ATi TV Wonder USB 2.0
ATI's Multimedia Center
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The Multimedia Center software provided by ATI is the ultimate control center for your TV WONDER USB 2.0. Pictured to the left is the Launchpad which gives quick, one-click access to all the software utilities. The utilities include a File, VCD (Video CD), and CD player. Also included is a Library utility which allows the user to add movies, audio, and live TV files to a playlist. Something new in this multimedia software package included with the TV WONDER USB 2.0, is the ability to customize transfer settings between the PC and the TV WONDER device. This allows the user to minimize CPU utilization when programs are being recorded. This is a great multi-function piece of software and makes using the TV WONDER USB 2.0 device very easy to use and intuitive. |
Customization is the name of the game when it comes to ATI's Multimedia Center software. From the selection of different skins for the various utilities to the connection settings between the PC and USB device, it's all here. Also included is a "PC Check" utility which verifies the system's hardware configuration and confirms that it meets all the minimum requirements.
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Also shown here is the ability to choose which file types should be handled by the Multimedia Center's various players. For instance, if someone finds a third party movie player, such as PowerDVD, to be superior, then the user can make sure that PowerDVD will handle those duties. The same goes for audio files and CD Media. Overall, we find ATI's Multimedia Center to be quite capable of handling all these duties, but it ultimately comes down to a user's comfort level with a particular piece of software
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The TV application included with the Multimedia Center software allows for a multitude of customizations to be made. Most of the images are self explanatory as far as what settings can be made so we'll just give a quick summary of the more useful features. The display can be changed to a variety of aspect ratios to fit the type of screen the user has. The TV Tuner section allows the user to individually name each channel as well as provide a password to prevent children from viewing channels that aren't deemed appropriate.
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The "Personal Video Recorder" tab allows the user to choose the type of file and quality of each recording. There are four preset values of Video CD, Longer, Good, and DVD quality. Using the DVD quality setting on a 40GB drive partition would allow up to 9 hours of live TV recording. The "Stills Gallery" tab will allow the user to customize how each still image is captured, whether it be to the clipboard or to a file or both. The final tab shown is the "Schedule" tab which allows the user to schedule events such as recording a TV program or playing a movie. The scheduler is highly customizable and allows for repeat sessions or for one time events. Once we had all of our settings just right, it was time to put the TV application to use.
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The interface controls are captured in the image above. This is a convenient interface for shortcuts to all the above settings and more. Right clicking on the interface displays the light blue menu which shows all the different settings one can change for this interface and application.
