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.
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JarredWalton - Thursday, December 8, 2005 - link
The only system it impacted was the MyHD for analog. I did perform most of the tests at stock clock speeds. But yeah, I should probably make that note. (The X2 was overclocked to 2.6 GHz as well, if you didn't notice, but I only tested the MyHD card in that system.)The Boston Dangler - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
"While the Toshiba 46H84 is in fact a 1080i display - or really a 1920x540p display, if I understand it correctly"The display has 1080 horizontal lines of resolution, scanned alternately. 1080i format signals carry data roughly equivalent of 540p.
My opinion: Having owned both 1080i and 720p sets, and watching programs in their native formats, the difference in pic quality is entirely upon the display. There are both formats present in OTA/Cable, something always gets converted. Either format can provide great pics, even after conversion. It's all about the display.
"The onscreen Guide also doesn't work for me - it shows up blank - but this appears to be at least partly Comcast's fault. The FusionHDTV software is supposed to read the EPG information from the channel stream, but Comcast isn't including that in my area, as far as I can tell. (This was a problem on the MyHD as well, so that lends credence to the assumption that the local Comcast provider is to blame.)"
EPG is usually considered an extra service by content providers, thus a cable box and subscription are required. There are online alternatives, sometimes with handy plugins.
slashdotcomma - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
What's the lag between signal and display? Would I be able to use any of these tuner cards and play on a gamecube,xbox(360),ps2/3, etc?JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
I'm not quite sure what you mean. Are you trying to capture videos of your gameplay? Or just get the game console input onto your computer screen? Tuning to digital channels introduces about a two second lag, and on analog channels it's more like a .5 second to one second lag. Obviously, neither of those would be acceptable for gaming. It sounds like what you really want would be some form of transcoder?Note: it never even occurred to me to test this aspect of the cards, and I don't have a game console with which to test it. Sorry -- I'm a PC gamer. :-)
slashdotcomma - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
Yes, I'm trying to get the game console input onto my computer screen. Lag for changing channels and lag between signal and screen is slightly different. For example, I played around with an AIW-9800 pro and changing channels would introduce a slight lag, but playing game consoles on it was beautiful. No lag, and everything was smooth as silk (p42.8c, 1gb ram, don't remember which MMC v9 it was). Actually it doesn't even have to be a video console, try plugging in a dvd player or vcr and try moving around in the menu. I wish more reviewers would add this to part of their reviews. I plan on playing around with Dscaler if I get the chance. There are ways to hook up game consoles to computer screen but you lose the recording ability and in some cases DVI support. Do you have a chance to play around with the older tv tuners as well?JarredWalton - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
I don't have any older TV Tuners, though Anand might still have some of them. I'll have to see if I can get a game console over to try out in this fashion. I might actually have an N64 boxed up somewhere. I use PCs for DVD watching, and I don't have a VCR either, so it's going to take a bit of work. I do know that if I tune in the Comcast box to an analog channel and at least one or two of the tuners (I don't recall which), they were not in sync with each other; the Comcast was slightly ahead all the time, so it seems like lag is present.sprockkets - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
I record for example LOST from the s-video out on my HDTV receiver, and it goes to a Lite On recorder on highest quality, and if you see it you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. Or, you can simply record 720x480 at a high quality via s-video in and get the same results on these cards. Of course that means setting up two devices.Does HDTV recording from these cards preserve the Dolby Digital 5.1 signal as well?
segagenesis - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
Yes, they should. If you have ever checked out any of the Lost tv torrents you would be familiar that this is possible also ;)vailr - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
ATI's MMC v. 9.10 may work with 550 tuner cards, according to this thread:http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33835...">ATI words on MMC 9.10: Dual-tuner MulTView + 550 support!
Combined with their Gemstar GuidePlus software, would enable an electronic program guide.
Note: MMC 9.10 is not currently available on ATI's web site; only on the software CD provided with their latest XT180AIW card.
vailr - Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - link
The link is for the older PCI version, not the currently reviewed PCIe version.