README.TXT For REALmagic DVR (TM) 
Release 2.2 (Build 58/139_5/139_5-Enc,Dec,App) for Win 2000
June 15th, 2001
===============

Congratulations on your purchase of REALmagic DVR DVD/MPEG2
multimedia encoder/decoder.  This file contains important information for
installation of the drivers and application software for this card.

	      _____________________________________
			
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		     www.sigmadesigns.com
              Latest Drivers & FTP Access - DVR
		     ____________________


GENERAL HINTS AND PRECAUTIONS :
=============================

- PLEASE TURN OFF THE SCREEN SAVER AND ALL POWER MANAGEMENT/STANDBY
  FEATURES (MONITOR, DISK, CPU, ...) WHEN ENCODING OTHERWISE YOU STOP
  THE ENCODING AND GET A VIDEO OVERFLOW ERROR.

- There is no 2 GB limitation on the encoded file size (limitation
  in Win 9x and Win NT drivers).  The file system is the limiting
  factor (FAT16, NTFS, ...).  But the RMP file (used to link
  fragments of 2 GB files) is still created. 

- Fix for False Macrovision detection from non protected VCR tapes.

- The TV/VGA switch button in the bottom right corner of the 
  DVR Station control panel is disabled during the encoding process.
  To switch the preview to TV, go Options, Settings, TV, ...  Please
  avoid switching a lot to avoid lip synch problems.

- If you are using Microsoft Office XP and you have its utility
  CTFMON.EXE running, it'll stop DVR Station - the DVR -
  DVD player from playing encrypted movies.  This utility injects 
  MSCTF.DLL in the memory space given by Windows to hardware and
  software manufacturers.  A workaround is under investigation to
  avoid this conflict.  A temporary solution is to disable this
  utility before the playback of movies : press CTRL+ALT+DEL, 
  click on CTFMON.EXE, and click "End Task".  After the movie 
  playback, restart CTFMON.exe from Start-Run : ctfmon.exe & OK.

- More in section VI - Known Limitations.



===========================================================
PLEASE MAKE SURE, WHEN ENCODING, THAT YOU ARE SELECTING THE CORRECT
COLOR FORMAT OF YOUR VIDEO INPUT SIGNAL -  NTSC, PAL, OR SECAM - 
OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT GET CORRUPTED MPEG FILES
===========================================================


The REALmagic DVR Win 2K drivers are on one CD and this README file will
be copied on the hard disk with the installation.

The other CD contains the installation software for Vitec Multimedia 
Video Clip MPEG-2 SE and the Sonic Solutions DVDit! LE. It also has the
manuals for DVR Station, DVDit! LE, and Video Clip MPEG-2 SE in PDF 
format. 


\Adobe	   This includes setup program for Adobe Acrobat Reader v4.05.

\DirectX   This contains setup file for Microsoft DirectX Media 6.0 
           which are drivers necessary to run REALmagic DVR software.

\Sonic	   This includes setup program for Sonic DVDit! LE v1.1

\Vitec	   This includes setup program for Vitec Video Clip MPEG-2 SE

\Manuals   This includes manuals in Adobe PDF format. Need to have
	   Adobe Acrobat Reader or install it from the \Adobe directory.


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- FOR A QUICK START, PLEASE READ THE TUTORIAL PAMPHLET IN YOUR PACKAGE.
- THE SERIAL NUMBER FOR THE INSTALLATION OF DVDiT IS ON THE FIRST PAGE
  OF THE DVDiT SECTION OF THE MANUAL.  IF THE SERIAL NUMBER SHOWS AS 
  NOT VALID, CALL TECH SUPPORT AT SIGMA DESIGNS (408) 957-9866 or 
  WRITE TECH_SUPPORT@SDESIGNS.COM FOR ANOTHER NUMBER GIVING THE NUMBER
  YOU HAVE.
=====================================================================
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WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE 2
============================
- 
- Support for VCD format compatible with Nero 5.0, Adaptec VCD Creator
  4.0, and WinOnCD 3.7.550
- Better support for low audio and video bit rate
- Support for audio only encoding in the absence of a video signal input
- Support for more than 2 GB file size in encoding and depending on the
  file system used.  The encoding stops at 1 MB below the available 
  space on the target disk. 
  IN THE REL 2.0 DRIVERS FOR WIN 98 & NT 4.0:
  Long time encoding produces MPG files of 2 GB size and linked by an 
  RMP extension file linking all the files as one unit to the system
  (for example you will get test.MPG, test001.MPG, test002.MPG, 2 GB ea, 
  with test.RMP when encoding a large file named "test.mpg" -
  producing a combined 6 GB large file - use the RMP file to play this
  large file and NOT the individual files)
- When clicking the current drive in DVR Station (Options Dialog, 
  Settings) you force a refresh to its contents.
- More extensive Help file
- Limitation : bitrate is limited to 7Mbps for DVD/DVR and 10 Mbps 
  for MPEG 2.


CONTENTS
========					
I   - DRIVER AND APPLICATIONS INSTALLATION	
II  - BORDER ADJUSTMENT AND COLOR CALIBRATION	       
III - DVD REGION CODE CHANGE				
IV  - TV OUT
V   - FULL SCREEN PLAYBACK
VI  - KNOWN LIMITATIONS

I - SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 
    =====================

Note : You need to have the Administrator rights to be able to
       install this software because of its modifications to the
       registry.  

After the hardware installation of the card do the following:

1.  For an existing installation (if not go to step 2): uninstall the
    previous software by going to the REALmagic Group - Uninstall, 
    reboot, and follow next steps 2 to 7 below.
    NOTE : You do not need when running SETUP of step 6 to set the 
           region code again as mentioned in step 7.
    NOTE : for users with drivers on diskettes, please point to 
           drive A while you have the decoder, encoder, or application
           inserted in the drive for steps 2, 3, and 4 respectively.
           If Windows does not recognize the decoder diskette in 
           step 2, insert the encoder diskette and later insert the
           decoder diskette in step 3.
 
2.  On booting your system, Windows 2K will detect the card. Insert the
    REALmagic DVR CD in your CD-ROM drive and click Finish. This will
    install the decoding drivers on your hard disk.  

3.  Another Plug-n-Play detection will show up for the encoding 
    function.  Point to the same CD.

4.  To install the DVR recording/playback application run SETUP from
    the same CD.

5.  The Setup program will show two options: Install the REALmagic DVD
    application or Change the DVD region code.

6.  Check the REALmagic application installation option and follow the 
    instructions.

7.  After the files are copied, set a DVD region code as part of the 
    setup program.
    Note: Setup will not ask you to set the DVD region code if you 
          install the card later in the same region.

8. Click Finish to complete the installation process by performing
   Auto Calibration.


------------------------

NOTE : To uninstall, double click the "Uninstaller" icon from the
       REALmagic DVR group. This will delete all specific files 
       and will remove the REALmagic DVR group. 

NOTE : You need to run Setup a second time but, this time, you'll
       get a message if you want to install or change the region
       code of the decoder.  Select the latter and set the 
       board to your region (more in section III).

NOTE : The utility DVD Drive Region is not for all DVD-ROM drives.
       The RPC1 drives (the majority in the market now) can play
       any region movie and the control is thru the DVR board
       region code.  The RPC2 drives, the standard for drives at
       the start of year 2000, will have their own region code.
       The region code of the RPC2 DVD-ROM drive has the priority
       over the code of the DVR. This means that if the
       movie code is the same as the DVD-ROM drive, the REALmagic
       DVR code is irrelevant. If not, this above mentioned 
       utility will be used to change the drive code.  Only five
       times are allowed for a drive region change, after which
       you need to contact the drive manufacturer.



   
II - BORDER ADJUSTMENT AND COLOR CALIBRATION
      =======================================

    NOTE: If the border is not adjusted properly after Auto Calibration
          you may need to set the Border Adjustment to get more 
          accurate adjustment. You need to set the Border Adjustment 
          only once for each setting of display resolution.

1.  At the Start button, click Programs and select REALmagic DVR
    program group. Click REALmagic Configuration.
2.  Click on Adjust Border and use the proper buttons to adjust the 
    black rectangle in the magenta box.
3.  Change different values to adjust stability if you are viewing 
    jumping pixels on MPEG video. Click OK when you are done. 
4.  The Reset Default button will reset the color calibration and 
    border adjustment values to the factory default settings.

    Note 1: Color calibration is required if the colors are not 
            normal or the screen is pink or not clear. If color 
            calibration is required, Click on "Auto Calibration". The
            screen will flash for 5 to 10 seconds then displays a 
            message that the calibration is complete. Click OK.
    Note 2: In the cases where this calibration is unsuccessful, 
            you can click on Advanced..., then the Manual 
            Calibration. This will involve fixing the R, G, B 
            sliders as shown in the window four times. You can use the
            up/down arrow keys for fine tuning and you don't need
            necessarily to see the cross but just the disappearance
            of the vertical bar.

III - DVD REGION CODE CHANGE
      ======================

1.  Run SETUP from Disk #1 (will ask for 2 & 3). Select DVD Region Code 
    change option. Set the region code of the REALmagic DVR according
    to the country you are in. 
      _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
    Note: The setup program will allow you to change the region code 
          for five times. If you want to reset the region code settings
          after five times contact an authorized distributor or service
          center. A nominal handling fee will be charged.
      _______________________________________________________________
    Note: If the system includes an RPC2 DVD-ROM drive that carries
          its own region code, DVR Station will check this code against
          the movie's and will issue an appropriate message if not 
          matching (the REALmagic DVR region code is ignored in this 
          case).  Movies will not playback if the RPC2 drive is new and
          has NOT been set for a region.

IV  - TV OUT
      ======

    The REALmagic DVR can display on a VGA monitor or a TV.
    To switch between these modes an icon is provided on the left 
    corner of the DVR Station control panel that toggles between 
    computer monitor and TV.

    In order to display on a TV, some additional settings may be 
    required. From the DVR Station control panel click Options button.
    This will open a window for options setting. Click the Settings tab.
    Select the options according to your TV type. The color control, 
    brightness, and contrast controls have also been provided for TV.

    Note :  Some TVs are sensitive with video frequency input and may 
            show Black and White video on TV. This has specially been
            noticed on some PAL TVs. In such a situation do the 
            following WHILE the TV-Out option is active and DVD/MPEG is
            playing on TV:
		1. From the MCI Media Player, while in a Pause mode of
                   the MPEG playback, click Device - Properties - 
                   Advanced Settings.
		2. Select Expert Settings and click the mouse. This 
                   will open a pop-up window. Adjust different values
                   until you have color picture on TV.  Notice that you
                   need to keep on going in one direction when changing
                   the values i.e. either always increasing or 
                   decreasing because of the hysteresis nature of this
                   adjustment.
	   
		     					

V  - FULL SCREEN PLAYBACK
     ====================

    In order to playback in full screen, double click the left button
    of mouse anywhere in the MPEG window or press Ctrl+Z. This will 
    playback the video in full-screen mode. In order to go back to the
    window mode, press Space in full-screen mode and it will resume 
    playback in the restored MPEG window. 
      

VI - KNOWN LIMITATIONS
     =================

Most of these limitations will be eliminated in future releases.

1) With DVDiT, use WAV format and not MPA format for elementary audio.
2) During Preview or Recording mode, do NOT unplug Video input source.
   Stop the Preview or Recording before unplugging the source. Same
   applies for switching channels when encoding from TV broadcasting.
3) Preview/Recording support for Elementary, System, and Program 
   streams.  No support for multiplexing Transport Streams, only
   playback.
4) Please be accurate in specifying NTSC, PAL, or SECAM as the source
   type to avoid irregularity with the created MPEG file.
5) Pause is not supported in the recording mode. It will stop 
   the recording.
6) The REALmagic DVR will not play Audio CDs.

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	END   OF    FILE
