Initialization Wizard
Click the Setup button, then click the Display tab.
Click the Initialization Wizard... button. The TV Channels
Initialization Wizard appears. Follow the Wizard’s instructions
to select cable or antenna, choose the broadcast standard, and to
scan for active channels.
•If you have TV Listings installed with its current database, it
will also add the channel name for each channel. For more
information see TV Listings on page 44.
Click Next >. The TV Parental Control Initialization Wizard
appears. Follow the Wizard’s instructions to set or change your
Parental Control password.
Click Next >. The Sound Initialization Wizard appears. Follow
the Wizard’s instructions to 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 on page 87 for more
information.
Note
•If you have a Video-In card, only the Sound
Initialization Wizard is used.
•TV-on-Demand is only available if your card
supports it.
Note
•Passwords are optional.
•Passwords are case-sensitive, and must be at
least three characters in length.
•If you forget your password, you will have to
uninstall and reinstall your TV software.

14 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
Click Next >. The TV-on-Demand Initialization Wizard
appears. Follow the Wizard’s instructions to set up a temporary
file and allocate file space. Available time is indicated. The
Advanced Settings button lets you customize settings for
image quality and processor load.
Click Next >. The End of Initialization Wizard panel appears.
Click Finish to complete TV setup.
Sizing the TV display
You can resize the TV display using the mouse, the Maximize
button, or CTRL key combination.
•The F2 key hides/shows the control panel, to save desktop
space.
To resize the TV display using the mouse
Drag the display’s border. The TV display maintains a fixed
aspect ratio (width-to-height) of 4:3 to avoid picture distortion.
To display TV in full-screen
Press CTRL+F or ALT+F, or click the Maximize button. To
return to the previous size, click or press the Esc key.
To display preset sizes using the CTRL key
160 x120 pixels CTRL+1
240 x180 pixels CTRL+2
320 x240 pixels CTRL+3
640 x480 pixels CTRL+4
Toggle between full screen and
current size
CTRL+F
ALT+F
Increase size of display panel CTRL + Up Arrow
Decrease size of display panel CTRL + Down Arrow
Ctrl

Using Your ATI Multimedia Center 15
TV Control menu
You can access TV functions by right-clicking on the video
viewing area or the control panel. This is very useful in full-
screen mode. The following menu items are available:
Setup Opens the TV setup page.
Always
On Top Displays TV on top of other applications.
Hide
Controls Hides the TV Control panel.
Zooming Select zoom ratio (2x, 4x, or 8x) or Unzoom if already
zoomed. See Zooming and panning on page 30.
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:
Captions
when Displays closed captions
muted when audio is muted.
Stereo Enables stereo TV audio.
Mono Enables monaural TV audio.
SAP Enables the Secondary Audio Program.
Closed
Captions
Specifies how closed-captioned text is displayed. You
can also enable the Hot Words and TV Magazine
features. See Hot Words™ on page 26 and TV Magazine
on page 28.
About... Displays the About... dialog.
Exit Closes TV.

16 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
TV display settings
The Display settings page lets you control how video is
displayed in TV.
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 Tip
Show helpful aids for using TV when you point at a control
with your mouse.
Show Shortcut
Show keyboard shortcuts when you point at a control with
your mouse.
Display
Feature
Video Desktop
When TV is minimized, TV display replaces your desktop
pattern.
Fixed Aspect Ratio
Click to preserve the width-to-height ratio when you resize
or zoom the display.
Crop Edges
Crop image edges to hide overscan noise.
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
Specify a keyboard key that hides/displays TV.
Initialization
Wizard
Re-runs the Initialization Wizard. See Initialization Wizard
on page 13.

Using Your ATI Multimedia Center 17
TV video settings
The video settings page lets you choose a video connector and
fine-tune video characteristics.
To open the Video settings page
Click the Setup button in the Television control panel,
then click the Video tab.
Connector
Choose cable, composite or S-Video input.
•If you choose Composite or S-Video, you must specify
the Broadcast Standard.
Broadcast
Standard Choose the broadcast standard: NTSC, PAL, or SECAM.
Video
Properties
Color
Adjusts the amount of color in the image.
Brightness
Adjust 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.
•Tint is not adjustable for PAL or SECAM.

18 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
TV Tuner settings
The tuner settings page lets you autoscan for active TV
channels, choose cable or antenna input, name channels, and set
channel-specific options.
To open the Tuner settings page
Click the Setup button in the TV control panel, then
click the TV Tuner tab.
Channel Property Details
When you select a channel and then click the Details... button in
the TV Tuner settings page, the Channel Property Details page
opens to let you set properties for particular channels—favorites
list, channel assignment, and properties for audio, video,
program lockout, and closed captioning.
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 Hot Words specifically for a particular channel.
Channel
Name You can enter channel names
Details...
Select a channel, then click the Details... button to open
the Channel Property Details page (see Channel
Property Details on page 18).
Autoscan Scans for all active TV channels, and stores them when
you click the Set button.
Cable
Standard Selects the country and cable or antenna.

Using Your ATI Multimedia Center 19
Channel
Name Type a name for the channel.
Number Displays the channel number.
Tun es to
Station
Specify the TV station that is received when you tune to a
particular channel. For example, you could assign the
actual channel 5 to the Television’s channel 2.
Autoscanning returns all channel assignments to normal
(see Autoscan on page 18).
Channel in
Favorite List
Check to add the channel to the channels that TV
receives when you click the channel up/down buttons).
To remove a channel, uncheck it.
Channel in
Visual
Selection List
Check to add the channel to the Visual Selection list (see
Channel Surfing on page 23). To remove a channel,
uncheck it.
Channel
Specific
Settings
Audio
Click Audio, then click Details... to open the Sound
details page.
Mute Settings
Global Uses global settings for
all channels.
Mute On Mutes selected channel.
Mute Off Cancels all muting.
SAP Settings see Secondary Audio Program
(SAP) on page 23.
Global Uses global settings for
all channels.
that provide it.
Stereo Activates stereo audio for this
channel, if it provides it.
Mono Activates monaural audio for
this channel.
SAP Activates SAP for this channel.

20 Using Your ATI Multimedia Center
Channel
Specific
Settings
Video
Click Video, then click Details... to open the Channel
Based Video Settings page. Move the sliders to change
the values
Color Amount of color in the image.
Brightness Balance of light and dark 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
Choose the broadcast standard for this channel.
Program Lockout
Click Program Lockout, then click Details... to open the
Program Lockout Settings page (see Program Lockout
on page 32).
Closed Captioning
Click Closed Captioning, then click Details...to open the
Closed Captioning Channel Settings page (see Closed
Captioning on page 24).