HTPC - TV Tuner Reviews
by Jarred Walton on December 7, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Mobile
Video Quality Comparison
So far, we've talked a lot about the video quality, and we've included some screenshots of the content produced by these cards. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a movie is worth a thousand images, right? Still images don't convey the true experience of using the cards, so we decided to make some video clips available for download for anyone who's interested.
I'm going to try something a bit unusual here, and rather than hosting the files on our server, I thought I'd give BitTorrent a shot. It's like distributed computing for bandwidth, right? If you've never used or heard of BitTorrent (where have you been hiding!?), the program works similar to a peer-to-peer file sharing application. The difference is that you first have to download a seed file, which tells your computer what server to connect to, along with a checksum for each piece of the file. You can then download pieces of the file in any order, and the end result is guaranteed to be correct. You also have to share what you've already downloaded with others; in other words, you have to upload.
If you want more information, here's a quick tutorial. My personal preference for BitTorrent clients is Azureus - one of the best user interfaces, and one of the few Java applications that I find to be compelling! If you're feeling generous, you can seed the torrent once you've finished the download. I'll probably take down the torrent server (which is running on my home network) in a month and update this page, but until then, the videos will be available. (E-mail me if you have problems.)
Download the Torrent
If you're not interested in seeing the video clips, there's no need to download these files. The total file size is 450 MB for the included videos and images, and I have samples of most of the recording modes. Note that the movie player used will have an impact on the quality of the output. Windows Media Player 10 (WMP10) and The Core Media Player (TCMP) both showed interlacing on the 1080i content, and this was not visible when using either FusionHDTV or MyHD software. Media Player Classic also showed 1080i without showing interlacing, although it may simply be discarding half of the frames and interpolating the missing lines. I also encountered periodic glitches playing the movies back outside the FusionHDTV and MyHD software. These glitches are not visible normally, as the bundled software apparently has better error correction.
So far, we've talked a lot about the video quality, and we've included some screenshots of the content produced by these cards. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a movie is worth a thousand images, right? Still images don't convey the true experience of using the cards, so we decided to make some video clips available for download for anyone who's interested.
I'm going to try something a bit unusual here, and rather than hosting the files on our server, I thought I'd give BitTorrent a shot. It's like distributed computing for bandwidth, right? If you've never used or heard of BitTorrent (where have you been hiding!?), the program works similar to a peer-to-peer file sharing application. The difference is that you first have to download a seed file, which tells your computer what server to connect to, along with a checksum for each piece of the file. You can then download pieces of the file in any order, and the end result is guaranteed to be correct. You also have to share what you've already downloaded with others; in other words, you have to upload.
If you want more information, here's a quick tutorial. My personal preference for BitTorrent clients is Azureus - one of the best user interfaces, and one of the few Java applications that I find to be compelling! If you're feeling generous, you can seed the torrent once you've finished the download. I'll probably take down the torrent server (which is running on my home network) in a month and update this page, but until then, the videos will be available. (E-mail me if you have problems.)
Download the Torrent
If you're not interested in seeing the video clips, there's no need to download these files. The total file size is 450 MB for the included videos and images, and I have samples of most of the recording modes. Note that the movie player used will have an impact on the quality of the output. Windows Media Player 10 (WMP10) and The Core Media Player (TCMP) both showed interlacing on the 1080i content, and this was not visible when using either FusionHDTV or MyHD software. Media Player Classic also showed 1080i without showing interlacing, although it may simply be discarding half of the frames and interpolating the missing lines. I also encountered periodic glitches playing the movies back outside the FusionHDTV and MyHD software. These glitches are not visible normally, as the bundled software apparently has better error correction.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
77 Comments
View All Comments
SynthDude2001 - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
I'm glad to see some attention being given to HDTV tuners; this article is a pretty good primer for anyone considering getting one.I've personally owned the MyHD card (and DVI daughtercard) since February and I'm extremely happy with it. I do often recommend the Fusion 5 to others though, based on its very reasonable price ($99 or so for the Lite version).
highlandsun - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
I've had a Dvico Fusion Gold-T for a few months, it was the immediate predecessor to the Fusion 5 card. So far I've only used it for analog reception since I haven't subscribed to digital service yet. (Comcast; there's no OTA reception here at all.) I installed everything and played with it for a short while, but have basically left it idle. The analog picture I get is much much grainier/noisier than on my Sony Wega TV, so I've not invested any more time into it. I did go so far as to rebuild my Linux kernel with the necessary Video4Linux drivers to get it working, but that's about it.I also have a Dazzle Firewire bridge, so I can use that to pipe the Sony's tuner output into the PC. That means I have to record in DV format, which is pretty disk hungry. I think now that I have an X2 3800+ I can probably transcode it to something else, but haven't tried it yet.
vijay333 - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
good to see that the Sapphire Theatrix (based on the ATI 550 chipset) that I bought in July/August is still the best with regards to analog captures :)NordicNINE - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
Since you're looking at doing a future article with a Nvidia IGP, I think this motherboard would be perfect. I just got a pair for the wife and my son and they seem great. Hi def audio & DVI out would make them perfect HDTV PC's. Too bad they don't make a socket 754 version to pair a Sempron with. Hopefully AMD will release a socket 939 Sempron soon. I'd def be interested in seeing how they'd handle it. I might need to get a couple more.JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
Funny you mention that. It's precisely the motherboard I had in mind, as most of the NVIDIA 61x0 boards don't have built-in DVI ports. I'm a little irked that the TV/Component out is a separate option, though. The board I have didn't include the adapters, so I'll be focusing on the DVI port.segagenesis - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
The quality is actually pretty impressive... its good to know its supported in BeyondTV also. Makes me really consider getting one when I build my PVR.segagenesis - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
Too bad I cant edit my previous post. I downloaded that torrent of the video feeds and all I can say about the analogue capture from the PowerColor Theatre is... WOW! I dont even think the good ol Happauge WinTV PVR's were that good!