README.TXT For REALmagic Hollywood Plus drivers for Win 2000 Release 2.3 beta (Build 140_3) ----Oct. 31st, 2001 =================================================== This file contains important information for the installation of the drivers and application software for the Hollywood Plus. _____________________________________ FOR FUTURE updates DRIVERS VISIT OUR WEB SITE www.sigmadesigns.com Latest Drivers & FTP Access - Hollywood Plus ____________________ IF YOU ARE USING WIN XP, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU'VE UNZIPPED THESE DRIVERS ON DISKETTES OR IN A HARD DISK FOLDER WITH A NAME SMALLER THAN 9 CHARACTERS. IMPORTANT NOTES CONCERNING THESE DRIVERS : ======================================== 1 - If you are using Microsoft Office XP and you have its utility CTFMON.EXE running, it'll stop DVD Station - the Hollywood Plus- 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. 2 - The movie Stuart Little for Region 2 has some bad data at the start of the movie disabling the playback. To enable it, click IMMEDIATELY the Pause button after inserting the movie or after starting DVD Station if the movie is already inserted (or pressing STOP/Play and then Pause) and press next chapter. WHAT'S NEW IN RELEASE 2.3 ========================= - Fix for flickering in the lower half of PAL TVs. WHAT'S NEW IN RELEASE 2.2 ========================= - The drivers are at the same level for Win 9x/Me, NT 4.0, and Win 2K. They have the same functionalities but not interchangeable. - Fix for a bug in release 2.2 affecting the non English versions of Windows related to the TV output switching to NTSC/PAL. - Fix to re-enable the SCSI support after release 2.2. - Fix for the playback of different movies, especially from region 2, such as X-Men, Gladiator, .... We could not test all movies but the support for ISO and UDF in reading the DVD discs provide a larger compatibility with movies and DVD-ROM drives. WHAT'S NEW IN RELEASE 2.1 ========================= - The drivers are at the same level for Win 9x/Me, NT 4.0, and Win 2K. - A fix for an out-of-synch between video and audio on the external AC-3 decoder thru the S/PDIF. - Implementing the UDF file format in its full features, increasing the compatibility with most of the DVD movie discs. No need anymore to turn off the UDF file format for some movies (in the Registry). Examples of movies fixed : Region 1 : The 10th Kingdom, The Abyss, Alice in Wonder- land, Chinese Connection, The Doors, Entrapment, Last of the Mohicans, Legends of Fall, Men in Black, Mulan, Natural Born Killers, Out of Africa, Ravenous, Sneakers, The Thin Red Line, The World is not Enough, ... Region 2 : A Bug's Life, Blade, Heat, Tarzan, The Wedding Singer,... - A fix for movies changing the encryption keys in the middle of the movie such as : "Man with the Golden Gun". - A fix for a flicker on the lower third of some PAL TVs. - Support for the Philips SVCD format where the folder name is MPEG2 instead of MPEGAV and file names have extension MPG instead of DAT. SOFTWARE RELEASE NOTICE ======================= 1 - If you are installing the Hollywood Plus for the first time, you need to set its region code by running SETUP from the application diskette. If the DVD-ROM drive is an RPC2 drive - carrying its own region code - then you do not need to set a region code for Hollywood Plus. Make sure you set a region code for the new DVD-ROM drive - this can be achieved with the Windows utility in Device Manager\CD-ROM tab. If you insert a movie with a region code mismatching the DVD-ROM drive region - for RPC2 drives, the tray will be ejected and a Windows error message issued. 2 - The "Eject" button of the DVD Station needs to be pressed twice with DVD-ROM movies in the playback mode and only once in the Stop mode. 3 - The installation will set DVD Station as the default player when you insert a DVD-ROM movie disc. 4 - DTS audio is supported : whenever you choose the DTS option in a movie menu the OUTPUT WILL BE DIRECTED THRU THE SP/DIF OUPUT IN DIGITAL FORMAT REGARDLESS OF THE DVD STATION AUDIO OUPUT SETTING, so the DTS stream is NOT decoded thru the analog mini audio jack. 5 - You need to be logging in as an Administrator or equivalent to install and use the Hollywood Plus. 6 - You can use the Hollywood Plus without the pass-thru cable, but in this case the video playback will be available on TV only (and not on the VGA monitor). The system will detect the presence of this cable at booting time. So connecting or disconnecting it during a Windows session is not correct. A reboot is needed to notify the Hollywood Plus driver. 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 - HINTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS AND BETTER PLAYBACK I - DRIVER AND APPLICATIONS INSTALLATION ==================================== Note : You need to have the Administrator rights to be able to install this software because of its modifications to the registry. 1. On booting your system, Windows 2K will detect the card. Insert the REALmagic Hollywood Plus Drivers Disk in your floppy drive A and click Finish. This will install Hollywood Plus drivers on your hard disk. 2. To install the DVD navigation software insert Application Disk into drive A and run SETUP. 3. The Setup program will show two options: Install the REALmagic DVD application or Change the DVD region code. 4. Check the DVD application installation option and follow the instructions. 5. After the files are copied, set a DVD region code as part of the setup program (if not already set up under Win 9x or Win NT 4.0). Note: Setup will not ask you to set the DVD region code if this code is set in a previous installation. 6. Click Finish to complete the installation process by performing Auto Calibration. PLEASE REBOOT THE SYSTEM. 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 Hollywood Plus 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 the set program from Application disk. Select DVD Region Code change option. Set the region code according to the country you are in. You do NOT need to set the region code when Uninstalling/installing new drivers. _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._ 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 the card manufacturer or an authorized distributor or service center. A nominal handling fee will be charged. IV - TV OUT ====== The REALmagic Hollywood Plus can display on a VGA monitor or a TV set. To switch between these modes an icon is provided on the left corner of the DVD 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 DVD 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 DVD station click the "Options Dialog- Settings tab. 2. Press Configure and then press Advanced Settings. 3. 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. Some PAL TVs with SCART/S-Video adapters will not show colors thru their S-Video inputs but will show a B&W picture. Either the TV set is not tuned to the proper channel or the TV set does not support S-Video input. 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 - HINTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS AND BETTER PLAYBACK ============================================= 1. The drivers are installed and the Hollywood Plus appears in the "Device Manager" but the CD's won't play. Run SETUP from the second diskette (Applications) to create the "REALmagic Hollywood Plus" group. This group contains the DVD-Station, README file, REALmagic Configuration, and Uninstall. 2. The REALmagic Configuration can be run but when the DVD-Station is started (or the Media Player with an MPEG file) the system hangs. Check the Device Manager for a conflict in the IRQ resources and make the necessary change(s). 3. After installing the first disk for the drivers, and run SETUP from the second disk, the following message comes up : "Driver cannot be loaded, another instance from the driver may be running". Or when playing an MPEG file after the software installation, there is an error message "MMSYSTEM 266 : undetectable error ...". Reseat Hollywood Plus in different PCI slots because of some of the motherboards BIOSes handling of the resources. 4. The MPEG files play and the audio can be heard but the video is a solid color. Run "REALmagic Configuration" and select "Auto Calibration." Or, make sure that the output of the Display Adapter is routed to the Hollywood Plus input and the Display Adapter's output is routed to the monitor. 5. The picture is waving. Run "REALmagic Configuration," select "Border Adjust" and adjust the STABILITY: smoothness of the two vertical sides. 6. MPEG 1 files run normally, but DVD movies are shaky. Make certain that the DVD-ROM drive is connected as a Master on the IDE controller. Also you can turn ON the DMA flag in the "Device Manager-DVD ROM drive-Settings-DMA." 7. For DVD-ROMs that require high data transfer rates, it is better to have the DVD-ROM drive connected to an IDE controller with the "Bus Master" mode activated. 8. Capturing of an MPEG frame from an encrypted DVD movie is not supported because of Copyright issues. In other cases the capture feature gives its best results at a color depth of 64K (16 bits) or higher. 9. Playing VOB files using the Media Player might not show the best performance because of different navigation schemes. Use the DVD Station for this. 10. Video is fine on VGA but is Black and White on TV. Please see section for TV-Out. 11. When watching the movie on TV, the picture gets dimmer and brighter at short intervals and with some movies some yellow horizontal lines appear on the TV screen. The TV set is connected to the PC system via a VCR or an alike device. This device initiates the Macrovision protection of the movie. Connect the TV directly to the PC system. 12. The S-Video connector on Hollywood Plus is a 7-hole jack and my S-Video cable has a 4-pin socket only. The 4-pin cable is compatible with the 7-pin socket. There are more pins on the 7-pin socket to provide for the composite TV output. 13. I lost the S-Video/Composite Adapter cable and have no access to another one. Order another one from your supplier. In the USA, you can check the phone number or the email address of the fulfillment center on the web site . The pinout of this adapter is as follows : _________ / \ | 7 6 5 | | 4 3 2 1 | | | \ OOOOO / --------- 1:GND 2:Composite 3:GND 4:GND 5:Luma 6:not connected 7:Chroma 14. You want DVD Station to check your DVD-ROM first and it is assigned a drive letter after the CD-ROM letter. DVD Station allows you to set your preferred drive (Options - Tab : Play List). 15. You see the video but no audio. - Try first the speakers plugged in Hollywood Plus and be sure the output from DVD Station is Stereo. - Then check the audio jumper cable from the output of Hollywood Plus to the input of the sound card. If no sound, check the volume mixer to have Line-in NOT muted or at low level. - If you are using a Dolby Digital Receiver, make sure that it accepts AC-3 streams and your setting in DVD Station is AC-3. 16. The maximum refresh rates allowed with the Hollywood Plus MPEG playback depends on a combination of the display adapter, and the monitor and some of these combinations may show a little degradation in the desktop display because of the overlay. The MPEG playback is not affected. However, the following can be used as a guideline: 640 x 480 100 Hz 800 x 600 100 Hz 1024 x 768 85 Hz 1152 x 864 75 Hz 1280 x 1024 60 Hz 1600 x 1200 60 Hz 17. Hollywood Plus does NOT support the MP3 files playback. 18. You have a third generation DVD-ROM drive (RPC2 specs that require a region code on the drive) and you cannot playback movies. Run the manufacturer utility for this drive to set the region code to your country code, or use the Microsoft Windows utility in Device Manager\CD-ROM tab. 19. You can add the option "/f=filename" on the command line of DVD Station to allow the direct playback of the file. 20. What is the pinout of the VGA signals on the pass-thru cable? View of the 9 pin socket of the pass-through cable, seen from the bracket: _________ /_________\ | | | 9 8 7 | | 6 5 4 3 | \ 2 1 / --------- 1:Blue IN 2:GND 3:Green IN 4:GND 5:Vsync IN 6:Hsync IN 7:Red IN 8:SDA (from pin12 of DB15) - PnP monitors 9:SCL (from pin15 of DB15) - PnP monitors 21. Connecting the digital audio output in the back of some DVD-ROM drives to the S/P DIF input of some revisions of the Hollywood Plus, might disable the S/P DIF output of the Hollywood Plus. It depends on the drive model. If this happens to your system, just disconnect the digital audio cable (not supplied with Hollywood Plus) between the drive and Hollywood Plus. 22. Hollywood Plus plays back DVD, Video CD, and S-VCD disc formats besides regular MPEG 1 and MPEG 2 files. It does not play the "what's called " DiVX format. ================================================================= END OF FILE