by Dean Andrews
Windows 98 adds a brand new component called WebTV for Windows to the Windows operating system. It allows you to view both standard and interactive television broadcasts over your computer. You can also browse television program listings, which get regularly updated over the Internet.
Before you enable this feature, you should purchase and install a TV tuner card, if you don't already have one installed. TV tuner cards are hardware boards that fit into an ISA or PCI slot in your PC. These boards receive TV broadcast signals either through a standard antenna or via a cable television service cable that you attach to the back of the card. TV tuners range in price from around $50 to $100 and are manufactured by several different companies including the video board makers Matrox and ATI Technologies.
If you don't own and aren't planning to buy a TV tuner card, you can still use the free TV listings in the WebTV Program Guide to view the schedule for upcoming television broadcasts and cable channel programming.
CAUTION: Be aware that some TV tuner cards work only in conjunction with video boards from the same manufacturer. For example, the Rainbow Runner Television board from Matrox functions only when used with the Mystique 220 and Rainbow Runner Studio daughter card that Matrox manufactures.In other cases, you may need to update the drivers for your video board to support the viewing of TV broadcasts. If you have difficulty getting a TV tuner card to work properly, check the Web site of your video card manufacturer for the latest drivers.
Use the following steps to install the WebTV for Windows component of Windows 98:
NOTE: Windows 98 refers to a TV tuner board as a TV Data Adapter in the dialog boxes during installation.
Windows 98 needs to restart Windows to complete the WebTV component installation process, so click Yes when asked whether you want to restart. In the next boot cycle, Windows automatically finds your TV tuner card and installs drivers for it, if you have one installed. Then Windows needs to restart one more time to complete the installation of this new hardware.
FIG. 17.1 Put a check next to the WebTV for Windows component.
After WebTV is loaded, you need to download the latest program listings and customize the viewer to your personal preferences. To launch WebTV, open the Start menu and choose, Programs, Accessories, Entertainment, WebTV for Windows. Alternatively, you can choose the little TV icon in the system tray of the Windows taskbar.
The first time you launch WebTV, you see a Welcome screen explaining its features. Move through the overview of WebTV features by clicking the Next button. At the end of the overview tour, you see a Finish button. Click this button to see the main program listings screen.
WebTV originally loads with default program listings. To update this list, you need an active connection to the Internet because the program data is retrieved via the Web.
To retrieve WebTV's program listings from the Internet, use the following procedure:
FIG. 17.2 Choose the TV Configuration channel.
FIG. 17.3 If you have cable TV, choose your service provider; otherwise, choose BROADCAST.
FIG. 17.4 Choose Download to begin downloading the program listings.
Back in the Program Guide screen of WebTV, you then find an updated list of TV programming in your area. Each download brings you two days' worth of local TV scheduling.
In case you want to find a particular show or type of show, but don't know where to find it, WebTV provides two ways to search through the television channels. You can either browse the listings by category or by title.
To search the channels by category, use the following procedure:
To search the channels by title, use the following procedure:
FIG. 17.5 Choose the Search tab to display WebTV's search window.
FIG. 17.6 Enter your keywords in the Search For box.
You can also modify the search list by using the Sort by time and All days drop-down boxes at the top of the Search window. These boxes let you sort the list of shows by date and title, as well as, narrow down the number of days you want to search through.
You can adjust the list of channels that the Program Guide displays by modifying the Settings options of WebTV. The Settings options let you select all the channels in your area or just the ones that you are interested in watching. In Settings, you can also pick whether WebTV should show you which shows have closed captioning.
To adjust the settings for WebTV's Program Guide, use the following procedure:
FIG. 17.7 Press the Alt key to display the Program Guide toolbar, or just move your mouse cursor to the top of the window.
FIG. 17.8 Choose the Settings button on the toolbar to display the Settings dialog box.
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