Readme for Update Rollup 1 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with HDTV
ContentsDigital TV RequirementsAbout Digital TV in Media Center What is the difference between Digital TV and standard TV? What Digital TV channels are available? Can I watch Digital TV on other devices or computers? Set Up Digital TV for use with Media Center Guide Listings for Digital TV Browse Digital TV channels in the Guide Edit Digital TV channels Add a new Digital TV channel Record Digital TV shows Watch Live or Recorded Digital TV shows Troubleshoot Digital TV TV signal is interrupted or a No TV Signal screen appears occasionally There is no TV signal for my Digital TV channels The Guide listings for Digital TV channels are incorrect The Guide listings for Digital TV channels are missing I cannot find Digital TV channels in the Guide Digital TV listings cannot be downloaded The image for Digital TV does not fit the screen Digital TV RequirementsDigital TV for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is available in the United States only. The following are the software and hardware requirements as well as other hardware recommendations that may improve your Digital TV visual and audio experience.Important Before you upgrade or purchase additional hardware components, check with your PC hardware manufacturer or the documentation included with your Media Center PC. Some of the following listed items may already be included. Additionally, the PC hardware manufacturer may notify you if your Media Center PC cannot be upgraded to fully support Digital TV. Software requirements:
Note To download the latest updates for Windows XP Media Center Edition, go to Windows Update (click Start on the taskbar, and then select All Programs > Windows Update). Required Media Center PC components:
Note If you purchase any additional tuner hardware for your Media Center PC and require assistance with installing or using the tuner, contact the tuner hardware manufacturer directly or refer to the included documentation.
Note The specification for video adapters may not list all of the preceding requirements. Contact the video adapter manufacturer to confirm functionality or consult your PC hardware manufacturer for recommendations.
Note Some external antennas may receive more over-the-air Digital TV channels when paired with a signal amplifier. Other recommended hardware (for surround sound audio):
About Digital TV in Media CenterDigital TV in Media Center allows you to watch and record over-the-air Digital TV that may be available in your region. Digital TV channels may broadcast TV shows in either standard definition or high definition. The standard definition Digital TV shows are comparable to the standard (analog) TV in the degree of picture detail they provide. The high definition TV (HDTV) shows offer increased picture detail and higher quality audio, especially on displays that support HDTV.What is the difference between Digital TV and standard TV?With the Digital TV update, Media Center can be configured to work with up to two standard TV tuners and one Digital TV tuner. Standard (analog) TV is the type of TV most commonly distributed today through antenna, cable, digital cable, or satellite. On average, standard TV broadcasts an image resolution of about 210,000 pixels.In contrast, Digital TV, often referred to as high definition, can broadcast an image resolution of up to 2 million pixels and provide nearly 10 times more picture detail on a display that supports Digital TV. The increased resolution and stability of the image is often coupled with higher quality audio such as surround sound. Digital TV channels are broadcast over-the-air and are also available through cable and satellite providers. Media Center only supports over-the-air Digital TV that requires an antenna to receive the Digital TV signal. What Digital TV channels are available?Media Center enables you to watch and record Digital TV channels that are broadcast over-the-air only. The channels that are available through over-the-air broadcast vary by region. This information can often be found on a website that lists TV program offerings for Digital TV channels in your region.Additionally, the positioning of your antenna can affect how many broadcast channels you actually receive. To ensure that your antenna is positioned correctly for best reception, see the documentation that came with your Digital TV antenna. Can I watch Digital TV on other devices or computers?Media Center Extender devices, Portable Media Center, and other portable media devices do not support the playback of Digital TV. Additionally, recorded Digital TV cannot be burned to CDs or DVDs.You can watch live Digital TV on a Media Center PC that supports Digital TV. Additionally, you can watch recorded Digital TV on your Media Center PC or any other PC that meets both of the following requirements:
Set Up Digital TV for use with Media CenterBefore you begin the setup wizard for Digital TV in Media Center, you must set up the hardware first. The following steps tell you how to: position your Digital TV antenna, install the tuner hardware to the Media Center PC, and then connect the Digital TV antenna.IMPORTANT Before you begin, please review the hardware and software requirements listed in the Digital TV Requirements section. Step 1: Set up and position your Digital TV antenna To set up and position the antenna that receives over-the-air Digital TV signal, follow the instructions included with the antenna as needed. It is important to position the antenna for best reception of the over-the-air Digital TV channels. Some external antennas may get better reception and more over-the-air Digital TV channels when paired with a signal amplifier. Note When you get to the Digital TV setup wizard, Media Center has tools that detect signal strength for each of the Digital TV channels that may be available in your area. If needed, you can reposition your antenna at that time to increase the signal strength detected by Media Center or turn off the channels if you are unable to get a signal. Step 2: Install the Digital TV tuner hardware to your Media Center PCNote If you purchased the Media Center PC with a Digital TV tuner included and already installed, skip to Step 3. You can install an internal tuner card or connect an external tuner to the Media Center PC. Only over-the-air Digital TV signal can be connected to the Digital TV tuner hardware. Media Center does not support the use of a hybrid tuner, such as tuners that can receive both standard (NTSC) and Digital TV (ATSC) signal. Additionally, Media Center does not support Digital TV from your cable TV provider.Follow the instructions included with the tuner hardware to install the internal tuner hardware or connect the external tuner hardware. Note If you purchased tuner hardware for your Media Center PC and require additional assistance with installing, connecting, or using the tuner, contact the tuner hardware manufacturer directly or reference the included documentation. When installing the tuner:
Step 3: Connect the Digital TV antenna to the tuner hardware You must use a coaxial cable to connect the Digital TV antenna and (optional) signal amplifier to the tuner hardware. If the tuner hardware in the Media Center PC has more than one coaxial input connector, make sure you connect the coaxial cable to the Digital TV input connector. Step 4: Set up Digital TV in Media Center After you have set up and positioned the Digital TV antenna, installed the tuner hardware, and then connected the Digital TV antenna to the tuner hardware, you are ready to set up Digital TV in Media Center. To set up Digital TV in Media Center, do one of the following:
Note If you want to adjust the antenna or turn off Digital TV channels later, you can do so in the Digital TV setup wizard (press the START button on the remote, and then select Settings > TV > Set Up Digital TV Signal). Guide listings for Digital TVWhen you set up Digital TV in Media Center, Guide listings for local standard TV channels are associated with the appropriate Digital TV channels that may be available in your area. This association is made based on the channel name or network call sign. The Digital TV channels are added to the end of the existing Guide listings for standard TV.Browse Digital TV channels in the GuideTo navigate to Digital TV channels in the Guide, press the GUIDE button on the remote, and then use the arrow buttons to scroll to the Digital TV channels. The Digital TV channels should be listed after the standard TV channel listings.When Digital TV is configured, the available Digital TV channels for your area are added to the end of the Guide listings already downloaded for your local standard TV channels. In cases where you receive standard TV channels all numbered lower than 1000, the Digital TV channels can be found in the 1000-1999 channel number range. If you have standard TV channels numbered higher than 1000, most likely your Digital TV channels can be found in the 2000-2999 channel number range (or higher depending on how high the channel numbers go). For example, if you receive standard TV channels all numbered lower than 1000 and want to find Digital TV channel 37-2, the channel number it would be listed under in the Guide is 1000 plus the channel number or 1372. If available, the Guide listings for 1372 (37-2) are automatically associated with that channel. The network call signs for the Digital TV channels are also appended with "-DT" to indicate they are Digital TV channels as well. Note Not all TV shows broadcast on an over-the-air Digital TV channel are high definition. In some cases, a standard definition TV show may be available on a Digital TV channel; however, that show may still be marked with the Digital TV indicator in Media Center. After you have located the Digital TV channels in the Guide, you can browse the Digital TV channel listings just as you would standard TV channels. For more information about browsing the Guide, see Help in Media Center (press the START button on the remote, and then select Settings > Help).Edit Digital TV channelsTo add or change Guide listings associated with a Digital TV channel, go to Edit Digital TV listings in Guide Settings. Or, if you do not receive a strong enough signal for one or more channels, you can turn off channels in Edit Channels so they do not appear in the Guide.Note Before you turn off Digital TV channels, try adjusting your Digital TV antenna for better reception. You can view the signal strength for each channel in the Digital TV setup wizard (press START on the remote, and then select Settings > TV > Set Up Digital TV Signal). To add or change the Guide listings associated with a Digital TV channel
Add a new Digital TV channelIf you receive other Digital TV channels than the ones identified when you set up Digital TV, you can add channels in TV Settings. To add a channel, you must first have the channel number for each channel you want to add. For example, 37-2 is a Digital TV channel.In some cases, you may also need to provide the frequency number for that channel as well. This information can often be found on a website that lists TV program offerings for Digital TV channels in your region. To add a new Digital TV channel
Record Digital TV showsSimilar to recording standard TV in Media Center, you can also schedule and record Digital TV shows broadcast on over-the-air Digital TV channels. However, because of the increased picture detail and higher quality audio, Digital TV shows are only recorded at the highest quality settings. In addition, the file size of recorded Digital TV shows is larger than recordings of standard definition TV.If two Digital TV shows are scheduled to record at the same time and create a recording schedule conflict, you will be prompted to resolve the conflict. If you do not resolve the conflict manually, one of the recording requests will be canceled automatically. In some cases, Media Center locates an alternate airing of the show and records the one that was canceled. This alternate airing could be either on a Digital TV channel or standard TV channel. Watch live or recorded Digital TV showsYou can watch live Digital TV shows on the Media Center PC by tuning directly to that channel while watching TV in full-screen mode or by selecting a Digital TV show from the Guide. You can also find and watch recorded Digital TV shows in Recorded TV.Troubleshoot Digital TVTV signal is interrupted or a No TV Signal screen appears occasionallyIf you experience glitches or interrupted TV signal or see a No TV signal screen occasionally while watching live or recorded Digital TV, it may be caused by the following:
There is no TV signal for my Digital TV channelsIf you are unable to receive TV signal for any of the Digital TV channels identified in Digital TV setup, check the following:
The Guide listings for Digital TV channels are incorrectIf the TV programming information for one or more Digital TV channels is incorrect, you may need to change the listings for that channel. The Guide listings for Digital TV are based on the local standard channels that you configured in TV Signal Setup. However, if the channels available to you are different or have different listings, you will see inaccuracies in the TV programming information. Alternatively, no listings may be available for a specific Digital TV channel. In that case, you need to add listings for that channel.To add or change the Guide listings associated with a Digital TV channel
The Guide listings for Digital TV channels are missingIf your standard TV is through a satellite TV provider and you do not subscribe to the local channels, it is likely that the TV listings in the Guide for standard TV do not include the local channel package. Because the Digital TV listings are derived from the local listings in many cases, not having the local standard TV listings in the Guide will cause you to not have listings for the equivalent Digital TV channel broadcast over the air.To get listings for the Digital TV channels, you can reconfigure your standard TV Guide and choose a different TV signal provider that includes the local channels. By adding the local channels, your Digital TV channels will be correlated with the appropriate Guide information for the local channels now included in the Guide. Note If you do not actually receive the local standard TV channels but just add them to get the Digital TV listings, you can turn off and prevent the local standard channels from appearing in the Guide in Edit Channels (press the START button on the remote, and then select Settings > TV > Guide > Edit Channels). To reconfigure the Guide
I cannot find Digital TV channels in the GuideIf you were notified that no Digital TV channels were found during setup, no channels for Digital TV will appear in the Guide. However, if some Digital TV channels were found when Digital TV was configured, they should have been added to the end of the Guide listings already downloaded for standard TV channels. In cases where you receive standard TV channels all numbered lower than 1000, the Digital TV channels can be found in the 1000-1999 channel number range. If you have standard TV channels numbered higher than 1000, most likely your Digital TV channels can be found in the 2000-2999 channel number range (or higher depending on how high the channel numbers go).For example, if you receive standard TV channels all numbered lower than 1000, and want to find Digital TV channel 37-2, the channel number it would be listed under in the Guide is 1000 plus the channel number or 1372. To navigate to Digital TV channels in the Guide, press the GUIDE button on the remote, and then use the arrow buttons to scroll to the Digital TV channels. The Digital TV channels should be listed after the standard TV channel listings. The network call signs for the Digital TV channels are also appended with "-DT" to indicate that they are Digital TV channels. Digital TV listings cannot be downloadedThe download may fail while you are setting up the Digital TV channels (or during one of the periodic downloads of Guide information) for any of the following reasons:
To make sure the Media Center PC can connect to the Internet If Media Center is unable to connect to the Internet and download Guide listings for Digital TV, try the following:
To add channels manually To add a channel, you must first have the channel number for each channel you want to add. For example, 37-2 is a Digital TV channel. In some cases, you may need to provide the frequency number for that channel as well. This information can often be found on a website that lists TV program offerings for Digital TV channels in your region.
The image for Digital TV does not fit the screenIf you notice margins around the TV image for some channels when watching TV in full-screen mode, you can zoom to expand the image. Or if the margins appear for all channels, you might try optimizing Media Center for your display.To zoom the TV image
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