The new ATI AiW

[PP Mguire]

Shes back!! And it seems with a bang too!

http://ati.amd.com/products/aiwhd/index.html

Idk bout yall but im tired of our digital crapper box already and id LOVE to have one of these :)

[huynhc]

you receiving OTA channels with that box?

HTPCs have a bit more evolution to go through before they can truly replace a cable/satellite box. The main road-block being the inability to receive/decode encrypted QAM channels easily. Do to cablelabs regulations, you need to buy a full computer system from a licensed manufacturer to be able to do this. I wish cablelabs would get their act together and license a cablecard-ready tuner card instead so i can slip it into my own build. Right now my HTPC has a coax linked from the cablebox to my htpc and this does not allow HD content to be recorded in HD quality. It can convert all feeds from the cablebox to SD but that kinda defeats the purpose for me. However, I do have a seperate OTA HD antennae that gets the local HD channels to record in HD (but no HD espn, hbo, showtime, tnt, discovery, etc.). Hopefully within the next few years some revisions will be made so that cablecard-ready tunercards can be made publicly.

[PP Mguire]

Well we have an RCA Digital converter box that we bought from Wal Mart and arg its junk. Yesterday to watch CSI with my family i put it on the snowy channel 11 instead of the jinking digital 11. What i want this for is to be in my main PC so i have VIVO functions and TV in HD without the crap.

Whats OTA channels?

[coxmaster]

OTA is over the air, such as with an antenna.

Just FYI for any of you looking at HDTV on your computer.. Media Center only supports HD OTA, it doesnt support QAM over cable.

[huynhc]

OTA is over the air, such as with an antenna.

Just FYI for any of you looking at HDTV on your computer.. Media Center only supports HD OTA, it doesnt support QAM over cable.

actually it does support QAM over cable if you have a cablecard tuner (as sold by dell/hp/etc.) but you need to have the complete system built by them (ie. you cant get the tuner by itself). Moreover Vista had to be tweaked by cablelabs itself too and an edited bios was necessitated to comply to cablelabs standards. This is due to cablelabs' concern over copyright legality of HD content.
When vista came out, it touted full HDCP compliancy so that we could enjoy HD in media center but cablelabs had to go and rain on everyone's parade.

[PP Mguire]

Well im not concernd about cable/HD satelite cause ill never have anything like that. Only HDTV OTA i suppose. Or where im from we call it bunny ears lol. Im sure the AiW has to be like 90% better than that crap we have sitting on the 27" in the living room. And not only that but i can actualy VIEW my channels in HD as they where meant to be.

[huynhc]

yea that AiW will definately serve its purpose for you. However, HDTV antennae are quite a hassle to deal with as most good ones are directional or require mounting in the outdoors. I live in centercity philly and the reception is atrocious. im sure in the burbs you will get pretty decent coverage though given a good antennae.

[coxmaster]

I can pick up 2 HD OTA channels with my card alone.. no antenna. Its in the basement of my house, surrounded by concrete and it still gets good reception on those.. (i still use my cable though)

With a cheap old antenna i could pickup all the locals in my area with no problem. THats another bonus to the DTV change over.. DTV has much longer broadcast ranges

[PP Mguire]

This is my antenna lol
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/pp_mguire/062608_13091.jpg

I think itll do fine.

[huynhc]

looks like you got a decent outdoor one and if it can pickup HD signals than you are golden. I guess living in the more populated states, OTA HD signals are hit or miss.