Please find below a list with most frequently asked questions regarding ChrisTV PVR software product:
1. What is ChrisTV PVR ?
ChrisTV PVR (Personal Video Recorder) is a software designed to control analog TV Cards, Graphic Cards with Video Input (VIVO), Combo Cards (Graphic Card and TV Card), Webcams, DVcam Capture that have WDM drivers(Windows Driver Model) or BDA drivers compatible with DirectShow specifications.
ChrisTV PVR product suite includes :
For more information about ChrisTV PVR Products Suite,
please check the Feature Comparison Chart
2. Why was ChrisTV created ?
ChrisTV was created due to a need for a better software, than the one delivered by Pinnacle Systems with their PCTV (Pro) Tuner card. Their software had no features like: On-Screen-Display, Channel Settings for each channel, Advanced Scheduler & other necessary features.
3. Which are the software/hardware requirements for ChrisTV PVR in order to run smoothly ?
ChrisTV PVR has the following requirements:
Hardware:
- AMD Duron or Intel Pentium II 200MHz+, 500MHz or greater recommended.
- PCI or AGP DirectX compatible graphic adapter card, overlay support recommended.
- Memory : more than 64 MB RAM
- Supported capture device (see complete Supported Capture Devices List).
- HDD Space : 10-15 MB for ChrisTV Program, 5-10 GB for recorded files.
- Sound card.
Software:
- Windows 98SE, Windows Millenium, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8
- DirectX 8.1 or higher installed.
- Capture device compatible drivers (see Supported Capture Devices List).
4. What drivers does ChrisTV PVR support ?
ChrisTV PVR software supports WDM drivers(Windows Driver Model) or BDA drivers compatible with DirectShow specifications, BTWinCap Driver, Ivan Uskov Driver & other drivers compatible.
5. I have a TV Card. Will ChrisTV PVR work for me ?
If you have installed correctly on your computer the drivers (from previous question) for your video capture device and your capture device is supported by our software, ChrisTV PVR has to work.
6. What are the restrictions/limitations of the shareware version during the FREE trial period ?
ChrisTV PVR has a 21 day FREE trial period.
When you launch ChrisTV there will be a 5 seconds Splash Screen.
Maximum number of capture devices that can be used at once is 2(two) during trial in ChrisTV PVR Professional version.
Some Video and Audio Recording Codecs are not available like : DivX or MP3, but you can use without any restriction : XVid, HuffYUV, any Intel or Microsoft Codecs, DV Video Encoder and any MJPEG Codecs.
The video recordings are limited to 40 - 55 minutes and audio recordings to 5-10 minutes.
The broadcast mode is limited to 5-10 minutes and to a maximum of 2 clients.
You can not modify the default Recording segmentation and Free Space on Capture Disk.
The Timeshift Buffering duration is fixed to a maximum of 35 minutes.
Once you purchase ChrisTV PVR, the restrictions/limitations are removed.
7. The Image Quality is not so good. Are there some tweaks to make it better ?
SURE. As you know ChrisTV PVR has support for many TV Cards and other video capture devices, so it's possible for some settings that work very well with a bunch of tv cards, don't work with others.
In order to bring out, the best of your TV Card you may have to do some tunning and customizing of ChrisTV PVR settings.
You can find some advices and setting samples on our forum :
ChrisTV Image Quality, Some Tips & Finetuning
8. I have no image, the screen is black. What should I do ?
You have to change the Video Rendering mode in Program Settings->Video Rendering to VMR9 or Overlay Mixer and restart ChrisTV PVR.
If the problem persists, then you should enable the deinterlace filter or FFDShow filter, you can download these files from download page.
In case you still have the problem, please visit ChrisTV PVR Support Forum.
9. The image is great, but there is no sound at all. What should I do ?
Please check our support forum: You Have Sound Problems Or No Sound At All, In preview or while recording
If the sound mutes after 1-2 minutes while watching TV, then probably the TV Card WDM driver is not properly installed or the problem is caused by some settings in Norton Antivirus, for more details check our forum.
10. How can I make my TV Card remote work with ChrisTV PVR ?
ChrisTV PVR has integrated support for WinLirc but can not receive and process directly the remote control signals, so a third party software is needed in order to control ChrisTV.
Basically in order to control ChrisTV PVR, you need an application that receives and process the signal from remote control (as the remote applications that came bundled with the TV Card) and then sends keyboard shortcuts to ChrisTV window.
ChrisTV PVR offers support for Hauppauge remote controls, ATI Remote Wonder.
More detailed information you can find on our support forum :
How To Make ChrisTV PVR Work With Your Remote Control, Tips & Tricks
11. I have run ChrisTV and when i try to autoscan or change the channel frequency it returns the following error message "Access violation at adress 653854BB in module Kstvtune.ax Read of adress 00000000". What's wrong ?
This is not an error related with ChrisTV Software, is a BUG in DirectX 9.0b.
You can get the patch from the Microsoft site : DirectX 9.0b BUG Fix.
For more informations, you can check this topic on our forum : Kstvtune.ax error, DIRECTX 9B BUG FIX
12. I have launched ChrisTV and it returns the following error message "The operation cannot be performed because the pins are not connected. ($80040209)". What's wrong ?
This is a DirectShow (part of DirectX) Error Message it means that some filters used in ChrisTV DirectShow Graph are not connected and the Graph cannot be played.
If the Video Capture Source used by ChrisTV is a Video Card with Video Input or a Combo Card (Graphic Card and TV Card) then you should set in Program Settings->Video Rendering the following :
- Disable "Use Overlay Mixer" feature.
- Enable "Use Video Mixing Renderer (VMR-9)" feature - you must have installed DirectX 9 or higher.
- Enable "Use Advanced Rendering Mode".
- Restart ChrisTV.
Try to change the Video Rendering Mode to: Overlay, VMR-9 or Normal in Program Settings->Video Rendering.
If you can't solve the problem then check the ChrisTV Forum for answers.
13. I receive Windows Fatal Errors when I try to launch ChrisTV or ChrisTV doesn't load (nothing happens) when I launch it. How can I make it work corectly ?
This error occurs only on some PC that have Pentium 4 with HyperThreading enabled or Athlons 64. In order to make ChrisTV work without any problem on this systems, please follow the instructions in this forum topic :
Windows Fatal Errors On Christv Launch ? - on P4 HT or Athlons 2600+
14. I want to use the recording features in ChrisTV PVR, what CODECs should I use ?
15. I have as Video Capture Source a Graphic Card with Video Input (VIVO) or a Combo Card (Graphic Card and TV Card) and I get a black image or "The operation cannot be performed because the pins are not connected. ($80040209)" message. What's wrong ? How can i make ChrisTV PVR work correctly ?
In this case you should set in Program Settings->Video Rendering the following :
Disable "Use Overlay Mixer" feature.
Enable "Use Video Mixing Renderer (VMR-9)" feature - you must have installed DirectX 9 or higher.
Enable "Use Advanced Rendering Mode".
Restart ChrisTV.
16. I have a TV Card with radio FM Support and I want to add a FM Radio Station. How can I do that ?
Just go to Channels Settings Window and click on the "Add new..." button and then choose Radio Station from the popup menu.
17. I want to set the input of the tv tuner to Composite/S-Video input. How can I do that ?
Just go to Channels Settings Window and click on the "Add new..." button and then choose Composite/S-Video Input from the popup menu.
In this way you can add as many "channels" - Composite/S-video inputs as you want and set for each one the properties like brightness, contrast, saturation, delta volume etc.
18. What are the best settings for recording with ChrisTV PVR ?
This depends on your CPU power, frame size that you use for recording and the video/audio codecs that you use.
You can find some advices and setting samples on our forum :
Some Codecs Settings For Best Quality With Christv, Some Tips & Tricks
19. How can I backup my channels and settings of ChrisTV PVR ?
If you want to backup ChrisTV Settings and ChrisTV Channels List, you only have to copy in a safe place the following files : ChrisTV.xml, Channels.ini, Scheduler.ini, Profiles.xml located in ChrisTV PVR folder.
Make sure that ChrisTV PVR is not running when you make the backup.
20. When I run ChrisTV PVR it returns some error messages. What do I have to do ?
If you get error messages when running ChrisTV PVR that are not explained in this FAQ, check ChrisTV PVR Support Forum for answers.
If you still got no answer to your problem, then you should choose in ChrisTV mainmenu the "Contact ChrisTV Support" option. There you have the option to fill-up and send a ChrisTV Questionaire or an Error Report. Choose Error Report and complete it and then click send !
If it doesn't work, then send to 
the ChrisTV.xml, ChrisTV.log, ChrisTV_Agent.log files from ChrisTV PVR folder and a complete description of the error.
21. I have some suggestions for improving ChrisTV PVR features. What do I have to do ?
If you have suggestions then you should select in ChrisTV mainmenu the "Contact ChrisTV Support" option. There you you have the option to fill-up and send a ChrisTV Questionaire or an Error Report. Choose ChrisTV Questionaire and complete the form and then click send ! If it doesn't work, then send to your suggestions.
If you still need technical support for our products, please visit our discussion forum available at http://forum.chris-pc.com and post your comments, problems, questions or report bugs and we will be happy to help you.
