ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo PCI Express

Catalyst Media Center

For Windows XP users, ATI bundles their full version release of the Catalyst Media Center. Catalyst Media Center has been designed from the ground up to simplify the installation, configuration, and use of the ATI TV Wonder 650 PCIe. After installing the Catalyst Media Center suite with the ATI driver disk, the CMC boots up and guides you through the configuration of your TV tuner.

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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.

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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. 

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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 Catalyst Media Center. The antenna does a good job of picking up local stations and audio quality is what you would expect with a typical FM radio setup.

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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.


Tags:  ATI, TV, PC, Pre, PCI Express, XP, pci, express, COM

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