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INTRODUCTION
Unless you've been living in a cave, you know that watching HDTV is a
million times better than watching analog cable television. Most of our
readers here at NextGen Electronics are very familiar with HDTV technology,
as our Q&As are amongst the most read HDTV articles on the internet
today. We were lucky enough to catch a product from ATI which offers up
a very interesting solution for receiving HDTV signals - the HDTV Wonder.
What this product does is receive HDTV signals through the air (yes, HDTV
signals are indeed broadcast through the air) via an internal PCI card
and an external antenna. Through use of the ATI Multimedia Center, you
can actually completely control watching HDTV, as well as record it to
your hard drive, much like a digital video recorder would work in a traditional
setting.
key features / specs
The features of the unit:
- Complete Multifunction Tuning
HDTV WONDER will function as both a HDTV tuner and an analog tuner
- MULTIVIEW functions like picture-in-picture (PiP) right
on your monitor when paired with an ALL-IN-WONDER 9600 or above graphics
card.
- High definition Television does more than just increase
image quality. All DTV shows are broadcast in digital stereo sound and
most primetime content today comes in as Dolby digital surround sound.
- Free-to-air DTV Programming
 Now
you can receive DTV programming in more places across North America
than ever before, and at no cost. - There are currently 1,129 DTV stations on air in 202
markets in the USA, serving 99.35% of households.
- With an optional HDTV antenna, you can access this expanding
universe of DTV for free!
- Personal Video Recorder Capabilities
- Record TV programs to watch later, add TV clips to your
presentations
- Watch, pause and record live analog TV, DTV and HDTV
Burn HDTV to DVDs and CDs
There's a very nice set of features here that ATI
has included with this product. Specifically, I was very impressed with
the Personal Video Recorder capabilities, since you can record the TV
show at a later time, and even burn it to a DVD.
installation
Installing the card onto an nForce2 board actually wasn't
all that easy. Of course, popping it in was simple, but installing the
software yielded some bugs that we weren't happy with - things like "Cannot
Initialize Hardware" drove us nuts, and eventually, we just opted
to install the card on a P4 system, which went in without hassle. We do
have to say the software and drivers we tested the unit with were in beta
mode, so we don't expect ATI to release anything that would give us the
problems that we experienced.
Performance
The thing you have to remember about the HDTV Wonder is
that it's only as useful as the area in which you intend to use the product.
In the particular part of San Diego, California in which I live (and tested
the product), we are surrounded by mountains and have horrible reception
for over-the-air television signals, as well as terrible radio reception.
Using the HDTV Wonder was an exercise in futility at my
home. When I didn't receive any signals that were worth watching (and
we're talking worth watching AT ALL), I thought I had incorrectly installed
the antenna. I then checked it, and tried sifting through the channels
once more. Unfortunately, the same results came back using the very easy
to use software. Frustrated with this experience and off a tip from Ascully.com,
I visited a website called TitanTV.com which will actually lets you know
the signals you get over the air for HDTV. After registering and inputting
my address, they confirmed that my area was bunk: "No antenna is
currently recommended to adequately receive the stations you have selected".
I even had put in that the antenna was going to be on the roof, and gotten
the same answer! So, I learned a quick lesson ... a product can only be
as useful as the area in which it resides. Had I been in South San Diego,
where the broadcasts are being sent from, I would have been able to receive
ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and WB in High Def ... so before you look to buy this
product, it comes HIGHLY recommended you do some research and make sure
you can even receive the signal before you waste your money.
We did try the product in the Orange County, California
area and did receive the signals, and using the HDTV device was a lot
of fun. Again, I have to reiterate, if you do get a strong HDTV over-the-air
signal, the product works great ... there really is a night and day difference
between the regular analog television signal, and the HDTV signal you
get with the ATI HDTV Wonder card. Using the software included was very
easy ... so novices to using the ATI suite of software that controls television
shouldn't be scared off. Recording, changing channels, and other such
activities are easy to do and yield great results.
Overall Impressions
I have to admit that I am a little disappointed with the
ATI HDTV Wonder card. It's no slight against ATI, the card itself, or
anything involving performance that I'm disappointed with, but more of
the HDTV signals in my area. The card, for me at my home, doesn't work
and therefore isn't worth purchasing. For others, like my friend in Orange
County, he was able to watch a great HDTV signal on his computer. It should
be noted that it is possible to output the HDTV signal from this card
to another HDTV device - like a big screen television.
The performance (when working) of the ATI HDTV card was
very impressive, but I do have to knock it down a few notches because
the card's performance is highly volatile based on your living area. For
places like mine, it should probably get a zero ... for other people,
it would get a perfect score. The important thing to do if you really
are interested in getting free over-the-air HDTV signals is to run over
to TitanTV.com, check your area, and see if this product will work for
you. If it will, then it comes recommended for purchase because there's
no way to describe the picture difference on your computer between the
regular analog signal (even from a cable) and the HDTV signal. The software
suite is very impressive, and I think the ability to record and burn is
one of the more innovative things you can do with this product.
The coolness of the HDTV Wonder gets a high score, because
if you are able to get HDTV signals (for free) through your computer,
people will definitely be curious to know how you pulled off the trick,
and want to do it on their own computer. The usefulness gets a mid-grade
score, as many simply get the HDTV signal through their cable box now,
and the longevity gets another mid-range score as many feel that over-the-air
HDTV broadcasts will become obsolete as HDTV over cable becomes more and
more popular and mainstream.
Overall, the ATI HDTV Wonder is a great card if it works
in the area you intend it to work in. You *must* do some research before
buying this product, otherwise, you'll be shelling out money for a useless
product.
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8 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
80%
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8 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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7 / 10 |
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7 / 10 |
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8.0 / 10 |
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