VideoMate U2500F
Hybrid D/A TV Stick
Start Up Guide
Compro Technology, Inc. www.comprousa.com
Table of Contents
VideoMate U2500F Hybrid D/A Stick ........................... 3
VideoMate U2500F Contents........................................ 4
Installation ..................................................................... 5
ComproDTV Vista Gadget Tool for Vista .................... 6
ComproDTV 4 ................................................................ 8
Open and close the ComproDTV 4 display panel ...... 9
ComproFM 2 ................................................................ 14
Troubleshooting.......................................................... 15
Copyright © 2001-2009. Compro Technology, Inc. No part of this document may be copied or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of Compro Technology, Inc.
Compro, VideoMate, Poladyne, Play with Power, and the Compro logo are trademarks of Compro Technology, Inc. Other names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners.
Compro makes no warranties with respect to this documentation and disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability, quality, or fitness for any particular purpose. The information in this document is subject to change without notice. COMPRO reserves the right to make revisions to this publication without obligation to notify any person or entity of any such changes. The product specification maybe very without further notice.
Compro Technology, Inc.
Tel. +886 2 2918 0169, Fax +886 2 2915 2389 www.comprousa.com
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VideoMate U2500F Hybrid D/A Stick
VideoMate U2500F lets you watch/record digital TV broadcast or analog TV on your PC. VideoMate U2500F features a TV tuner for either digital TV broadcast or analog TV signals reception, Digital Video Recording (DVR) functions, scheduled recording at anytime, crystal video quality, intelligent TV viewing, and video/audio capture.
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Your PC must meet or exceed the following system requirements to watch TV on your PC. z
PIII 1.7 GHz CPU for TV viewing z
512 MB RAM z
Available USB 2.0 ports (USB 2.0 only) z
Sound card or on-board sound chip z
Graphics Card or on-board graphics supports DirectX 9.0 z
CD-ROM for software installation. z
Windows XP SP2 or above installed. z
150 MB free disk space for basic software installation.
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
To use all the features of VideoMate U2500F, your PC should meet the following requirements.
z 2.6 GHz CPU with SSE 2 support for DVD recording and timeshifting z 3.0 GHz CPU with SSE 2 support for HDTV/TS viewing/recording and PIP z Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or above for H.264 viewing/recording z 1GB z Sound card or on-board sound chip z Available USB 2.0 ports z CD-ROM for software installation z Graphics Card or on-board graphics supports DirectX 9.0 z Windows x86/x64 z Update the latest drivers of VGA, motherboard, and soundcard from vendors. z 150 MB free space for software installation
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VideoMate U2500F Contents
VideoMate
U2500F
FM antenna
3 in 1 video/audio input cable
USB 2.0 cable
I type to F type converter
Installation CD Start Up Guide
Note
In order to receive digital terrestrial TV broadcast, you have to have your own antenna which is crucial. Digital terrestrial TV broadcast uses about the same wave (UHF) as analog TV. It’s recommended to have a fishbone-like antenna on the roof for receiving. More details can be found in the troubleshooting chapter of this manual.
Digital TV broadcast is different than normal analog TV. You will see no picture instead of noisy or blurred picture when the signal is too weak. Make sure you have a good antenna and strong digital TV signal in your location. Or you will have no TV picture at all.
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Installation
Start the computer. Make sure VideoMate U2500F is connected to your computer and insert the installation CD into your CD drive.
Step 1. After restarting, Windows will detect a new device and start the
Add/Remove Hardware Wizard, please press Cancel and go to the next step.
Step 2. Insert the installation CD into your CD drive. If you have Autorun enabled, the installer will start automatically. (If Autorun is disabled, double-click on “setup.exe” on the installation CD.) You can choose
Complete to install all necessary software (VideoMate U2500F drivers, ComproDTV, and ComproFM 2) or choose Custom to select item by item. Compro recommends you choose Complete.
Step 3. Press Next to install ComproDTV,
Step 4. After each program is successfully installed, press Finish to proceed.
Step 5. When installation completes, press Finish to restart computer.
Step 6. Connect the digital or analog TV signal and open ComproDTV to enjoy the show.
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ComproDTV Vista Gadget Tool for Vista
The Compro gadget tool is designed to provide the more convenient TV experience in Windows Vista. It will be installed from the Compro installation
CD, and you can delete and add it from gadget setup.
Note
1. Vista Gadget is meant for Vista 32 bit operation system only.
2. Vista Gadget Tool needs the channel table from ComproDTV 4. Please autoscan all the available digital and analog channels in ComproDTV 4.
Then you can use the Vista Ggadget Tool.
3. If there is no picture when you click the live TV button, please right-click the mouse button and select the video source you want.
UI Control
DTV Gadget has three modes including Live TV mode, display playlist, and
display scheduled list.
This button can change modes between
Live TV, display playlist and schedule list
Press the button to load device and start to play live TV
The buttons from left to right sides are:
Channel down in live TV mode
Start/Stop Live TV, Play/pause from playlist
Channel Up in live TV mode
Start/stop record live TV
Mute
Playlist mode: It just displays first eight files in the list you recorded, if there are more than eight files in folder, the ninth file or rest of files will not be display.
The figure in below shows the playlist style:
5 files and 3 empty items in list
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If clicking any files, the gadget will change to play mode from playlist mode, then playing the file you clicked.
Scheduler list mode: This mode will display the top 5 of your current scheduled list, you can click any of the scheduled item and check the detail information of it.
The last mode is schedule view which has two different parts. First, there is a table that has five rows; it means that schedule view will allow the first five schedules in the list. Second, if clicking the item, it will change to another part, which show in detail about the schedule you clicked. Clicking again will go back to first part. The process showed as below:
Dock and Undock Gadget Window:
Only docked gadget has three modes, the undocked gadget only support live
TV/playback video mode, and its size is bigger than docked one. You can direct drag the gadget window to the other place out the sidebar and shows the bigger undock window to watch TV or playback recorded video files.
Directly drag gadget windows out the sidebar and shows the bigger window
Because undocked gadget lacks playlist, if you wants to play a file in undocked mode, you can drop a file into the window of gadget to play a file .(in docked mode, you can also play a file by dropping a file into gadget) The control of button in undocked mode is the same as docked mode.
Pop Menu
Click the right mouse button on the gadget window; it will open the pop menu for selection. You can return to last channel, autoscan available channels, select channel to watch from channel list, select video source, adjust audio volume, or snapshot TV screen.
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ComproDTV 4
Control Panel
The ComproDTV 4 control panel resembles the controls on a VCR. Please note that not all options are available at all times, and may be grayed out or inaccessible depending on your hardware setup and TV services available.
The following figure gives you the function of the button with (Hot key)
Channel Up (Page Up) with Quick Channel list (I)
Stop
(S)
Volume
(- , +)
Record (R) and
Record Option
Num
Pad (W)
Play (P) /
Pause (U)
Rewind
(Left Arrow)
Channel Down
(Page down)
Mute (M)
Help
(H)
Timeshift bar
Docking
(D)
Minimize
(G)
Fast Forward
(Right Arrow)
Full
Screen
Close
(CTRL+X)
Volume
(- , +)
Mute
(M)
Digital TV
Signal
Strength
Number
Pad (W)
Option (O)
Left/Right
Audio Switch (J)
Schedule
(B)
Video
Source (V)
Repeat Playback
Recorded Files
Last Channel
(N)
Channel Surf
(F)
Snapshot
(Space)
Timeshift
(T)
Closed Caption
(C)
Add Window
(F3)
Reduce Window
Teletext
(X)
EPG
(E)
No function
(F2)
Windows
Alignment (F5)
Close All
Windows (F6)
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Video Source
Switch (V)
Audio mode
HotKey Description
A
Enable/Disable Always-on-Top function for
TV window.(Oregon circle on the upper-right corner of the TV window)
TV / Timeshifting mode
F8 Open snapshot dialog box
Note: Language select is only available while the program supports it.
Open and close the ComproDTV 4 display panel
You can open and close the ComproDTV 4 display window by click the down arrow on the right of ComproDTV panel.
Open and close display panel
Start ComproDTV 4 and watch TV
After installation, just press the yellow button of the last line on the remote or double click the ComproDTV 4 icon on the desktop, you will be able to watch
TV. Same as operating a normal TV set. Watch TV programs on your PC, in full-screen mode or in a window. Channel up and down. Close ComproDTV 4 and even shutdown the computer with the full function remote control keypad.
Options
Press the Options button to open the Options dialog box. You can change detail settings of ComproDTV 4 here.
TV Settings
This option gives you the way to manually set the method of scanning TV programs. Select your choice here or use default channel table to do the scanning.
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Autoscan
The first time you start ComproDTV 4, Autoscan will automatically scan for available TV channels for TV signals. Please select your TV source from analog cable/antenna or from digital antenna. You can rescan the channels at any time by pressing the Autoscan button. Also, you can enable the advanced autoscan for more precision scan result.
When Autoscan is finished, detected channels are automatically enabled and marked with the green check mark . Channels, where a valid signal could not be detected, are disabled and marked with a blank. However, you can interrupt the scanning process by pressing the Stop button.
After you are finished scanning for available channels, you may select OK to return to the display window, or customize the channel orders according to your preferences.
Channel Naming
You can customize the channel names by double-click on the CH Name field of the channel you wish to rename.
You can do more changes on the channel’s property by right-click the mouse on the Description field of the channel you wish to edit.
Custom Settings for each channel
You can customize each channel properties by click the icon in “Custom
Settings” filed and edit it.
In the channel property settings, you can setup video color and noise reduction level, de-interlacing level for each channel (noise reduction level, de-interlacing level, and sharpness setting are not suitable for digital TV). The
SmartZoom property setting only works when you choose the custom
SmartZoom display mode.
Import and Export current channel list
If you have edited the channel name, fine tune channel, or customize channel settings. You can export the current channel list to text file and save it to other place. When you reinstall the ComproDTV 4 or your system, you can import the previous channel list and save your time for resetting it.
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Using my favorite channel list
You can click to select using my favorite channel list from option window. And exit the list by yourselves to makes channel switch more convenient.
Channel Surfing
While watching TV, the channel surfing feature displays a 4x4 grid of channel images to give you an overview of available programming. Double click the channel screen can direct jump to the channel you want.
PIP/POP mode
Usually, digital TV station broadcasts multiple programs on one frequency. Therefore,
ComproDTV 4 in Vista U2500F TV card supports up to 1 main DVB-T channel windows, 3 sub channel windows, and playback recorded video file at the same time if available. Or watch 1 live analog TV show and playback recorded video file at once.
You can press the Add/Reduce Window window for that. Please see the following picture.
button to open a slave
Main window has all features while slave window has limited functions only.
Double-click on the slave window can switch the TV program to the main window. Alignment Window button will put slave window(s) into main window which is convenient for you to watch multiple programs on full screen mode.
The buttons on the upper-left corner slave window are Channel
Up, Channel Down, Mute, Windows Alignment, and Close respectively. Slave window can be resized by mouse dragging lower-left corner to any ratio.
Video Desktop
While watching TV, you may right-click on the TV screen and select video on desktop or press the hotkey (F7) to activate Video Desktop mode. This mode makes the video source as your desktop screen. It is similar with full screen but the desktop icons and taskbar will remain on top. The following
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picture shows the TV on the desktop.
For the Video Desktop feature, you needs to enable the “Use Overlay
Surface” feature in the setup dialog box of OptionÆVideo/Audio.
Right-Click Mouse Menu
If using mouse to right-click on the TV screen, you can see a menu pop up.
There are many useful options for your convenience.
The right-click menu also provides SmartZoom feature to auto-fit or customize video screen for different type monitors, the Aspect Ratio setting provides 4:3,
16:9, 1.85:1, 2.35:1 and customize for different resolutions. Also, you can
Zoom In/Out the video display screen to standard or 1/2X, 2X, 4X size.
Zooming image
If you would like to see more details on a certain part of a video image, you can press the mouse right button to drag a zone of the screen. You will see the zoomed image.
Also you can press the mouse right button and move on the screen to shift the zoomed area of the image. Just click the mouse left button to resume normal mode.
Still Image Capture
Click on the capture icon on the control panel or hit the "Space Bar" of the keyboard shortcut to capture an image of the display window. You can see the screen capture dialog as below. You can setup to save it as jpg or bmp format in the ComproDTV option Æ interface. And also setup the picture compress quality in jpg file.
Recording
ComproDTV 4 can directly record the TV shows or video into your hard disc and supports the recording formats below:
Digital TV: You can record the digital TV signal into H.264, MPEG-2 and
Transport Stream format
AanlogTV or video: Support MPEG-1/2/4 software encode (The 3 rd
party
MPEG-4 CODEC required)
Press the Record button . ComproDTV 4 starts recording the video source currently showing in the display window. It will save it to a file on your disk. If
you already start recording, you still can click the record button to setup
30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes recording immediately. Thus, you can go out
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without worry about the record still ongoing.
Press the Stop button to stop recording. ComproDTV 4 will save it automatically and show the file name on the screen.
You can also use the schedule recording by press Schedule button on control panel of ComproDTV 4.
Timeshifting
Timeshifting temporarily saves the video to your hard disk for a specified period of time so that you can pause, replay, or skip commercials during live TV, without interrupting an ongoing recording session.
Press the Timeshifting button and the Time Monitoring bar will appear.
You may also press the Advance (for commercial skip) and Replay (for instant replay) buttons on the control panel or remote control to navigate through the program. When you return to your seat, you can resume viewing the program from the point when you left.
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ComproFM 2
Introduction
ComproFM lets you enjoy FM radio programs on your PC. Listen to music or other programs while you work or browse the Internet.
Note
The hardware needs to have FM tuner in order to use ComproFM.
This section provides basic information for ComproFM. For more details, please check the help file of ComproFM or the manual in the installation CD.
Control Panel
Schedule
Record (B)
The following describe the ComproFM control panel functions, and tips for using ComproFM. The following figure gives you the function of the button with
(Hot Key.)
Always on top
(CTRL+A)
Help Minimize
(Z)
Close
(CTRL+W)
Progress bar Stereo/Mono
(CTRL+S)
Volume
(+, -)
Options
(S)
Frequency
(K)
Play
(Space)
Stop
(O)
Pause
(Space)
Backward
(Å)
Forward
(Æ)
Channel Up
(Page Up)
Channel Down
(Page down)
Last Channel
(N)
Record
(R)
Mute
(M)
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Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting steps
If you have problem installing or running VideoMate U2500F, please check the following by step:
1. OS issue: VideoMate U2500F has to work on USB 2.0 interface. Note only Windows XP SP2 or Vista support USB 2.0. You are welcome to www.WindowsUpdate.com website for the Service Pack update of
Microsoft.
2. USB 2.0 issue: you need to check your computer has USB 2.0 or not.
Usually you will see “USB 2.0 Root Hub” device in the "Sound, video and game controllers" section of Windows Device Manager.
3. Driver issue: You should see " VideoMate U2XXX " drivers, in the "Sound, video and game controllers" section of Windows Device Manager. If these drivers are not there, reinstalling the VideoMate U2500F drivers can help.
4. Power Issue: VideoMate U2500F takes power from the USB port. Note:
PCMCIA and USB hub won’t provide enough power so that you have to use the kind of PCMCIA and USB hub which has power adapter included.
Sometimes plugging in another USB port may help. Some motherboards and notebook’s USB ports do not meet the USB standard providing the standard 5V 500mA power. In these cases, VideoMate U2500F will not have enough power to work. Please contact computer vendor for the issue.
5. Playback lags: VideoMate U2500F needs CPU resources to do the encoding. Therefore, the lags come when CPU fails to encode in real time.
Usually, VCD quality needs about 1.7 GHz CPU for recording while DVD quality needs about 2.4G CPU for recording. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to check your CPU usage. If it reaches 100%, then the lag is inevitable.
6. No MPEG 4 format for recording: If you would like to record video in
MPEG-4 format, you must supply your own MPEG-4 CODEC.
Furthermore, the CODEC must be installed before using ComproDTV. In general, you can download MPEG-4 CODEC from the following web sites. http://www.divx.com. After you install the CODEC software, you will see the MPEG-4 format appear in the field of recording quality.
7. TV is not clear: Sometimes the signal could be reduced by the branching.
Please make sure the cable signal is good. Try to move the computer to a
TV set and connect the cable which is being used for the TV set. Also directly connecting the cable before the splitter may help. This problem could also come from static. Once you connect the cable to our TV card, the static interferes with the system. It's possible to correct this problem by
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connecting a wire from the grounding of the cable to ground. Also make sure computer grounding is good.
8. Other issue: Please go to our website for the latest software update.
Many problems may be fixed on the newer software version. You are welcome to visit our website at http://www.comprousa.com/support
Contacting Compro Technical Support
If above doesn’t help, please check support FAQs (Frequently Asked
Questions) on our web site http://www.comprousa.com/support
You are welcome to download the latest software from our website as well.
Most problems may be solved on the updates. When contacting Compro for technical support, please use the Compro support request form and provide as much of the requested information as possible. Please write the details in order to determine the problem. And also provide the product serial number (15 digits numbers) on the VideoMate Vista U2500F. Please use the form from http://www.comprousa.com/support/form.htm.
We will get back to you as soon as possible.
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P/N: 3GA0310434
