• Windows 8 and 8.1, 32-bit and 64-bit
• Windows 7 (all versions), 32-bit and 64-bit
• Microsoft® Windows XP, XP Pro or Windows XP Media Center Edition, with Service Pack 2.
• Windows Vista (all versions), 32-bit and 64-bit

• Processor Requirements (minimum):
• 2.2 GHz Intel P4 or equivalent
• Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows XP with Service Pack 2.
• Available PCI Express X1 or X16 slot
• Graphics with 64MB memory (or greater)
• Sound card

Yes, the WinTV-HVR-12xx can be used with Windows Media Center. Simply download and install the latest drivers from the Hauppauge website.

NOTE: You must set up an analog TV tuner in Media Center first before you can proceed to set up a digital tuner.

PAL Analog CableTV or over-the-air analog TV: You can use your cable TV from the wall to connect to the WinTV-HVR-12xx and receive PAL analog cable TV channels. You can also use a roof top antenna to receive "over-the-air" TV.

Freeview HD (DVB-T2) over-the-air digital TV: Supports Freeview HD or DVB-T2 TV channels.

Freeview (DVB-T) over-the-air digital TV: Supports Freeview or DVB-T TV channels
Note: For Freeview and Freeview HD DVB-T digital TV, a rooftop/out door antenna is recommended for optimal results and best signal strength.

DVB-C cable TV Channels: DVB-C digital cable TV channels are unencrypted digital cable TV channels. Clear QAM allows users to watch unencrypted digital TV channels from their cable TV provider without a set-top box.

Note: Check your local cable TV provider for DVB-C TV channel reception over your cable TV network.

The WinTV-HVR-1200 has Freeview HD support for over-the-air HD. It can also receive HD TV from a DVB-C source.

But the WinTV-HVR-1200 will not be able to decode HD broadcasts that come through your cable or satellite box.

If you have an HD cable TV or satellite box and want to record HD TV, you can use Hauppauge's HD PVR.

Note: not all cable operators broadcast DVB-C channels which can be received by the WinTV-HVR-12xx. Contact your local cable operator to check if they provide clear digital cable TV channels.

Using the WinTV 7 application the WinTV-HVR-12xx, will record in a transport stream (TS)
For Freeview HD, Freeview and DVB-C digital TV recordings, the recording format and bit rate is exactly the same as the broadcast format (i.e. Freeview HD 1080i is recorded at 1080i).

Note: TS files can be converted to MPEG files using options in the WinTV 7 configuration menu.

Note: The WinTV7 application recording are in MPEG format for both digital and analog.

The WinTV-HVR-1200 only has one TV tuner. But if you have two WinTV-HVR-1200's in one PC, you can record one TV program while viewing the other, or even record both simultaneously. While recording a digital TV channel, you can be watching an analog TV channel or visa versa.

If you have two WinTV-HVR-1200's in one PC, You can also use Windows Media Center to record one program and watch (or record) another program.

If you are watching a digital TV channel and you see choppy video, no audio or a black screen, then it is possible your PC is not fast enough to decode and play the digital TV channel you are watching. Please verify that your system meets the minimum requirements for using the WinTV-HVR-1200

Digital TV, especially ATSC high definition digital TV, is very CPU intensive. Many graphics cards have special built-in hardware to speed up decoding of high definition TV channels.

On graphics cards without special video decoding features, you can often improve the playback performance by using the Video Renderer settings located in the settings menu of WinTV 7. To open the setting menu click on the “gear” button located in the lower left of the WinTV 7 screen.

The default mode is EVR. The other modes are VMR9, VMR7 and Overlay. Each mode uses a different process to render video. Try each mode and use the one which gives you the best results. To use hardware acceleration put a check in the box “use hardware acceleration when possible. This will allow your graphics system to use hardware acceleration for video decode. Note: graphics hardware acceleration does not work on all systems. After making a change in video rendering settings Wintv must be restarted to take effect.

There is some support for the WinTV-HVR-1200 under Linux. More information can be found here: LinuxTV.org

You can bring video into the WinTV from an external audio/video source such as a cable TV or satellite set top box. Depending upon which model WinTV you have, you might need to connect the A/V breakout cable included with your TV tuner.

In the WinTV v7 application, click the Setup menu (Gear button in the lower left corner of WinTV v7).

Then click on the Devices tab.

In the Device Setup Wizard, select External Inputs (S-Video/composite) and click Next.

You will be presented with the option to add a Composite and an S-Video Input. Please select your country (if not correct) and click Next.

If you wish to connect a source not normally designed for operation in your country, you can configure the Video Format manually from the drop down list. Change the value from “AUTO”.

Note: Pal BGHIDK is the commonly used format in Europe. NTSC is the broadcast format used in North America.

Digital Broadcasts (DVB-T)

The file size of a digital signal capture depends on the bitrate of the digital signal.  The bitrate is set by the broadcaster and cannot be user configured.  Bitrates for digital signals can range anywhere from about 1.2 Mbits/sec up to 19.3 Mbits/sec.  Most of the time these bitrates are variable and not constant.  Capture sizes for Freeview (DVB-T) & recordings are approximately 1.7 Gigabytes per hour up to 8.3 Gigabytes per hour.

Analog Broadcast.

The WinTV v7 application has to convert analog signals to digital in order to record. There are four recording profiles. The following list shows recording file sizes for burning to 4.3Gb DVD:

Best - Approx 1 Hour+
Better - Approx 1 1/2 Hours
Good - Approx 2 Hours
Fair - Approx 3 Hours