Taking Control of Your TV A Guide to Using AT&T s U-Verse TV Features 2019 Huntington Pointe Association
Some Basics Note that the features described in this booklet are keyed to the buttons on the remote controller with the associated numbers in the image on the previous page. 1. There are two sets of channels Channels 2 through 999 - for low definition televisions Channels 1002 through 1999 for HD (high definition) televisions If you do not have a new flat-screen set, you only have low definition and must use Channels 2 through 999. If you do have a new flat-screen TV, it may be high (1180) definition or only low (780) definition. To check and to see the difference, enter Channel 2, say, and then enter Channel 1002. Press the LAST button 11 repeatedly to cycle back and forth between the two channels. If you see no difference, you have only low definition, but if you see a difference in the quality and size of the picture, you have high definition and you should use the high definition channels. 2. At any time, you can always return to the regular TV by pressing the Exit to TV button. 3. To see a list of what is currently playing on live TV, press the GUIDE button. You will see a screen like what is shown in Figure 1. The up and down arrows (above and below the OK key) let you scroll up or down one line at a time. The large + (plus) and (minus) buttons to the right of the green Recordings button let you scroll up or down a full screen at a time. You can jump to any Figure 1 channel you want by typing in the channel number you want and the display will start there. Highlight the show you want to see and press the OK button in the center of the remote to jump to that station to watch it. When you are finished, press the Exit to TV button to close the GUIDE display.
4. The Info button on the right side of the remote just below the four arrow buttons provides you details about the show you are watching (a short description, how much time is left, the cast and director, etc.). When you are finished, press the Exit to TV button to close the Info display. 5. You can turn closed captioning on and off by pressing the button marked CC 12 at the bottom right of the remote. Just click on the first choice, Closed captions, and press OK. Using Other Devices (DVD player, VCR, Computer, etc.) Your TV does NOT know what devices you have connected to it. All it can detect is which cables are connected. Click on the very small button at the bottom left of the controller marked TV Input and all available connections appear across the top of the screen, as shown in Figure 2. You might see TV, HDMI-1, HDMI-2, Comp/AV, and Computer highlighted. You likely want the HDMI option, not the TV option, to watch TV through the AT&T cable box. Figure 2 The TV Input button lets you move from one available connection to the next. 1. Highlight the device you want, then turn on the device if it is not on. 2. If the device is not on, you will get a message on the TV screen that there is No Signal. 3. Use the remote for that device, say the DVD player to play a disk. When you are finished, use the TV Input button to return to the HDMI setting. Setting Up and Using the Favorites Option With the huge number of channels available, it can be very challenging to remember which ones are your favorites. You can create a list of favorites using either the Menu button 3 or the small button 13 with the yellow arrow and the letter A at the bottom left of the controller.
Press the Menu button 3, which brings up the display in Figure 3. Select the second option, Favorites. Figure 3 To construct a new Favorites list 1. Press the Options button just below the Menu button 3, which brings up the display in Figure 4. 2. Select the fourth option, Edit/Add Favorites, where you will see the choice: Add a new Favorites list" to see a list of all the channels, starting with Figure 4 Channel 1. 3. Scroll down to highlight each channel number you want and press OK to add it to your Favorites list. Alternatively, type in each channel number you want, wait until the system moves to it, and press OK to add the channel to your Favorites list. 4. When you are finished constructing the list, scroll to the left and select Save. To use an existing Favorites list 1. Press the green My Multiview button at the top of the remote or the button 13 at the bottom left with the yellow arrow up and the letter A. 2. Select the Favorites list you want to access. 3. When you do, a list marked My Favorites appears superimposed Figure 5
over what you are currently watching that shows what is currently on each channel in your list, as shown in Figure 5. Scroll up or down until you highlight the channel you want and press OK. A preview of what is currently on each channel appears in the lower left of the screen. 4. Exit this list by pressing the Exit to TV button. 5. Alternatively, you can press the Menu button 3, scroll down to the second choice, Favorites, and press OK. To add or delete one or more channels to an existing Favorites list 1. Press the Favorites button 13 with yellow up arrow and the letter A at the bottom left to bring up your Favorites list. 2. Press the Options button below the Menu button. 3. Click on the fourth option marked Edit/Add Favorites channels 4. Select the Favorites list you want to edit. 5. To Add a channel, use the same process as you did when you started your favorites list (see above "To construct a new favorites list"). 6. To Remove a channel, either scroll down to find channel you want to remove or type in each channel number you want to remove, wait until the system moves to it, and press OK to remove the channel from your Favorites list. 7. When you are finished editing the list, scroll to the left and select Save. Recently Watched Channels The LAST button 11 just below the green Recordings button lets you flash back to the last channel you watched. (Note: Previously, AT&T s system provided a display of the last five channels you watched, not just the last or previous one). Using the Search Feature The Search feature lets you search for shows you are interested in based on the title of the show, the channel, or the name of someone in the cast. 1. The easiest way is to press the small button 14 marked with green square and the letter B at the bottom center of the controller. Alternatively, press the Menu button 3 and scroll down to the fifth item, Search, to get the same results. The display shown in Figure 6 appears with the letters of the alphabet at the left. On the bottom row is a button marked "123", which brings up a display with numbers instead of letters. Also near the bottom of the display is a button for entering a space between words and another to erase the last letter or number entered.
Figure 6 Also on the bottom row is a button marked Filters, which lets you limit your search to i. Titles only ii. Cast and Crew only iii. Channel only. For example, suppose you want to search for movies starring Cary Grant. i. Start entering his name, one letter at a time, as shown in Figure 7. Scroll up or down, left or right until the letter C is highlighted and press OK. ii. Then scroll over to highlight the letter A and press OK. iii. Scroll to highlight the letter R and press OK; the highlight the Y and press Ok. iv. Then scroll to the space key and press OK; and so on until you see Cary Grant listed on the right. v. Now scroll all the way to the right until you are highlighting entries in the list. Note that the search result list changes as each character is entered. vi. Then scroll down until you reach Cary Grant and press OK. vii. A list of all up-coming films with him in the cast will appear (if there are any scheduled in the next week or so). a. If one is currently on (see the starting times listed at the far right), just press OK and the first choice is Watch. b. If the movie is on later or on a different day, you will see the option to Record program (this is discussed later in this document). c. Figure 7 shows that two films with Cary Grant are listed. However, notice the down arrow at the bottom right: it tells you that there are many more pages of his films on the schedule. Just keep clicking on that down arrow to see all of them along with the dates and times.
Using the On Demand Features The On Demand features of the system let you select from a wide variety of TV programs, movies, and other offerings whenever you want to view them, not when they happen to be on live TV. To access the service: 1. Press the large orange button marked On Demand at the top left of the remote. 2. You will see (as shown in Figure 8) a list of choices down the left side of the screen including: Featured (usually recent rental movies) Premium (the showings available from Premium channels such as HBO, Starz, Showtime, etc. Note that you have to subscribe to that package in order to access anything here.) Free Shows (the prime time offerings from ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC; TV shows by category, including TV shows alphabetically (A-C, D-F,, Networks (also A-C, D-F, ), Free Movies, and other options.) Search Figure 7 First, some important general items: 1. Sometimes the available options (often movie channels) are listed twice side-by-side like HBOOD and Figure 8
HBOHD. The first listing is for regular low definition and the second listing is for HD (high definition), depending on the kind of television you have; there may be some differences in the lists of movies available. 2. When you highlight a title that may be of interest, you may want to press the Info button to see additional information about that title. Press the Info button again to close the information window. 3. To return back to the previous screen, press the left arrow key repeatedly until a pale gray box labeled BACK appears and then press OK. You can always return to the regular TV by pressing the Exit to TV button. 4. Note that some channels, such as TCM, are sometimes not listed for a day or two as they change the titles offered, so keep coming back to check; most channels are listed all the time. Recording and Playing Back Programs Stored on the DVR There are a variety of ways in which you can record a program: 1. While watching a live program that you want to record, simply press the red REC button near the top of the remote on the left and the system will immediately begin recording it. 2. While using the Guide, if you scroll to the right, you will find listings of programs on at a later time. When you press OK, you get the option to Record program. When you select this, the recording begins automatically when the program is broadcast live; you don't have to be there and you don't have to worry about having the TV on. 3. You can set the DVR to record not just a single program, but also all episodes of a program. To watch a program that has been recorded on the DVR: 1. Press the green Recordings button 2. The system then shows all the programs that have been recorded. 3. Scroll down until you reach the one you want to watch and press OK. 4. You can control the DVR the same way you would control a tape recorder or VCR the yellow button near the top middle of the controller is for Pause, the button to its left is Stop, and the button to its right is Play. The buttons above the yellow Pause button gives you the ability to rewind or fast forward. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please contact Shelly Gordon at gordonsp@farmingdale.edu