There are claims that the new ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner launched by AMD today is the first and only device making your PC a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) that will allow both watching and recording HD digital cable content such as HD ESPN and HD HBO. It uses the Microsoft Windows Vista Media Center menus and interfaces which are easy to work with, making it a very well combined device for premium digital cable programming and media center PC functionality.

Certified by CableLabs to operate a device on the OpenCable network, the ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Turner will have different prices depending on the OEM manufacturer and the hardware included and will be available in stores from the end of January. The product, powered by AMD Avivo meaning tremendous picture quality and nice playback, will be able to play or record along the HD digital cable TV, basic cable channels, traditional analog TV, and free-to-air HD channels.

The new AMD launch, ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, came with two models. One internal, PCI or PCIe slot, and one external, both communicating with the PC via the USB2.0 interface. As for more technical details, it uses an ATI Theater 550 Pro decoder chipset for analog sources, and the NXT2003 taking are of the ATSC tunning.
As of what AMD claimed about their new product here it is:

“With the new ATI TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, consumers can watch live or record high-definition broadcasts to preserve in a video library or stream to their Xbox 360™, if permitted by the content provider. Powered by AMD Avivo™ image technology, consumers get outstanding picture quality and smooth playback of their premium HD digital cable TV content on their media center PC, beyond basic cable channels, traditional analog TV and free over-the-air HD channels.”

Filed under Computers, Hardware