EvolutionTV ™ User Guide Revision 2.
Table of contents Introduction and Overview of EvolutionTV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Introduction and System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Overview of EvolutionTV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Hardware and Software installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction and Overview of EvolutionTV EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 1
Introduction Thank you for choosing EvolutionTV™ from Miglia Technology. EvolutionTV™ allows you to watch TV on your Mac and enables you to record your favourite programmes onto your hard drive using MPEG-2/4 and DivX compression. System requirements: • Mac with USB 2.0 connectivity • G4/800 MHz or higher processor • 256 MB of RAM • Mac OS X 10.3.x or higher • QuickTime 6.5.x or higher Package contents • EvolutionTV™ • CD-ROM with software and installation guide • Power Supply • USB 2.
Overview of EvolutionTV™ Video inputs EvolutionTV™ features several video inputs: • TV input • Composite input • S-Video input • RCA Stereo audio input Power TV/Antenna S-Video IN Composite IN Audio IN • TV/Antenna connection: This connector should be used for your analogue TV cable coming from an RF antenna or a cable box. • Composite input: Composite is a widely used standard for connecting video equipment. Note that the quality of this connection is not as good as S-Video.
Hardware and Software Installation EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 4
I. Hardware Installation 1. Connect the power supply to the “Power” socket located at the back of EvolutionTV. 2. Connect the USB 2.0 cable provided from a USB 2.0 port of your computer to EvolutionTV. Do not disconnect the power supply if the USB 2.0 cable is still connected. Always first disconnect the USB 2.0 cable and then the power supply! II. Connecting your video source 1.
2. Composite Connection Digital TV subscribers (Terrestrial, Cable, Satellite) will interface their digital receiver set top box with EvolutionTV. You can either make a connection via S-Video or Composite. If you wish to capture video footage from a Camcorder, VCR or DVD-Player, a connection via Composite or S-Video is recommended. The diagram below shows a connection via Composite. 3.
III. Software Installation 1. Insert the Installation CD that shipped with EvolutionTV™ card into your CD/DVD drive. 2. Before installing the version available on the CD, check for any available updates on the Miglia site. Double-click on the icon named ‘Check for software updates now!’ to access the website page. 3. Open the folder EvolutionTV and double-click on the ‘’Install EvolutionTV™” icon to launch the installer. Select the startup drive of your choice and click on ‘Install’.
6. The EvolutionTV folder will be located in the ‘Applications’ folder of the volume containing your system software. 7. If you have installed the Application Enhancer (for the iChat patch), the APE manager will appear in the System Preferences 8.
Setting up EvolutionTV for viewing and recording EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 9
Introduction This chapter will guide you through the initial setup of EvolutionTV. Before proceeding, make sure you have connected EvolutionTV to a USB 2.0 port of your Mac. Also ensure the power supply is connected at all times. Connect your TV antenna via a coaxial cable or your video source (digital TV receiver for example) via Composite/S-Video. I. Serial Number and Registration 1. Launch EvolutionTV located in your Applications folder 2.
2. The Setup Assistant will ask you to choose the type of connection you are using. If you connect your card directly to an antenna or a cable TV outlet, choose the ‘TV Tuner’ option. If you are subscribing to a premium or digital cable service or to digital satellite, use the S-Video connection, as this will ensure the best picture quality possible. Channels will have to be switched via the remote control of your cable or satellite receiver.
USA residents only If you have selected TV Tuner as the input connection, the Setup Assistant will ask you to enter your ZIP code to download the relevant channel naming templates from TVGuide.com. This will prevent you from having to give names manually to the individual channels. 4. TV Tuner Connection: Press the ‘Start Scan’ button to start the automatic channel search.
Using the EvolutionTV Menus and Onscreen Remote EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 13
I. EvolutionTV Menus Various functions are accessible via the menu bar: 1. The EvolutionTV Menu lets you access: About box: Displays about box with version number Setup Assistant: Launches the Setup Assistant Register: Open the Registration dialog Software Update: Checks online if a new version is available. This check is also performed automatically at launch if an internet connection is open. Hide/Show/Quit: Standard Hide, show and quit options. 2.
The Edit Menu 4. The View Menu contains the video related commands. Scheduled Recordings: Open the scheduled recordings window. Enables timed recordings. Log Window: The log window contains a report for each finished or aborted scheduled recording. TV Window: Displays the live TV window TV Window Size: Contains 3 pre-defined sizes, quarter, half and full size. The Full Screen option will hide all other applications and display the video in full screen mode.
The View Menu 5. The Window menu contains a shortcut to the full screen mode (Zoom) and enables you to switch between open windows. 6. The Help menu contains a link to the Miglia support web page and allows to open this manual. II.
1. Basic Remote Functions Volume level: Displays the volume level selected in the software Channel List: Shows a list of all stored/saved TV channels Channel Up/Down: Switches channels up and down Snapshot: Stores a snapshot of the picture currently displayed in the TV window Channel: Displays the channel number as per the TV tuner channel list Video input list: Displays the four possible video inputs. Enables easy switching between video inputs (TV and composite for example).
Video Source Settings: This panels allows you to adjust the video source settings: Device: Enables you to select the desired video input device. This will most likely be EvolutionTV Format: Enables you to select the video standard. US, Canada and Japan residents should use ‘NTSC’, while most European users should select ‘PAL’. French and Eastern European users should select ‘SECAM’. Use Channel Name as index: This option is important for US residents.
Window Settings: The Window pane enables you to activate three options: Always in front: The TV window will always be in front of all other applications. Transparency: Enables you to adjust the level of transparency for the TV window. Clip edges: The option to clip the edges enables you to reduced the viewable area of the picture. This is helpful if you are watching a widescreen movie or the TV picture displays a line at the top (due to closed captioning).
Using the EvolutionTV Preferences EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 20
I. EvolutionTV preferences overview 1. Select EvolutionTV > Preferences 1. The preferences are divided in four categories: Storage: This category allows you to set the general storage preferences Video Input: This menu allows you to set all video and audio preferences. Channel Templates: This menu contains the pre-defined and user defined channel lists. This menu allows you to create custom channel lists, useful if you are living in a border region.
I. The Storage Sub-menu 1. The Storage tab contains three important options: Filename Templates: Name templates used for your recorded video files 2. The Filename Template allows you to enter pre-defined values for the name of the file that will be stored onto your hard drive.
II. The Video Input Menu The Video Input menu contains the most important controls you have over the video you will view or record to your hard drive. A. Adjusting the video settings 1. The image sub-menu allows you to control the brightness, lighting, saturation and hue of the recorded video. Adjustments can be made by moving the sliders or entering a value on the right hand side.
2. Video Compression will adjust the video codec and quality settings for the video you will record to your hard drive. EvolutionTV features a built-in hardware encoding chip with support for several formats: DVD-Compliant MPEG-2: DVD-Compliant MPEG-2 Half-size: This format enables you to record in full size MPEG-2 thus delivering a video file readable by all DVD players.
5. The audio settings enable you to control the audio input of EvolutionTV. The Device list let’s you select the desired input device, eg. EvolutionTV, the built-in audio or any other compatible USB or FireWire device. If you are capturing via the TV tuner, EvolutionTV and TV Tuner are the correct settings. If you are capturing via S-Video or Composite, the ‘Audio-IN’ on EvolutionTV is preferred. Audio settings for capture in the video input menu.
8. The TV Tuner Sub-menu The TV tuner sub-menu allows you to create and select channel layouts. It also enables you to scan and fine-tune channels manually, without the help of the Setup Assistant. It is possible to create a new channel setup without using the Setup Assistant. To Do so, select‘Create from Template’ in the drop-down menu. The selected pre-defined channel list can then be scanned and fine tuned. Note: This will not be required if you already have setup EvolutionTV with the Setup Assistant.
III. The Plugins Menu EvolutionTV supports a Plugins architecture allowing a smooth integration with third-party applications and devices. The current iCal plugin can however be adjusted to import or export recordings via the ‘Show Settings’ button. The ‘Export’ function is activated by default. You may want to check this menu with every update of the application, as plug-ins are added. Third party plug-ins can be downloaded from the Miglia site (see the support page).
AlchemyTV DVR™ User Guide Page 28
Scheduling a recording with EvolutionTV EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 29
I. Schedule a recording with EvolutionTV 1. Click on View > Show scheduled recordings. 2. In the ‘Scheduled Recordings’ window, click ‘New Recording’ to create a new recording.
3. Select your desired channel and enter the name of the program you wish to record (the name itself does not affect the recording. You can either use a Filename template or give a unique name to the recorded file. Time, date and repetition can be entered on the right side of the window. You can also select the level of picture clipping for the recoding Click ‘Add record’ when you are finished.
4. Your new recording will be added to the ‘Scheduled Recordings’ list (see 2.). Program name Channel name Scheduled start Scheduled length 5. Scheduled recordings window list items: Status: Displays the status of the recording via icons. The recording is scheduled Recording is active and will be performed.
II.. iCal synchronisation EvolutionTV can synchronise your recordings with iCal. Make sure that the iCal plugin is set to import or export recordings, depending on your preference. 1. Export: Once you have created a recording in EvolutionTV , it will appear as a separate calendar item in iCal. 2. Import: An iCal calendar item can be imported into EvolutionTV, provided it follows the naming convention ‘Channel :: Program’.
Scheduling a recording with TitanTV EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 34
Introduction EvolutionTV 2.2 and higher support Decisionmark’s TitanTV EPG (Electronic Program Guide) to browse, search and schedule recordings. Note that TitanTV is only functional in the United States at the time of this writing. I. Registering with TitanTV In order to access the TitanTV program listings, you will first have to register online. Open your web browser and enter the address http://www.titantv.com Click on the “Sign up” button and follow the onscreen instructions to create an account. II.
III. Scheduling a recording with TitanTV 1. Select ‘TitanTV TV Listings’ from the EvolutionTV menu. This will launch your browser and redirect you to the TitanTV login page 2. Enter your username and password you created during TitanTV’s sign up process. 3. You can now browse or search the local TV listings. 4. Each individual TV program has a detail window accessible through a hyperlink. Record Button 5.
EvolutionTV Plug-ins EvolutionTV™ User Guide Page 37
Introduction EvolutionTV supports an open plug-in architecture that enables software developers to create enhancement modules. The application ships with several built-in plug-ins. Further enhancements are provided by third party plug-ins that are usually free of charge and that can be downloaded from Miglia’s website: http://www.miglia.com/Support/evolutiontv_plugins.html I. EvolutionTV SDK A Software Development Kit (SDK) has been made available on Miglia’s website.
III. Using Third Party Plug-ins 3.1 Plug-in Settings Plug-ins settings are available in Preferences > Video Input > Plug-ins > Show settings Note that some plug-ins do not have any settings. Explanation for the individual settings of a specific plug-in are usually included in the Read-me file included with a third party plug-in. 3.2 Using the plug-ins To access a plug-in, highlight a finished recording and select Post-Process Movie. A drop down menu will give you access to the installed plug-ins.
III. Current Plug-ins 3.1 Built-in Plug-ins Interface Plug-in: EvolutionTV Setup Assistant: Provides the Setup Assistant functionality to EvolutionTV . Post-Processing Plug-ins: EvolutionTV Reveal in Finder: Shows a recorded file in the Finder. EvolutionTV Movie Player: Enables you to play a recorded movie from within EvolutionTV EvolutionTV Movie Opener: Lets you launch a movie file via the Finder.
Playing back files created by EvolutionTV AlchemyTV DVR™ User Guide Page 41
Introduction EvolutionTV supports various capture formats, which can be played back by most if not all software video applications. However, you may need to install additional video codecs in order to play back some formats. A Video codec is an extenstion, which enables a software video player (like QuickTime Player) to read a video file. I. Software Video Players Miglia currently recommends two software video players: • QuickTime Player: QT Player is part of a standard Mac OS X installation.
Frames/sec the movie was recorded at Frames/sec the movie is playing back at QuickTime Player Show Movie Info Window AlchemyTV DVR™ User Guide Page 43
License Agreement This license contract is part of the purchase contract. The conditions for the use of the Evolutiontv™-software are written down in the following license contract. With the use of the AlchemTV™-software you agree to the conditions of the license contract for the use of the EvolutionTV™-software. A special note to Miglia technology ltd or its traders is not necessary.
5.3 Should the software be faulty, the original CD on which the software is memorized has to be properly packed and returned to the authorized trader. In every case the complaint about the software has to be made by including your name, address, telephone number and a description of the defect and the system configuration. 5.4 Miglia reserves the right to decide if repairing or replacing the faulty software grants the possible guarantee.
