Nero ShowTime Instruction Manual

Nero ShowTime

Nero AG

The Nero ShowTime manual and all its contents are protected by copyright and are the property of Nero AG. All rights reserved. This manual contains material that is protected by internationally valid copyright. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted or transcribed without the express written permission of Nero AG.

Nero AG rejects any claims that transcend the clauses of the guarantee rights. Nero AG does not undertake any liability for the correctness of the content of the Nero ShowTime manual. The contents of the software supplied, as well as of the Nero ShowTime manual, may be changed without prior warning.

Versions with 2-channel DTS decoding:

DTS is a registered trademark of DTS, Inc. and DTS 2.0 + Digital Out is a trademark of DTS, Inc.

Versions with 5.1-channel DTS decoding:

DTS and DTS Digital Surround are registered trademarks of DTS, Inc.

All trade names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The trademarks mentioned here are named for information purposes only.

Contents

1 General Information 5

1.1 About the Manual 5

1.2 About Nero ShowTime 5

1.3 Versions of Nero ShowTime 6

2 Technical Information 7

2.1 System Requirements 7

2.2 Formats Supported 7

3 Launching the Program 8 4 Program Interface 9

4.1 Playback Window 9

4.2 Control Panel 10

4.3 Extended area 11

5 Options Window 13

5.1 General 13

5.1.1 OSD Setting 14

5.1.2 Keyboard and Mouse 15

5.1.3 Capturing a Frame 15

5.1.4 Configuring the Toolbar 16

5.1.5 Tooltip Settings 17

5.2 Disc Playback 17

5.2.1 Bookmarks Editor 18

5.2.2 Parental Control 18

5.2.3 Interactive Content 21

5.3 Video 21

5.3.1 Video Mode 22

5.3.2 Video Quality 22

5.3.3 Nero Digital Settings 23

5.3.4 Film Effects 23

5.3.5 Enhance Video 23

5.3.6 Multimonitor Support 24

5.4 Audio 24

5.4.1 DRC 24

5.5 External Subtitles 25

5.6 Skin Browser 25

Nero ShowTime 3

Contents

6 Play Audio and Video 27

6.1 Playing Audio and Video from the Hard Drive 27

6.2 Playing Audio and Video from Disc 28

7 Playing Streamed Media 29

7.1 About Playing Nero MediaHome Streamed TV Channels 29

7.2 Playing Web Media 30

8 Playlist 32

8.1 Playlist Window 32

8.2 Creating a Playlist 33

8.3 Playing a Playlist 34

8.4 Editing a Playlist 34

9 Control During Playback 36

9.1 Toolbar 36

9.2 Context Menu 37

9.3 Controlling External Subtitles 37

9.3.1 Subtitles Control Window 38

10 Nero RichPreview with Windows Vista® 39 11 Key Combinations 41 12 Index 43 13 Contact 46

Nero ShowTime 4

General Information

1 General Information

1.1 About the Manual

This manual is intended for all users who want to learn how to use Nero ShowTime. It is process-based and explains how to reach a particular objective on a step-by-step basis.

In order to make best use of this manual, please note the following conventions:

Symbol Meaning

Indicates warnings, preconditions or instructions that have to be

1. Start …

Æ Î

Chapter

[…]

followed strictly.

Indicates additional information or advice.

A number at the beginning of a line indicates a request for action. Carry out these actions in the order specified.

Indicates an intermediate result. Indicates a result. Indicates text passages or buttons that appear in the program

interface. They are shown in bold print. Indicates references to other chapters. They are executed as

links and are shown in red and underlined. Indicates keyboard shortcuts for entering commands.

1.2 About Nero ShowTime

Nero ShowTime allows you to play back all digital recordings (movies, TV programs, home videos, DVD format) with excellent picture and sound quality. Nero ShowTime features a reminder function for each disc inserted and allows you to create screenshots of the video being shown during playback. Nero ShowTime supports the formats DVD-Video (also from a hard drive), VCD, SVCD, miniDVD, Nero Digital™, MPEG-1/-2/-4 as well as AVI - in both PAL and NTSC. The playback window can be scaled down or viewed in full-screen mode. The audio output of Nero ShowTime supports Dolby S/PDIF for digital sound.

Digital AC3, LPCM, MPEG-1/-2 and

Nero ShowTime 5

General Information

1.3 Versions of Nero ShowTime

Different versions of Nero ShowTime are available:

Nero ShowTime full version



Nero ShowTime Essentials



Nero ShowTime Essentials CE



The full versions of Nero ShowTime and Nero ShowTime Essentials offer the full scope of features.

If the DVD-Video plug-in is not installed, Nero ShowTime Essentials CE will have the following functionality restrictions in comparison with the full version:

It is not possible to play back from the drive (see Playing Audio and Video from the Hard

 

  

)

Drive

Only the playlist (media files) can be used as a playback source (see Playlist) No read character functionality (see e.g. Bookmarks Editor) No parental control (see Parental Control) It is not possible to change perspective

Nero ShowTime 6

Technical Information

2 Technical Information

2.1 System Requirements

Nero ShowTime is installed along with the full version of Nero. The system requirements are the same. You can find more detailed information on the system requirements in the Nero QuickStart Guide. In addition, the following requirements apply:

Plus:

Optional:

DVD drive for playing DVD-Video



16-bit Windows® compatible sound card and speakers



Multichannel/Dolby® Digital 5.1 channel decoding plug-in (Dolby® Digital



5.1 sound system for audio playback in 5.1 channel) DVD-Video plug-in for DVD-Video functions and encoding in Dolby®



Digital 2-channel sound. (The DVD-Video plug-in is included in the retail version).

2.2 Formats Supported

Nero ShowTime supports playback of the following formats or technologies:

Audio formats Video formats

 Nero Digital™

Audio

 Nero Surround  DAT  Dolby

Digital/Dolby Surround

 LPCM  MPEG-1/2/3  S/PDIF output

for digital sound

 WMA  CDA  WMA  OGG  WAV  AC3  AIFF  AAC  AIFF/AIF  M4a  MID/MIDI  MP2  MPA  WAVE

 Nero Digital™

Video

 ASF  AVCHD  AVI  AVS  BSF  BUP  DAT  DIVX  DV  DVD-MS  DVR-MS  H.264/AVC  IFO  M1V/M2V  M2T  M2TS  MMV  MOD  MOV  MPE  MPEG-1/2/4  OGG  OGM  TRP  VOB  Windows movies  WMV

formats

 16:9

wide screen

 NTSC  PAL

Disc formats

 DVD-Video

(from disc and hard drive)

 VCD 2.0/

SVCD

 DVD+VR/-VR  miniDVD

(DVD files on CD)

 HD DVD

Copy

Protection

 WMA (DRM)  WMV (DRM)  CPRM

Nero ShowTime 7

Launching the Program

3 Launching the Program

To launch Nero ShowTime via Nero StartSmart, proceed as follows:

1. Click on the Nero StartSmart icon.

Æ The Nero StartSmart window will open.

2. Click the button.

Æ The list of Nero applications is displayed.

Fig. 1: Nero StartSmart

3. Select the Nero ShowTime entry in the selection list.

Æ The Nero ShowTime window will open.

Î You have successfully launched Nero ShowTime via Nero StartSmart.

Nero ShowTime 8

Program Interface

4 Program Interface

The Nero ShowTime program interface is the starting point for all actions that you perform using Nero ShowTime.

The program interface consists of a playback window containing the status bar and the control panel with the playback, settings and information areas.

A minimized version of the control panel is also available. You can use the button to switch between the normal and minimized views. The minimized version of the control panel does not contain all buttons.

4.1 Playback Window

The movie is shown and played in the Nero ShowTime playback window. The following buttons are available in the status bar:

Minimizes Nero ShowTime in the taskbar. Changes between full-screen and normal view. [Z]

Fig. 2: Program interface

Fig. 3: Minimized view of control panel

Exits Nero ShowTime.

Nero ShowTime 9

Program Interface

4.2 Control Panel

You can use the control panel to select a file or video to play, open the options, set the volume, regulate the playback, and view information about the file being played.

Nero ShowTime can play discs (e.g. video DVDs and audio CDs) as well as files on your hard drive. The configuration options are not enabled for every playback form, but are sometimes grayed out and cannot be used.

The following configuration options are available:

Playback area Jog shuttle

Rewinds and fast forwards within the track. The further the wheel is moved in one direction, the faster it winds.

Opens selection of the playback source. This is where you can select the media file or a playlist that is to be played back. [O]

Information area

Settings area

Starts playback. [Enter] Jumps to the previous chapter or to the previous media file. [P] Jumps to the next chapter or to the next media file. [N] Interrupts playback, then continues it after a second click. [Space]

Finishes playback. [S] Ejects the disc. [J] Navigates smoothly (no chapter boundaries). Selects a rewind speed or rewinds. [Alt+F] Selects a fast-forward speed or fast forwards. [F]

Adjusts the volume. Move the slider up to increase the volume. Move the slider down

to reduce the volume

Switches to mute/loud. [Q]

Selects the chapter. Move the slider up to select the next chapter. Move the slider

down to select a previous chapter.

Among other things, displays the activated function, title, current chapter, and running time.

If you double-click the running time, the Go to time window opens. Here you can select a running time. [Ctrl+G]

Displays the subtitle language, drive, regional code, language, angle, and the audio settings.

Jumps back one intra code picture, approximately 10 frames. [Ctrl+B]

Nero ShowTime 10

Jumps one frame forwards. [T]

Program Interface

4.3 Extended area

You can open an extended area on the control panel. This contains advanced selection and configuration options.

Jumps to the next bookmark. [G] Adds a bookmark. [M]

Opens the Options menu. [Ctrl+C] Shows the Help file. [F1] Minimizes Nero ShowTime in the taskbar. Exits Nero ShowTime . Displays the minimized view of the control panel.

Depending on the playback, this opens the selection of available menus, the playlist or a track selection. [L]

Changes between full-screen and normal view. [Z]

Fig. 4: Program interface – Extended area

The following operating elements are available in the extended area:

Opens/closes the extended area.

Allows you to jump to chapters immediately when playing back VCDs and Audio CDs.

Opens subtitle selection. [U] Changes language. [H] Repeats a chapter, a title or everything. [Ctrl+R]

Repeats a section or stops repeating. [R] Depending on the format, first set two markers between which the

chapter or title is repeated using this button. Changes the perspective insofar as the movie provides different

settings for individual scenes. [Ctrl+A]

Nero ShowTime 11

Program Interface

This option is only available if a karaoke DVD is inserted. [K] Activates/deactivates the enlargement tool (digital zoom). [Ctrl+D] Takes a snapshot and copies it into the specified folder (see

Changes channels in a karaoke DVD.

Capturing a Frame). [Alt+C]

This function is only available if hardware acceleration is disabled.

Nero ShowTime 12

Options Window

5 Options Window

The Options window provides various options for customizing the appearance of the interface and for performing settings according to your requirements. The window can be

opened using the on the entry that is selected in the navigation tree, a different screen area is displayed.

button. It consists of a navigation tree and a screen area. Depending

5.1 General

The General area contains general configuration options. The following configuration options are available:

Check box

Always on top

Button Enable all currently disabled "Never show me again" messages

Fig. 5: Options window

Nero ShowTime remains in the foreground even if other programs are started.

Re-enables all windows that you had disabled with the "Never show me this message again" check box.

Nero ShowTime 13

Options Window

5.1.1 OSD Setting

The area General > OSD setting contains configuration options for the on-screen display. The on-screen display indicates the current procedure in the playback window such as "Play" or "Volume increased."

The following configuration options are available:

Enables/disables the on-screen display, i.e. process

Check box

Enable

messages in the playback window. If the on-screen display is enabled, the current

process is displayed in the playback window.

Input field

Display for Check box

Show additional info Option field

Position of the on-screendisplay

Button New character font

Button New text color

Button New background color

Defines the time of the on-screen display in seconds.

Enables display of additional information, e.g. about the video stream bit rate and audio encoding.

Defines the position of the on-screen display in the playback window.

Defines the font for the on-screen display.

Defines the text color for the on-screen display. Defines the background color for the on-screen

display.

Fig. 6: Options – OSD setting windo w

Nero ShowTime 14

+ 32 hidden pages