Theatrix 550 Problems

[TheMafioso]

Hi Guys,

I have recently bought a second hand sapphire Theatrix 550 from Ebay.
The problems start right from the driver CD.The manual says to install MMC from the driver CD after installing the drivers.So i installed the drivers but the CD dosen't contain MMC software.
So I've installed powercinema(supplied with the card), but i get only black and white picture of only 2 channels.I've also tried running the card with Windows MCE 2005, but it says that TV Tuner Hardware is not meant for my country.
Upon googling, i've found at some places some people have mentioned that this card is not meant for users in PAL country.But i checked the sapphire website, it mentions this card support both PAL and NTSC.
So, can anyone confirm, if this card works with PAL standard ?
Or could it be that seller has supplied me with a defective card ?

Regards

[Mike K]

Hi!

I'm pretty sure Sapphire only sold PAL cards, since we sell NTSC in NA ourself. To be sure, it's easy to determine NTSC hardware. The antennae connectors have windings, whereas PAL cards have the "normal" glossy plug connections.
MMC support was planned initially, that's why Sapphire added it to their manual. But it never went on the CD, sorry for the confusion there.
What is "your country" btw.? I can't help you if you don't tell me :-)...

[TheMafioso]

Originally Posted by Mike K

Hi!

I'm pretty sure Sapphire only sold PAL cards, since we sell NTSC in NA ourself. To be sure, it's easy to determine NTSC hardware. The antennae connectors have windings, whereas PAL cards have the "normal" glossy plug connections.
MMC support was planned initially, that's why Sapphire added it to their manual. But it never went on the CD, sorry for the confusion there.
What is "your country" btw.? I can't help you if you don't tell me :-)...

Hi Mike, thanx for replying.
I'm from India, but the card was bought from US and the antennae connectors have windings .
I was aware to check for NTSC/PAL before you buy a TV Tuner, but all shopping websites and sapphire's own website mentions(and they still too) that this card supports both PAL and NTSC standards.I have the card which is similar (the only difference being the circuit board is purple in color instead of blue as shown) to shown in this listing
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16815117603.
This listing also mentions this card supports both NTSC and PAL.
Is there any other way to check if this card support PAL ?

[Mike K]

Hi!

The AiW supports either PAL/Secam or NTSC. The tuner is different, so there is no way to "hack" it somehow. Sorry to dissapoint you, but I can't help. You definately have a NTSC version.

[Cooper42020]

Originally Posted by Mike K

Hi!
I'm pretty sure Sapphire only sold PAL cards, since we sell NTSC in NA ourself....

Spphire does sell a NTSC card. I've sold a few Sapphire Theatrix Cards myself. I've also dealt with the PowerColor Theater 550 Pro, which in the beginning was aparently the actual ATI Card, as each manufacturer has a different colour PCB.

ATI/PowerColor is Purple, Sapphire is a Teal colour, and TUL (which is PowerColor's parent company) was red.

Interesting enough how PowerColor was the first to market, even before ATI, but used the exact color PCB as ATI.

I waited months for this card, and my first supplier (ASI) had only the PowerColor card in limited quantity. $130CDN back in September, now only $98!

I am just hoping I can get my card working again, a month with no resolve to my problem