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Do you really need an expensive all-in-wonder card?

HeXploiT

HeXploiT

Diamond Member
Do you really need an expensive all in wonder card to get all the benefits of tv on your pc?
I'm already using a Radeon 9500pro oced to 9800 speeds that i am more than happy with. Wouldn't it just be wiser for me to buy a cheap pci tv card and use it alongside my current Radeon? Can this be done without missing out on any good features?
 
aiw cards are usually slower than non aiw cards. besides, with the money you save you can buy your own add in pci tv tuner.
 
Yes.

Actually, I, and a lot of other people would recommend getting a TV tuner card that isn't onboard your video card, as this way if you decide to switch one or the other then you won't have to give up the other as well like you would with an AIW card. That, and you can easily find a tuner card that is better than that onboard the AIW cards for about the same or maybe even less than what AIW card cost over the normal version of that video card.
 
Ok aside from that, it's still ok to get even the cheap ones on ebay that are like $20? I mean are there any pitfalls to a $20 pci tuner when compared to a more expensive one? Any other important information i should know before making a purchase?
 
Dont get an A-I-W Fisrt if you ever upgrade youll lose the tv tuner, second they run slower then there non A-I-W counterparts and also they are expensive
 
I'm actually not planning on upgrading i'm planning on buying an el'cheapo pci tv tuner unless some convinces me that i shouldn't.
 
aiw cards are usually slower than non aiw cards.
Click to expand...

Not true anymore, the newer AIW cards are built with the same specs as thier non-AIW counterparts.

ATI changed that back after the AIW 8500DV IIRC, because of the response from people who wanted
good performance from both audiovisual apps and gaming performance.

You can run a seperate tuner card alongside an AIW, and if you use the ATI versions (TV Wonder, or HDTV Wonder)
you can even enabled more advanced features like Picture in Picture or Dual TV displays.

Most poeple don't switch out their video or tuner card every year, and there are some advantages to having
all the components for your setup on one card.

Perry404, in your case it would be wiser to just get a separate PCI tuner card, since you already have a good ATI card,
you might consider one of their solutions.

Please let us know what you decide upon.
 
Ug! I didn't know the hdtv cards were so expensive. I assumed they were all hdtv capable by now. $130.00!? All they do is decode a little data for crying out loud.
 
130 is fairly cheap for a hdtv card. if i remmeber correctly, the ati hdtv pci add in card with remote costs $200. they do a lot more than decode a little data. they decode roughly 4x the data of a normal tv tuner card (640x480 v.s. 1960[i think it's 1960]x1080) so the processor has to be fairly powerful.
 
Originally posted by: mwmorph
130 is fairly cheap for a hdtv card. if i remmeber correctly, the ati hdtv pci add in card with remote costs $200. they do a lot more than decode a little data. they decode roughly 4x the data of a normal tv tuner card (640x480 v.s. 1960[i think it's 1960]x1080) so the processor has to be fairly powerful.
Click to expand...



Comparatively speaking, even a Gforce II can do more work than a hdtv card needs to. I think the public is being ripped off. Tv as far as i know is less than 640x480 and even hdtv is only on the order of something like 800x600 unless i am seriously mistaken.
 
Tv as far as i know is less than 640x480 and even hdtv is only on the order of something like 800x600 unless i am seriously mistaken.
Click to expand...

You're seriously mistaken😉

1080i = 1920x1080 for instance
 
normal tv signal
480 scan lines x 720 pixels/line = 345,600 pixels

hdtv signal
1,080 scan lines x 1,920 pixels/line = 2,073,600 pixels

that's a lot of pixels to decode. 6x means a 6x more powerful chip.
 
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