3. Testing Overview And Test Machine Setup

To gauge the relative capabilities of these three cards, we compiled numerous measurements. These included signal strength for local OTA HDTV channels, based on the same Terk TV4 plug-in HDTV antenna. We also measured power consumption at idle and when viewing the HQV video through playback on an external DVD player, plus card temperatures at idle and under the same viewing load. Finally we report results for the HQV DVD test, when routing the output of an external DVD player (Mintec XXX) into the S-Video input available on all three of these TV capture cards.

Though the results show some differences among the three different TV capture cards we examine here, all of them delivered watchable video when it came to viewing cable TV inputs and OTA HDTV signals at four bars of signal strength or higher (as per signal strength indicators inside Windows Media Center). Though the cards have their individual strengths and weaknesses, and all feature slightly different bundles and add-ons, any of these would work for most HTPC applications for viewing and capturing video signals.

Test Machine Setup

We used a relatively modest HTPC setup based around Windows Vista Premium Edition, with occasional access to software bundled with the cards, as we worked through our review process. Our test machine was built inside a Zalman HD-160 case with a Seasonic S12 380W power supply, where the rest of the components appear in Table 1 below.

Table 1 : Test Machine Components

Test Results And Analysis

OTA Digital Reception

Our approach here was simple: using all the same hardware and the same antenna in the same location, we compiled the number of stations with various bars of signal strength for each of the three cards. Both the Hauppauge and the VistaView posted identical (and the best) results, with the Avermedia lagging pretty far behind. If you multiply the number of stations times by the number of bars and add up the totals, in fact, the Hauppauge and VistaView produce a total score of 43, while the Avermedia produces 35 (all pulled in the same 15 stations), as shown in Chart 1.

Chart 1: OTA Signal Strength for 15 Local Stations