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| Introduction | |||||||
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Over the last few years, a relatively simple PC technology, the TV tuner, has helped to transform the way that millions of people use their personal computers. TV tuners - in conjunction with smaller form factors - have helped to create a new category of PC, the HTPC, that blends the audio and video capabilities of your television with the raw power and productivity of your home computer.
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| ATI TV Wonder 650 PCI Express |
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Unlike ATI's PCI-based TV Wonder 650, this new PCI Express version features a pair of tuners, which give users the ability to record one channel while watching another. |
| Catalyst Media Center |
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For Windows XP users, ATI bundles their full version release of the
The first step in the configuration is setting up the type of source, analog or digital, you will be connecting to your new TV Wonder. Afterward, the setup wizard automatically scans and lists the channels that are available to watch given your connection. Next, the software automatically downloads the two week television schedule of the zip code you are in, which is needed to set up scheduled recordings of your favorite shows.
Once set up, the CMC interface is very clean and easy to use. You can watch live TV in the TV section, watch DVD movies in the DVD section, listen to local radio in the Radio section, and configure your tuner in settings.
In the Videos section, you can browse through videos you’ve recorded with the TV Wonder 650, or just other videos you have on your connected portable storage drives or hard disk. Late last year ATI introduced FM radio recording to their TV Wonder series of tuners, allowing you to record live radio on your PC. To connect to FM radio with the TV Wonder 650 PCIe, you simply attach the included antenna to the analog input on the tuner’s I/O plate and scan for stations in the
And finally we look at the settings portion of the CMC, which has a simple interface that allows you to configure the folders, quality, display, and audio settings of the tuner. |
| Windows Media Center & Image Quality |
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However nice ATI’s
Image Quality: Analog
One of the underlying problems with assessing TV tuner quality is the fact that there are many variables that come into play that can affect how sharp, bright, and clear an image looks. Probably the most important of which is source quality. To put it simply, if the quality of picture coming out of your Coax cable is degraded, the picture you will see on your television or your PC will show this degradation.
In our quality tests, we saw that while watching certain channels, our video was a bit noisy. The input signal was coming from a coax like that had been split multiple times, however. With that said, the quality we saw with the TV Wonder 650 PCIe was on par or better than the various televisions in my home, but like we mentioned in our ATI Theatre 650 review, image quality is ultimately very subjective. Nevertheless, we werehappy with the image quality offered by TV Wonder 650 PCIe. |
| Conclusion | ||||
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After using the TV Wonder 650 PCIe for roughly three weeks to watch and record television shows on a new Windows Vista based test rig, we feel that we couldn't go back to a computer that lacked a TV tuner like the TV Wonder 650 PCIe.
With Vista’s sleek
In Windows XP, the TV Wonder 650 PCIe experience was enjoyable as well, with
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