ATI TV Wonder 550

[erwin1978]

It's pathetic that the hardware is great while the Catalyst Media Center(rebranded PowerCinema) software that came with it is utter crap! Granted I'm using an integrated video card, but I was able to watch tv with other softwares(ChisTV, Virtualdub, BeyondTV, SageTV, WinDVR, KTV!, Yahoo Go for TV! and et al). CMC simply locks up on me. I tried PowerCinema5 with the same abysmal result.

I'll probably get better performace if I had a video card with real DirectX acceleration. As it is the program that worked for me is KTV! even if it's cumbersome to use. Virtualdub has hiccups with the video. WinDVR would've been my favorite if there was audio. ChrisTV would freeze on me after a while. The rest were simply too slow to run for my Celeron. I hope I find something better.

CPU utilization:

Virtualdub 5%
WinDVR 25%
ChisTV 70%
KTV! 85%
BeyondTV 90%
SageTV 90%
Yahoo 90%

 

[OBCT]

The only good TV Wonder 550 card is the VE, IMO. It comes with the older software that includes, among other things, a simple TV program that works awesomely for playing console games through your computer's monitor. My TV Wonder Elite has the rebranded PowerCinema software, and while it works for watching TV, whenever I attempt to hook up my PS2, there's a ridiculous delay of like 3 seconds for anything to react.

 

[erwin1978]

WinDVR had no lag when channel surfing and watching. The video is n'sync with my TV. I want to like the program if it had audio support for the card.

If only someone can make a simple TV program with cpu utilization as low as virtualdub I would be happy. I don't need epg or a pvr.

 

[erwin1978]

Finally installed a video card with real DirectX acceleration and everything seems a little bit more snappy now. I think I dropped 5-15% in cpu usage. Even Catalyst Media Center is working.

 

[imported_Seer]

Originally posted by: OBCT
The only good TV Wonder 550 card is the VE, IMO. It comes with the older software that includes, among other things, a simple TV program that works awesomely for playing console games through your computer's monitor. My TV Wonder Elite has the rebranded PowerCinema software, and while it works for watching TV, whenever I attempt to hook up my PS2, there's a ridiculous delay of like 3 seconds for anything to react.

I'm pretty sure any delay comes from the hardware encoding on that card, and even the best software won't get around this.

 

[erwin1978]

Is it worth getting the Remote Wonder or is there something more widely supported by many programs?