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Pinnacle PCTV HD TV-tuner Card Review
(www.sharkyextreme.com Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Introduction
There are a number of factors that have led to a resurgence in the PC TV-tuner card market. The first is the absence of new ATI All-in-Wonder cards, as ATI has cancelled the popular brand, and has not introduced driver support in Windows Vista. The emergence of over-the-air HD signals has also increased demand, and brought with it a new set of HD-capable PC TV hybrid cards, able to handle basic SD cable and HD OTA signals. This has helped vendors like Hauppauge, VisionTek and Pinnacle gain a better foothold, and to compete against the ATI TV Wonder brand. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Card is one such product, and it provides a wide array of features and hardware for a value price.
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The Pinnacle PCTV HD Card
Pinnacle has really packed a lot into their PCTV HD Card. It is an internal PCI device that offers SD cable TV, HD ATSC, Radio, and even ClearQAM unencrypted digital cable. Just install the device into an open PCI slot, and connect either a standard coaxial cable for SD/Digital TV or an antenna for ATSC HD programming, and you're ready to watch or record TV on your PC. There are no internal cables to connect or settings to adjust, and the TV audio passes over the PCI bus.
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The format of the Pinnacle PCTV HD Card is pretty basic, and starts off with a short PCI card design that will certainly not intrude on any internal devices. The card's backplate includes four different inputs, used for the coaxial cable, remote control receiver cable, FM antenna, and A/V cables. The last connector can be used with the bundled A/V breakout cable, which supports both S-Video and composite video inputs. The unit also includes a remote control that allows full access to the card's TV and PVR functions.
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The retail package includes the Pinnacle PCTV HD PCI card, the remote control (with 2xAAA batteries), a remote control receiver cable, an FM antenna, an A/V input adapter, a Quick Start Guide, a driver/application CD, and a Pinnacle Studio CD. This is a fairly robust retail bundle, especially for the price, but we would have liked to see a portable HD antenna included as well.
The bundled remote was also a nice surprise, but it's a rather block device, like a Mars or Snickers bar - about half the size of a Gameboy Micro. It uses two AAA batteries, which also adds to the weight, and we're more fans of the slim line remotes, which use a button cell battery. In terms of real-world usage, you need to link the remote cable to the back of the PCTV HD card, and be sure the Pinnacle software is loaded. Everything worked fine, but you really need to point the remote towards the receiver for it to work seamlessly.
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The bundled A/V cable is a very nice feature, as it not only allows connectivity with other devices like a VCR or camcorder, but also supplies higher-end video connectivity for set-top cable boxes. Instead of piping a digital cable feed through a coaxial input, Pinnacle allows both composite and S-Video options, which do provide a higher-end display. The available options include L/R audio, composite video and S-Video inputs.
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Also note that due to the proprietary nature and security features of Digital and HDTV cable, the Pinnacle PCTV HD is not a replacement for a digital/HD cable or satellite box and it will not automatically decode land cable signals. Although the Pinnacle PCTV HD card is hardware-compatible with ClearQAM unencrypted digital cable, its availability depends on your cable provider. If you want to watch or record all your 500+ digital channels, then the card needs to be wired to the cable
Pinnacle TVCenter Pro Viewing and Recording
In order to watch and record analog, digital and HD TV signals, as well as through the composite and S-video inputs, Pinnacle has bundled their TVCenter Pro application. It supports both Windows XP and Vista, but we have tested using our main Windows XP Pro SP2 reference system. In terms of features, TVCenter Pro offers full viewing, recording and time-shifting/pause functionality for any cable TV, HD or video source the card supports, as well video snapshots and FM radio playback. This application offers serious features for such a low-cost package, but we had less-than stellar experiences with it out of the box.
For starters, although the Pinnacle PCTV HD card is hardware-ready for ClearQAM, and advertises this fact on the retail packaging, the release software does not. There were also other quirks and issues to deal with, including channel scanning problems, recording synch issues and a few hard-locks, which left us with a negative opinion of Pinnacle's TVCenter Pro. If this was the end of the review, we'd have no choice but to hammer the card down quite a few notches.
Thankfully, the company has issued a Pinnacle TVCenter Pro 4.94b1616 Beta update, which cleared up the vast majority of problems. This release supports ClearQAM, and includes both Windows XP and Vista versions. Channel scanning and sorting progressed without issues, audio synch was perfect in recordings, and it is also much more stable - we have yet to experience a crash after weeks of use (Windows XP Pro SP2). Overall, TV program recording is top-notch and it offers high-quality captures for such a low-cost card. The DivX support is also a very nice feature, and users can choose from multiple recording profiles on the fly.
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ClearQAM unencrypted digital cable TV also worked surprisingly well, and although the scanning took a very long time, the end result was excellent. Quite a few valid channels showed up (this will vary with cable company and package), and the Pinnacle software allows you to parse the unencrypted channels or view all. The unencrypted filter was a little dicey, as some valid channels were taken off the list, but the software was probably 80-85% accurate. Over-the-air HD signals also worked as advertised, but again, your location and vicinity to a major metropolitan area will determine how many channels you can access.
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Although it's a significant improvement, the beta update has not cleared up all of our issues. The TVCenter Pro software can still be flaky, such as when adjusting the mono/stereo/AC3 audio properties. The user interface is still not fully intuitive, such as using a down arrow to go "up/next" the channel list, and an up arrow to go "down/previous". The keyboard shortcuts as quite unusual to say the least, such as page up/down for changing channels (rather than arrow up/down or +/-) or ALT-L for last channel, so it's usually easier to use the mouse or remote. Standard multimedia keys are also not supported by the program, forcing you to rely on the remote for these settings and controls.
Here are a couple of screenshots taken with the TVCenter Pro software, in basic JPG format straight and unedited from the program. The first two are standard SD channels, while the third image is taken from a digital ClearQAM channel.
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Value
We may have had some issues with the Pinnacle PCTV HD card and its software, the retail price is certainly not one of them. It sells for approximately $65-$75, which is a nice value for such a fully-featured package. Remember, this includes the PCI Express TV-tuner card, remote, TV software, video editing software, antenna, and break-out A/V cable, which is unheard of for a $70 product. This is lower than even a base-model ATI TV Wonder 550 PCI ($75-$80), and much less than the ATI TV Wonder 600 HD ($100) and 650 HD ($125).
* Please note that these prices were taken at the time of review and are not meant to reflect long-term trends.
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Conclusion
The low price of the Pinnacle PCTV HD card is its obvious top selling point, and now even the most cash-strapped buyer can get full PCTV tuner capabilities without breaking the bank. Support for unencrypted ClearQAM digital channels is a nice feature, and ATSC HD signals offer high-definition programming for free. The main issue we had was the poor quality of the release TVCenter Pro software, and the reliance on a beta revision for stable operation and support of all hardware features.
Pros: * Very Nice Image Quality * Good Value * Super Retail Bundle * ClearQAM Hardware Support
Cons: * Full Functionality with Beta Software only * Beta Version Still has Quirks * Some User-Interface Flaws
Ratings:
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Copyright ? 2008 Jupitermedia Corp.
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