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hdtv tuner posts

The Media Center DirecTV HDPC-20 caught in action

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Nov 19th 2008 at 1:48PM Featured Story


Microsoft invited us, with a few others, to tour the eHome team office and lab's and of all the great things we saw -- pictured in the gallery -- the one that got us the most excited was to see the rumored DirecTV HDPC-20 USB tuner in action. Our dreams were a little dashed though, as we were reminded on numerous occasions that although Microsoft tests lots of hardware, not everything makes it to market. So in other words, the presence of any hardware in the lab is no way an announcement of future products. But this here tuner wasn't the only thing we saw, as there were even a few indications that DISH Network was being tested as well, and while we did see DISH multi-switches and a DISH TV screen up on a Media Center PC, we didn't see any specific DISH equipment connected to Media Center. This could mean the tuners are internal or maybe the tuners were just cleared out before we came through. More pictures of the HDPC-20 in action after the jump.

Continue reading The Media Center DirecTV HDPC-20 caught in action

DViCO launches PCIe-based FusionHDTV7 dual HDTV tuner card

by Darren Murph posted May 3rd 2008 at 5:44AM


Heads-up, OTA lovers. DViCO has just announced the formal launch of its FusionHDTV7 PCI-Express card, which claims to be the "world's first dual HD (digital or QAM) tuner PCIe card." The device is designed to pick up digital (ATSC) / analog (NTSC) terrestrial signals, and the twin silicon tuners also provide picture-in-picture support as well as the ability to watch and / or record two high-definition broadcasts simultaneously. And at just $140 (available now), we have a feeling this one's going to be a fan favorite.

[Via TVSquad]

Hauppauge intros WinTV-HVR-950Q USB tuner with Clear-QAM support

by Darren Murph posted Jan 7th 2008 at 2:52PM


Been on the lookout for a USB TV tuner with NTSC, ATSC and Clear-QAM support? Look no further than Hauppauge, which has proudly introduced the WinTV-HVR-950Q to handle all of the aforementioned needs. Additionally, the stick comes bundled with a credit card-sized remote capable of controlling the action from any given sofa, and it obviously supports the firm's SoftPVR and SoftMCE software MPEG-2 encoders. We know you're eager to cram one in your laptop and hop on a jet to a land far, far away, so you'll be quite pleased to know that it ships this month for $99.

Pinnacle intros PCTV HD Ultimate USB tuner

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 20th 2007 at 2:06PM

It looks like those that weren't satisfied with Pinnacle's previous USB HDTV tuners for one reason or another now have yet another option to consider, with the company recently introducing its new and improved PCTV HD Ultimate USB stick. As before, this one packs an antenna to pick up ATSC digital TV signals, and it'll of course pick up plain old NTSC analog TV if you so choose. Unlike previous devices from the company, however, you apparently won't have to install any software to use it, and you'll even get some built-in flash storage to record up to two hours worth of content. If that's enough to push you over the edge, you'll be able to grab one of 'em next month for for $130, with a desktop version also available for $80.

Inkel's portable AirwayHD tuner compresses files on its own

by Darren Murph posted Aug 17th 2007 at 5:10PM


Granted, portable OTA tuners are a dime a dozen these days, but an interesting twist has been introduced by Korea's Inkel. The AirwayHD manages to boast a diminutive size while internalizing the process of converting OTA streams into manageable files using the H.264 codec. Reportedly, the device can compress files to one-fourth of their original size without any PC software intervention, and it should make life pretty easy for those hoping to view recorded content on their portable media player. No word on a release date just yet, but it'll only run you about ?100,000 ($106) when it eventually lands. Check out a few more pics after the break.

Continue reading Inkel's portable AirwayHD tuner compresses files on its own

Say hello to Godzilla: 11 tuner HDTV DVR

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 19th 2006 at 1:07PM


Remember that time, even with a dual tuner DVR, where there were three things on that you wanted to watch at once? The guys at Snapstream never have that problem. They put together this 11 tuner box and were kind enough to provide all the info necessary to build your own, assuming you've got 11 HDTV channels in your area and enough storage.

My puny Motorola box just doesn't have the same shine now that I've seen this. It's not an all-channel recorder, but it's close. Interestingly, they chose Windows XP over Media Center to run this box including 4 Fusion HDTV5 USB tuners, three Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500s, and one PowerColor PCIe x1 Theater 550 Pro. Wow.

[Via digg]




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