AIW 9800 pro and hdtv

[Jason Rhodes]

I don't know much about HDTV and I don't have HDTV yet, so pardon my
ignorance.

I know that the AIW 9800 pro has HDTV out. However, can I record in HDTV
mode if I get digital cable with HDTV? Is HDTV carried over the same type
of cable that regular cable is and thus can be input to my card? I don't
think the AIWs work with cable boxes (even regular resolution) so it seems
they wouldn't work with an HDTV receiver.

Anyone know?

Thanks,

Jason

 

[J. Clarke]

I don't know much about HDTV and I don't have HDTV yet, so pardon my
ignorance.

I know that the AIW 9800 pro has HDTV out. However, can I record in HDTV
mode if I get digital cable with HDTV? Is HDTV carried over the same type
of cable that regular cable is and thus can be input to my card? I don't
think the AIWs work with cable boxes (even regular resolution) so it seems
they wouldn't work with an HDTV receiver.

An all-in-wonder can't record HDTV. It can record the S-video or composite
output from the cable box but that won't be HD, it will be standard
definition. The tuner and decoder on the AIW are analog-only--they can't
do anything with digital signals.

In the US you can get over-the-air HD using several boards, the cheapest of
which is the Dvico Fusion HDTV II. The "MyHD" is currently the best
regarded but it's not cheap. None of those boards will record HD digital
cable though--the signalling is different from over-the-air broadcast.

There is a high definition DirecTivo coming (or maybe it's out--I haven't
been following) that will record HD off of the DirecTV satellite--whether
you will be able to extract the digital recording and save it to DVD or
whatever I do not know.

In Europe I understand that the situation is a bit different but not being
in Europe I don't have any incentive to keep current on European TV.

 

[Jason Rhodes]

An all-in-wonder can't record HDTV. It can record the S-video or composite
output from the cable box but that won't be HD, it will be standard
definition. The tuner and decoder on the AIW are analog-only--they can't
do anything with digital signals.

In the US you can get over-the-air HD using several boards, the cheapest of
which is the Dvico Fusion HDTV II. The "MyHD" is currently the best
regarded but it's not cheap. None of those boards will record HD digital
cable though--the signalling is different from over-the-air broadcast.

There is a high definition DirecTivo coming (or maybe it's out--I haven't
been following) that will record HD off of the DirecTV satellite--whether
you will be able to extract the digital recording and save it to DVD or
whatever I do not know.

In Europe I understand that the situation is a bit different but not being
in Europe I don't have any incentive to keep current on European TV.

Thanks for all the information. Where can I get reviews of these cards?

Jason

 

[J. Clarke]

Thanks for all the information. Where can I get reviews of these cards?

First place to go for any kind of TV-related information is
<http://www.avsforum.com>. One of their fora is dedicated to home theater
PCs--that's the place to start. You'll find first-hand accounts and also
links to other reviews and sources of information.

<http://www.myhtpc.org> is another place to look--their fora are specific to
their product but you may learn a good deal from reading about what people
have had to do to get specific boards to work with it.