The VisualReality TV Tuner

To open the VisualReality TV tuner application, click on the "Start" button on the Windows Taskbar, then select "Programs" from the Start menu. On the Programs menu, select "Voodoo3 3500 TV" and then select the "3dfx TV" menu item.

During the installation of the VisualReality software, a "3dfx TV" shortcut was placed on your Windows desktop for easy access to the VisualReality software. You can simply double-click on the "3dfx TV" shortcut icon on your Windows desktop to open the VisualReality TV tuner application.

When you open the VisualReality application you will see a Video Window and a virtual Remote Control panel. You can use your mouse to move or resize the Video Window just like you can with any other program window. You can also use your mouse to move the Remote Control to any part of your Windows desktop in the same way.

Use the input source selection buttons near the center of the Remote Control to choose between the TV Tuner, S-video, Composite video, and FM Radio input options. Clicking on the "TV Tuner" button selects the TV Tuner input and allows you to tune in any of the TV channels available from that source using the UP and DOWN channel selection buttons.

Click on the "S-video" button to select the S-video input source if you have that type of device connected. Click on the "Composite" button to select the composite video input source if you have attached a device to that connector that provides a composite video or video line signal.

Selecting the "FM" button will close the Video Window and the TV Tuner Remote Control panel and open the FM Radio Tuner. Refer to the VisualReality FM Radio Tuner section of this User’s Guide for more information about the FM Radio Tuner and its controls.

When you open the VisualReality program for the first time, you will need to open the "3dfx TV Properties" dialog box by clicking on the "Menu" button on the Remote Control, and then selecting the "Tuner" page. Select the type of TV input you have connected to the Voodoo3 3500 TV card in the "Source" section of the "Settings" page. Select "Broadcast" if you have a standard TV antenna connected to the TV tuner’s input connector. If you have Cable TV connected to the TV tuner, then you will need to select the "Cable" option.

When you have selected a video input source, click on the "Scan" button to start the TV tuner automatically scanning through the entire tuning band looking for all of the available broadcast channels. These channels will then be added to the active channels list on the "Channels" page of the dialog box. You can also select a Closed Captioning option on the "Tuner" page.

Click on the "Channels" tab to open that page of the dialog box, then edit the active channels list according to your preferences. This page also contains the channel surfing list and buttons for accessing the Channel Blocker feature and its password for parental control of the channels that are available for viewing.

Select the "Audio" tab to open that page of the dialog box so that you can identify the audio input that you used when you installed your Voodoo3 3500 TV card. For example, if you connected the audio cable from your Voodoo3 3500 TV card’s Audio Output Connector to the "Line" or "Aux" input of your sound card, then you should select either the "Line Input" or "Auxiliary Input" option in the "Source" section of the "Audio" page.

However, if you connected the audio cable from your CD-ROM drive to the CD-ROM Audio Input Connector of your Voodoo3 3500 TV card and then connected the Voodoo3 3500 TV card’s audio cable to the CD-ROM audio input of your sound card, then you should select the "CD-ROM" option in the "Source" section of the "Audio" page.

To open the VisualReality VCR application, click on the "VCR" button on the TV Remote Control interface. The VCR application's Remote Control interface is designed to provide the same general controls that would be found on a typical home VCR, allowing you to record, play, and edit  video programs in much the same way that you can with your home VCR. The VCR application allows you to playback pre-recorded video files (AVI or MPEG formats), or to record your own video files directly from the TV tuner. You can also record video files from a video camera, VCR, or other video source connected to the composite video or S-Video inputs on the A/V-I/O Pod for your Voodoo3 3500 TV card.

The VCR Interface

Open the "3dfx TV Properties" dialog box by selecting the "Menu" button on either the VCR interface or on the TV Remote Control, then select the "Video Capture" tab to open that page of the dialog box. Select the video stream capture options you want using the controls in the "Stream Capture" section at the bottom of the page. You can select the AVI stream capture type to record a video clip in either of two image sizes and at either of two frame rates, or you can select the MPEG-2 stream capture type and record a video file at the default settings in the compressed MPEG-2 video format. Refer to the following chart to see all of your video stream capture options.

With the "3dfx TV Properties" dialog box open, select the "Timed Record" tab to open that page of the dialog box. You can use the controls on the "Timed Record" page to setup your VCR application to record a video clip of a TV program (or other video source) at a later time, just like your home VCR.

The "Timed Record" page of the "3dfx TV Properties" dialog box

The controls on this page allow you to select a variety of options for your recorded program, including the start and stop time for your recording, the video input source you want to record from, and the TV channel for the program (if you select the Tuner for your input source). You can also choose to record the same program from the same source at the same time every day by selecting "Daily program" or every week by selecting "Weekly program", or leave the "Normal program" option selected to record one time. Type a name for your recorded video file in the space marked "Capture File", and use the "Browse" button to select a location for the video file you record. Be sure that you select a location with enough available storage space for the video file you will be recording.

The controls at the bottom of this page allow you to select a capture stream size, type, and frame rate specifically for your timed recording. These options are used exclusively for timed recording, and they do not affect the options you select on the "Video Capture" page. The options on the "Video Capture" page are only used for programs or video clips that you capture manually, by pressing the record button on the VCR interface.

You can choose a name for the program you will be recording and type it into the space marked "Program Name", then press the "Save Program" button to save the program options and settings you have selected for the recording of that program. For example, if you select to record a program at 6:00 PM every night on channel 8, then you could choose a name for that program like "News" and type that name into the "Program Name" space, then save that program. After that, you can simply select "News" from the list shown in the "Program Name" box to automatically re-select all of the same options and settings you had originally chosen for recording that program. To delete a program, select the program's name in the "Program Name" list and then press the "Delete" button to remove it.

You can simply double-click on the "3dfx FM" shortcut icon on your Windows desktop to open the VisualReality FM Radio application. You can also click on the "Start" button, select "Programs", then select "3dfx FM" from the "Voodoo3 3500 TV" menu to open the VisualReality FM Radio application.

The "TV" button near the center of the FM Radio Tuner Control Panel allows you to switch directly back to the TV Tuner application. The display area shows the frequency of the current radio station, if the station is broadcasting a stereo signal, and if the Mute function is engaged. You can use the "Mute" button to turn the audio output of the FM tuner on or off with a single click.

Use the UP and DOWN "Volume" arrow buttons to increase or decrease the volume level, and use the UP and DOWN "Tune" arrow buttons to tune in a specific FM radio station. Then you can use the "Set" button to assign an FM radio station to one of the preset buttons at the bottom of the FM Radio Tuner Control Panel.

The UP and DOWN "Seek" button cause the tuner to automatically search up or down through the FM radio tuning band to find the next valid FM radio station’s signal. The UP and DOWN "Scan" buttons will have the same effect, except that the tuner will only stop for a few seconds on each FM radio station before proceeding to search the FM tuning band for other valid FM radio stations.

The eight unlabeled buttons at the bottom of the FM Radio Tuner Control Panel can be preset to automatically tune in specific FM radio stations. To assign one of the preset buttons to a station, tune to the desired FM radio station using the "Tune", "Seek", or "Scan" buttons, then click on the "Set" button and click on one of the preset buttons to assign it to that station. Repeat this process for each station that you would like to assign to one of the preset buttons. Then you can select a specific FM radio station simply by clicking on the preset button that you assigned to that station.

More detailed information about the 3dfx VisualReality software and the TV Tuner and FM Radio applications can be found in the VisualReality Help file. The Help file is accessed by clicking on one of the "Help" buttons on any of the VisualReality control Panels. Please be sure to refer to the Help file for specific instructions on some of the more advanced features of the 3dfx VisualReality software and the Voodoo3 3500 TV Tuner card.