PC DTV With WinTV-Digital Receiver Board
Hauppauge Digital, Inc., the leading developer and manufacturer of analog and digital video, TV and data broadcast receiver products for personal computers, has announced the launch of a digital TV receiver board, WinTV-D, which enables PCs to receive a full range of broadcast services in the United States, including both digital and analog television and high-speed data transmissions in 480i. WinTV-D is the first digital TV receiver board for PCs, allowing the reception, decoding and display of all 18 ATSC digital TV formats in a resizable window on the PC display in 480i. The AC-3 Dolby Digital audio portion of the digital broadcast is also decoded, and outputs are provided to drive up to 5 speakers, to correctly reproduce the full surround sound effect. The FCC has mandated transition from analog to digital transmission progresses over the next few years. There are already 78 digital television stations broadcasting in 35 major cities, with many more scheduled to begin transmissions in upcoming months. Compatible with Microsoft Windows 95, 98 and NT, and occupying a single PCI slot, WinTV-D is easily installed in a PC. WinTV-D allows the user to watch TV in 480i while performing other tasks on the PC, since it uses minimal amounts of CPU power, memory and disk space. The Hauppauge WinTV-D it does ""not"" offer native output of 480P, 720P, or 1080i through any RGBS or RGB-HV connector. WinTV-D will be available in Best Buy stores nationwide this week, retailing for approximately $300. A newer generation WinTV-HD, based on Teralogic Janus HDTV chipset, will offer more functionality (native output of 480P, 720P, 1080i; optional upconversion of ATSC formats and DVD with 3:2 pull down to 720P, etc) at a bit higher price tag - $399 to $499. The WinTV-HD is expected to ship sometime between December and February"" Ken Plotkin, Hauppauge Digital's Chief Executive Officer, stated, ""WinTV-D joins our successful line of analog-only TV cards, unit sales of which have been doubling year to year over the last four years. We expect that digital TV boards will secure a strong presence in the consumer market, particularly with sports fans and the technology-minded. With its ability to output the decoded digital picture to a consumer's large-screen analog television set, WinTV-D will help drive the PC into the living room as the nexus of a digital home entertainment system!"" Digital television uses a high-speed data stream broadcast at 19.4 million bits per second and is the highest bandwidth pipe into America's homes, several hundred times faster than an average modem and even several times faster than a typical cable modem. Ken Aupperle, Hauppauge Digital's President, said, ""WinTV-D provides broadcasters and Internet content providers with an unparalleled single-point-of-access to U.S. households, a fire hose of bandwidth through which they can simultaneously provide a nearly limitless number of consumers with a spectrum of services ranging from television programming to digital downloads of software, music, movies, video games, and any other type of content."" Source: HDTV Magazine