Page 1
VideoMate U900
USB 2.0 TV Tuner Box
Start Up Guide
Compro Technology, Inc.
www.comprousa.com
Page 2
ii
Copyright © 2001-2006. 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.
Compro Technology, Inc.
Tel. +886 2 2918 0169, Fax +886 2 2915 2389
3/F, No.12, Alley 6, Lane 45, Pao Shin Road
Hsintein City, Taipei, Taiwan
www.comprousa.com
Page 3
Table of Contents
About This Guide ...................................................... 2
VideoMate U900 Contents........................................ 3
VideoMate U900 Connectors.................................... 4
Installation................................................................. 5
Remote Control Key Definition and Use ................... 6
ComproPVR 2........................................................... 7
Troubleshooting ...................................................... 11
Page 4
2
About This Guide
This manual tells you how to install and use your VideoMate U900 USB 2.0 TV
Tuner Box. For more information on using applications, please see the User’s
Guides in the programs, on the CDs, or at our website for the latest manuals
http://www.comprousa.com/download.
VideoMate U900 lets you watch and record TV on your PC. VideoMate U900 is
a universal tuner box features a TV tuner for all TV system, support: Digital
Video Recording (DVR) functions, scheduled recording at anytime, crystal
video quality, intelligent TV viewing, and Multi-function Remote Control.
Additionally, VideoMate U900 supports PAL system’s stereo audio feature (for
NTSC is mono sound only).
VideoMate U900 also provides a Video capture function so that you can
transfer videos from video devices, such as video cameras, to your PC.
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Your system must meet the following requirements to watch TV.
z 800 MHz Pentium III or equivalent CPU
z 128 MB RAM
z Sound card or on-broad sound chip
z Open USB 2.0 port
z CD-ROM drive for software installation
z VGA card or on-board VGA supports DirectX 9.0
z Windows XP SP1, Windows 2000 SP4 or above
z 50 MB free disk space for basic software installation.
z 600 MB (VCD-quality) to 3 GB (DVD-quality) per hour of recorded video.
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
To use all the features of VideoMate U900, including recording at DVD quality,
your system should meet the following requirements.
z 2.4 GHz CPU
z 256 MB RAM
z Sound card
z Open USB 2.0 ports
z Windows XP SP2 or above
Page 5
3
VideoMate U900 Contents
Note
Do not connect USB cable and USB power cable on the same USB port.
VideoMate U900 takes power from the USB port. Please connect an addition
external USB power cable to another USB port for sufficient power supply.
VideoMate
U900
USB powered
Y cable
USB cable
I-type and F-type
converter for
NTSC
Software CDs Manual
IR Remote Control
(battery included)
Composite-In
converter
Stereo converter
S-Video-In
converter
MCX to I-type
converter for
PAL/SECAM
Page 6
4
VideoMate U900 Connectors
Back Side of Box
Front Side of Box
Icon Function Description
TV TV Tuner-In Connect to a TV antenna or TV cable feed.
POWER USB Power-In Connect USB powered Y cable to a USB port for
additional power. (You can use a DC 5V 500mA
adapter instead if USB port doesn’t provide
enough power. The adapter is not included.)
USB USB connector Use the supplied USB cable to connect to an
USB port on the computer.
Icon Function Description
VIDEO
(Black)
S-Video-In or
Composite-In
Use the S-Video/Composite patch cable to
connect to a video source, such as a VCR,
DVD or VCD.
AUDIO
(Blue)
Stereo Audio-In Use a stereo audio patch cable to connect to
an audio source, such as a VCR, DVD or
VCD.
Page 7
5
Installation
Start the computer. Make sure VideoMate U900 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 U900 drivers,
ComproPVR, ComproDVD, Ulead PhotoExplorer 8.5 SE) or choose
Custom to select item by item. Compro recommends you choose
Complete.
Step 3. If you see the Windows Logo testing message, below, please press
“Continue Anyway” to proceed.
Step 4. Press Next to install ComproPVR, ComproDVD, Ulead PhotoExplorer
8.5 SE.
Step 5. After each program is successfully installed, press Finish to proceed.
Step 6. When installation completes, press Finish to restart computer.
Step 7. Connect TV signal and open ComproPVR to enjoy the show.
Continue Anyway
Page 8
6
Remote Control Key Definition and Use
Please refer to the buttons and their corresponding function listed on the
opposite page.
Icon ComproPVR 2 ComproDVD 2
ZOOM Zoom In/Out
DVD Start/Stop ComproDVD 2
TV Start/Stop ComproPVR 2
0-9 Number keys Number keys
CHAN Switch channels Not used
VOL Volume Volume
REC Record Snapshot
TV/VIDEO
TV/ S-Video/
Composite
Add to
bookmark
Backward Replay Rewind
Play/Pause
Pause or enable
timeshifting
Play/Pause
during playback
Stop Stop Stop
Forward Advance Forward
CC Closed caption Select language
RECALL Previous channel Not used
SURF Channel surf
Choose DVD
angle
MTS Mono/Stereo/SAP Select language
Snapshot Snapshot Not used
SLEEP Sleep function AB repeat
A, B Not used Not used
Page 9
7
ComproPVR 2
Introduction
ComproPVR is a complete digital entertainment solution for your PC. Watch
and record TV programs on your PC, in full-screen mode or in a window.
Timeshifting lets you watch TV, pause live TV, or review your favorite scenes
without missing a minute of the program. Integrated deinterlacing technology
assures the highest picture quality. All this, with the universal remote control.
Control Panel
The ComproPVR control panel resembles the controls on a VCR. Keep in
mind 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 describe the ComproPVR control panel functions, and tips for
using ComproPVR. The following figure gives you the function of the button
with (Hot Key.)
Snapshot
(Space)
Close
(CTRL+X)
Last Channel
(N)
Not
Used
Schedule
(B)
Channel
Surf(F)
Language
Select (Q)
Timeshift
(T)
Channel Down
(Page down)
Stop
(S)
Docking
(D)
Volume
(+, -)
Full Screen
(Z)
Mute
(M)
Record
(R)
Channel Up (Page
Up) with lists( I )
Help
(H)
Minimize
(G)
Timeshift bar
Play
(P)
Pause
(U)
Replay
(Left Arrow)
Advance
(Right Arrow)
Options
(O)
EPG
(E)
Source
(V)
Lists
( I )
Page 10
8
Icon Hot Key Description
A
Enable/Disable Always-on-Top function for
TV window.(Oregon circle on the upper-right
corner of the TV window)
n/a
L Sleep function
Note: Language select is only available while the program and hardware
supports it.
Watching
After installation, just press the PVR/TV button on the remote or double click
the ComproPVR 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 ComproPVR and even
shutdown the computer with the full function remote control keypad.
Channel Surfing
While watching TV, the channel surfing feature displays a 4x4 grid of channel
images to give you an overview of available programming.
Recording
ComproPVR is a digital video recorder. ComproPVR can record full-motion
video and audio from your video source and save it to your hard disk.
ComproPVR supports MPEG-1/2/4 encoding.
To instantly start recording:
1. Press the Record button . ComproPVR starts recording the video
source currently showing in the display window. It will save it to a file on
your disk. While recording, you can click the Record button again to setup
recording time as 30, 60, 90, 120 minutes for more convenient.
2. Press the Stop button to stop recording.
To playback the recorded file, please press the Play button.
Page 11
9
PlP or POP for Playback
ComproPVR features PIP or POP for playback window. You will see a window
popping up after choosing a file for playback as following.
Main window has all features while sub window has limited functions only.
Double-click on the sub window can switch the TV program to the main
The buttons on the upper-left corner sub window are Mute,
Windows Alignment, and Close respectively. Sub window can be resized by
mouse dragging lower-left corner to any ratio.
Note
PIP or POP can’t let you watch two different live TV channels at the same
time due to one tuner can only tune to one frequency.
Running additional windows needs more CPU usage. If CPU usage reaches
100%, then video lag will occur. Please close the sub windows for this case.
Sub window has no full screen mode. Please double-click on sub window to
switch program with main window in order to do so.
It is available to hear audio on multiple programs at the same time. You can
mute or un-mute the sound of sub window at any time. However, main
window audio can’t be muted separately from sub window.
Video Desktop
ComproPVR 2 provides the new feature of Video
Desktop, you can click right mouse button on the TV
screen to open the dialog box and choose the Video
Desktop mode. And you can set your TV watching
screen as the live wallpaper; it’s more convenient to
watch TV and using other application on your
Windows’ desktop. It also supports PIP feature to
playback recorded video file.
Page 12
10
Remote Shut Down
There are two situations for this operation.
When not watching TV, i.e. no ComproPVR running:
Just press the SLEEP button on the lower-right corner on the remote keypad,
you will see a dialog as shown below. Program will countdown 20 seconds to
shutdown the computer. If you don’t want to shut down the computer, please
press the SLEEP button again. Press OK to immediately shutdown the
computer.
When watching TV, i.e. ComproPVR is running:
Just press the SLEEP button on the lower-right corner on the remote keypad
repeatedly, you will see the text on the screen turn to SLEEP OFF, SLEEP ON
- 30 MINUTES, SLEEP ON - 1 HOUR, SLEEP ON - 2 HOURS, and
SHUTDOWN. When the text shows SHUTDOWN, the program will countdown
20 seconds to shut down the computer. If you don’t want to shutdown the
computer, please press the SLEEP button again.
Options
You can press the Options button to open the Options dialog box. You
can change detail settings of ComproPVR and adjust channel orders in here.
ComproPVR can let you set video properties (brightness, contrast, etc) for
each channel. Just press the button on the custom column in Channel tab in
Settings of ComproPVR. The dialog box will pop up as follow.
Page 13
11
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting steps
If you have problem installing or running VideoMate U900, please check the
following by step:
1. OS issue: VideoMate U900 has to work on USB 2.0 interface. Note only
Windows XP SP1 / Windows 2000 SP4 or above OS 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 U900 " drivers, in the "Sound,
video and game controllers" section of Windows Device Manager. If these
drivers are not there, reinstalling the VideoMate U900 drivers can help.
4. Power Issue: VideoMate U900 takes power from the USB port. Make sure
to connect the USB power cable to a USB port other than the USB
connector. Note: PCMCIA and USB hub won’t provide enough power so
that you have to use USB power patch cable (included) connecting to an
USB port on the computer in order to take power from it.
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 U900 will not have
enough power to work. Please contact computer vendor for the issue.
Or you can use a DC 5V 500mA adapter (not included) instead if USB port
doesn’t provide enough power.
Page 14
12
5. Video OK / No Audio:
Make sure the audio device is “Your sound card device” in the System
Device in Settings of ComproPVR. Also, you have to select the audio
source to be “WAVE” in the System Device in Settings of ComproPVR.
Check that the sound is not muted or volume too low in the Windows
Volume Control dialog. (Double-click on the speaker icon in the system
tray.)
Check that the sound is not muted or volume too low in the Windows
Volume Control dialog. (Double-click on the speaker icon in the system
tray.)
Sometimes updating the sound card driver from vendor or VideoMate
U900’s software from www.comprousa.com may help as well.
6. Can’t Remote: Verify that the icon (ComproRemote) is in the system
tray on the lower-right corner of the screen. If you don't have it on the
system tray, start the following program manually:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VideoMate\ComproRemote.exe
Then you should see the icon on the system tray. The IR icon should turn
brighter when you press buttons on the remote. If you see no response,
your IR drivers may not be not properly installed. Please remove
ComproPVR using "Add/Remove programs" in the Control Panel and
reinstall it.
7. Can’t record: ComproPVR needs to use components of Ulead
PhotoExplorer 8 SE on the installation CD. If your computer doesn’t have
PhotoExplorer, ComproPVR will fail to record. Please install Ulead
PhotoExplorer 8 SE.
8. No sound on the recorded file: Please see above “Video OK / No Audio.”
on the number 5.
9. The recorded file from VCR has no audio: Please plug VCR Composite
cable (yellow) into U900’s
Composite input. Composite
Audio needs to connect to the
Audio-In port of U900. You have
to buy a converter (see below)
to transfer Composite Audio
cable (red one and white one)
into stereo.
10. Playback lags: VideoMate U900 needs CPU resources to do the encoding.
Therefore, the lags come when CPU fails to encode in real time. Usually,
VCD quality needs about 1GHz CPU for recording while DVD quality needs
Page 15
13
about 2.4G CPU for recording. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to check your CPU
usage. If it reaches 100%, then the lag is inevitable.
11. 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 ComproPVR. 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.
Note
Compro does not guarantee compatibility or performance with third-party
CODECs. Please try using Ulead MP3 Encoder for audio and DivX codec
directly from www.divx.com
12. No Stereo: Stereo or SAP is only available on PAL TV system. Also,
Stereo and SAP sound may not be available in your area or for all
programs. You can set your audio to Stereo and SAP in the Video/Audio
tab in Settings of ComproPVR if available.
13. 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
connecting a wire from the grounding of the cable to ground. Also make
sure computer grounding is good. Do not connect USB cable and USB
power cable on the same USB port. VideoMate U900 takes power from
the USB port. Please connect an addition external USB power cable to
another USB port for sufficient power supply.
14. Why can’t I do straight-to-disc: You need to install the bundled Ulead
DVD MovieFactory 3 SE software in order to have this feature. If you don’t
have Ulead DVD MovieFactory 3 SE in the package, then this model
doesn’t support it.
Straight-to-Disc
Button
Page 16
14
15. 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
(19 digits numbers) on the VideoMate U900. Please use the form from
http://www.comprousa.com/support/form.htm.
We will get back to you as soon as possible.
Note
Make sure you include the information of hitting the button of "E-mail Info" in
the System Device in Settings of ComproPVR in order to determine the
problem.
In order to solve the problem quickly, it is very important to provide as much
detail regarding the problem as possible.
Loading...