README.TXT For REALmagic Hollywood Plus(TM) Windows NT 4.0 drivers
Release 2.41 (Build 150_01)  -- Jan 3rd, 2003
=============================================

Congratulations on your purchase of REALmagic Hollywood Plus 
DVD/MPEG2 multimedia playback .  This file contains important 
information for installation of the drivers and application 
software for this card.

 	      _____________________________________
			
        	    OLDER DRIVERS ARE AT OUR WEB SITE
		ftp://ftp.sigmadesigns.com/HollywoodPlus/
	      _____________________________________
			
	 FOR MORE TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS VISIT OUR WEB SITE
        http://www.sigmadesigns.com/support/faq_hwplus.htm
              FOR THE FAQ SECTION  - Hollywood_Plus

               ALSO VISIT OUR DISCUSSION FORUM AT
   http://www.sigmadesigns.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi
               
		     ____________________


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 2.4
=========================
- A fix for the support of LG DVD-ROM drive
- DVD Station support for non-Administrators under Win 2K/XP
- SVCDs and VCDs play to the end
- Compatibility with the few movies that were not playing
- Please ignore the component YUV output setting in DVD Station
  and REALmagic Configuration - not supported!

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 2.1 affecting the non English versions
   of Windows related to the TV output switching to NTSC/PAL. 
-  Fix to re-enable the SCSI support after being disabled in
   release 2.1.
-  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.
 


CLARIFICATION NOTE ABOUT REGION CODES :
-------------------------------------
The program "DVD Drive Region" in the REALmagic Group is for
setting the region code of the RPC2 drives.  The region code on 
the hardware of Hollywood Plus is irrelevant in this case.

If you don't have an RPC2 drive, then the control will be thru the
region code on the Hollywood Plus.  This can be set by running
SETUP from the firt diskette and select the second option in the
menu : "1 - Install Application, 2 - Set the region code".  


WHAT'S NEW IN THIS 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.
   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.


WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE 1.8.2
================================
-  If you need to start DVD Station in full-screen mode, you can
   do it now by adding the line "fullscreen=1" in the [Settings]
   section of WVP.INI in the directory where you installed the
   applications (usually REALmagic).  
   For audio CDs and drives with MPEG contents (defined as data by
   DVD Station panel, you can start DVD Station in Repeat mode by
   adding the line "repeatmode=1" in this same section [Settings].
-  A fix for the movie "The Sixth Sense" for R2/R4.
-  This release of the drivers will behave like rel 1.7 as far as
   the support to special sound cards.


WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE 1.8.1
================================
-  A fix for a bug while accessing the MPEG data on some movies
   that leads to the error message MMSYSTEM275. This bug was
   introduced in release 1.8.
-  Some region 4 movies published by a certain company are
   exhibiting audio noise during playback. This is due to some CRC
   errors in the AC-3 stream and can be fixed by ignoring the
   errors adding the DWORD registry entry 
      IgnoreAc3Crc=1   in the folder 
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - Software - Sigma Designs - REALmagic - 13
   It is recommended to have it equal to the default value zero to
   allow the driver to handle these errors by not decoding these 
   blocks (or passing them to the external AC-3 decoder, if 
   available).


WHAT'S NEW IN THIS RELEASE 1.8
==============================
-  DTS is now 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
-  NTSC to PAL conversion does not suffer of the 1 sec stuttering
-  The audio volume sliding bar shows in full screen
-  PC Friendly will show the playback of movie with the black
   key color (video was not shown with rel 1.7 - audio only heard)
-  The audio special output (6 channel Wave) support to sound
   cards is removed for royalty issues


PASS-THRU CABLE :
===============
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   -     SOFTWARE INSTALLATION
II  -     BORDER ADJUSTMENT AND COLOR CALIBRATION
III -     DVD REGION CODE CHANGE
IV  -     TV OUT
V   -     HINTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS AND BETTER PLAYBACK



I - SOFTWARE INSTALLATION 
    =====================

Note : You need to have the Administrator rights to be able to
       install this software because of its modifications to the
       Registry.

1 - In the Program Manager, menu option File-Run, start the 
    program Setup from your floppy drive (e.g. A:).

2 - You will get a screen from InstallShield and a Welcome window.
    Click on Next.

3 - Setup will propose "C:\REALmagic" as a default directory. 
    Click "Next" to accept or type your preferred name.

4 - Setup will propose a name for the folder "REALmagic Hollywood
    Plus". Click on "Next" to accept or type your preferred name.

5 - Setup will start copying the files to the different 
    directories REALmagic, WINNT\SYSTEM32, and 
    WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS.

6 - After copying, you get a message window informing you to 
    insert disk 2. Please insert the diskette and click OK. The
    applications REALmagic Configuration, DVD Station, DVD Drive
    Region, Uninstall, and README file will be copied and 
    installed in the folder and a group is created.

7 - You'll get a message that this portion of Setup is done. 
    Click OK.

8 - At the end of setup,  you must reboot the system.


NOTE : To uninstall, double click the "Uninstaller" icon from the
       REALmagic Plus group. This will delete all specific files 
       and will remove the group. 

NOTE : You need to run Setup a second time but, this time, you'll
       get a message if you want to install or change the region
       code of the Hollywood Plus.  Select the latter and set the 
       board to your region (more in section III).

NOTE : The utility DVD Drive Region is NOT for all DVD-ROM drives.
       The RPC1 drives, used to be in the market before 2001, can 
       play any region movie and the control is thru the Hollywood
       Plus region code.  The RPC2 drives, the standard for drives
       since the beginning of year 2000, have their own region
       code. The region code of the RPC2 DVD-ROM drive has the
       priority over the code of the Hollywood Plus. This means
       that the movie code is checked against the DVD-ROM drive
       code, ignoring the Hollywood Plus code. If no match, this
       above mentioned utility will be used to change the drive
       code.  Only five times are allowed for a drive region
       change, after which you need to contact the drive
       manufacturer.


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.  If at a certain display settings the Border
          Adjustment was not done, the Hollywood Plus software 
          will ask for it.

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 the 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.
    Note 3: Color Calibration and Border Adjustment can not be 
            performed in TV mode.


III - DVD REGION CODE CHANGE
      ======================

Run SETUP from disk 1.  Follow the instructions. When you get the
menu for the installation of the application or changing the 
region code, select the second option.  Set the region code 
according to the country you are in. 

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.  This can be repeated five 
      times only.

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. thi
                   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.

    Note: In TV mode the Color Calibration and Border Adjustment
          cannot be performed. 


V  - HINTS TO RESOLVE PROBLEMS AND BETTER PLAYBACK 
     =============================================


1.  With the Hollywood Plus board and the drivers correctly 
    installed, you can not play mpeg.
    
    Change the PCI slot.

2.  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.

3.  The picture is waving.

    Run "REALmagic Configuration," select "Border Adjust" and 
    adjust the STABILITY: smoothness of the two vertical sides.

4.  MPEG 1 files run normally, but DVD movies are shaky.

    Install PCI bus master IDE controller.

5.  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.

6.  Playing VOB files using the Media Player might not show the 
    best performance because of different navigation schemes. Use 
    the DVD Station for this.

7.  Video is fine on VGA but is Black and White on TV.
 
    Please see section IV above for TV-Out.

8.  The Hollywood Plus drivers have been tested using Pentium, 
    Pentum II, Pentium III, AMD, and Cyrix CPUs.
     	 
9.  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.

10. 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.

11. 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
            

12.  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).

13.  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.
    
14. The maximum refresh rates allowed with the Hollywood Plus MPEG
    playback depends partially on the display board.  However, the
    following can be used as a guideline:

		 640 x  480	120 Hz
		 800 x  600	120 Hz
		1024 x  768	100 Hz
		1152 x  864	 85 Hz
		1280 x 1024	 85 Hz (75 with some boards)
		1600 x 1200	 80 Hz

15. Hollywood Plus does NOT support the MP3 files playback.

16. 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 "DVD Drive Region" program in the REALmagic group to
    set the region code to your country code - note that this is
    allowed for five times only.

17. You can add the option "/f=filename" on the command line of
    DVD Station to allow the direct playback of the file.


18. 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

19.  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.

20.  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.

21.  Compatibility issue :  The Pioneer first generation DVD-ROM 
     drive will not play Video CDs but will play DVD movies.



================================================================

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