Any other integrated cards than ATI? (1 Viewer)

[Jason_Gibson]

Does anyone other than ATI make integrated AGP video/tuner cards? Because I don't presently have a tuner card, _and_ would like a better video card, the All-In-Wonder products are looking quite attractive.

The cost of ATI's products seems a bit high to me though, so I'd be open to exploring some "lesser known" manufacturers.

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

You might want to rethink that. There is this extremely nice little program called Dscaler that does line doubling on the TV signal, and last I checked it didn't work with the All-in-wonder cards.

If you have the space for adding another PCI card in addition to a graphics card, you can just get any tuner card supported by Dscaler, there is info about that on the website.

If you're going to be watching TV on your computer and/or a projector then Dscaler is really something you want to look at.

http://www.dscaler.org

This also means you can upgrade your tuner and graphics card separately in the future.

The All-in-wonder cards are cool, but I really like Dscaler...

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Why would you want it as an integrated solution?

 

[Sami Kallio]

The picture quality of the tuner on ATI's isn't very good. I have AIW 9800 Pro and while the computer part is excellent I'm very unsatisfied with the tuner part. Go with Hauppauge tuner card.

 

[Jason_Gibson]

Thanks for the thoughts and sorry for my "return delay"; thought I had e-mail notification on here, but alas did not.

I have done some more research on the subject and am now reconsidering about the AIW. I will still have to get a new graphics card(one with DVI); it was because of this that I was leaning toward an AIW initially. Seems like it won't be any more cost efficient to go that route though, as I could probably pick up a decent vid card and tuner for the same price (or less) than an AIW.

I guess I just assumed that because ATI's graphics cards are so highly regarded that the same could be said for the AIW's.

Thanks Kimmo for the Dscaler tip; may not be able to use it though, as I am leaning heavily toward a Hauppague tuner.

Thanks again,
Jason

 

[Francois Caron]

Important note: DScaler supports the Hauppauge cards (BT878 chipset), but NOT the ATI tuner-equipped cards. Check out http://www.dscaler.org for a complete list of supported cards.

 

[Jason_Gibson]

Merci Francois. I have checked out the Dscaler site; unfortunately it does not support the Hauppauge 250, which I am most likely going to be getting as a capture card.

Its too bad ATI doesn't make a bit better tuner; would be nice to support a Canadian company.

Regards,
Jason

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Interestingly enough, I have an ATI TV-Wonder PCI, and that one has the BT chipset as well and so works fine with Dscaler...

Of course, it has nothing in common with the AIW-cards.

 

[Jason_Gibson]

So, can anyone clarify the difference between the tuner portion of the AIW cards and TV Wonder Cards? I think I read somewhere that the AIW cards use software to encode the TV signal (which would likely translate to your CPU working harder and lesser quality). Sounds like though, that the TV Wonder cards use hardware encoding.

So are the ATI cards really that inferior to the Hauppauge cards, or am I just being snowed by the "slick talk" about how wonderful these Hauppauge cards are?

Regards,
Jason

 

[Francois Caron]

The ATI TV Wonder card is an exception since just like many of the Hauppauge cards, it too has a BT878 chipset. DScaler is designed to access most BT878 equipped cards directly since that's the chipset most often used by the various capture card manufacturers out there.

The ATI AIW series of cards along with the Hauppauge 250 don't use the BT878 chipset. The Hauppauge PVR cards have a different chipset along with a built-in MPEG encoder, and the ATI AIW cards use a proprietary system that works off the AGP bus. DScaler doesn't support either of these hardware formats for now.

As for overall picture quality, I've yet to see either manufacturer receive rave reviews for their products. However, the biggest advantage in purchasing a separate tuner card is that they do cost substantially less than a graphics card with a built-in tuner. It's not unusual to find basic non-PVR tuner cards for under fifty bucks US or seventy bucks Canadian. As for the combo graphics/tuner cards such as the AIW series, the price difference with their non-tuner equipped counterparts is often much more than fifty bucks.

Jason, I have a spare Hauppauge WinTV card you could buy (includes audio, RF and composite video inputs, but no S-video input). PM me if you're interested.

 

[Chris]

Seriously, I have a hard time telling the difference between WinTV cards, ATI cards, and very cheap BT878 tuner cards (like K-World).

As for wholly integrated, be prepared.. a new one is coming with HD-Encoding capabilities..

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

I was seriously impressed with what happened when you watched TV line doubled on a monitor. That functionality puts even very cheap BT-based cards above the others in my book. Still, I suppose your mileage will vary.