WinTV-D opinions/experiences

[OddTSi]

I'm considering getting the WinTV-D, which is an HDTV PCI TV-Tuner (for those that don't know). Most of the broadcast channels in my area offer HDTV programming so I'm sure it would get a decent amount of use. I've read a couple reviews of the WinTV-D, but I want some feedback from people that use the product regularly.

The question I have is does anyone have any good/bad experience with this tuner that they want to share? How good is the HDTV picture quality? How good is the analog picture quality? Things like that.

Also, is there any other HDTV TV-Tuner out there that anyone knows of?

 

[Duvie]

I would like to know this as well....So just ht ecard is all you need??? No special lines to the house or special dish??? Does the newer ati AIW radeons 9600 and 9800's have the feature as well??? If so with the price I would think the 9600pro would be better. I really hated the features of the MMC 7.1 but 8.1 really has worked out all the bugs for me. I love it now.

 

[CZroe]

ATI does not decode HDTV broadcast. In fact, with most All-in-Wonder cards since the original, the image is somewhat fuzzy and out of focus-looking compared to most analog TVs. HDTV would take alot of bandwidth from the PCI bus, so it would make sense to use AGB8x for this 😉

Hmm, now that I've got a set capable of HDTV resolution, I wonder if this has component output to work as a tuner for that display? I know it only supports lower HDTV resolutions as a PC tuner (PCI bandwidth limitation?), but if it has component out it may be able to do more...

 

[OddTSi]

There's no special cable or dish needed to receive HDTV signals. Cable companies send the HDTV signal through the regular cable wire, Satellite companies through the regular satellite signal, and broadcast companies broadcast it through the air like regular analog signals.

And as far as I know the AIW tuners are just analog, so they won't be able to receive HDTV signals.

CZroe - From the specs that I read on Hauppauge's website, the WinTV-D can output only the 480p (or was it 480i?) to either the computer or to an external tv. There's another model, WinTV-HD, that can output up to 1080i to an external TV. How well this works I have no clue, which is why I'm hoping someone has hands-on experience with one of these cards so they can fill us all in.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: OddTSi
There's no special cable or dish needed to receive HDTV signals. Cable companies send the HDTV signal through the regular cable wire, Satellite companies through the regular satellite signal, and broadcast companies broadcast it through the air like regular analog signals.

And as far as I know the AIW tuners are just analog, so they won't be able to receive HDTV signals.

CZroe - From the specs that I read on Hauppauge's website, the WinTV-D can output only the 480p (or was it 480i?) to either the computer or to an external tv. There's another model, WinTV-HD, that can output up to 1080i to an external TV. How well this works I have no clue, which is why I'm hoping someone has hands-on experience with one of these cards so they can fill us all in.

Yeah, I just read that (Right after posting). Thnx! BTW, it says the -D card can only output S-VIDEO, so it can't be used as an HD tuner for an HD set. It looks like the -HD one uses a VGA-to-Component adapter, meaning you aren't connected to your monitor at the same time. I was planning on using an ATI card with ATI's component output so I'd need a switch or I'd have to use old analog VGA pass-through (Well, it's all analog and most component cables for game consoles can be modded to VGA cables so I guess it's the same thing).

The WinTV-HD outputs High Definition TV to a 16:9 HDTV monitor, for the ultimate home theater system! You can use either a YPbPr or HD15 output (two common high definition TV connections). The WinTV-HD comes with video output settings for many of the popular plasma monitors, plus native 1080i and 720p formats.