Kobian Mercury TV Card User manual

Mercury TV Card
User Manual
P/N: 400108013860
Ver: 1.04.148.0
Date: 2003-08-15

Copyright and Trademark Notice
© All rights reserved by Kobian Pte Ltd.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of
this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical without prior written permission of Kobian
Pte Ltd.
Windows® is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand names
are registered trademarks of their respective companies.
FCC Statement
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class B computing device in accordance with the specifications set forth in
Subpart J of Part 15 of the FCC Rules.

Contents
1. Getting Started ...................................................................1
1.1. Introduction.................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Features...................................................................................................... 1
1.3. Package Contents....................................................................................... 2
1.4. System Requirements................................................................................. 2
2. Input & Output Connections ...............................................3
2.1. Mercury TV Card Connections.................................................................... 3
3. Installation of Hardware and Drivers ..................................4
3.1. DirectX ........................................................................................................ 4
3.2. Installing the TV Card.................................................................................. 4
3.3. Driver Installation for Windows 98SE.......................................................... 5
3.4. Driver Installation for Windows ME.............................................................. 7
3.5. Driver Installation for Windows 2000 / Windows XP.................................... 9
3.6. Settings for Sound Card Owners............................................................... 10
4. The TV Application...........................................................11
4.1. Installation of the TV Application............................................................... 11
4.2. Launching the TV Application.................................................................... 11
4.3. Choosing your Video Source..................................................................... 11
5. Settings.............................................................................13
5.1. TV Settings Dialog Box ............................................................................. 13
5.2. Video Settings Dialog Box......................................................................... 14
5.3. Record Settings Dialog Box ...................................................................... 15
5.4. Misc Page Dialog Box............................................................................... 16
6. Additional Settings............................................................17
6.1. Schedule Recording.................................................................................. 17
6.2. Auto Scan.................................................................................................. 18
6.3. Change Skin.............................................................................................. 18
6.4. Snapshot................................................................................................... 18
6.5. Multiple Preview........................................................................................ 18
6.6. Audio Settings........................................................................................... 18
6.7. Teletext ..................................................................................................... 19
6.8. Volume...................................................................................................... 19

7. How to record a TV Program............................................20
7.1. The Record Button.................................................................................... 20
7.2 The Time Shift Function............................................................................. 20
8. The Remote Control.........................................................21
8.1. Accelerator Keys Summary....................................................................... 22
9. The Gallery.......................................................................23
9.1. The Function Buttons................................................................................ 23
9.2. FM Radio (only for FM Models)................................................................. 24
10. Technical Support...........................................................25
10.1. Troubleshooting....................................................................................... 25

1. Getting Started
1.1. Introduction
Thank you for choosing the Mercury PCI TV tuner and video capture card.
This product turns your PC quick and easy into a powerful desktop multimedia
System.
Capture video and still images; experience real-time MPEG-1 and MPEG-2
recording.
1.2. Features
•Philips 713X Chipset
•Plug & Play compliant PCI card
•125 channel cable/antenna ready TV tuner
•Composite video and S-Video input
•Multiple Channel Preview
•Teletext*
•Real-time recording
•Time Shift Function
•Scheduler Technology
•Capture still images
•TV screen scalable up to full size
•Listen to FM radio**
•Compatible with current Windows Versions (Windows® 98SE, ME, 2000, XP)
* depends on the TV Broadcasting system in your country
** only FM Models
Getting Started
1

1.3. Package Contents
When removing the contents of the package, please inspect all items to ensure no
damage was sustained during shipping. The following items should be included in
the package:
•Plug and Play Mercury PCI TV PCI card
•Audio cable for sound card
•Remote Control
•Infrared Receiver
•Quick Installation Guide
•Installation Manual
•FM Radio Antenna (only for FM Models)
1.4. System Requirements
To successfully use the Mercury TV Card solution, please ensure that your desktop
system meets the following requirements:
•Mainboard with available busmaster* capable PCI slot (v.2.1)
•Pentium®III 500 MHz or faster PC
•MPEG-1 real-time encoding: PIII® 800MHz or AMD Athlon® 800 or higher
•MPEG-2 real-time encoding: P4® 1.6GHz or AMD Athlon® 1.6 or higher
•DVD real-time encoding: P4® 2GHz or AMD Athlon® 2GHz or higher
•128 MB RAM (minimum), 256 MB RAM recommended
•VGA-Card with DirectX 8.1 Support
•Windows® 98 SE, Windows® ME, Windows® 2000, Windows®XP
•CD-ROM or DVD drive
•20 MB available hard disk space for installation
•Additional free space on your Hard disk for recording and editing files
•VGA monitor with DirectShow installed supporting 16-bit color
•Sound card
•Speakers for audio output
•Available IRQ
•TV antenna or TV cable
* Please refer to the manual of your mainboard
Getting Started
2

2. Input & Output Connections
2.1. Mercury TV Card Connections
The Mercury PCI TV Card supports both S-Video and Composite input. See the
diagram below for connection details.
1. Remote Control: To connect the sensor of your Mercury TV Card remote
control
2. Audio-Out: Use the packaged audio cable to connect to your sound card
3. S-Video In: To connect external devices like VCR or Camera
4. Audio In: To connect external audio devices
5. Composite Video-In: To connect external devices like VCR or Camera
6. Antenna In TV: Use these connections to connect your cable or home antenna
7. Antenna In FM: Use these connections to connect your cable or home antenna
(only FM Model)
Input and Output Connections
3

3. Installation of Hardware and Drivers
The following sections provide step-by-step instructions on installing and
configuring the card, accessories and software.
3.1. DirectX
Before installing your new Mercury TV Card, it is necessary to install DirectX 8.1 or
higher for your Operating system.
You find on the Installation CD-ROM DirectX 9.0
3.2. Installing the TV Card
1. Switch off your PC and all connected peripheral devices such as your printer and
monitor. Leave the AC power cable connected for the time being, so that your
computer is still grounded.
2. Touch the metal chassis at the rear of the PC to ground and to discharge static.
Now unplug the cord from the AC power socket.
3. Remove the cover from the case of your PC.
4. Look for a free PCI expansion slot. When selecting the PCI slot, note that TV
cards should not be plugged into PCI slot 1 in conjunction with an AGP graphics
card because PCI slot 1 is very frequently assigned to the same interrupts as the
AGP slot. This would give both cards the same interrupt, which can lead to
crashes during operation!
The numbers assigned to the PCI slots are listed in your motherboard manual.
5. Carefully remove the card from its packaging and pick it up by the edges with
one hand while your other hand is touching a metal part of the PC. This will
ensure that your body is completely discharged via your computer without
damaging the TV card.
6. Align the holder at the rear of the TV card in the expansion slot in such a way that
the card’s connectors are directly in line with the slot’s socket.
7. Push the TV card firmly into the slot, ensuring good contact.
8. Fasten the TV card with an appropriate screw.
9. If a sound card is installed, connect the TV card to it using the supplied audio
connector cable. Plug one end into the audio output of the TV card (light-green
socket) and the other end into the Line-In terminal of the sound card (usually a
light-blue socket).
10.Reinstall the cover of your PC case.
11.Connect the antenna cable (which you would normally connect to the antenna
input terminal on your television) to the TV antenna terminal on the TV/Radio
card. Connect the radio antenna cable to the radio antenna terminal. Reconnect
the AC power cable as well as all other cables. Make sure that your speakers are
set to low volume.
12.Switch your computer on again to begin installing the software.
Installation of your TV Card
4

3.3. Driver Installation for Windows 98SE
After rebooting, Windows 98 SE automatically detects the presence of a new
hardware component in the system and tells you so in an “Add new Hardware
Wizard” window.
Installation of your TV Card
If you have not already done so, place the Installation CD into your CD-ROM drive
and click “Next” in the window.
Select now the “Search for the best driver for your device (Recommended)” item
and click “Next”.
5

Installation of your TV Card
Windows searches now for the drivers. These are located on your Installation CD so
choose the option CD-ROM Drive and then click “Next”.
Once Windows finds the driver, you will see a message. Simply click “Next” to
continue. After installing the driver, Windows informs you that it has done so
successfully. Click “Finish”.
This completes the installation of the drivers and you can now start installing the
application program.
6

3.4. Driver Installation for Windows ME
After rebooting, Windows ME automatically detects the presence of a new hardware
component in the system and tells you so in an “Add new Hardware Wizard”
window.
If you have not already done so, place the Installation CD into your CD-ROM drive.
Select now the “Automatic search for a better driver (Recommended)” item and click
“Next”.
Installation of your TV Card
7

Windows will now find the drivers on the Installation CD and install them
automatically.
After installing the driver, Windows informs you that it has done so successfully.
Click “Finish”.
This completes the installation of the drivers and you can now start installing the
application program.
Installation of
y
our TV Card
8

3.5. Driver Installation for Windows 2000 / Windows XP
After rebooting, Windows 2000 / XP automatically detect the presence of a new
hardware component in the system and tells you so in a “Found new Hardware
Wizard” window.
If you have not already done so, place the Installation CD into your CD-ROM drive.
The CD will automatically start
and show you the Installation
Screen. Here please select
“Driver Installation”.
If the Autostart program does
not appear automatically when
you insert your Installation CD,
go to “Start” -> “Run” and type
“D:\Setup.exe” (if D:\ is your
CD-Rom drive)
In the next window please select
“Install Tv Card Drivers”.
After that the installation of the
Driver is finished.
Note:
The Setup Program currently supports
only Windows 2000 / Windows XP for
the following languages: English,
German, Italian, French, Spanish,
Dutch, Chinese traditional, Chinese
simplified, Japanese
Installation of your TV Card
9

Installation of your TV Card
3.6. Settings for Sound Card Owners
To do so, proceed as follows:
1. Double-click the volume control icon illustrated as a speaker on the taskbar.
2. Be sure that the “Mute” option under the “Line-In” slider is not checked and that
the “Line-In” slider is not at the bottom of its range. This makes sure you will be
able to hear the tone of the TV signal through your system and control the
volume. Other settings are required for recording (see instructions below):
3. Select the “Options\Properties” menu item.
4. Set the “Adjust volume for” option to “Recording”. Confirm your choice by clicking
“OK”.
5. Now enable the check box below the Line-In slider and move the slider itself to
its middle position. By checking the check box, you define the Line-In input of
your sound card as a recording input source. These is essential if you want to
record a video sequence with sound and want to use the sound card input to do
so.
This completes the configuration of the sound card settings and you can now close
the soundcard mixer!
10

The TV Application
4. The TV Application
The heart of your TV Card is the TV Software.
The TV Application program has a user-friendly design that makes it simple to use.
The Utility allows the user to control the viewing and recording of TV and video, plus
listen to FM stereo.
4.1. Installation of the TV Application
The installation of the TV software can be carried out either using the Autostart
program of the provided Driver and Application CD (“Software Installation”), or by
executing a single file if you have downloaded the program from the Internet.
If the Autostart program does not appear automatically when you insert your
Installation CD, start it manually by running the “InstallCD.exe” file located on the
Installation CD.
4.2. Launching the TV Application
When starting your TV Software program for the first time, a dialog box will appear to
choose the correct country settings. When you click the “Ok” Button, the software
will scan for available TV channels.
The software provides all necessary access to the important TV functions.
Using the buttons you can control the functions of your TV software.
4.3. Choosing your Video Source
When you receive your TV Signal with Home Antenna
When you receive your TV Signal with Cable Antenna
An external device connected to your Composite-Video In
An external device connected to your S-Video In
Listen to FM Radio (only FM Models)
11

Simply click on one of the above-described buttons, and as long there is a signal
present at your card, you will see a picture.
You can adjust the size of the picture freely by dragging its edges using the mouse,
and move the window to any screen location by clicking the window caption bar and
dragging.
Double-clicking the TV picture switches the picture to full-screen display.
Double-clicking again switches back to window display mode.
On the left side you find the Channel buttons. Here you are able to
click with your mouse on the channel numbers to switch to different
channels.
Alternatively you can use the num block of your keyboard.
For additional information of shortcuts to use with your keyboard,
please refer to Page 22 Chapter 8.1
The Info Panel shows you useful information about which channel you
have tuned in.
In addition with the both arrows up / down you can switch the Channel
Up and Down.
The OSD Panel shows you useful
information about the current time and
which mode you have chosen.
When you are in Record Mode, it shows the elapsed time since the Recording
started and how much MB is used on your Hard disk.
The TV Application
12

Settings
5. Settings If you click the button for TV
Settings, you have numerous
options to configure your TV
Viewing
5.1. TV Settings Dialog Box
The TV Setup dialog box allows you to select the TV system, scan for channels,
select specific TV channels and rename the TV Channels.
1. Category:
You can choose here, whether Air
or Cable broadcasts your TV
signal.
2. Country:
Sets your TV standard and TV
channel table according to the
country of your residence.
3. Finetuning:
When you don’t have a clear
reception of the tuned channel, you
can make here a finetuning.
4. Multiple Channel Preview:
Here you can choose how long the
available channels are shown, and
how much channels you want to
preview.
5. Channel Editing:
Here you can edit and rename your
favorite TV Stations. Double click
the channel’s number and click in
the white field located under “Edit
this channel name”. Enter the name
you wish to be displayed and click
the “Input” button.
The mark opens an additional side
bar, here you see the edited
channels, and by double-click on
them, you can edit the channel
names too.
13

5.2. Video Settings Dialog Box
The Video Setting dialog box
allows the user to adjust the TV
display characteristics, including
brightness, contrast, hue and
saturation.
When you click on the “Default”
Button all changes will disregard
and the Default Settings will be
restored.
Settings
14

5.3. Record Settings Dialog Box
The Record Setting dialog box
allows you to select the format
you want to record your files,
which mode you want to use for
that, and in which directory the
files should be saved on your
computer.
1. Video Format:
Here you can choose whether
your movies will be recorded
as uncompressed AVI,
MPEG-1/2, or VCD, SVCD,
DVD Format.
2. Working Directory:
Choose here the location
where your movies and
pictures are saved on your
PC.
3. Capture Settings:
Choose here the output size
of your recorded movies. This
affects also your Video
settings YUY2 stands for
Overlay Mode, RGB555 is
Preview Mode
Note:
AVI File:
This produces an uncompressed Audio and Video Interleave File
MPEG-1 File:
Compressed Video and Audio File
MPEG-2 File:
Compressed Video and Audio File with better Quality
VCD Format: Conventional CD-Video Standard consists from MPEG-1 file
PAL: 352 x 288 pixels with 25 Frames per Second
NTSC: 352 x 240 pixels with 29.97 Frames per Second
SVCD Format: Upper Standard from Video CD consists from MPEG-2 file
PAL: 480 x 576 pixels with 25 Frames per Second
NTSC: 480 x 480 pixels with 29.97 Frames per Second
DVD Format: High Quality Video Standard CD consists from MPEG-2 file
PAL: 720 x 576 pixels with 25 Frames per Second
NTSC: 720 x 480 pixels with 29.97 Frames per Second
The available resolution depends on your country settings.
When you choose VCD, SVCD or DVD, the output size of the recorded movies is not
changeable, to make ensure to produce a standard VCD, SVCD or DVD
Settings
15

5.4. Misc Page Dialog Box
The Misc Page Dialog box allows
you to select additional Settings
for Record and Picture.
Time Shift Recording:
When the Box is checked, the
Temporary recorded files
won’t be deleted after stop the
Time Shift Mode. (see page
20 for additional description of
the Time Shift Mode)
Snapshot Settings:
Here you can define, how
much snapshots are taken,
when you click the Snapshot
Button. (see page 18 for
additional description of the
Snapshot function)
Settings
16