6. The Problem With

Lest those readers who learn about the ability to handle input signals from cable TV without the benefit of a cable box get too excited about this capability, we also have to observe a telling and perhaps fatal flaw with this scheme. Whereas most cable TV providers offer channel numbers into four digits nowadays, most QAM tuners offer only 125, or at most, 250 presets in their tuning capability, which translates into something less than the full panoply of channels from your cable provider.

Thus, for the three cards we reviewed using Windows Vista, we couldn’t use the QAM tuning capability without also using playback software outside the Media Center umbrella. This knocks the VistaView card out of consideration because the card’s maker currently offers no viewing software that works with Vista (despite the product’s name, much to our surprise). For the WinTV software that Hauppauge provides for its HVR-1800 and other Hauppauge cards, we could tune in exactly two channels from a raw cable input into the card. For the AVerTV software that AVerMedia provides with the M780, we could tune in exactly five channels from the very same raw cable input into the card. Interestingly, only one of the two stations the Hauppauge card picked up was HDTV, while the other was an SDTV channel; all five of the stations that the AVerMedia card played were HDTV channels.

Alas, unless and until the QAM tuner makers expand their software coverage to encompass more channels, most of the HD stations, and many of the viewable digital channels available from cable TV providers, will go unwatched - unless you insert a digital cable box into the equation. Alas, that limits the real usability of QAM tuner capability severely and curtails what you can watch or record in HDTV in Media Center. For Time-Warner Cable customers in Austin, TX - including the authors of this review - it makes it almost irrelevant, because our primary HD channels fall in a range that failed to appear in either of the QAM tuner channel ranges after they scanned the cable spectrum. "YMMV," as they say on the Internet (your mileage may vary, as will your level of satisfaction and/or frustration).

Summary And Recommendations

In selecting a TV tuner card, you want something that offers efficient delivery of clear, crisp signals for viewing and recording. For those interested in watching OTA HDTV channels, you could also add some concern for the tuner’s ability to receive and handle input from an HDTV antenna. By all of these criteria, the three cards we examine in this story fare reasonably well. We give the Hauppauge and VistaView cards extra points for their superior broadcast HDTV reception.

Overall, the Hauppauge comes out ahead because of its lower power consumption and heat output. Those seeking a low profile product for a narrow HTPC case may prefer the AVerMedia offering just because it includes a short riser that can easily be switched for the full-height riser attached by default to the circuit board itself. To be completely fair, there is also a low-profile version of the DA-1N1-E available.

We also recommend looking into ancillary TV software packages such as SageTV and BeyondTV, to take advantage of their more advanced QAM tuning capabilities (both AVerMedia and Hauppauge tout support for and connections into these packages as part of their product capabilities). According to our own favorite HTPC guru Matt Wright (who will be working with us on an upcoming review of SageTV and BeyondTV environments, plus the impressive HDHomeRun package that pulls in QAM stations like no other product currently on the market), their QAM tuners offer much better capability and broader channel support than what’s currently available through bundled software or in Media Center. Matt also told us about a beta driver and a plug-in for the M780 that integrates QAM driver support into Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate editions (those with Media Center capability, in other words); for more information, please see AVerMedia Product Manager Felix Kolotinsky’s posting about this on The Green Button.

All three of these cards are priced in the $90 to $120 range, with OEM versions of the M780 being the cheapest at $90 or so, but the DA-1N1-E is close behind thanks to a current rebate, for prices as low as $98. Full-retail plus remote bundles of the Hauppauge and VistaView cards are the most expensive, depending on the actual product bundles involved. Some of these offerings include a Microsoft MCE remote and IR receiver; other packages include software elements (TV viewers and QAM tuners, primarily), and so forth. When trying to compare prices, use best and lowest pricing for other items to factor other elements out - but only if you need them. If you don’t need them, there’s no need to pay extra for them either. A little shopping around will usually turn up plain, white-box versions of TV capture cards, as sold to OEMs who’ve learned to put their own bundles together.

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