| WinFast PVR Software and Features | Channel Surfing on the PC |
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With the device hooked up to a cable line, and the drivers installed, we were able to begin channel surfing. The interface is pretty standard, as TV Function icons such as "+" and "-" for volume control are universally recognized. The main control panel allows you to change the volume, channel, and input source. You can also record video, take a snapshot, and open various media files to play. The only icons you may not recognize, would be the setup icon, and the Time Shifting Icon.
Setting up the recording options was probably the trickiest part of the configuration. A slew of recording options are available. Supported video capture formats include MPEG 1 Normal Quality, Good Quality, and Optimal Quality. The same quality options are available for the MPEG 2 format. Other formats include VCD, Super VCD, DVD, Windows Media(R) Video, and Uncompressed AVI. You can also choose to directly burn to a VCD, Super VCD, or DVD. The Audio-Out Control Line, and Audio Recording Line options available are the standard Microphone, Wave, Line-In, Video, as well as a few others.
Other options that are under your control are the Snapshot format, Master Audio Stream, and Record Volume. Beyond that, you are allowed to select the Time Limit, Size, and Frame rate of the recorded video. You can also choose to split the file into however many sections you want. Users can also adjust various image quality features such as Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation and Sharpness. The third tab in the setup screen, is the TV Schedule. This option gives you the ability to have the program switch to a certain channel at a certain time, just like a standard VCR.