1. Q. Can I record cable or satellite HD programs?
 

A. No for MDP-100 and 120, see addition for the MDP-130 below. All HDTV cards "stores" high-def signals in their raw data form and decodes the signal during playback. Since Cable and Satellite services do not use 8VSB modulation, their signals require dedicated tuners, and once decoded, cannot be routed to the input of the HDTV PC cards.

MDP-130 includes a QAM capable tuner that allows you to tune unencrypted HDTV signals from your cable service. The MDP-130 is connected to the coaxial connection directly to the RF input of the card much like tuning for over-the-air service. Unencrypted HDTV generally consists of the local broadcasts (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS) which are sent in the clear as mandated by the FCC for all cable services and does not include any of the premium services which require a cable box provided by the cable service. Output from the cable box via Component or DVI/HDMI output cannot be captured by the MDP-130 or any other consumer device on the market today.

   
2. Q. What is a Decoder Card used for?
  A. Majority of Digital TV sets sold today only receives NTSC (480i) TV broadcasts and use an internal line doubler to display the low-resolution broadcasts. Labled as HD-Ready TV, these sets requires a separate HDTV Tuner, often an optional set-top box tuner to receive and display display high-definition (720p or 1080i) and standard digital (480p) signals. HDTV PC cards work as an over-the-air tuner for your local high-definition broadcasts, but also offers the ability to record the broadcast to the hard disk, allowing the user to timeshift their favorite shows..
   
3. Q. How do you connect it to receive a broadcast?
  A. Where available, over-the-air local programs need an antenna to receive. Simply connect an antenna coax cable to the 'RF" input of the HDTV card and scan for signals. Check with TitanTV for available programming in your local area.
 
4. Q. What kind of display do I need?
  A. You can connect your PC monitor or output to your HDTV. For HDTV's with Component (Y-Pb-Pr) input, a transcoder or VGA to Component Dongle (available from the video card manufacturer) is required for the PC Desktop if you plan to use your PC as the main monitor.
 
5. Q. Can I schedule a recording like a VCR?
  A. Yes. You can program MyHD with Channel/Date/Time/Duration of the show to be recorded. High Definition channels will be recorded in transport stream (.tp) format. Analog channels will be recorded as .avi. MyHD program can launch to record at the specified time, and can be programmed to shut down after recording is completed.
   
6. Q. How much hard disk space is required to record HDTV?
  A. ATSC signals require 8.7GB per hour.
   
7. Q. How do I get HDTV image on my monitor?
  A. Using the Loop-back feature will allow you to toggle between your PC desktop and full-screen HDTV. When in the PC Desktop mode, you can view HDTV in a window if so configured. The video window can be sized to your preference.
   
8. Q. What connections are available on the MyHD card?
  A. 1x VGA output (can be configured as Component Y-Pb-Pr), 1x VGA Loop-back for single monitor configuration, 2x RF inputs, 1x S/PDIF output, 1x S-Video input, 1x Composite (RCA) input, and 1x Analog audio (L+R) input.
   
9. Q. Can I watch standard definition (NTSC) TV?
  A. Yes. The card will tune to analog TV or cable. The output can be scaled to the HDTV signals of 720p or 1080i.
   
10. Q. Will it scale the S-Video and Composite inputs?
  A. Yes. The video will be scaled to the resolution chosen for HD output (1080i, 720p, 480p, 1440x960, 1024x768).
   
11. Q. Can I record analog TV?
  A. Yes, but the AVI files created by the card has to be viewed with Windows Media Player or some other non-MPEG decoder.
   
12. Q. Can I create screen captures?
  A. Yes. MyHD will allow captures in fields (1/2) or frames (full) of the incoming signal. We recommend that you pause the video before capturing.
   
13. Q. Does it work with Dual-Processor/HyperThreading systems?
 

A. MyHD software will work with Dual and HyperThreading systems, however there are some functions that do not work properly without disabling this feature. The three functions that will not work under dual processor/hyperthreading is:
1. DVD-Playback
2. Playback of recorded files over a network
3. Firewire recording to D-VHS tape player using MDP-130 software

14. Q. Can I get digital audio?
  A. Yes. The HDTV card offers output of digital audio via the on-board S/PDIF connector or utilize the S/PDIF output of your sound card (refer to installation guide for configuration below). Installing DVI daughter card will add Toslink digital output.
   
15. Q. Can I use my sound card instead of the audio out of the MyHD card?
  A. MyHD can be configured to use the system sound card instead of the S/PDIF output for digital as well as analog sound (analog output). Please note that this will result in all PC and HDTV sounds being routed out of the sound card. Change your configuration as shown below using "Stereo" for analog output of 2 or 5.1 channels (depending on the Windows configuration of your sound card), or choose "S/PDIF" for digital coax output.
 

 
   
 

Step 1 : Set "Audio" to Wave.
Step 2 : Set "Digital Audio" to the option used for "OutputMode".
      - Sound card using S/PDIF, choose SPDIF.
      - Sound card using 2-channel analog output, choose either Stereo.
      - Multi-channel 5.1 sound cards configured in Windows, choose Stereo.