1) Is there any documentation comparing the different video encoding formats?
We are still working on the documentation. Regarding this particular question, it may be easier for you just to do a search on the internet on the subject.
2) I am using a Hauppage WinTV PCI card. Is it better to use the older WHQL drivers, or the newer non-WHQL drivers?
I tried both and could not tell much difference.
3) When I am recording TV it doesn't allow me to watch the video. I receive a popup stating "Cannot display video to screen while recording. Do you want to continue recording without showing the video?" Is this how it is supposed to be?
This seems to be a hardware limitation. You need to record in lower video resolution. The default recording profile - "640 x 240 JRiver Video Codec Timeshift, WMV recording" - uses 640 x 320 for time-shifting, and 640 x 480 for recording in WMV. You need to do one or both of the following:
1. Recording at 640 x 240 or 320 x 240. To do this, you need to create a custom recording profile, or pick the existing one that says "320 x 240 JRiver Codec 29.97fps". You may be able to get by with "640 x 320 JRiver Codec 29.97fps". The bottom line is recording needs to be done at a resolution lower than 640 x 480.
2. Reduce the preview resolution to 320 x 240 or lower. To do this, go to TV Options property pages and select "Advanced Properties". Double-click the item "Video Preview Pin...", and change the video size there.
4) When playing time-shifted TV, I have no audio. Audio is fine when not in time-shifted mode.
Did you configure the audio? On the first page of TV Options dialog, make sure you have checked the "There is a physical audio connection from my TV tuner card to my sound card" checkbox, and selected the correct audio device and audio line from the drop-down lists below it.
It also takes several seconds for TV Recording sessions to start and stop.
That does not sound right. It is true that initialization would take a few seconds, but recording session should start in less than a second.