Recording TV Programs in Windows Media Center (Vista)

Recording TV Programs in Windows Media Center (Vista)

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In this document:
Determining the type of TV tuner(s) installed

Setting up the TV tuner(s) and downloading the TV Program Guide

Recording your HDTV and SDTV programs

Recording TV tips

Recording TV programs without a TV guide

Creating a CD or DVD with recorded TV programs

Playing a recorded TV program on systems without Windows Media Center



This document pertains to HP Digital Entertainment Center and HP Desktop PCs using Microsoft Windows Media Center.

Use this document learn about:


Determining the type of TV tuner(s) your computer has installed
Setting up the TV input signal(s) with Windows Media Center
Recording HDTV and SDTV programs
Creating a DVD of your recorded programs



NOTE: HP supports the lawful use of technology and does not endorse or encourage the use of our products for purposes other than those permitted by copyright law.

Determining the type of TV tuner(s) installed
Before you begin recording with your HP computer, you should know what type of TV tuner(s) are installed on your computer. The number and type of TV tuners your computer has determines which channel types you can record and how many programs you can record and watch at the same time.

ATSC is the Advanced Television Systems Committee that developed ATSC digital television standard for the United States, also adopted by Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and recently Honduras. The high definition ATSC television standards produce wide screen 16:9 images up to 1920 x 1080 pixels in size, more than six times the display resolution of the earlier standard. ATSC also supports theater quality audio because it uses the Dolby Digital AC-3 format to provide 5.1-channel surround sound.

NTSC is the analog television system in use in Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, the United States, and some other countries, mostly in the Americas. It is named for the National Television Standards Committee, the U.S. standardization body that adopted it.

PAL is the analog television system in use in several parts of the world. PAL stands for Phase Alternating Line and is a color encoding system used in broadcast television systems in parts of South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Your system may include one of the following configurations:


One NTSC or PAL TV tuner that can receive cable channels

One ATSC TV tuner that can receive over-the-air channels with an antenna

One combo or dual tuner (ATSC/NTSC) or (ATSC/PAL) that can receive both over-the-air and cable TV signals

Two NTSC or PAL tuners that can receive two NTSC or PAL cable channels

Two combo ATSC/NTSC or ATSC/PAL tuners that can receive up to four channels (2 ATSC and 2 NTSC or 2 PAL)


TV Tuner and Channel Recording TV Tuner PC configuration
Record NTSC or PAL Channel
Record ATSC Channel

1 NTSC or PAL TV Tuner
1
Unable to record ATSC programming

1 ATSC TV Tuner
Unable to record NTSC or PAL programming
1

1 NTSC/ATSC or PAL/ATSC Combo Tuner
1
1

2 NTSC or PAL TV Tuners
2
Unable to record ATSC programming

2 NTSC/ATSC or PAL/ATSC Combo Tuners
2
2



To determine which TV tuners you have installed in your computer, open the Device Manager:


Click Start , right-click Computer, select Properties, and then click Device Manager on the left side of the window.

Click the + next to Sound, video and game controllers to view your TV tuners. The examples shown below are 2 NTSC/ATSC Combo (dual) TV tuners and 1 NTSC/ATSC Combo (dual) TV tuner.


Figure 1: 2 NTSC/ATSC Combo (Dual) Tuners (4 tuners)




Figure 2: 1 NTSC/ATSC Combo Dual TV Tuner (2 Tuners)



Right-click the TV tuner and select Properties to find out more device information.



HDTV requirements


High-definition television (HDTV) is a digital television broadcasting system with a significantly higher resolution than traditional formats such as NTSC, SECAM and PAL. HDTV is also capable of theater-quality audio because it uses the Dolby Digital (AC-3) format to support 5.1 surround sound.


To view and record high-definition broadcasts, your computer requires the following:


An ATSC TV tuner that supports high-definition broadcasts.

An available ATSC over-the-air broadcast signal.

A monitor or high-definition TV capable of displaying high-definition resolution

An ATSC UHF/VHF-compatible antenna that can receive a high-definition TV signal.



NOTE: For more information about HDTV antennas and over-the air reception, go to the CEA Antennaweb.org Web site (in English, U.S. only).



Receiving HDTV over cable or satellite


At the current time you cannot receive HDTV over cable or satellite. You can use standard connectors such as S-Video to connect your cable box or satellite receiver to your Media Center PC, and then watch and record high-definition TV programs in standard TV format. In order to watch and record a true HDTV signal using Windows Media Center, you must have access to local ATSC channel broadcasts over the air, your computer must have an ATSC tuner, and you must have a digital antenna connection that is capable of receiving ATSC broadcasts.


Setting up the TV tuner(s) and downloading the TV Program Guide
Before you set up your TV tuner(s) with Media Center, make sure you have a active TV signal source that is connected to each of your TV tuners on your computer. You can use a cable splitter between two NTSC or PAL tuners or between two ATSC tuners. If you have a dual ATSC/NTSC or ATSC/PAL tuner, you will need to connect the ATSC connector to an over-the-air ATSC-compatible antenna and the NTSC or PAL tuner to an analog cable source.

To set up the TV tuner and download the TV Program Guide:


Press the Media Center Start button on the remote control, select TV + Movies and then select Set Up TV Signal.

Or,

If you have already gone through the set-up wizard, select Tasks, Settings, TV, and then select Set Up TV Signal.

Select Yes if you already have gone through the setup before, and then click Next.

Confirm your region, and then click Next. Windows Media Center downloads the TV options for your region.


Figure 3: TV Signal: Confirm your region



Select Configure my TV signal automatically (Recommended). Windows Media Center scans for the type of TV signal that is connected; cable, antenna, and set-top box, if any.


Figure 4: TV Signal: Automatic TV Signal Setup



Windows Media Center lists the TV signals available to your computer. If your signal listing is correct, select Yes, and then click Next.

Or

If not, check your TV signal input connection, and select No, I want to try again or No, proceed to manual TV signal, and then click Next.


Figure 5: 4 TV Tuners: 2 Cable and 2 Antenna



Select Set Up Guide Listings and then click Next.


Figure 6: You Are Done!



Click Next again.

Select Yes and then click Next.

Select I agree and then click Next.

Enter your Zip Code with your remote control or keyboard numeric keypad, and then click Next.

Select your TV signal provider and then click Next. Media Center downloads the TV Program Guide for your region. This may take a few minutes. Click Next when prompted.


Figure 7: Select TV Signal Provider



If your computer has an ATSC TV antenna input, you can check the signal strength of your ATSC channels in the following screen. Click Next to check the signal strength of your ATSC channels. Media Center scans each of the channels and displays available signal strength. You may need to adjust your antenna to improve the signal strength for some channels. You can clear the check box next to any channels you want to remove. Click Next to continue.


Figure 8: Signal Strength



Click Finish.

Go back to the Windows Media Center main menu by clicking the Media Center icon next to the back arrow, select TV + Movies, and then guide to check your channel listings.



Recording your HDTV and SDTV programs
You can record both high-definition and standard-definition programs if your computer has an NTSC/ATSC or PAL/ATSC Combo tuner.

Some HP computers are equipped to handle multiple TV tuners. For example, if your computer comes with two TV tuners, you can record two shows at the same time. If you try and record more shows than your computer has TV tuners, Windows Media Center displays conflict messages and often displays alternate airings of programs to help you prioritize your recording schedule.

To record programs by using the TV Program Guide:


Press the Media Center Start button on the remote control, select TV + Movies and then select guide.

Select a program in the guide and press the Record button on the remote control. The TV program name is marked with a red circle.

Or

Press the Live TV button on the remote control, enter the channel you want to record and press the record button on the remote control. The TV program name is marked with a red circle.



NOTE: If multiple TV programs are scheduled for recording and they cannot be recorded at the same time, the red circle is overlaid with an exclamation mark to show a scheduling conflict has occurred. If this happens you have to decide which program(s) you want to record and which programs you cannot record.

If you have more than one tuner, enter another channel using the numeric keypad on your remote control or your keyboard, and then press the Record button.

If you have a dual ATSC and NTSC or PAL tuner, you can record one ATSC channel and one NTSC or PAL channel at a time. For example, if you select to record the evening news on channel 2 at 6:00, you cannot record channel 3 at the same time because they are both NTSC or PAL cable channels. You can select an ATSC high definition channel, such as 1021 to record at 6:00.



NOTE: Typically, NTSC or PAL channels will be 2 or 3 digits and ATSC channels will typically have a 10, 11, 12, or 13 before the two digit number. Some ATSC channels do not display any information in the guide as shown below.


Figure 9: TV Program Guide showing ATSC and NTSC channels




Figure 10: An ATSC listing with no guide data available




If a station is currently not broadcasting or if your antenna is not receiving a strong signal for a particular channel, this message appears:


Figure 11: No TV signal detected




Recording TV tips

If you turn off your computer, Windows Media Center will not record a scheduled program. The computer must be turned on or be in sleep mode to record a TV program. The computer will not automatically go into sleep mode if Windows Media Center is open.

Make sure you turn off the monitor and turn down or mute the volume if, for example you have a scheduled recording in the middle of the night and do not want to be disturbed.

Your scheduled recording may not record in the following situation: You schedule a recording in Windows Media Center to start in less than ten minutes, close Windows Media Center, and put your computer in standby or hibernation immediately. Use either of the following to record your scheduled recording:

Do not close Windows Media Center before you put your computer into standby or hibernation.

After you schedule a recording, wait one minute before you put the computer into standby or hibernation.


If a recording error occurs, the program does not record until the conflict is resolved. Windows Media Center records the first show selected if there is a conflict without resolution.

To make sure your program is being recorded or is scheduled to be recorded, you can check the guide for a red dot next to your program, or your can select TV + Movies from the main Windows Media Center menu, select Recorded TV, and then View scheduled to see a list of your scheduled recordings.

When playing back high-definition recordings, it may help to close all other open applications.

Viewing your high-definition recordings from a widescreen flat panel or HDTV that has a default resolution of 1080 in height should provide great detail.



Recording TV programs without a TV guide
You do not need the Television Guide to record TV. You can record a TV program by pressing the Record button on the remote control while watching live TV. You can also select the program you want to record manually.

Recording a program manually allows you to select a specific date, channel, and recording time period. For some programs, you may want to begin recording before the scheduled beginning and after the scheduled ending of the program.


Press the Media Center Start button on the remote control, select TV + Movies, recorded TV, and then select add recording.

Select Channel and Time.

Select the channel number box, and enter the channel number using the numeric keypad on the remote control.

Select the (+) or (–) buttons, and then press OK on the remote control to scroll through choices and enter the recording frequency, date, start and stop times, and storage and quality options.

To set the recording and return to the Recorded TV window, select Record in the window, and then press OK on the remote control.

To return to the previous window, press Back on the remote control.




NOTE: Recorded TV programs that have been copied to a DVD can be played on your system and on some DVD players. Recorded TV programs can be backed up as part of a full system backup and restored to the same system but not to other systems.


Creating a CD or DVD with recorded TV programs

Press the Media Center Start button on the remote control, select Tasks and then select burn cd/dvd.

Insert a blank, recordable CD or DVD.

Select Audio CD/DVD or Data CD/DVD and then click Next.

Use the arrow buttons on the remote control to select the untitled text box.

Use the numeric keypad buttons on the remote control to enter a name for your CD or DVD, and then select OK.

Select Recorded TV.

Select the files to record. A check mark appears next to the file when it is selected. Use the Back button on the remote control to select more files from different menus.

When you are finished adding files, select View CD or View DVD to see the files you have selected.

Select Yes.

Follow onscreen instructions to complete the recording of you TV programs to disc.



Playing a recorded TV program on systems without Windows Media Center
Media Center records TV programs and saves the recording in a dvr-ms format that can only be played on systems that meet the following criteria:


Windows XP Service Pack 1 (or later) is installed.

The system has a compatible media player, such as Windows Media Player 9 or later, that works with Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later.

Media Center Compatibility Update from the Microsoft Web site installed.

Windows XP compatible DVD-decoder installed.



Make sure the system has Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later and DVD player software installed.

Click Start and then click My Computer.

Click Help, and then click About Windows.

In the About Windows dialog box, if you see Service Pack 1 or later in the version information, go to step 2. If not, you must install Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later. For more information about Windows XP service packs go to the Microsoft Web site (in English).

Make sure the system has a media player that works with Windows XP Service Pack 1, such as Windows Media Player 9 or later. If Windows Media Player is installed, check for software updates.

If the system has service pack 1 installed, search for, download, and install Q810243 from the Microsoft Download Center (in English).

Open the media player program, and then open the digital video recording file (.dvr-ms extension) you want to watch.


Recorded TV programs are stored by default in the Recorded TV folder in the Public folder on the local hard disk drive of the system.

To find your recorded TV programs, click Start on the taskbar, Documents, Public, and then double-click the Recorded TV folder.