New ATI Tuner Card.

[neutron]

apparently it will cost $110 to ship to the uk from the US er. When will it be here in the uk so i can order one?

check http://www.realtimeonline.co.uk/Sear...Words=theatrix

now if someone could tell me were to get this card in the Netherlands haha..

greetings,

Neutron

[nvening]

is that site ok? Well i dont need it just yet so mabe ill wait to see it on ebuyer, scan, microdirect etc

[Bilar Crais]

Has anyone used one yet? I wonder how it compares to the Hauppauge PVR-250? Further, has anyone tried it with BTV 3.5.1?

[wildroo]

For example, the world's first PCI-Express...
...however, the Theatre 550 products have been produced for North America first which means that there is a slight delay while the PAL version is finalised

Andrzej,

Will the Theatre 550 be available for the PCI-Express 1 slot? (I ask this since most MOBOs only have one PCI-Express x16 and three x1 slots.) While I know the standard PCI card will be available I'd prephere to try to find one made for the PCI-E x1 so the older PCI slots could be used with my other old cards I currently use. (By what I understand even the x1 slots transfer informastion quicker then the old PCI slots.) Also I'm in the US so no worries on when it comes out first.

What kind of programming does it have? Any TiVo-esque features in it (such as listing the movies you have in a certain folder/folders, ease of scheduling movies to record, etc?)

Also ( as I'd think it would be) does it record in standard Mpeg2 format?Basically I want to be able to feed a videosource such as my camera or VCR (old tapes) into it and not have to worry about it being in a weird codec other programs can't understand.

Thanks for any info!
Antonio R.

[myth]

Andrzej,

Will the Theatre 550 be available for the PCI-Express 1 slot? (I ask this since most MOBOs only have one PCI-Express x16 and three x1 slots.) While I know the standard PCI card will be available I'd prephere to try to find one made for the PCI-E x1 so the older PCI slots could be used with my other old cards I currently use. (By what I understand even the x1 slots transfer informastion quicker then the old PCI slots.) Also I'm in the US so no worries on when it comes out first.

What kind of programming does it have? Any TiVo-esque features in it (such as listing the movies you have in a certain folder/folders, ease of scheduling movies to record, etc?)

Also ( as I'd think it would be) does it record in standard Mpeg2 format?Basically I want to be able to feed a videosource such as my camera or VCR (old tapes) into it and not have to worry about it being in a weird codec other programs can't understand.

Thanks for any info!
Antonio R.

Did you read the thread and the links I provided? If you did you would know its PCI and PCI-e not the 16 x slot thats for your gpu but the others... And yes it can encode to mpeg2, thats why it has an mpeg2 encoder chip... As for easy recordings that depends on your software choice... But there interface is always designed for the peeps with limited intelligence so you should be fine! Heck, my mother will be able to use it!

[nvening]

ATi should make a freeview one

[wildroo]

... But there interface is always designed for the peeps with limited intelligence so you should be fine!!

*clutches chest* Oh- oh you got me! IT Hurts! It hurts!

Did you read the thread and the links I provided? If you did you would know its PCI and PCI-e not the 16 x slot thats for your gpu but the others...

Aparently you don't realize there is more then just two types of PCI-Express: you've got X1, X4, X8, X16, and then you still have to consider the older PCI ports. just saying ""PCI Express" doesn't tell for sure which one it will be for and I've yet to hear when the other ports will begin to surface. On top of that I wanted to know if it was only an addon card or if it is going to be an All-in-Wonder card as well.
It's always better to be safe then sorry, especially when computer parts usually have less then a five year lifespan.

And yes it can encode to mpeg2, thats why it has an mpeg2 encoder chip...

The reason for this question is the word "standard"; I've had a couple of files using mpeg2 that played well on my PC, but when I went to burn them they were using an altered codec that was not being recognized by my burning program (Nero). If the encoder uses a special codec then it would do no good to try to feed video from a VRC to convert old tapes to DVDs.

As for easy recordings that depends on your software choice... But there interface is always designed for the peeps with limited intelligence so you should be fine! Heck, my mother will be able to use it!

The software they provide SHOULD be the software you choose to use.
If I may ask, have you ever Used a TiVo? If not then the statement about it will not make any sense. If you have then you would understand why I asked the question; The TiVo creates a very easy and intuitive interface and that alone gave it great popularity in the United States.

If you have not used a TiVo then imagine this;

1re-recorded videos: An interface that lists all the videos you have already recorded and can list them Alaphabetically, by record date, and by "expertation date" (When it will be automatically deleted to free up space if you set it to). Setting it to list alphabetically lists the show name then organizes from there by the record date. You can also delete the old videos you no longer want from this menue.

2: Scheduling: You can get a "season pass" on shows and choose for it to record either all of the shows (no matter what channel they're on) or only the new shows that air for the first time. You can also "prioritize" the list so if there is a scheduling conflict the ones you think more important are recorded instead of the ones that are less important. Also you can search for shows based on keywords that are listed in the show name and description, channel and time shows air, etc.

3: 30 Second Skip: Seriously, this makes using a PVR so much better; just push a button two or three times and the comercials are bypassed. Use a "back" button to go back 15 seconds if oyu went too far.

4: Make the ATI program it's own "Mediacenter" tool.
Think about it; ATI advertises they have mediacenter capabilites, why not go all the way so people don't have to buy the "Mediacenter 2005" deal; ATI get paid by people who buy the card, not Microsoft, so why follow them? Incorperate the ability to play the radio, DVD's and ISO files from the same menue you control the tv with.

Enough from me on this though; I've got tons of ideas on making a true "mediacenter" and it'd take too long to write out how they all would work.

[wildroo]

Sorry if my last post seems a little rude folks; I'm in the last two weeks before my job ends due to the location losing our contract and I'm a bit stressed because there are few jobs available where I live.

My main question is when will a PCI-E card be released and by who or are they being released at the same time as the standard PCI cards? (the ones I'm seeing are standard PCI.)

[valhalla]

here is the pcie version of the card. do you think it will be better than the pci version/use all that bandwidth?
http://www.gecube.com/mbu/productCategory.php?proID=64

well if u dont have a job at least you will have top notch cable reception to watch on your pc

[exAndrzej]

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay - but we have a multimedia team here in Europe and the main one in Canada - so checking replies can be 'fun' with the time zones !

The question I was chasing focused on the use of dual Theatre 550 Pro boards in a single PCI-Express system

I have been told that you can definitely connect more than one of these cards to a PCI-Express system using PCIe 1x slots

No one has tried more than 2 yet

If anyone has contacts at Intel, it might be interesting to see what they say about the maximum saturation point for the PCIe bus

However, in a 'regular' system - Dual PCIe TV products present no problem

[blakev]

I have been told that you can definitely connect more than one of these cards to a PCI-Express system using PCIe 1x slots

Andrzej, sorry to keep banging away: do you have any visibility as to when we'll see a chip with the three formats: Pal, Secam and NTSC.

Also curious: is the PCI-express card pluggable to a regular PCI slot? Or do I really need to change my ASUS P4S333 motherboard now to take advantage of PCI-e? Of course, I can buy the PCI only, I guess

Caution folks: there are nounits with PAL/NTSC chips out as we speak. All on-line-tailers are stocking units with the NTSC only chip. On the telephone I learned that Komplett in Sweden and Norway are accepting orders for shipments for the PAL/NTSC chip in mid march at the best.

Regarding GECube: how could they have integrated the PAL/NTSC chip when it isn't even shipped yet?

[neutron]

What do you mean by PAL/NTSC/Secam
the tuner itself?
or the possibility to capture these standard via composite/S-VHS input?

[nvening]

i just wish they would make a freeview one!

[ciregnol]

Just got my Sapphire Theatrix Theater 550 Pro card...shutting computer down now to install. I'll post again once I've had a chance to play with it a bit and check it out.

[exAndrzej]

...Sapphire Theatrix Theater 550 Pro card...

Is it OK to ask which country/supplier ?

Useful for me to know - just in case anyone asks where they should place their order for early delivery

[Rys]

i just wish they would make a freeview one!

It'll tune DVB-T. I forgot to mention that when I went to see ATI in London last year.

Rys