DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service USER GUIDE 980-04088-800
© Copyright 2000 WebTV Networks, Inc. This material constitutes confidential and proprietary information of WebTV Networks, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher. DIRECTV, the Cyclone Design logo, and Advanced Program Guide are trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp.
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 Welcome 1 Service options 2 Signing up 2 Upgrades 3 Getting help 4 Getting Around 5 On-screen Keyboard 6 TV Home 7 Watching TV 9 Zooming to full-screen size 9 Changing the channel 10 Displaying program information 11 FINDING SHOWS 13 The DIRECTV Advanced Program Guide 13 Customizing the Guide 15 Creating a list of favorite channels 20 Restricting Access 20 Search TV 23 TV Reminders 25 Pay Per View Programs 27 ™ i
CONTENTS – continued RECORDING 29 INTERNET 59 Recording a program to your receiver 29 E-mail 60 Recording a program to your VCR 33 E-mail at a glance 60 Watching Recorded Shows 36 Reading your mail 61 My Shows 36 Writing a message 62 Erasing a recorded program 38 Correcting spelling errors 64 Using the address book 65 Cut, copy, and paste 67 World Wide Web 70 Web Home 70 Searching the Web 71 Going directly to a Web site 73 Favorites 75 Visiting a Web site in Favorites
INTRODUCTION CONTENTS – continued YOUR ACCOUNT 89 WELCOME Account options 90 Billing information and payment options 91 Adding users to your account 92 Updates - getting the latest features 93 Using an ISP to connect to the WebTV Service 94 Your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service provides an enhanced television service that includes digital satellite TV programming from DIRECTV and Internet services from WebTV Networks, Inc.
INTRODUCTION – continued INTRODUCTION – continued SERVICE OPTIONS UPGRADES Your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service lets you choose among several service plans. A brochure that accompanies the receiver describes each plan, including pricing information. Please refer to the brochure for details. Your receiver is able to receive upgrades or modifications to some of its features and functions.
INTRODUCTION – continued GETTING AROUND GETTING HELP To get from place to place while you’re watching DIRECTV® programming or using Internet features, you need to know just one simple rule: select-and-go. As your service continues to be upgraded, you may eventually see screens that differ from those shown in this guide, or see new features that are not documented in this guide.
ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD TV HOME When you’re using certain TV features, you’ll need to enter information into onscreen text boxes. For example, you might want to search for a TV show by title or phrase. The TV Home screen is your home base for all your TV-watching activities. From TV Home you can go to key features of the service. If you are using the optional wireless keyboard or have connected a keyboard to the receiver’s USB port, you can simply start typing when you see a text-entry box on your screen.
TV HOME – continued TV Home automatically appears when you turn on your receiver. You can easily return to TV Home at any time. To return to TV Home: Press the HOME button on your receiver, remote, or keyboard. (You can also press the BACK button on your remote or keyboard if TV Home was the last screen you viewed.) WATCHING TV When you tune to a channel using your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service, you can view information about the program that’s showing on that channel.
WATCHING TV – continued WATCHING TV – continued CHANGING THE CHANNEL DISPLAYING PROGRAM INFORMATION You can change the channel from the TV Home screen, or while you’re watching TV at full-screen size. When you change channels, the channel banner appears only briefly, so you might miss some of the information it displays. If you wish, you can display detailed information about the program you’re watching at any time.
WATCHING TV – continued • Channel number, network name, and call letters • Rating, if any • Time remaining until the program is over Symbols may appear as well: • A postmark indicates that you have unread messages in TV Notices. A locked padlock indicates that you’ve configured the lock settings in Locks & Limits (see page 20). An unlocked padlock indicates that you’ve configured limits but they are not in effect. Alternate audio is available (for example, a soundtrack in another language).
ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™ – continued ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™ – continued To view the listings in the Guide: CUSTOMIZING THE GUIDE 1 Use the up and down Arrow buttons to move through the list of channels, one channel at a time. The list scrolls when the yellow rectangle reaches the top or bottom of the screen. Use the CH+ and CH- buttons to scroll up or down one screen at a time.
ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™ – continued 3 Remove the checkmarks from the channels you do not want to list in the ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™ – continued The Add a Favorites List screen appears. Guide. To remove a checkmark, select an existing checkmark and press OK. 4 Use the Arrow buttons to scroll to the right, or enter a channel number using the remote or keyboard, and unmark more channels if you wish. 5 Select Done and press OK when you’re finished. Select Done in the Settings screen as well.
ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™ – continued A checkmark appears beside the selected channel. Add as many channels as you like. (Use the Arrow buttons to scroll the screen left or right to see more channels; or, if you want to add a specific channel, enter the channel using the number buttons.) 7 If you want to give your list a name, select Rename List and press OK. 8 Using your wireless keyboard or the on-screen keyboard and your remote, type a new name for the list.
RESTRICTING ACCESS If you have children, you might want to restrict their access to certain channels. You can remove those channels from the Guide, as described in “Customizing the Guide” on page 15, but they can still be accessed using the remote. To prevent access to certain channels or types of programming, you can use the DIRECTV Locks and Limits feature. To restrict viewing access: 1 From TV Home, select Settings and press OK.
RESTRICTING ACCESS – continued 5 Type a 4-digit password, then move the yellow selection box down and enter the password again to confirm it. I M P O RTA N T Make a note of your password and store it in a safe place. You’ll need the password if you decide to change viewing limits later. 6 Select Lock, then press OK. The viewing limits you just set take effect.
SEARCH TV – continued TV REMINDERS TV reminders are messages that appear on your screen one minute before a show starts. To set a reminder: Type a word or phrase to search for. 1 In the Guide, select a program (blue indicates that the program is on in the future) and press OK. The Program Info screen for the selected program appears. Previous search terms appear here. 3 Type the name of the program you want to watch.
TV REMINDERS – continued 4 Check Tune to channel when program begins if you’d like the receiver to automatically tune to the right channel when the program begins. 5 When you’re finished, select Continue, then select Done and press OK. A reminder message will scroll across the bottom of your screen one minute before the program starts. (Press CLEAR if you wish to remove the reminder message.) PAY PER VIEW PROGRAMS DIRECTV® programming offers a wide selection of Pay Per View movies and events.
PAY PER VIEW PROGRAMS – continued The purchases screen appears. RECORDING RECORDING A PROGRAM TO YOUR RECEIVER Your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service lets you record up to 35 hours of programs onto its built-in hard drive. NOTE Recording capacity varies, depending on the type of program being recorded. Once a program is recorded, you can watch it at any time, then erase it from the receiver’s hard drive to free up space to record future programs.
RECORDING – continued To stop recording: 1 Press the STOP button on your remote control or keyboard. RECORDING – continued 2 Select Record and press OK. The following screen appears: A message scrolls across the bottom of the screen, asking if you’d like to stop recording the program. 2 Select Stop Recording and press OK. The program stops recording. In addition to recording live programs, you can instruct your receiver to record a program that will be on in the future.
RECORDING – continued 4 Select Done and press OK. The show will be recorded when it comes on. SHORTCUT: If you don’t need to see the Program Info screen before you record a show, you can simply select the show in the Guide and press the RECORD button on your remote control or keyboard. Press RECORD twice to record the program on a regular basis, such as daily or weekly. Press RECORD a third time to cancel the recording. NOTE Look in the Guide. A red dot appears next to the show you just chose to record.
RECORDING – continued RECORDING – continued 4 Select Record to VCR and press OK. 2 In the Settings screen, select Hooking up and press OK. The Setting Up a VCR screen appears. A red dot appears next to Record on VCR, indicating that it’s selected. 5 Select Continue and press OK. A red dot with “V” in it appears next to the show’s name in the Guide. The program will record to your VCR.
WATCHING RECORDED SHOWS WATCHING RECORDED SHOWS – continued MY SHOWS To see information about a show you’ve recorded: When you record a program or a portion of a program to your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service, it’s saved in an area called My Shows. To see a list of the programs you’ve recorded: 1 Press the HOME button on your remote or keyboard to go to the TV Home screen. If you’ve recorded something, an on-screen blue light is displayed next to My Shows on the TV Home screen.
WATCHING RECORDED SHOWS – continued To skip ahead 30 seconds at a time: Press the Jump Ahead button on the remote or SKIP on the keyboard. To jump back a few seconds and watch something you just saw: Press the Instant Replay button on your remote control or keyboard. Your receiver jumps back and replays the last 7 seconds of what you were just watching.
TV CONTROLS – continued TV CONTROLS – continued PAUSE PLAY Let’s say you’re watching your favorite show and suddenly feel the need for a snack. You don’t need to miss anything. You can pause the program, get your snack, and resume watching where you left off. To resume watching a paused program where you left off: Press the PLAY button on your remote or keyboard. The program resumes playing where you left off. To pause a program: Press the PAUSE button on your remote control or keyboard.
TV CONTROLS – continued TV CONTROLS – continued INSTANT REPLAY Have you ever watched a program and seen something you wished you could see again? Maybe you just witnessed a spectacular sports play, or perhaps you couldn’t hear a line of dialog in a movie. Your receiver gives you your own Instant Replay. To jump back a few seconds and watch something you just saw: Press the Instant Replay button on your remote control or keyboard.
TV CONTROLS – continued TV CONTROLS – continued GETTING BACK TO LIVE TV JUMP AHEAD If you want to skip ahead 30 seconds at a time, you can use the Jump Ahead button instead of FORWARD. Pausing, reversing, and fast-forwarding are great, but at some point you’ll want to return to watching live TV. Here’s how. To skip ahead 30 seconds in a paused or recorded program: To watch live TV: While the program is playing, press the Jump Ahead button remote control or the SKIP button on your keyboard.
PICTURE-IN-PICTURE (PIP) Picture-In-Picture, or PIP, lets you simultaneously view one channel at full-screen size and a second channel in a small window. NOTE To make full use of the PIP feature, you must have two satellite cables connected to the back of your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service. If you have only one satellite cable connected, you can still display a PIP window while watching live TV, but you will not see a TV picture in it.
PIP – continued PIP – continued To change the channel in the full-screen view: PUTTING THE PIP WINDOW AWAY 1 If the PIP window is selected, press the CH CTRL button. Control returns to the full-screen view. 2 Press the CH+ or CH- button or use the number buttons to change the channel. SWITCHING BETWEEN PIP AND FULL-SCREEN VIEW Let’s say you’re watching a program in the PIP window and decide you’d like to see it in full-screen view. It’s easy. To make the PIP window disappear: Press the PIP button.
INTERACTIVE TV As the popularity of the Internet grows, more and more TV shows are creating Web sites that give you information about their program, and in some cases let you interact with the program as it’s in progress. For example, there are game shows that have Web sites where you can play along with contestants, and sports programs with Web sites that give you play-by-play updates and analysis.
INTERACTIVE TV – continued INTERACTIVE TV – continued GOING TO A WEB SITE The w symbol is displayed for only a few seconds, shortly after you tune to a channel, so as not to disrupt your TV viewing. If the w symbol has disappeared from your screen, you can still go to the associated Web site. To go to a TV-related Web site: 1 When you see the w symbol on your screen, press the OK button on your remote control or RETURN on your keyboard.
INTERACTIVE TV – continued INTERACTIVE TV – continued GOING TO AN INTERACTIVE WEB SITE To return to watching TV: Interactive TV is more than viewing Web sites that relate to programs or commercials. Interactive TV lets you participate with the program you’re watching. For example, you can play along with TV game shows, participate in a poll regarding a breaking news story, or otherwise actively engage with TV programming. 1 Press the MENU·OPTIONS button on your remote control or keyboard.
INTERACTIVE TV – continued 2 Select Entertainment, near the bottom of the screen, and press OK. The Entertainment screen appears. INTERACTIVE TV – continued In many cases you’ll see a How To button. Select that button and press OK to read instructions on interacting with the selected program. Some shows require you to register before you can participate. Follow the onscreen instructions to register. Now you can play along with some of your favorite TV game shows, matching wits with the contestants on TV.
INTERNET When you use the Internet features of your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service, you’ll start at a screen called Web Home. From Web Home you can get to e-mail, chat rooms, Web sites, on-line shopping, news, and other Internet areas. To get to Web Home when you’re watching DIRECTV® programming: From TV Home, select Web Home, then press OK or RETURN. or Press the TV·WEB button on your remote control or keyboard. Your receiver dials the WebTV service, and soon Web Home appears.
E-MAIL E-MAIL – continued E-MAIL AT A GLANCE READING YOUR MAIL When you send e-mail, you get to write messages, check your spelling, and send them to anyone who has an e-mail address. You can send e-mail anywhere in the world, anytime! And people can send you messages at your WebTV address anytime, from anywhere. (See page 92 for information on adding users, each with his or her own e-mail address.) You can tell when you have new mail by looking at the Mailbox at the top of the Web Home screen.
E-MAIL – continued E-MAIL – continued WRITING AN E-MAIL MESSAGE 3 Type the recipient’s e-mail address, then press the RETURN key on your keyboard. To send an e-mail message to one or more people, all you need to know is their e-mail addresses. Here are the basic steps: NOTE If you do not have a wireless keyboard, you can use the on-screen keyboard. To show the on-screen keyboard, press the OK button on your remote control.
E-MAIL – continued E-MAIL – continued CORRECTING SPELLING ERRORS USING THE ADDRESS BOOK You can check messages for spelling and typing mistakes before you send them. 1 Select Spelling (left side of the Write a message page), then press OK or RETURN. E-mail addresses can be long, complicated, and impossible to remember. Fortunately, you don’t have to remember them. You can store and retrieve e-mail addresses using your address book.
E-MAIL – continued E-MAIL – continued To address a message using your address book: CUT, COPY, AND PASTE 1 From the Web Home screen, select Mail, then press OK or RETURN. 2 Select Write on the left side of the screen, then press OK or RETURN to begin writing your e-mail message. 3 Instead of typing the address, select the word To, then press OK or RETURN. (You can also select Address from the left side of the screen.) A panel appears listing the names in your address book.
E-MAIL – continued E-MAIL – continued Inserting text you have copied Moving text (cut and paste) You can only insert text into an e-mail message that you are writing. Here’s how: You can only move text in e-mail messages that you are writing. Here’s how: 1 Go to the message you are writing. 2 Using the Arrow keys on your keyboard, position the typing cursor where you want to insert the text that you just copied. 3 Hold the CMD key as you press the V key.
WORLD WIDE WEB WORLD WIDE WEB – continued WEB HOME SEARCHING THE WEB Web Home is the starting point for all of your World Wide Web activities. Given the vast amount and diversity of information on the Web, you can be fairly certain that there is a Web site containing any kind of product or information you want to find. The trick is finding exactly what you want in such a huge universe of Web sites.
WORLD WIDE WEB – continued 3 Type a word, phrase, question, or Web address for Search to look up, then press OK or RETURN. Search looks for Web sites that match the words you typed. It lists the matching sites on a page called Search Results. 4 Look at the Web sites listed on the search WORLD WIDE WEB – continued GOING DIRECTLY TO A WEB SITE If you know the address of a Web site (also known as the URL—Uniform Resource Locator), you don’t need to search for the Web site to find it.
WORLD WIDE WEB – continued WORLD WIDE WEB – continued TIP The wireless keyboard has a GO TO key that takes you directly to the Address panel. You can use this shortcut instead of the Web Options panel to go directly to a Web site. FAVORITES: CREATING A COLLECTION OF YOUR FAVORITE WEB SITES The Web Options panel provides shortcut buttons to many Web features. Here’s a quick overview.
WORLD WIDE WEB – continued WORLD WIDE WEB – continued VISITING A WEB SITE IN YOUR FAVORITES COLLECTION WATCH TV WHILE SURFING THE WEB Once you’ve saved a shortcut to a Web site in one of your Favorites folders, it’s easy to get back to that site. With your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service, not only can you see the Web on your TV, you can see the Web and your favorite TV shows at the same time. Watch a game on TV while you look at related sports Web sites.
WORLD WIDE WEB – continued WORLD WIDE WEB – continued SHOPPING ON THE WEB CREATING YOUR OWN WEB PAGE Shopping on the World Wide Web is fast and convenient. You can find online sources for just about any product you need, from books and music to toys, gardening equipment, clothes, outdoor gear, financial services, anything! The WebTV service not only allows you to visit Web pages, it also lets you create and publish your own Web site using Page Builder.
WORLD WIDE WEB – continued 2 Select Page Builder, then press OK or RETURN. The Page Builder screen appears. WORLD WIDE WEB – continued EDITING AN EXISTING WEB PAGE You can use Page Builder to make changes to any Web page you have created. Here’s how: 1 From Web Home, select Community, then press OK or RETURN. 2 Select Page Builder, then press OK or RETURN. 3 Select the Web page you want to change, then press OK or RETURN. 4 Select the part of your page that you want to change, then press OK or RETURN.
ONLINE CONVERSATION ONLINE CONVERSATION – continued DISCUSSION GROUPS AND CHAT ROOMS DISCUSSION GROUPS While chat rooms and discussion groups are both ways to use the Internet to contact people, they are different in important ways. Discussion groups are Internet bulletin boards where people post and respond to messages about specific topics. Discussion groups are public forums—anyone can read and respond to the posted message.
ONLINE CONVERSATION – continued There are three ways to join a discussion group. You can: • choose one of the Featured discussions, • choose All Groups to see the complete list of available discussions, • or you can search for a group on any topic that interests you using the Look for box at the bottom of the screen. These are some of the most popular discussion groups. Displays a complete list of available discussion groups.
ONLINE CONVERSATION – continued CHAT ROOMS Chat rooms are forums for “live” discussions. Messages you send to a chat room are read immediately by everyone in that room. You can join existing chat rooms or create your own chat rooms. To enter a chat room and join the conversation: 1 From Web Home, select Community, then press OK or RETURN. ONLINE CONVERSATION – continued 4 To enter a listed chat room, select it and press OK or RETURN.
ONLINE CONVERSATION – continued YOUR ACCOUNT CREATING A NEW CHAT ROOM See the brochure that came with your RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service for information on service options, including features and pricing. If you can’t find a chat room set up to discuss that topic you are interested in, or if you want to have a private conversation with a group of friends or family, you can create your own chat room.
YOUR ACCOUNT – continued YOUR ACCOUNT – continued ACCOUNT OPTIONS BILLING INFORMATION AND PAYMENT OPTIONS The Account option on the Web Home screen provides you with a way to get detailed information about the WebTV service, your billing options, and your account information. This provides you with a convenient on-screen way to check into things like when you are billed, how much you owe on your account, etc. The monthly WebTV service charge covers your use of the WebTV service.
YOUR ACCOUNT – continued YOUR ACCOUNT – continued ADDING USERS TO YOUR ACCOUNT UPDATES - GETTING THE LATEST FEATURES You can have up to six users on your account at no extra charge. This includes the user who signed up for service initially—known as the primary user—plus five additional, “secondary” users. WebTV Networks is always working to improve the WebTV service. From time to time, feature updates will be offered to you at no cost when you connect to the WebTV service.
YOUR ACCOUNT – continued YOUR ACCOUNT – continued USING AN ISP TO CONNECT TO THE WEBTV SERVICE When calling an ISP, make sure that it is compatible with the WebTV service (some ISPs might not know whether they are or not). Most people can connect to the WebTV service using a local phone number.
INDEX A E account, viewing information about 89-95 All-Day Ticket symbol 12, 27 alternate audio 12 e-mail 60-69 address book 62, 65-66 copying text 67-69 correcting spelling errors 64 reading 61 writing 62-63 Arrow buttons or keys 5 erasing recorded programs 38 B F billing information 91 fast forward 37, 43 address book 62, 65-66 Advanced Program Guide. See “DIRECTV Advanced Program Guide™” C CH CTRL button 47 CH+/CH- buttons or keys 10 channel banner 10 channels.
INDEX – continued INDEX – continued J P R Jump Ahead button 38, 44 padlock symbol 10, 12 K Page Builder 79-81 PAUSE button or key 37, 40 ratings 21 RCA®-DIRECTV™ Receiver with UltimateTV® Service features overview 1-2 selecting items on the screen 5 service options 2 upgrades 3, 93 receiver.
INDEX – continued TV controls 39-45 FORWARD 37, 43 Instant Replay 42 Jump Ahead 38, 44 PAUSE 37, 40 PLAY 37, 41 REVERSE 37, 42 SKIP 38, 44 slow motion 44 TV Home 7-8 displaying 7-8 introduction to 7-8 zooming TV picture to full-screen size 9, 13 TV Notices 7, 10 TV Options panel 45, 53 TV reminders 25-26 TV window 77 TV·WEB button 59, 70 typing using on-screen keyboard 6 U UltimateTV Service features overview 1-2 signing up for 2 upgrades 3, 93 URL, entering in Web Options panel 73 W w symbol 51 Web Home
