New ATI Tuner Card.

[rpertusio]

Oops same video quality... What a disappointment
Just to be clear what do you mean by video quality...

I was referring to the video quality of NTSC cable on a 17" monitor, viewing a variety of channels. Video on an external device was NOT tested.

Remember, everyone, just because we found the video quality not so great, there COULD be other factors involved. It is possible that the signal quality is poor to begin with and the Theatrix can't fix it up. Some people have dirty lines, splitters, dog eating coax, etc. Also remember that it is NTSC video... it's not going to be ATSC quality.

Please do wait for others to post their impressions before turning away from the Theatrix. Other people could be having an entirely different experience.

- rp

[Vric]

Rough measurement is about 3 feet, possibly an inch or two longer

ishh.. Short. Will need an extention cable.

Thanks

I will probably order one this week. I need a TV Tuner anyway. So revolution or only evolution, if it's better than the old ATI Tuner...

Btw, is this card work with NVidia video card ? I know most of them do, but the ATI HDTV card doesn't (driver bug... again...)

[Paul_T]

I installed the Sapphire Theatrix yesterday and have some initial impressions to share.

Hardware and driver install was problem free. The user manual states that the card is supported by MMC 9.04 but it's not included on the install CD. I then proceeded to install PowerCinema only to discover the CD Keys were not in the box. My dealer was able to confirm this (cough) oversite and was able to provide them as another customer had the same problem and luckily had obtained them from Sapphire before the weekend.

Now the nightmare begins. While others may have a better experience I can say from my experience that PowerCinema is a slow, buggy, unweildy piece of c#*p. It looses the channel lineup on a regular basis and requires a rescan which is painfully slow. It is really unuseable for me at this point.

I tried MMC 9.03 in the off chance it would work but while it installed and channel scanned OK, there was no video.

Video quality is a step up from my TvWonder Pro. The biggest improvement is in full screen mode on my monitor and appears at least equal to my 32 inch TV. I can't comment on the TV out as I have no output setup at this time.

That's it in a nutshell.

[neutron]

Now the nightmare begins. .

Thx Paul for your information

Could you share with us what PC etc you are using.

I hope that you manage to get things running

[ciregnol]

I am still testing mine. I don't have a VIVO pigtail for my GeForce 5950 Ultra, so am waiting for the one I ordered from Chumbo.com to arrive so I can test the video out.

I had no installation issues (other than the fact that the manual says it is compatible with MMC 9.04, which is no where to be found). MMC 9.03 is a bit buggy, and video gets chopped or is black, so I've dropped trying it and sticking with Win XP MCE for now, until I figure out how to get it to work with Media Portal (any tips on this would be appreciated).

TV quality looks pretty good on my 19" monitor, although still not as good as my $100 TV. I've read in other forums that the key is how it looks on TV when you output it back, so as soon as my VIVO adapter arrives, I'll test it out.

I've tried both Avermedia M150 and Hauppauge PVR-250. It's been almost a year since I bought, tested, got disappointed in the quality of, and then returned those two cards. Going from memory, the Theater 550 does seem better quality.

I do notice that there is a very slight "stuttering" while watching live TV. I'm not sure if this is an affect of the video being recorded out to the hard drive while watching, or what.

I am using Win XP MCE, with an Athlon XP 2500+. I will try to get Dscaler or something that does not record video to HD to see if the image improves in smoothness.

My first impression is that I'm not amazed, like I was hoping, but I'd say it is better than my previous two PVR cards. The real test will be this week when I get my VIVO. I am counting on ATI's Theater 550 Pro chip being as good as they say it is. Stay tuned. I probably won't have the VIVO until Wed, so it will be Wed or Thur before I can test outputting out to TV.

[Vric]

So Basicly it's like any ATI Product, great hardware, buggy software.

Anyone used WinDVR software ? this is what I use for recording with my old ATI TV Tuner.

[neutron]

I would like to hear Myth's impressions as he was the one started this thread.
Did his PC crash?

[oozyone0]

were can we get this card in the uk plez !!

[exAndrzej]

...questions...

Checking !

[kpxgq]

if anyone has this card can also review the S-Video and COmposite inputs, it would be greatly appreciated....

I live in a dorm room and opted not to have a TV for space reasons. I have a 19" CRT that i use for everything. RIght now my computer has a X800 Pro video card and an ATI TV Wonder Pro with the Phillips chip. I watch TV on my PC and also use the S-Video input on the TV Wonder to play my PS2 and Gamecube on the PC Monitor... Video Quality is absolutely horrendous but I deal with it. Im looking for a better solution

[blakev]

were can we get this card in the uk plez !!

Got a reply from scan this saft (http://www.scan.co.uk/), they say:
"Yes but we have no ETA from suppliers as yet, best guess would be around the end of next week."
This means either the Friday, Feb 4th, they'll know when it's being shipped to the UK, or they'll have it (the theatrix...). I assume this add-in card will have a PAL/NTSC tuner. As for my poor secam, whimper, wail, whine...

[oozyone0]

Got a reply from scan this saft (http://www.scan.co.uk/), they say:
"Yes but we have no ETA from suppliers as yet, best guess would be around the end of next week."
This means either the Friday, Feb 4th, they'll know when it's being shipped to the UK, or they'll have it (the theatrix...). I assume this add-in card will have a PAL/NTSC tuner. As for my poor secam, whimper, wail, whine...

thanks are kid i keep me eyes open

[ciregnol]

More impressions:

I viewed some recorded video and was very impressed with the quality. As far as I am concerned it was nearly flawless. No artifacts, no stuttering, just pure, crisp picture.

Very nice. Looking forward to outputting to TV and seeing how that looks.

[ciregnol]

Andrzej,

Do you know if ATI is planning a dual tuner version solution using the Theater 550 Pro? I saw that Nvidia has released thiers, and Hauppague has one as well. I believe that the Theater 550 Pro is the superior product, but the dual tuner cards certainly have their advantages.

[exAndrzej]

...planning...

Sorry - love to reply to that kind of question - but policy here is that we don't comment on future products

[ciregnol]

I'll take that as a yes