Specifications

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Chapter 15 Video Hardware
In addition, many graphics cards with TV-in, such as ATI’s Radeon-based All-in-Wonder series and
NVIDIA’s Personal Cinema FX also include PVR software. A remote control and onscreen program
guide is often included to make TV viewing and recording even easier.
Table 15.23 provides a breakdown of some common video cards and capture devices supporting key
features. This table is not inclusive and is meant to serve only as a reference example.
Table 15.23 Video Capture Devices
Device Type Example
Video card with TV tuner and PVR ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 Pro, XT
Video card with TV tuner and PVR ATI All-in-Wonder 9800 XT, XT, NVIDIA Personal Cinema FX
PCI TV-tuner and PVR ATI-TV Wonder VE, HDTV Wonder
USB TV-tuner and PVR Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-USB2
USB port video capture Dazzle Digital Video Creator series
Parallel port still image capture Invisco SnapMagic
PCI video capture card Broadway Pro DVD
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) AVerMedia DVD EzMaker
Figure 15.12 shows a typical video adapter incorporating TV tuner and video-in and video-out fea-
tures: the ATI All-in-Wonder 9600 XT.
FM radio in
75-ohm TV in
AV in (uses breakout box)
Video/VGA out (uses multi-head cable)
TV tuner
Cooling fan for RADEON 9800 XT GPU
RAM coolers
Power connector
AGP 8x connector
ATI Theater 200 analog video
decoder and stereo audio processor
Figure 15.12 ATI’s All-in-Wonder 9600 XT is a mid-range video accelerator with integrated TV and FM
tuners, dual-display capabilities, and video-capture/PVR features. A multihead AV output cable, AV input
breakout box, and remote control are also included. Photo courtesy of ATI Technologies.
Each type of device has advantages and potential disadvantages. Table 15.24 provides a summary that
will help you decide which solution is best for you.
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