EazyConnect™

Multimedia Center 8.8 introduces EazyConnect™, the best way to share live TV and captured video and audio content with other computers on your home network. If you have one computer with an All-in-Wonder® video card, you can enjoy all the exciting EazyConnect™ features with any computer on your home network that has an installed ‘Built By ATI’ Radeon™ or an All-in-Wonder® video card.

Use EazyConnect™ to watch Live TV or enjoy local control (play, pause, rewind or fast forward) over any captured content on any computer on your home network with an installed ‘Built By ATI’ Radeon™ graphics card. Take control over your shared home entertainment experience with ATI’s REMOTE WONDER RF remote control and the simple, consistent Multimedia Center player interface.

Enhance your home entertainment experience and the value of your Home Network

As home networks become increasingly popular, many people choose to move their older computers to their kid’s rooms or use them as secondary computers around the house. Our research also indicates that many customers who have an All-in-Wonder video card also have a home network with multiple client computers that have an installed ATI Radeon series graphics card.

To meet the home entertainment needs of these customers, ATI has developed EazyConnect™, a new feature that turns your All-in-Wonder system into a server, providing a remote user the opportunity to watch TV over the LAN, schedule a request to record a program, and playback recorded content at their convenience.

What you’ll need to enjoy EazyConnect™

1. A Home Network
2. A computer to act as the EazyConnect™ Server
3. A computer to act as the EazyConnect™ TV client

1. A Home Network
EazyConnect™ supports a wide variety of home network set-ups including:

• Standard Ethernet LANs (10/100 BaseT)
• HPNA
• Wireless home networks (802.11b or 802.11g).

2. A computer to act as the EazyConnect™ Server
Users must first uninstall any previous version of MMC, and then install MMC 8.8, following the prompts provided during the installation process. Installing MMC 8.8 on any All-in-Wonder using the Express install option will automatically enable that system as an EazyConnect™ server. As only one All-in-Wonder in a network may be a server, additional All-in-Wonder systems may become a client by using Custom Install, and selecting client (see panel below) at the appropriate time.

If the current system is the only All-in-Wonder on the LAN, EazyConnect™ Server is the preferred choice. If the system has an All-in-Wonder installed, but will not be the server, select EazyConnect™ Client, to allow this system to be part of the LAN community.

With MMC 8.8 installed on a PC with an All-in-Wonder, the first step in configuring EazyConnect™ is to go to the configuration page. Configuration of global settings for the MMC suite is through either the Launchpad or in the Windows Program list, under ATI Multimedia Center.

Opening this utility displays options for changing skins on players, setting EazyLook™ options and now contains a new tab, EazyConnect™.

Options available on this page include:

• Protocol
• Per client permissions
• Allow all clients

Protocol selection is important based on network type; UDP is the preferred protocol on an HPNA or 10/100BaseT system. This allows the fastest broadcast rate, with easy access for multiple clients. For 802.11 b/g wireless systems, TCP protocol is required, to provide reliable broadcast streams and support multiple clients. Users may choose one or the other protocol based on their network type; if they have a mix of wired and wireless technologies, TCP is the correct option.

3. A computer to act as the EazyConnect™ TV Client
Available for any Built By ATI Graphics card from the Radeon 7000 series up, EazyConnect™ TV provides a local player capable of receiving and playback of live or recorded content from an All-in-Wonder based EazyConnect™ server.

Users enjoy local control over:

• Timeshifting – pause, restart, rewind or fast forward through buffered TV content. Advanced features include Export to File for permanent storage, Closed Caption, and Still Capture. Maintain buffer contents over channel changes and between EazyConnect™ TV sessions, to always have content available.
• Schedule a Recording – remote users can request a recording event occur at the server, select input source, and frequency. Scheduling conflicts between users are identified at request time. Easily locate and replay captured content locally, without interfering with other client’s viewing of live TV session.
• Standard features – local control over volume, mute, display options and export to file. Each client may have a separate preferred channel list. Advanced display options like ThruView™ desktop or window available, and EazyConnect™ TV supplies two skins and EazyLook™ remote control user interface options.
• Remote Wonder – local clients can also enjoy the benefits of ATI’s Remote Wonder RF remote control. Support for Remote Wonder is fully integrated into EazyConnect™ TV, including the ability to set unique ids for each remote used in a home setting, reducing interference.