eVGA Personal Cinema FX5700

In the TV module of ForceWare Multimedia, there were options to alter the program's appearance upon launch.  User's can define whether the TV image defaults to a thumbnail or a larger view.  Time-shifting can be enabled which allows for pausing and seeking of live TV in both forward and reverse.  On first start up we selected the type of TV input (cable) and let the software scan for active channels.  Once complete, we were ready to go.  Additionally, we could adjust the audio playback profile for various speaker configurations including format, mode and range control.

While there are multiple facets to ForceWare Multimedia, the TV component is the one that required additional configuration before we could use it.  Now let's take a closer look at the different components of ForceWare Multimedia and touch on each of their roles.

ForceWare Multimedia - Overview All That You Get

Like ATI's popular Multimedia Center Software, ForceWare Multimedia is the core software component for the Personal Cinema FX 5700.  With a fresh, modern interface, ForceWare Multimedia is a relatively new product compared to the seasoned Multimedia Center, yet it has a feel of a package that has had time to mature.  The software is comprised of six key components, being TV, DVD, FM, Music, Pictures and Video Clips.

TV	DVD	FM Radio
Music	Pictures	Video Clips

Along with the various components of ForceWare Multimedia, eVGA integrated GemStars Guide Plus+ which takes basic information such as your ZIP Code and provides an up to date listing of current and future television programming in your area.  The DVD player is a fully functional player that offers most of the functionality found in other commercially available products.  Additionally, we could view local video files, access picture files and catalogue and play various music files all within ForceWare Multimedia.

Additionally, eVGA includes VideoStudio 7 and DVD MovieFactory 2.5 SE.  The latter is integrated for handling recording from external sources or the TV-Tuner and burning them to DVD.  The software provides a good selection of customizable menus and can also be adjusted for various video compression quality.  The interface was quite intuitive and we had no trouble burning several TV shows to DVD without needing to reference the user's guide.  While the ForceWare package has integrated burning capability, it will only record in the format the video was recorded in, where as MovieFactory can convert various formats to a DVD, providing added flexibility to the package. 

VideoStudio 7

DVD MovieFactory 2.5 SE

If simply recording videos is not enough, VideoStudio 7 offers the ability to edit video files which can come in handy when users wish to add content or remove commercials from TV recordings.  This was a great addition to the Personal Cinema package, helping to make it a useful editing/authoring tool on top of its other features.