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User’s Guide for the
Digital Video Recorder
with Picture-in-Picture Control
®
™
Explorer 8000 Digital Video Recorder
™
and Explorer 8000HD High-Definition
Digital Video Recorder
• Record your favorite programs when you’re away
• Record one program and watch another
•Watch two programs at the same time with the Picture-in-Picture feature
on any TV you have
• Record two live programs while watching a third program you recorded earlier
• Use instant replay anytime you want
• Pause live TV for up to
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Contents Contents Explore Your Entertainment Options 1 Get More Out of Your TV 1 Take Control of Live Programs 2 Get Started 3 Prepare the Remote Control to Work With Your TV and Explorer DVR 3 What’s Next? 3 How Programs Are Formatted 4 How HDTVs Display Picture Formats 5 Prepare the Explorer 8000HD DVR To Work With Your High-Definition TV 6 Make the Most of Your Entertainment Options 10 Find Out When Your Favorite Programs Are On 11 Display the Progr
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Contents Manage Programs and Recordings 33 Block Programs With Parental Control 33 Block Recordings With Parental Control 36 Maximize Your Storage Space 38 Copy Recordings to a VCR Tape 38 Change the Default Save Time Setting for Future Recordings 39 Change the Save Time of a Recording You Have Saved 40 Erase a Recording 40 Adjust the Picture Display for HDTVs 41 Adjust Pictures on a Wide-Screen HDTV 42 Change the Picture Format 43 Change the Darkness of
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Explore Your Entertainment Options Explore Your Entertainment Options ® This guide describes how to use the following Explorer Digital Video Recorders: ® ™ • Explorer 8000 Digital Video Recorder (DVR), for use with standard TVs ® ™ • Explorer 8000HD High-Definition Digital Video Recorder (HD DVR), for use with high-definition TVs (HDTVs) Get More Out of Your TV The 8000 DVR or 8000HD DVR changes how you watch TV: • Control live programs just like they are recordings. • Create your own personal v
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Explore Your Entertainment Options Take Control of Live Programs Anytime you tune to a live program, the Explorer DVR begins buffering the program — that is, making a temporary recording of it — so that you can . . . • Pause the live program or rewind it • Fast-forward through the portion you have rewound • Instantly replay live TV anytime you want • Save the buffered program to the Explorer DVR by recording it Buffered Programs The channel buffer automatically buffers the last hour of the chann
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Get Started Get Started Getting started is easy. After you’ve connected the Explorer DVR to your TV, VCR, or other audio-video equipment, you only need to prepare the remote control as described here. If you have an HDTV and are not using a DVI connection, you also need to set up the 8000HD to work with your HDTV. Note: Your cable service provider may have already installed and connected the Explorer DVR for you. If not, follow the instructions in the Connection and Set Up guide that came with y
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Get Started How Programs Are Formatted Programs are broadcast in various picture formats. The picture format is one factor that determines how your television displays a program. A picture format is made up of the picture’s aspect ratio and screen resolution. 4 Aspect Ratios The aspect ratio of a picture is the ratio of its width to its height. A standard picture format is 4 units wide for every 3 units tall, so its aspect ratio is 4 x 3, or 4:3. 3 Standard (4:3) 16 A wide picture format has an
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Get Started How HDTVs Display Picture Formats The type of screen your HDTV uses (wide-screen or standard-screen) also determines how your HDTV displays the various picture formats that are broadcast today. Note: For your HDTV to display some picture formats, the 8000HD must be set up to output these formats to your HTDV. See the next page for details. Standard-Screen HDTVs automatically display these picture formats: In this manner: In full screen 480p or 480i standard In letterbox format 480p,
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Get Started Prepare the Explorer 8000HD DVR to Work With Your High-Definition TV If you have an HDTV and are not using a DVI connection, you may need to set up the 8000HD so that it provides video to your HDTV in picture formats that your HDTV supports. Otherwise, your picture quality may be less than optimal. During installation, your cable service provider may have already selected an appropriate picture format for you, or the factory setting of the 8000HD may be compatible with your HDTV. In
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Get Started Selecting Compatible Picture Formats If your HDTV displays a black screen when you turn it on, the 8000HD may not be sending your HDTV a picture format that the HDTV supports. Follow these steps to select picture format settings that your HDTV supports. Note: Rather than selecting a single picture format setting, you may want to select all settings that your HDTV supports. Setting up the 8000HD to support a variety of picture formats allows you to toggle among the different settings
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Get Started Selecting Picture Formats With the Setup Wizard Setting up the 8000HD to support a variety of picture formats allows you to toggle among the settings you have chosen while watching TV and select the setting that provides the best picture quality for the format currently being broadcast. There are three ways you can select picture formats for your HDTV. The 8000HD Setup Wizard guides you through each one: • The Quick Setup method, which automatically selects a setting according to the
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Get Started 6. Use one of the following methods to select a picture format setting: •To use a setting of 480i for a standard-screen HDTV and a setting of 1080i for a wide-screen HDTV, use the Quick Setup method. For assistance selecting one of these settings, follow the on-screen instructions. •To be able to toggle between the settings 1080i and 480i while watching TV, use the Standard Setup method. For assistance selecting, these settings, follow the on-screen instructions. •To select any combi
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Get Started Make the Most of Your Entertainment Options After you set up the remote control and the 8000HD, you are ready to . . . • Find out when programs are broadcast • Control live TV or recordings • Record one program while watching another live program •Watch two programs at once with the PIP feature • Record programs and play them back • Manage programs and recordings •Watch HD and non-HD programs with the 8000HD Note: If you have a wide-screen HDTV, you may find that you can improve the
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Find Out When Your Favorite Programs Are On Find Out When Your Favorite Programs Are On From the Program Guide, you can search for programs by channel number, program title, theme, or broadcast date. After you find a program, you can tune to it directly from the guide. This section provides instructions to . . . • Display the Program Guide • Select a program from the Program Guide • Search for a program by channel, title, or theme • Search for a program by date Can’t find a key on the remote? Op
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Find Out When Your Favorite Programs Are On Search for a Program by Channel, Title, or Theme The Explorer DVR automatically lists programs by channel number, but you can change this and list programs by title or theme. 1. Press Guide . The Program Guide appears and lists the next 7 days of programs. 2. Press Browse By A . The Browse By area of the Program Guide displays the options Title, Channel, and Theme. 3. Press Move Up or Move Down to highlight one of the following options: • Channel, wh
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Find Out When Your Favorite Programs Are On Search for a Program by Date 1. Press Guide . The Program Guide appears and lists the next 7 days of programs. B 2. Press Date . The Browse By area of the Program Guide displays the next 7 dates. 3. Press Move Up or Move Down to highlight a date. 4. Press Select . The Program Guide displays the programs that will be broadcast on that date. 13
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Control Live TV and Recordings Control Live TV and Recordings With the Explorer DVR, you control how you watch a program because, in many ways, you can treat live programs like they are recordings. The Explorer DVR lets you control how you watch a program in all of the following ways: • Pause a live program or a recording • Replay the last 8 seconds of a live program or a recording using instant replay • Rewind a live program or a recording to watch a portion of it again • Fast-forward through p
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Control Live TV and Recordings Use Instant Replay Press Instant Replay to watch the last 8 seconds of a live program or a recording again. Note: The first time you press Instant Replay , the Explorer DVR replays the last 8 seconds of a live program or a recording. Every additional press jumps back 8 more seconds. Rewind or Fast-Forward a Live Program or Recording Rewind a live program or a recording to watch a portion of it again, or fast-forward through portions you don’t want to watch. You ca
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Control Live TV and Recordings To Press Result Fast-forward Action speeds up and the Status Bar appears in the Fast-forward position at the bottom of the screen. The pointer on the Status Bar moves to the right as you fast-forward the program. Speed up: Press Fast-forward one or two more times to incrementally increase the speed. Press it again and the program resumes playing at normal speed. Live TV: When you reach the end of the buffered program and catch up with the live broadcast, the Statu
