RCA 980-04038-800 User Manual

USER

GUIDE

DIRECT V™Receiver with Ultim ateTV®Service

980-04088-800

WebTV Networks, Inc.

This material constitutes confidential and proprietary information of WebTV Networks, Inc. No part of this publication may

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher.

DIRECTV, the Cyclone Design logo, and Advanced Program Guide are trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc.,

a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., and are used with permission.

Microsoft, UltimateTV, the UltimateTV logo, WebTV, WebTV Network, and the WebTV logo are either registered trademarks

or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

This publication and information herein is furnished AS IS and is subject to change without notice. Furthermore, Web TV

Networks, Inc. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies nor makes any warranty of any kind

(express, implied, or statutory) with respect to this publication.

Printed in the United States of America.

INTRODUCTION 1

Welcome 1 Service options 2 Signing up 2 Upgrades 3 Getting help 4

Getting Around 5 On-screen Keyboard 6 TV Home 7 Watching TV 9

Zooming to full-screen size 9 Changing the channel 10 Displaying program information 11

FINDING SHOWS 13

The DIRECTV Advanced Program Guide

™

Customizing the Guide 15 Creating a list of favorite channels 20

Restricting Access 20 Search TV 23 TV Reminders 25 Pay Per View Programs 27

CONTENTS

INTERNET 59

E-mail 60

E-mail at a glance 60 Reading your mail 61 Writing a message 62 Correcting spelling errors 64 Using the address book 65 Cut, copy, and paste 67

World Wide Web 70

Web Home 70 Searching the Web 71 Going directly to a Web site 73 Favorites 75 Visiting a Web site in Favorites 76 Watch TV while sur fing the Web 77 Shopping on the Web 78 Creating your own Web page 79 Editing an existing Web page 81

Online Conversation 82

Discussion groups and chat rooms 82 Discussion groups 83 Chat rooms 86

CONTENTS –

continued

iii

RECORDING 29

Recording a program to your receiver 29 Recording a program to your VCR 33

Watching Recorded Shows 36

My Shows 36 Erasing a recorded program 38

TV CONTROLS 39

Pause 40 Play 41 Instant replay 42 Reverse 42 Forward 43 Jump ahead 44 Slow motion 44 Getting back to live TV 45

Picture-In-Picture (PIP) 46

Displaying a PIP window 46 Controlling the PIP window 47 Switching between PIP and full-screen view 48 Viewing program information in the PIP window 48 Putting the PIP window away 49

INTERACTIVE TV 51

Going to a Web site 52 Going to an interactive Web site 54 Finding interactive Web sites 55

CONTENTS –

continued

WELCOME

Your RCA®-DIRECTV™Receiver with UltimateTV®Service provides an enhanced television service that includes digital satellite TV programming from DIRECTV and Internet services from WebTV Networks, Inc. The UltimateTV

Service gives you control over what you watch, when you watch it, and how you watch your favorite programming. You can record TV shows and movies onto your receiver, then watch them at any time. Thanks to the receiver’s dual-tuner design, you can watch one show while recording another, record two shows at once, or watch two shows at once using Picture-In-Picture.

In addition to letting you record shows, your RCA

-DIRECTV™Receiver with

UltimateTV

Service lets you control how you watch live TV. If you’re watching a show and want to get a snack or answer the phone, you can press your remote control’s

PAUSE button and return to your show later. If you miss a line of dialog in

a movie or want to see a great sports play a second time, press the

INSTANT

REPLAY button to watch it again. Or use the REVERSE button to replay the last few

minutes of the show you’re watching. The service’s interactive TV capabilities combine TV and the Internet, allowing you

to play along with certain game shows, register your opinion in a poll, or go to Web sites that are associated with TV programs.

If you subscribe to the UltimateTV Service, your receiver allows you to use many other capabilities of the Internet as well. For example, you can sur f the World Wide Web, send and receive e-mail, or join a live chat at any time.

This guide describes all these features, and more. You’ll learn how to

•

Find programs in an extensive on-screen Advanced Program Guide

™

• Create a custom guide that lists just your favorite channels

•

Search for a show by title, categor y, actor, or other subject

•

Display a reminder when your favorite shows are about to begin

•

Record the show you’re currently watching or a show that’s on later

•

Watch two shows at once with

Picture-In-Picture

• Interact with some of your favorite shows

•

Watch TV while using the Internet

• Write e-mail, chat online, surf the Web, and use other Internet features

INTRODUCTION

YOUR ACCOUNT 89

Account options 90 Billing information and payment options 91 Adding users to your account 92 Updates - getting the latest features 93 Using an ISP to connect to the WebTV Ser vice 94

INDEX 97

CONTENTS –

continued

UPGRADES

Your receiver is able to receive upgrades or modifications to some of its features and functions. These modifications will occur automatically, usually at times when your receiver would likely be turned off. If your receiver is on when an upgrade or modification is sent, you may experience a disruption in reception for several minutes. Your reception should return to nor mal after the modification is complete.

Your receiver must be plugged in to receive upgrades. Do not

unplug the receiver while an upgrade is in progress.

If an upgrade is scheduled, a notification will scroll across the bottom of your screen. You will be given the option to postpone the upgrade and continue watching TV.

To prevent a possible disruption in reception, you should turn off your receiver when it is not in use. That way, automatic upgrades can take place without interrupting your TV viewing.

In addition to the automatic upgrades just mentioned, service upgrades are occasionally offered as well. If you turn on your receiver and see a notice asking if you wish to upgrade your service, it’s recommended that you accept the upgrade.

NOTE

INTRODUCTION –

continued

DIRECTV®programming is provided in accordance with the terms and conditions of the DIRECTV Customer Agreement, which is provided with your first DIRECTV billing statement. DIRECTV is a trademark of DIRECTV, Inc., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp., and is used with permission.

SERVICE OPTIONS

Your RCA®-DIRECTV™Receiver with UltimateTV®Service lets you choose among several service plans. A brochure that accompanies the receiver describes each plan, including pricing information. Please refer to the brochure for details.

When you sign up for DIRECTV

programming, you get satellite TV programming

from DIRECTV, including an on-screen Advanced Program Guide

™

, program reminders, the option to restrict access to certain programming, and the ability to search for shows by name or subject.

An additional subscription to the UltimateTV Service enables features including the ability to record and play back up to 35 hours of digital video at a time on your receiver, and a limited number of hours per month of Internet use. (You must subscribe to DIRECTV

programming in order to use the recording and TV-control

features of the UltimateTV Service.) If you plan to spend a lot of time using Internet features such as Interactive TV,

e-mail, and the World Wide Web, you can also sign up for Internet use with no time restrictions. (If you connect using your own Internet Service Provider, a less expensive option is available.)

Certain features, such as the ability to record programs to your

receiver, are available only if you subscribe to the UltimateTV Service.

SIGNING UP

When you first set up and turn on your receiver, a series of screens introduces you to the features of DIRECTV

programming and the UltimateTV Service. Call

1-800-DIRECTV (1-800-347-3288) to activate DIRECTV

programming and the

UltimateTV Service.

When you sign up, make sure you have your DIRECTV Access Card number handy; this number is displayed at the end of the on-screen introduction.

The basic UltimateTV Service subscription gives you a limited number of Internetaccess hours per month; call 1-877-ULTIMATE (1-877-858-4628) to sign up for UltimateTV Service with no time restrictions for Internet access.

See the “Your Account” section of this guide for more information on service options and billing.

IMPORTANT

INTRODUCTION –

continued

To get from place to place while you’re watching DIRECTV®programming or using Internet features, you need to know just one simple rule:

select-and-go.

When you see something on your screen that looks interesting, you tell your RCA

-DIRECTV™Receiver with UltimateTV®Service to take you there by using the

select-and-go technique.

To select an item on the screen:

1 Use the Arrow buttons on your remote control or optional wireless keyboard to

move the yellow selection box on the screen until it surrounds the item.

2 Once an item is surrounded by the yellow box, press the OK button on your

remote control or the

RETURN key if you’re using the optional wireless keyboard.

When you’re following the instructions here, use the remote

control that came with your receiver—not your TV’s remote control.

NOTE

GETTING AROUND

GETTING HELP

As your service continues to be upgraded, you may eventually see screens that differ from those shown in this guide, or see new features that are not documented in this guide. While future improvements may render sections of this guide out of date, you can always get the latest instructions from the on-screen Help.

For information on using TV features, you can select

Help from the TV Home

screen. For information on using Internet features, select

Help from the Web Home

screen (these screens are described later in this guide). Help provides introductory tours, detailed instructions, and answers to frequently asked questions.

In addition to selecting

Help from TV Home or Web Home, you can get feature-

specific help from many screens. For example, for assistance in using e-mail, you can select Help from the Mail screen; to learn more about the Search TV feature, select Help from the Search TV screen, and so on.

INTRODUCTION –

continued

The TV Home screen is your home base for all your TV-watching activities. From TV Home you can go to key features of the service.

TV HOME

A Program Guide where you can choose a show to watch or record

See a list of the shows you’ve recorded and select one to watch

Search for shows by title, category, actor, or other criteria

Settings for your VCR, phone connection, satellite dish antenna, and more

Detailed instructions for using TV features

A list of your Pay Per View purchases

Messages about service updates, special offers, and more

Your home base for Internet features, including e-mail, chat rooms, and Web pages

Select the TV picture and press

OK to zoom to full-screen size

When you’re using certain TV features, you’ll need to enter information into onscreen text boxes. For example, you might want to search for a TV show by title or phrase.

If you are using the optional wireless keyboard or have connected a keyboard to the receiver’s USB port, you can simply start typing when you see a text-entry box on your screen. (See the on-screen Help for a list of supported keyboards.) If you don’t have a keyboard, you can type on an on-screen keyboard using your remote control.

To use the on-screen keyboard:

1 When you see a text-entry box (a rectangle with a vertical yellow line in it),

press your remote control’s

OK button. (Make sure the text-entry box is

surrounded by the yellow selection box before you press

OK.)

The on-screen keyboard appears.

2 Use the remote control’s Arrow buttons to place the yellow selection box on a

letter or other character, then press

OK to type the selected character.

3 When you have finished typing, select continue on the on-screen keyboard and

press

OK.

ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD

A blue light means you have recorded shows waiting to be watched. A red light means recording is in progress.

When you tune to a channel using your RCA®-DIRECTV™Receiver with UltimateTV

Service, you can view information about the program that’s showing on that channel. Detailed program information is available at any time, at the press of a button.

In this section you’ll find out how to make the most of watching DIRECTV

programming.

ZOOMING TO FULL-SCREEN SIZE

The TV Home screen displays a small image of the currently selected channel in the center of the screen. If you want to watch TV, you can zoom the TV Home image to full-screen size.

To watch a show at full-screen size:

1 If you’re not already at TV Home, press the HOME button on your receiver,

remote control, or keyboard. The TV Home screen appears, with a small TV picture in the center of the screen.

2 Use the Arrow buttons on your remote control or keyboard to select the center

display, then press the

OK button on your receiver, remote control, or keyboard.

The TV screen zooms to full size.

You can also press the

CLEAR

button on your remote at any time

to zoom to full-screen size.

TIP

WATCHING TV

TV Home automatically appears when you turn on your receiver. You can easily return to TV Home at any time.

To return to TV Home:

Press the HOME button on your receiver, remote, or keyboard. (You can also press the

BACK button on your remote or keyboard if TV Home was the last

screen you viewed.)

TV HOME –

continued

DISPLAYING PROGRAM INFORMATION

When you change channels, the channel banner appears only briefly, so you might miss some of the information it displays. If you wish, you can display detailed information about the program you’re watching at any time.

To display information about the current program:

1 While watching a program, press the INFO button on your remote control

or keyboard.

The Info panel appears:

The Info panel displays the following information:

• Program name

• Broadcast time

• Category (for example, Spor ts or Drama) and program description

• Current time

WATCHING TV –

continued

Information about the current show

Select this button to see additional information, record the show, or set a reminder.

Info panel

CHANGING THE CHANNEL

You can change the channel from the TV Home screen, or while you’re watching TV at full-screen size.

To change the channel:

Use the CH-/CH+ buttons on your remote control or keyboard to move up or down one channel at a time, or use the number buttons to type a channel number.

When you change the channel while watching at full-screen size, a channel banner briefly appears at the bottom of the screen, displaying the following:

• Program name

• Broadcast time

• Current time

• Channel number, network name, and call letters

• Rating, if a rated movie or TV program is showing

Symbols may appear as well: a postmark indicates that you have unread messages in TV Notices, and a lock indicates that you’ve configured the lock settings (described later in this section).

WATCHING TV –

continued

Channel banner

THE DIRECTV ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE

™

The DIRECTV Advanced Program Guide™lets you see what’s on TV and choose programs to watch or record.

To view the Advanced Program Guide™:

From the TV Home screen, use the Arrow buttons to select Guide, then press OK. or Press the GUIDE button on your remote control or keyboard.

The Advanced Program Guide

™

appears.

FINDING SHOWS

Programs in green are showing now.

Programs in blue will be on later.

Use the right arrow button on your remote or keyboard to see additional listings.

Select this window (use the arrow buttons to move left and up) and press

OK or CLEAR to watch the program at full-screen size. The last channel

you were watching is displayed here, unless you go to Search TV and choose to display each channel when it’s selected in the Guide (see page 23).

• Channel number, network name, and call letters

• Rating, if any

• Time remaining until the program is over

Symbols may appear as well:

• A postmark indicates that you have unread messages in TV Notices.

2 Select More Info and press OK to display the Program Info screen, where

you can set a reminder or record the program.

3 Press the INFO button again to dismiss the Info panel.

Dolby Digital: the program is broadcast in Dolby Digital sound.

Letterbox: the program is displayed in letterbox format.

All-day ticket: you may view this Pay Per View program throughout the day (from 6 AM EST on the day purchased to 6 AM the following day).

Alternate audio is available (for example, a soundtrack in another language).

A locked padlock indicates that you’ve configured the lock settings in Locks & Limits (see page 20). An unlocked padlock indicates that you’ve configured limits but they are not in effect.

WATCHING TV –

continued

CUSTOMIZING THE GUIDE

Instead of scrolling through hundreds of available channels, you might want to customize the Guide to display just the channels you like to watch.

To have the Guide display a list of frequently viewed channels:

1 From TV Home, select Settings from the bottom of the screen and press OK.

The Settings screen appears.

2 Select Channels and press OK.

The Channels screen appears.

ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™–

continued

To view the listings in the Guide:

1 Use the up and down Arrow buttons to move through the list of channels,

one channel at a time. The list scrolls when the yellow rectangle reaches the top or bottom of the screen. Use the

CH+ and CH- buttons to scroll up or

down one screen at a time. Alternatively, you can type a channel number with the number keys on your remote control or keyboard to go to the listing for that channel.

2 When you’ve selected a channel, use the right and left Arrow buttons to scroll

to different times of day. The Guide scrolls when the yellow rectangle reaches the right or left side of the screen.

Programs shown in green in the Guide are showing now. Programs shown in blue haven’t started yet.

To view additional information about a program in the Guide:

Use the Arrow buttons to select a program, then press the INFO button on your remote or wireless keyboard.

The Program Info screen appears.

To watch a program that’s listed in the Guide:

Use the Arrow buttons to select the program you want to watch (make sure to select a program that’s shown in green), then press

OK.

That program appears in full-screen view.

NOTE

ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™–

continued

The Add a Favorites List screen appears.

5 Choose one of the categories—Movies, News, etc.—to have the Guide display

a preselected list of channels in that category. Or choose

Custom List to create

your own list of favorite channels. Press

OK.

For Custom List, the following screen appears.

6 Select a channel number and press OK to add that channel to your list.

ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™–

continued

3 Remove the checkmarks from the channels you do not want to list in the

Guide. To remove a checkmark, select an existing checkmark and press

OK.

4 Use the Arrow buttons to scroll to the right, or enter a channel number using

the remote or keyboard, and unmark more channels if you wish.

5 Select Done and press OK when you’re finished. Select Done in the Settings

screen as well.

Now when you view the Guide, it lists only the channels that remain checked in the Channels window.

You can repeat the steps here to add or remove channels in your custom Guide.

To place a removed channel back into the Guide:

Follow the steps above, but place a checkmark next to the channel or channels you want listed.

CREATING A LIST OF FAVORITE CHANNELS

In addition to customizing the main Guide, you can create your own mini-guides made up of favorite channels. For example, you might want to have a guide that lists just movie channels, or one that lists sports channels or music channels. Here’s how.

To create a list of favorite channels:

1 From TV Home, select Search TV and press OK.

The Search TV screen appears.

2 Under the “View program guide” heading, select By favorite channels and

press

OK.

3 In the screen that appears, select Set Up Favorites and press OK. 4 In the screen that appears, select Add List and press OK.

ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™–

continued

2 Under the “View program guide” heading, select By favorite channels and

press

OK.

A list of your Favorite Channels guides appears.

3 Select Set Up Favorites, then press OK. 4 In the screen that appears, select the list you wish to rename and press OK.

The custom channel guide appears.

5 Select Rename List and press OK. 6 Using your wireless keyboard or the on-screen keyboard and your remote,

type a new name for the list. Select

Done and press OK.

7 Select Done and press OK in the screens that follow.

To edit your list of favorite channels:

1 From TV Home, select Search TV and press OK.

The Search TV screen appears.

2 Under the “View program guide” heading, select By favorite channels and

press

OK.

A list of your Favorite Channels guides appears.

3 Select Set Up Favorites, then press OK. 4 In the screen that appears, select the list you wish to edit and press OK.

The custom channel guide appears.

5 Mark or unmark channels, then select Done and press OK when you’re done. 6 Select Done and press OK in the screens that follow.

To delete your list of favorite channels:

Follow the instructions above for renaming a list, but select Remove List instead of

Rename List.

ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™–

continued

A checkmark appears beside the selected channel. Add as many channels

as you like. (Use the

Arrow buttons to scroll the screen left or right to see more

channels; or, if you want to add a specific channel, enter the channel using the number buttons.)

7 If you want to give your list a name, select Rename List and press OK. 8 Using your wireless keyboard or the on-screen keyboard and your remote,

type a new name for the list. (See page 6 for information on using the onscreen keyboard.) Select

Done and press OK.

9 In the screen that appears, select Done and press OK.

Now, when you go to the Guide, you’ll be able to see not only the main Guide, but your Favorite Channels guide as well.

To switch between the main Guide and your Favorite Channels guide:

1 Press the GUIDE button on your remote control.

The main Guide appears.

2 Press GUIDE again to display your Favorite Channels guide.

You might want to make several custom guides. For example, you might want to have one guide that lists movie channels, and another that lists sports channels.

To create additional lists of favorite channels:

Follow the steps above for creating a Favorite Channels guide.

A second Favorite Channels guide will be added. Create additional guides if you wish. Press the

GUIDE button to move from one guide to the next.

When you create more than one Favorite Channels list, the first list is automatically named “Custom Favorites”(unless you name the list when you create it, as described above), the second list is named “Custom 2 Favorites,” the third list is named “Custom 3 Favorites,” and so on. If you wish, you can assign a name to each Custom Favorites list.

To rename an existing list of favorite channels:

1 From TV Home, select Search TV and press OK.

The Search TV screen appears.

ADVANCED PROGRAM GUIDE™–

continued

3 To prevent access to movies and TV shows with cer tain ratings (X, NC-17, and

so on), select

Ratings, then press OK.

To prevent access to par ticular channels, select

Channels, then press OK.

To set a limit on the amount that can be spent for Pay Per View programs, select

Pay Per View, then press OK.

Follow the on-screen instructions to set the limits you want. When you’re finished setting limits, the Enforce Limits screen appears.

4 In the Enforce Limits screen, select Lock TV, then press OK.

The Lock TV screen appears.

RESTRICTING ACCESS –

continued

If you have children, you might want to restrict their access to certain channels. You can remove those channels from the Guide, as described in “Customizing the Guide” on page 15, but they can still be accessed using the remote. To prevent access to certain channels or types of programming, you can use the DIRECTV Locks and Limits feature.

To restrict viewing access:

1 From TV Home, select Settings and press OK.

The Settings screen appears.

2 Select Locks & Limits and press OK.

The Limits screen appears.

RESTRICTING ACCESS

If you know what you want to watch—either a particular show or a type of show, such as Comedies or Westerns—you can search for it with Search TV.

To search for a program:

From TV Home, select Search TV and press OK. (Alternatively, you can press the

SEARCH button on your keyboard, or press MENU·OPTIONS on your remote or

keyboard and select

Search TV in the TV Options panel that appears at the

bottom of the screen.) The Search TV screen appears.

To search by program title or phrase:

1 Go to the Search TV screen, as just described. 2 Select By title or phrase and press OK.

The Program Title Search screen appears.

SEARCH TV

5 Type a 4-digit password, then move the yellow selection box down and enter

the password again to confirm it.

Make a note of your password and store it in a safe place.

You’ll need the password if you decide to change viewing limits later.

6 Select Lock, then press OK.

The viewing limits you just set take effect.

To change Locks and Limits:

Follow the instructions above for restricting viewing access, and select the new restrictions you wish to apply.

IMPORTANT

RESTRICTING ACCESS –

continued

TV reminders are messages that appear on your screen one minute before a show starts.

To set a reminder:

1 In the Guide, select a program (blue indicates that the program is on in the

future) and press

OK.

The Program Info screen for the selected program appears.

2 Select Remind and press OK.

The Remind screen appears.

3 If you’d like a one-time reminder, select Continue, then select Done and press OK.

or Check

Remind daily or weekly to be reminded each time the program is about

to begin.

TV REMINDERS

3 Type the name of the program you want to watch. Alternatively, you can type

a descriptive word or a phrase: an actor’s name, show topic, or other text that describes what you’re looking for. (If you don’t have a wireless keyboard, see page 6 for information on using the on-screen keyboard.)

4 Select Search and press OK.

If the search is successful, a special Guide appears, listing the programs that match what you searched for.

Programs in green are in progress. Programs in blue will be on later.

SEARCH TV –

continued

Type a word or phrase to search for.

Previous search terms appear here.

+ 38 hidden pages