New ATI Tuner Card.

[exAndrzej]

...no attribution...

SORRY !!!

I know that you have been in here banging through issues as much as anyone - and I really appreciate the effort you have made

However, I was wading through lots of pages and pretty much attributed the queries to the first instance I found - which may not have been you

Your latest queries have been added to the list - and I will make sure they are correctly flagged

[exAndrzej]

...silly questions...

Given that it is April 1st - I will assume this is humour - even though it is likely to get me killed by the rest of the TV Tuner Thread Massive !

(Is that what they call a killing joke ?)

(multiple) PAL cards are now with the European press - and the major system builders - so I would expect the stores to be selling them any day now

[dutchfudge]

I would also like to see two things in addition to the compiled list,

a frame drop counter, either in the software or perhaps even hardware for last capture,

and the ability to use the hardware encoder not only in capturing but also in transcoding video, such as exporting to mpeg2 after editing...

they would have to add multi-pass encoding to get great quality mpeg2s out of this. An Mpeg2 accelerator would be cool.

Is there enough frame buffer on board to do realtime multi-pass? Does multi-pass look beyond one GOP/set of IBP frames to optimize entire video for size/quality etc?

[e.lectronick]

e.lectronick : Need to imlement variable capture sizes: 720x480, 704x480, 640x480, 352x240, 352x480,

Just to clarify, I don't insist on these particular resolutions, but only used them as examples. I'd like to see the ability to choose any resolution desired. Who knows what reasons there might be for the end user to want to capture at 712x345 or whatever. Probably none, but it'd be useful for the user to be the boss when it comes to configuration, and not the card.

-Erik.

[duren]

For anyone that's interested, I have a temporary fix for the capture location problem... I thought of linux, and then mounted my second hard drive under the "my videos" and "recorded tv shows" folders that PowerCinema insists on. So it think it's saving in those folders when it's really saving to my 200GB drive.

This can be achieved through the administrative tools in the control panel under computer management. Right click the drive, choose Change paths & drive letters and add the paths I mentioned if you are interested. Make sure the folders are empty before you do it (including hidden files)

[e.lectronick]

Duren,

That's a pretty slick idea. I wonder if it's implementable on W2K?

-Erik

[spacded]

(multiple) PAL cards are now with the European press - and the major system builders - so I would expect the stores to be selling them any day now

THATS MUSIC TO MY EARS DUDE!!!!! im away next week so hopefully the following weekend finally get my mitts on one!!

[satnav4]

THATS MUSIC TO MY EARS DUDE!!!!! im away next week so hopefully the following weekend finally get my mitts on one!!

I speak for everyone in saying---we're happy you're happy.

S.

[duren]

e.lectronick, is that even relevant? I thought the card required XP /w SP2 / MCE..

Andrzej, I have a general question regarding this card... Why release it when the software is so weak? MMC was tweaked pretty well and worked pretty good. With this card I'm back in the stone age, despite its remarkable abilities. Because it's so new, old VfW application don't work with it well, so right now I'm forced pretty much to two programs which support it's hardware encoding features.

I really like ATI products but I have to say, everytime I get one, end up disappointed for exactly the same reason, software, whether it be rage 128 driver issues or mmc missing features or something else. Granted bugs need to get worked out, features added, but by the time this happens, one moves to another product, so I guess what I'm trying to say is...

PLEASE, make this card worthwhile for those who have it, get your team release a new PowerCinema every so often with some updates rather than making us wait months.

We can all help make this card better, but only if ATI allows us to.

Considering the step backward in software, is there a ballpark date you can give us to expect some sort of an update?

again, I don't mean to be rude, just a little disappointed that I can't unleash the power of this beast yet :|

[wenis]

Is a pci-e version expected out any time soon? I saw one in those original photos of this thread.

[spacded]

I speak for everyone in saying---we're happy you're happy.

S.

when i finally get one i promise to give an HONEST assessment of how it worx in MCE2005!

[e.lectronick]

e.lectronick, is that even relevant? I thought the card required XP /w SP2 / MCE..

Duren,

According to the Sapphire website, the Theatrix supports W2K, and XP.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/awards/image/media_251.pdf

However, according to ATI's page, it's only XP and MCE. I dunno for certain, until I can test it. If anything, this is a lesson in not taking anything at face value. Moreover, one person's experience hasn't always been the same as another person's where this card is concerned. I'm gonna give it the ol' college try.

Which brings me to my announcement that I've bitten the bullet and purchased a Theatrix just for yuks (did I sell out or what? ). I've got W2K Service pack 4 installed, and I'll test it out for myself and see what further I can contribute to the effort by my tinkering.

-Erik.

[satnav4]

...HONEST assessment ...

Finally, honesty!

[exAndrzej]

...PCI-Express version...

U gotta luv that name

I have sampled PCI and PCI-Express cards to press in Northern Europe

Dadmag is sitting on one as I type...

...so you can expect it to be available on eBay shortly

[exAndrzej]

...change that question...

Done !

Compiling final final list now for transmission to the mothership*









*Toronto

[exAndrzej]

...everyone is different...

Noted !