6. Tuner, TV In And WLAN

The SD, HD, and FM tuner inputs, several external AV source inputs, the interface for set top box control, and the wireless LAN antenna are found on the right side of the rear of the case (Figure 10). The dual SD tuner has one coaxial input, which is split internally to provide signal to both SD tuners on the card. The SD tuner card also houses the FM tuner and controls all of the RCA and S-Video TV Source inputs on this side of the case.

The HD tuner captures over-the-air (OTA) high definition 8VSB modulation signals only, so requires an over-the-air HDTV antenna. This means that the HD tuner is not capable of decoding the QAM high definition signal from cable or satellite TV.

Figure 10: Tuner, TV and WLAN connectors

If you use a set-top box with your digital cable or satellite TV for SD content, you will need to use the infrared transmitter jacks and supplied IR blaster cables to allow the z556 to control up to two set top boxes. (The IR blaster transmits the commands from your HP remote to set-top boxes primarily for channel selection.)

Finally, HP has smartly provided dual-band wireless capability so that you can escape the overcrowded 802.11b/g spectrum for the relative quiet of 802.11a. This gives you a fighting chance of successfully streaming video to rooms other than where the z556 resides. The card comes with a cabled antenna with 4 foot cord and Velcro mounting pads so that it can be moved around to optimize wireless performance.