--- name: "tvtime" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "tvtime" version: "1.0.11-7" release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/tvtime" --- # tvtime(1) a high quality television application ## NAME tvtime - a high quality television application ## SYNOPSIS **tvtime** \[ *OPTION* \] ... ## DESCRIPTION **tvtime** is a high quality television application for use with video capture cards. **tvtime** processes the input from a capture card and displays it on a computer monitor or projector. **tvtime** supports: - • Deinterlaced output at full interlaced rate of 59.94 frames per second for NTSC source, or 50 frames per second for PAL sources. This gives smoothness of motion and high visual quality. - • Multiple deinterlacing algorithms for finding the optimal mode for the video content and available processor speed. - • 16:9 aspect ratio mode for the highest available resolution when processing input from an external DVD player or digital satellite receiver. - • A super-slick on-screen-display for the complete television experience, with a featureful menu system. ## USAGE Here are the core set of key bindings you want to learn for using tvtime: - *Escape or q* Quit - *F1 or tab* Show menu - *up/down* Change channels - *0-9 and Enter* Change channels - *Backspace* Jump to previous channel - *i* Change input - *m* Mute - *+/- or left/right* Volume control - *f* Fullscreen - *s* Take a screenshot - *Enter* Display info - *d* Display debug statistics Here are some advanced keys. These features are all configurable via the menu, but some of these may be useful if you use the features often: - *e* Toggle audio mode (stereo/mono/SAP) - *v* Toggle always-on-top with supporting window managers - *F5/F6/F7* Picture settings - *Space* Restore default picture settings - */* Resize the window to match the content inside it (after applying a matte or switching to 16:9 mode) - *c* Toggle closed caption decoding (NTSC only) ## OPTIONS - **-a, --widescreen** This option starts **tvtime** in 16:9 aspect ratio mode. - **-A, --nowidescreen** This option starts **tvtime** in 4:3 aspect ratio mode. - **-h, --help** Show usage information. - **-k, --slave** Disables keyboard input in **tvtime** for slave mode. Slave mode was added for integration with PVR applications like **freevo** or **mythtv**, so that **freevo** can handle keyboard input while **tvtime** is running. In slave mode, keystrokes are ignored but they are printed to standard output, and commands are read from standard input in the same syntax as **tvtime-command**. - **-m, --fullscreen** Start **tvtime** in fullscreen mode. - **-M, --window** Start **tvtime** in windowed mode. - **-s, --showdrops** Print frame skip information (for debugging). - **-S, --saveoptions** Save command line options to the config file. This will save the V4L device, VBI device, input number, norm, frequency, startup fullscreen setting, aspect ratio, verbose mode, and output window height. - **-v, --verbose** The verbose setting indicates that we should print full informational and warning messages to standard error while running **tvtime**. Otherwise, only critical errors will be printed to the output. - **-F, --configfile=FILE** Additional config file to load settings from. - **-g, --geometry=GEOMETRY** Sets the geometry of the window, for example, 400x300 for a window 400 pixels wide and 300 pixels tall. A width value of 0 signifies that the appropriate width for the given height will be used. For 4:3 content on a square pixel display, this defaults to a 768×*576* window. - **-I, --inputwidth=SAMPLING** V4L input scanline sampling (defaults to *720*. This sets how many pixels per scanline to request from the capture card. A higher setting gives better quality, while a lower setting means we do less work, and so **tvtime** will run faster. If you have a slower CPU (like, less than 500Mhz or so), maybe values of *480* or *400* might suit you best. For best quality, choose a high value like *720* or *768*. Many capture cards cannot sample higher than *768* pixels per scanline. - **-d, --device=NAME** video4linux device to use (defaults to */dev/video0*). - **-b, --vbidevice=DEVICE** VBI device to use (defaults to */dev/vbi0*). - **-i, --input=INPUTNUM** video4linux input number (defaults to *0*). Cards commonly have a bunch of sources, for example, on my WinTV card, *source 0* is my tuner and *source 1* is the composite input. - **-c, --channel=CHANNEL** On startup, **tvtime** will tune to the given channel. Otherwise, the channels from the config file will be used. - **-n, --norm=NORM** The mode to set the tuner to (defaults to *NTSC*). Valid modes are: | | | | --- | --- | | • | NTSC | | • | PAL | | • | SECAM | | • | PAL-NC | | • | PAL-M | | • | PAL-N | | • | NTSC-JP | - **-f, --frequencies=NAME** The channels you are receiving with the tuner (defaults to *us-cable*). Valid values are: | | | | --- | --- | | • | us-cable | | • | us-broadcast | | • | japan-cable | | • | japan-broadcast | | • | europe | | • | australia | | • | australia-optus | | • | newzealand | | • | france | | • | russia | | • | custom (first run 'tvtime-scanner') | - **-t, --xmltv=FILE** Reads XMLTV listings from the given file to display on the OSD. Channels are looked up based on their name, and **tvtime** will display the show title, sub-title and show description on the OSD. - **-l, --xmltvlanguage=LANG** Use XMLTV data in given language, if available. Languages are represented by their two-letter language code (for example, "de" for German). The default language used in the file will be used if this is unset or set to "none" - **-X, --display=DISPLAY** Uses the given X display to connect to. - **-x, --mixer=DEVICE\[:CH\]** The mixer device and channel for the volume controls. (defaults to */dev/mixer:line*). Valid channels are: | | | | --- | --- | | • | vol | | • | bass | | • | treble | | • | synth | | • | pcm | | • | speaker | | • | line | | • | mic | | • | cd | | • | mix | | • | pcm2 | | • | rec | | • | igain | | • | ogain | | • | line1 | | • | line2 | | • | line3 | | • | dig1 | | • | dig2 | | • | dig3 | | • | phin | | • | phout | | • | video | | • | radio | | • | monitor | ## FILES */tvtime/tvtime.xml*\ *$HOME/.tvtime/tvtime.xml*\ *$HOME/.tvtime/stationlist.xml*\ */var/run/tvtime/TV-\*/tvtimefifo* ## AUTHORS Billy Biggs, Doug Bell, Alexander S. Belov, Achim Schneider, David I. Lehn, Paul Jara, Robert Högberg, Craig Dooley, Bart Dorsey, Nicolas Boos, Simon Law, Mark Trolley, Joachim Koenig, Stewart Allen, Justin A, Brian Goines, Krister Lagerstrom. ## SEE ALSO [**tvtime-command**(1)](/tvtime-command/1.md), [**tvtime-configure**(1)](/tvtime-configure/1.md), [**tvtime-scanner**(1)](/tvtime-scanner/1.md), [*tvtime.xml*(5)](/tvtime.xml/5.md), [*stationlist.xml*(5)](/stationlist.xml/5.md).