HDTV Wonder Discussion

[rbV5]

Originally Posted by SciDoctor

HDTVGuru and rbV5 please take your discussion to PM.

This is not the place to debate semantics .

Please keep to the topic and not a constant rebuttal of each others posts ; this is not an OT thread.

Both of you have points which are valid within the context of the thread and the discussion.

Please modify your offending posts or delete them.

I disagree, but fine. I'll delete my posts and remove myself from the thread.

[HDTVGuru]

Sci, like my pal rvb5, I disagree but I have edited my posts.

There's a lot to this HDTV issue, especially concerning PCs, DRM, and exactly what you get for your dollar. Both of us added info which will help readers determine the best mix of HDTV Wonder and other parts to make it work in their neck of the woods. Some will be plug-and-play, some will need a LOT more work.

And while some folks do have what sounds like a big success with HDTV, that is not the likely experience of most casual users who just decide to try it. Very competent and knowledgable folks over at AVSFORUM have been struggling for years to get PC HDTV to work as well as Analog now does. They continue to have trouble, even those with direct engineering support from vendors. The fact ATI decided to play in the PC HDTV arena doesn't magically sweep away all the difficulties. (and the reviews note the MMC side is still lagging in function and stability)

Rage3D tends to coddle ATI a bit much. Any time somebody criticizes them, the response seems to be furiously protective and personally hostile. This IS an ATI-Centric board after all, and one would assume ATI appreciates constructive criticism, helping them design and build new, exciting, revenue-generating products. They don't need "YES MEN". The HDTV Wonder is a perfect example why. It's far from reveloutionary, yet is greeted like it's a pioneering effort to deliver a product like nothing anybody has seen.

I am not saying the HDTVWonder isn't a perfectly good card, technically well executed (unfortunately, the software seems to be lagging...) and as good as any others on the market.

I AM saying that ATI underachieved with it and they deserve to be castigated rather than congratulated.

Compared to competitors in PC HDTV, ATI has vast resources.
ATI designs and builds HDTV tuner chips and systems
They chose the NXT2004 vs. the NXT2005 for this card
Even with extra years of development time, the HDTVW offers nothing but perhaps a slight evolution past competitor's cards.
Still no MCE compatability despite MCE "Symphony" future paradigm

It's sort of like going to the Detroit Auto Show, expecting to see the new " 'Vette", watching the crowd get worked up into a frenzy as the lights flash and the Chevrolet platform turns, music blares, the supermodel grabs the cloth covering it, rips it out of the way and there for all to see is the new.... Chevette?????? Quite a letdown.

I think both rb5 and I have discussed many of the pitfalls, assumptions, misconceptions and other irritating aspects of HDTV on the PC, including pretty much an accurate picture of what the HDTV Wonder can or cannot do.

If your thought is that we got too spirited, I apologize. Sometimes people do their best thinking when they get motivated!

[Pongo]

Does anybody have any idea as to when to expect the HDTV card + AIW combo ATI stated in the press release a LONG time ago? Guess this is all speculation but are they waiting for thier X800 variant w/ PCIe for real time HDTV editing?

Also, a question about receiving HD signals. Now I know this card recieves regular analog signals from what I understand. If say UPN (DC station) is broadcasting Enterprise in HD format but I can only recieve the signal over cable due to being ~ 100 miles from DC can I enjoy the higher res?

[HDTVGuru]

Most of us thought we'd see the card by now. I'm guessing August.

The HDTV Wonder doesn't have any kind of input to take your HD Cable image and pipe it into the PC. All Svideo and Composite signals are Analog. In your case, probably nice Analog. But Analog.

If your STB has a FireWire port, see if it is activated and connect it to your PC. (need FireWire on the PC too, of course) Right now, this is about the only way to get Digital TV into your PC in Digital format.

Originally Posted by Pongo

Does anybody have any idea as to when to expect the HDTV card + AIW combo ATI stated in the press release a LONG time ago? Guess this is all speculation but are they waiting for thier X800 variant w/ PCIe for real time HDTV editing?

Also, a question about receiving HD signals. Now I know this card recieves regular analog signals from what I understand. If say UPN (DC station) is broadcasting Enterprise in HD format but I can only recieve the signal over cable due to being ~ 100 miles from DC can I enjoy the higher res?

[ShiningArcanine]

Originally Posted by Shock-n-Awe

200 bucks is higher than i expected it to be.

I agree. The price is too high. I'd was expecting this to replace the TV Wonder while maintaining the TV Wonder's price point.

[AIWNow]

This may or may not mean anything about availability but, you can order the HDTV wonder at buy.com now.
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...953&dcaid=1688

[jgs9455]

I wonder if the $174 will be a good price when it comes out offically?

[pNoc]

1. I can't believe none of you are complaining that the HDTV wonder isn't coming with the Remote Wonder 2. I'm personally very disappointed in Ati's decision on this matter.

[Peanut-Butter]

Well i just pre-order one from buy.com (sure hope it's released within the next 3-4 weeks). All the reviews i read said it ships with MMC 9.0, does anybody know if the current version of MMC (9.1) supports the HDTV Wonder?

[magius]

I am glad to finally see some people talking objectively about ATI's offering. My question is, how does this card compares to other offerings out there. I mean, besides the obvious price and "support" difference. Anyone here knows how they compare in features, software, etc.?

I'm frankly getting tired of MMC, in fact I think it time for ATI to dump most of it and redesign from scratch. Real support for multimonitors, be it real or just an easier way to pull the mirror feature (besides going to te videocard properties everytime). (If there is an easier way let me know.)

[Peanut-Butter]

i completely agree that ATI needs to dump MMC and develop new software. The MMC interface is stale, boring and UGLY. ATI makes excellent hardware that is held back by their software. As the owner of a AIW 9800pro i have found capturing video to be more of a hassle than is should be. ATI needs a new exciting and FUN to use interface.

However, most of the other HDTV cards out there have issues as well. My biggest fear is anything worth recording may soon be flagged so it can't be recorded. Why is ATI including an antenna in the box. Any indoor antenna will be useless for anybody more than 25 miles from their stations. They could cut the price some by ditching it.

[Conundrum]

Do we know for sure if HDTV wonder can or cannot record flagged program?

[virent]

I have an existing All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro. Will the HDTV wonder work in conjunction with this card if I connect all my inputs(RF-in, S-Video,RCA) to the HDTV wonder card? Will the MMC be confused as to which tuner to use?
Is there a way to disable the tuner on the existing AIW card?

[Liuke]

Hmm, that's a good ques. that I don't know the answer to. I do know right now that if you pair an AIW w/ one of ATI's TV Wonder cards and have inputs properly connected to both, you can watch two channels on TV at once in PIP mode and stuff. Perhaps you will be able to do something similar if you pair an HDTV Wonder w/ an existing AIW except that you would be able to watch one channel in HD potentially.

Since ATI is going to release some AIW packages that simply bundle in an HDTV Wonder along w/ the AIW, I assume they have already thought about and addressed this issue. Anyone know what ATI's official word on this is?

[MMC Oracle]

When you use the SVideo or Composite inputs on the HDTV WONDER, you get a TV Player specifically for the NTSC portion of the tuner, and through the standard desktop connector selector button you can change your input.

The initial release of the HDTV WONDER does not support HDTV playback in MULTVIEW. In a future release, the NTSC tuner on the HDTV WONDER could be a MULTVIEW source with an ALL-IN-WONDER in the same system.

[jgs9455]

I'm thinking that a X800Pro VIVO and the HDTV Wonder would be a interesting combo, especially bundled together for $500.

[Riktar]

I am presently using my AIW9000 as the vid card in my HTPC which directly feeds my CRT PJ from the VGA port. The TV out is going to my plain old TV in another room.

I also have an 9000 Pro Radeon laying around that I would like to use as the Primary card so I could use the dual VGA output capabilities. However then I lose my TV tuner capability as well as video input.

Is it possible to simply add the HDTV Wonder to the 9000 Pro Radeon and still take advantage of the dual VGA outputs in overlay mode for feeding the fullscreen output to the CRT PJ while doing the controlling on a seperate primary monitor?

Another thought is to simply add a PCI Radeon card to my computer. Would this allow me to use the PCI card as the 2nd monitor (Overlay mode) output to my PJ?

[mjclifford]

First time not lurking on this board and could not find any FAQ for posting a new thread, so pressed Reply. Here goes..

Spent 70 minutes on ATI web site looking for info on the AIW HDTV Wonder card, if it worked with the 8500 DV. Heard that the 8500 may not have enough horsepower and/or not support a new video standard.

Can anybody help? Thanks in advance.

mjclifford

[fanbanlo]

Originally Posted by mjclifford

First time not lurking on this board and could not find any FAQ for posting a new thread, so pressed Reply. Here goes..

Spent 70 minutes on ATI web site looking for info on the AIW HDTV Wonder card, if it worked with the 8500 DV. Heard that the 8500 may not have enough horsepower and/or not support a new video standard.

Can anybody help? Thanks in advance.

mjclifford

9500+ required.

[Dimahnbloe]

Guys and gals, it looks like the HDTV Wonder is already shipping. The evidence is as follows:

1. This website use to say pre-order, but now states it is currently shipping in 4-6 days
Link:
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/def...spx?edc=662778

2. Their is a thread in the AVS forum from a guy who stated that he received his yesterday and is working on a review
Link:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=422845

[jgs9455]

From ATi's website there is a link
http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2546404

EXPECTED SHIP DATE 7/28/2004

[Dude 007]

The guy in question is: nintari. He said

"it is aprequalification sample for review. I am trying to get in contact with ATI with some questions I have right now." So it was not a retail purchase.

I'm trying to decide whether I'm better off ordering from buy.com at $165, or is there a benefit by going directly to ATI @ $199? (Better ship date, etc).

[Dude 007]

I think I am ready to place a preorder somewhere for this. Who's done so? Has the delivery date been steady or has it slipped (particularly for ATI website preorders)? Thanks.

[jgs9455]

7/28/2004 is the first time ATi has released a ship date.
I preordered from Buy.com at $184 (with shipping)

[Peanut-Butter]

ATI now list the HDTV Wonder as in stock, also they now have the manual available for download here:

http://www.ati.com/support/manualpdf...12&submit=GO%2

[Dude 007]

I went ahead and ordered directly from ATI--hopefully I'll have it in 3-5 days!

[jgs9455]

On ati.com it is listed as "in-stock" but still "pre-order"

[Maxwel]

Apparently it's just for XP!

[Dude 007]

?

[jgs9455]

Hello jgs9455,

We are still working on shipping the following item(s) from order
#xxxxxxxx.

You will not be billed until your product actually ships.

Order #xxxxxxxx

sku - 10375953 : description - ATI - HDTV Wonder PCI TV Turner w/
Remote Control

If you wish to cancel your order for this item, or if you have any
questions, please
contact customer support at http://www.buy.com/support.

Sincerely,
Customer Support Team


Anyone have any updates on ati orders that have shipped?