ChrisTV PVR 5.25

Version 5.25 ( 18 November 2008 )

Improved the Timeshift engine for some capture devices.

Improved the Broadcast feature for TV cards without MPEG hardware encoder.

Minor optimization in the scheduler module.

Fixed video rendering problems for some TV cards.

Other small fixes and improvements.

For more details please visit :
http://www.chris-tv.com/

ChrisTV PVR - Recording Mode (available only in shareware products)

ChrisTV PVR offers 3 recording modes :

• Hardware MPEG Recording Module
  
• AVI Recording Module
  
• Software MPEG Recording Module
  

Hardware MPEG Recording Moduleavailable only for TV cards with MPEG Hardware Encoder

You can change the TV Card Driver MPEG Hardware Encoding Settings by choosing in the combobox : Capture Device or Encoder Device and click on the "Settings" button.

While recording is on, you can see live statistics about the captured file in the "Recording Information Panel".

Customize any MPEG Hardware Recording Settings (available only for TV Cards with Falcon, Blackbird chipsets, Hauppauge PVRs, ATI Theater 550/650): output stream type, frame size, video bitrate, audio bitrate. You can create recording profiles that will be used for scheduled recordings.

AVI Recording Module
available for software encoding cards and MPEG hardware encoding cards with LivePreview support

In the "AVI Information Panel" you can see what are the video input settings and the video/audio compression codecs that you use.
When the recording mode is on, you can see live statistics about the captured file in the "Recording Information Panel".

Here you can easily set the video stream format : Frame Size, Frames per second etc.

Also with ChrisTV you can use video/audio compression codecs installed on your PC.

Available only in ChrisTV Professional:
Advanced Video Frame Cropping Function - you can remove undesirable frame lines (top,bottom,left and/or right).

Advanced AVI File Settings :
AVI MUX - you can set the master stream and the video and audio interleaving mode.
Synchronizing video and audio : using streams offset or offset audio stream by n ms.
Recording segmentation - The segment size option helps you to make files for CD ready - 600 MB, 650 MB, 700 MB.

Software MPEG Recording Module
available for software encoding cards and MPEG hardware encoding cards with LivePreview support
(Registered MPEG 1/2 Filter required to be installed)

In the "MPEG File Information Panel" you can see what are the MPEG video/audio settings that you use for recording.
When the recording mode is on, you can see live statistics about the captured file in the "Recording Information Panel".

You can choose between predefined MPEG recording presets and create SVCD, VCD, DVD compatible MPEG files.

Customizing MPEG recording Presets is available only in ChrisTV Professional.

You can easily change the video stream format settings : Frame Size, Frames per second and the audio stream settings : audio bitrate, frequency.

Also you can use the advanced Video Frame Cropping Function, in order to remove undesirable frame lines (top,bottom,left and/or right).

Additional Recording Settings
Common Settings Tab

• You can set any local path or shared drive from the network as Video Capture Folder.
  
• Recording stop conditions : you can set the free space on the capture drive that you want to keep and the duration for the capture using the Time recording limit option.
  
• Set the best recording sound level just by checking the VU meter.

Advanced Settings Tab
(Available only in ChrisTV Professional Version)

During AVI and sof MPEG recording you can apply Processing Filters to the TV image :

• Image Processing Filters : Emboss, Grey, Invert etc.
  
• Dscaler Deinterlace Filters : Two Frame, Weave etc.
  
  Additional Settings :
  
• Use SmartTee Directshow Filter.
  
• Disable Preview while Recording (for reducing the CPU usage while recording).

Profile Recording Settings Tab
(Available only in ChrisTV Professional Version)

You can save all your video/audio recording settings into a Recording Profile and load the saved profile whenever you want to use it again by a single click only.

ChrisTV PVR - Broadcast mode (available only in ChrisTV PVR Professional)

Using ChrisTV PVR Broadcast feature you can now share your favorite TV shows, Movies with your friends through local networks and through internet.

In the "Broadcast Settings" panel you can select the favorite broadcast preset and view main broadcast parameters : video/audio compression codecs and video/audio bitrates that will be used for the live broadcast. By pressing the "Customize broadcast settings" button you will be able to adjust all broadcast settings.

In this window you will be able to customize any broadcast preset settings.
ChrisTV offers the option to choose the broadcast mode : Video and Audio, Video only or Audio only.
Next you can select which video/audio codecs,frame size and bitrates to be used for broadcasting.
In the advanced settings you can set the port number used for broadcasting and the maximum number of clients that can connect to the broadcast stream. You can also choose to save the broadcasted stream to local file to play it later.

If the broadcast mode does not work properly, try to change the Video Rendering Mode to other value in Program Settings->Video Rendering and also you can try to check "Disable video and audio preview while broadcasting".

For the broadcast feature to work properly you need to download and install Windows Media Encoder 9, for download links please click here.

For more tips how to configure the broadcast module, please visit our support forum.

Note : In the registered version the maximum number of clients is 50, during trial period there are some limitations, please click here for more details.

ChrisTV PVR - Multituner Support (available only in ChrisTV PVR Professional)

ChrisTV PVR Multituner feature will let you use up to 4 (four) video capture devices with ChrisTV PVR. This feature will allow you to watch your favorite TV channel using 1 capture device and record another channel(s) with the other capture device(s) that you have installed on your PC.



The "Capture Devices Status" window will keep you informed regarding the status of each video capture device that you have installed and configured to work with ChrisTV PVR.

You will be able to change the preview from one device to another device ( this change can be made also using the keyboard shortcut keys ALT+"capture device id" ( one of this numbers 1,2,3,4).

Also you can stop any recording at any time (background recordings or recordings with video preview).

Note : The maximum number of capture devices that can be used at once during trial period is 2 (two).

How can I make my TV Card remote work with ChrisTV PVR ?

ChrisTV PVR has integrated support for WinLirc but can not receive and process directly the remote control signals, so a third party software is needed in order to control ChrisTV. Basically in order to control ChrisTV PVR, you need an application that receives and process the signal from remote control (as the remote applications that came bundled with the TV Card) and then sends keyboard shortcuts to ChrisTV window. (Here you can see a list of ChrisTV Shortcuts)

ChrisTV PVR offers support for Hauppauge remote controls, ATI Remote Wonder.

More detailed information you can find on our support forum : How To Make ChrisTV PVR Work With Your Remote Control

ChrisTV PVR - TimeShift Mode (available only in shareware products)

ChrisTV TimeShift lets you freeze the live TV stream, giving you a break while is still recording.

TimeShifting is giving you, recordings with time delayed playback being different from the linear recording style you were used till now.

By TimeShift recording you can fast-forward through commercials and create your instant-replay on a live TV program.

Never miss anything from your favourite show, by timeshifting recording, a simple pause will let you resume later the interrupted TV program viewing.

Timeshifting is based on a principle of buffering the encoded images captured from the live TV program.

Such kind of temporary buffering lets you go back and forth playing on an imaginary timeline of your live TV show while this is still in progress.

There are 3 Timeshift Running Modes :

• Using software DV Encoder ( with high CPU usage and large size for buffer file )
  
• Using software MPEG Encoder ( only MPEG Intervideo Encoder 3 is supported for the moment )
  
• Using hardware MPEG Encoder ( available only for TV Cards with MPEG Hardware Encoding Module )
  

Starting with version 5.00 you will be able to choose your favorite Timeshift Quality settings to save diskspace or have best quality from 4 presets :

• Best (video bitrate 9600 KBits/sec),
  
• Good (video bitrate 6400 KBits/sec),
  
• Normal (video bitrate 4800 KBits/sec)
  
• Low (video bitrate 3000 KBits/sec).
  

In version 5.15 or higher, you will be able to make recordings while using the timeshift feature. You can choose if the recording starts automatically when you begin timeshift or manually when you want, same goes for stop timeshift recording. Please note that you won't be able to record in past, only what is in present time on the live stream.

For software encoding TV Cards there is the option to mute the Preview Live Sound while in TimeShift Mode

The timeline is as large as the temporary buffer is set: from several minutes, to several hours depending on your available storage space.
You can customize the TimeShift Buffering Time duration between 1 and 300 minutes ( while in trial mode the maximum duration is fixed to 35 minutes ).


Note : ChrisTV TimeShift feature works only under Windows XP & Windows XP MCE with SP1 or higher.

What are the System Requirements ?

Hardware:
- AMD Duron or Intel Pentium II 200MHz+, 500MHz or greater recommended.
- PCI or AGP DirectX compatible graphic adapter card, overlay support recommended.
- Memory : more than 64 MB RAM.
- Supported capture device (see complete Supported Capture Devices List).
- HDD Space : 5-10 MB for ChrisTV Program, 5-10 GB for recorded files.
- Sound card.

Software:
- Windows 98SE, Windows Millenium, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Vista
- DirectX 8.1 or higher installed.
- Capture device compatible drivers (see Supported Capture Devices List).