TV Vision PCI TV Tuner Card
Reviewed by Alan Kuik (5 November 99)

- Card Specifications - The Inspection - The Good - The Bad - Test System Configuration - Conclusion - Rating

One wonders why you would want to watch television when your personal computer can provide you with all the entertainment you need. From games, internet surfing, educational programmes, office applications, all these spell trouble for the traditional color television. With color TV having gone pass less than 20 years in Singapore, it has now moved itself into the fast moving PC industry with the introduction of TV tuner cards. TV tuner cards are not new in the market. Since years ago when i was working as a computer salesperson, customers have been asking if their systems included a "tv card". It's the reduction in pricing nowadays that made this product more affordable and sane. Most of them are available for about a hundred bucks. Available in PCI, they come with accessories like remote control, video capture and teletext to spoof up their already rich features. When I got hold of this card, I was quite excited to test it out on my system since in a family of 5 television watching fanatics, I always get into brawls over which channel to watch. (just kidding). Anyway, as I set out to explore this card, it did not turn out as easy as I expected.

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Card Specifications

Below are the features of the tv tuner card as specified by the packaging.

These are the contents of the package: These are the contents of the package:	Software & Drivers included
(1) TV Tuner Card (1) Remote Control (1) Remote Control Sensor (1) Installation CD (1) Audio Cable	TV Tuner Application Netmeeting 2.1 Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

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The Inspection

Installation of the card was simple. Simply plug in the TV tuner card into any available PCI slot and Windows 98 will auto detect it as plug and play. You'll be prompted for the driver, simply insert the CD provided and there it goes working happily. Installing the TV Application was easy with the easy to use, user friendly installation procedures with detailed instructions in the user manual.

Below are some screenshots of the installation menu, and the remote control in action!

 

Overall, Mediaforte have provided a very good user interface. One just have to press the button on the remote control and you won't have to use a mouse to do that while you are watching your favourite television programme in full screen.

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The Good

What is good about the product is the ease of installation. Even a 5 year old kid could do it. We also have to commend Mediaforte with coming out with a user-friendly graphical user interface. With the installation of the TV tuner card, you will have access to a whole lot of functionalities e.g., video capture, watching your TV programmes. With video capture capability included in the card, it would save the owner the trouble of having to purchase a separate capture card if, for example, he wants to transfer video from his camcorder.

One cute feature is that the application allows you to put the television screen as your background! It does seems like a nice idea but I think you'll find it too distracting to let you continue with your other work on the computer.

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The Bad

There is nothing actually bad about this tuner card. However, I did experience some hiccups along the way. Firstly, I had trouble running it with a PCI S3 Virge 325 4MB EDO ram. This could be due to the low quality video card that I was using. The screen refresh made viewing almost impossible. After getting an MSI TNT2-M64 from dear old CPU-zilla, my problems were solved .

Another problem that I encountered is that after multiple times of installing, uninstalling and reinstalling the TV application, it would not start after that. I encountered a DLL error and could not resolve the problem even after completely removing the program and doing a reinstallation. I guess that's about all the minus I could think of.

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Test System Configuration
Processor(s)	AMD K6-2 350 w/ 3D-Now!
Ram	64MB 100MHz Hyundai 8ns SDRAM Dimm
Motherboard	FIC VA503+ MVP3 with 1MB cache
HardDrive(s)	Quantum CR 8.4GB 5400rpm
Operating System	MS Windows 98 Build 4.10.1998
DirectX Version	MS DirectX Version 7.0
Other software used	TV application
Video Card(s)	PCI Virge 325 4MB / MSI TNT2 M64 32MB
Telecast reception	SCV upgraded point.

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Conclusion

TV tuner cards are not expensive compared to other hardware addon cards, but the reason why they are not so popular is that most do not find the need for television programmes to be watched on the computer. Of course, it would be nice to have this feature especially if you have a PC in your room, but the only television is in your living room. One concern on whether a product can catch on is the evolution of TV itself. With the emergence of digital television in the near future, one wonders how many more years your current television can last, not to talk about buying a TV tuner card.

However, for those who wants to transfer images from their camcorder into their PC and have the intention of getting a capture card, getting this combo card will be a plus for them. With the standard S-Video input, you can "download" your videos and at the same time watch television programmes all in one card!

One comment I would like to give is, given today's emphasis on aftersales support, it is quite important for a manufacturer to give continuous support on their products. I had trouble finding drivers online for the TV tuner card in Mediaforte's webpage. It wasn't part of the product in the main product page. Only thorough searching in the support section was I able to find it. Also, perhaps Mediaforte could employ a webpage designer to provide a webpage that's more pleasing to the eye (just my personal comments). Overall, this is a card that's value for money and I would recommend it to those who want some additional fun features on their computers.

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CARD RATING

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