AMD launches ATI TV Wonder range

AMD has unveiled a family of high-definition TV (HDTV) tuner cards for PCs.

The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB, TV Wonder 600 PCI and TV Wonder 600 PCI Express tuners are designed to add HDTV and ‘place-shifting’ recording functionality to existing PCs.

The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB comes with two TV tuners that allow users to watch and record free-to-air digital TV and HDTV broadcasts, unencrypted digital TV cable programming and analogue TV, as well as tune into FM broadcasts.

The card acts as a combo-tuner digital video recorder (DVR), allowing users to switch between analogue and digital TV and allowing a digital TV channel to be recorded while a different analogue channel is being watched.

“The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB and ATI TV Wonder 600 PCI/PCI Express, offered through VisionTek, take the best of our company’s digital TV experience and enable amazing HDTV on PCs today,” claimed Matt Skynner, vice president of marketing for the graphics products group at AMD.

The cards include the Catalyst Media Center software which enables ‘place-shifting’, allowing users to watch recorded programmes from a variety of locations over the internet.

The software also offers a ‘two-click’ system to convert recorded TV programmes into the most popular video formats for viewing on portable media devices.

“AMD’s TV Wonder family makes HDTV multimedia PCs a reality,” said Michael Innes, chief operations manager of VisionTek Products. “The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB and ATI TV Wonder 600 series deliver exceptional performance at a great price for PC owners who want to experience HDTV in their home or office.”

Dean Jahnke, senior buyer from retailer Best Buy, added: “We’re excited by the collaboration from AMD and VisionTek that brings HDTV tuners to the PC just in time for the new TV season. HDTV demand is very strong.”