12. Recording Audio And Video From The S-Video Jack

The recording quality on the S-Video jack using the included cable failed to impress us. In our test, we fed the output from a standalone DVD player to the card using the S-Video cable and recorded using the highest quality settings. The resulting video was rather fuzzy and showed a considerable amount of artifacts. However, image quality when simply displaying the signal from an external source on the notebook's display was good.

Theoretically, the card could be used to digitize an old record collection or convert audio CDs into the PC-compatible WAV format with the help of a standalone CD player. To ensure that the recording is as free from distortion as possible, the signal has to be routed through a Hi-Fi amplifier. Otherwise, when the file is recorded directly from the external source, the resulting WAV file is highly distorted due to the overmodulated input signal. The recording software does not offer an option to regulate the volume level on the card's input connector. So, in the end, the best choice is simply to use the analog signal input of the notebook's sound device and bypass the Avermedia card completely.

Integrated Teletext Decoder

The integrated teletext decoder displays news and other current information on demand.

In regions and countries that broadcast teletext, the card also supports this service. The biggest advantage-compared to the decoders found in conventional TVs-is the application's larger page cache, and the ability to copy and paste straight from the teletext page. Also, because of the TV card's larger cache, the pages load much faster than on a conventional TV. Since the remote control is used to access the teletext pages, the navigation between them is very comfortable.