AVerTV CaptureHD: The first TV tuner with HDMI input. About using the TV receiver

The more mankind comes up with varieties of technology, the higher the interest in comfortable devices that ensure the simple and reliable operation of such devices. Consider the functions of the HDMI receiver, analyze how to use it.

About using the TV receiver

A modern person can feel maximum comfort only when he is surrounded by the necessary electrical appliances and equipment.

Our knowledge of TV personal computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone are deep enough. Therefore, the question of the need to use an HDMI receiver for a TV will also be relevant.

What kind of product is this, what range of functions does this specialized device have? The orientation of many users in such matters will be rather weak.

An overview of the features and functions that the set-top box for digital television has

The new HDMI AV receiver is a kind of TV receiver. Its use is more and more relevant, for example, analog television is threatened by the gradual displacement of space from the more progressive digital one.

The advantages of the latter type of devices are a better picture, improved sound and an impressive number of channels that are available for reception.

Televisions, which represent a new generation of such types of technology, support the digital broadcast standard. With older models, things are not so simple. They require the purchase of a dedicated HDMI TV receiver.

This device has the form of a kind of receiver, which is fixed, converted and transmitted audio and video signals. Moreover, such a signal comes either through a cable or through a satellite dish.

Comparative characteristics

Compared to analog receivers that receive signals separately, using digital channels television, you can combine such signals into one package.

It is from here that they can be transmitted to the receiver in order to perform subsequent decoding and breakdown. The name of this method sounds like "multiplex".

For the first case, there may be differences in the translation results that are performed by different channels.

The second shows the first-class image quality of all channels without exception. Basically, only an ordinary antenna can be used to pick up the signal of the receiver. It comes with the TV set.

Modern device options

At the moment, the process of digital broadcasting takes place within the DVB-T2 format. Its appearance was the result of the replacement of the outdated DVB-T.

The new DVB-T2 HDMI receiver is far from the only standard, although its use is the most common.

Most modern TVs initially have a built-in receiver. Therefore, there is no longer an urgent need for the acquisition of this type of equipment.

When planning the purchase of a new television device, we advise you to carefully read its instructions. It may well turn out that it is for this model that you do not need to purchase HDMI adapter AV receiver.

Analysis of the benefits of using a receiver

Knowing the information on how to connect HDMI to the receiver, you can achieve the following results:

• Improving the quality and clarity of the broadcast process.
• Improved saturation and clarity of sound.
• Disappearance of all kinds of interference.
• Ease of connection.
• Ease of performance.
• No mandatory payment when using the device.

There are receivers in the cable group that have a specially built-in decoder. Their work is provided by means of special access cards.

Among other things, this includes varieties of equipment that was created to ensure the work of a particular provider.

The representative of the third group (terrestrial television) is a number of multimedia terminals. They are capable of performing only broadcasting functions, but are also characterized by a huge number of additional functions.

How to use the receiver?

The cable receiver supports a signal that provides the possibility of broadcasting a program package from regional providers.

Cable network subscribers must comply with a number of mandatory conditions:

• Being within the radius of service.
• The presence of not only the receiver, but also the antenna.
• The presence of a converter, power supply and RF cable.

The work of the third version of set-top boxes is provided with the help of on-air digital broadcasting. To receive the signal, a type of conventional compact indoor antenna is used. The orientation of such receivers is directed to SD, HD-resolution functions can be supported.

It is quite clear that the image of a picture that is broadcast by satellite broadcasting will be of the highest quality.

Second place rightfully belongs to cable television. The most common terrestrial TV has the third place in this rating.

TV box selection

Having dealt with the issue of the functionality of the receiver, we proceed to the consideration of the item on right choice such a device. What knowledge will be needed, what will definitely need to be taken into account in order for the acquisition to be successful?

When choosing a tuner, the following parameters are taken into account:

• The type of broadcasting process that is specific to a particular area.
• Supported standards.
• permission possibilities.
• The properties and functions of the set-top box that it can show in addition to receiving a digital signal. The ability to read flash cards, perform the functions of the player.
• Ability to support maximum number audio and video formats.
• The simplicity and accessibility of the menu guide.
• Ease of control, which is ensured by the presence of a remote control and buttons that are located on the surface of the case.
• The presence of the required number of connectors, in particular, a USB connector and an HDMI connector.
• The presence of additional functions, which will depend on the desire of the buyer.
• Performance metrics.
• Is there a warranty period?

Varieties of receivers

Functional features provide an opportunity to distinguish four types receivers:

• Budget - represented by set-top boxes, which can be used infrequently. For example, this is suitable for country conditions. This device is equipped standard set connectors with digital format. Has an affordable price.
• Economy option - is represented by TVs, the screen diagonal of which is 42 inches. Such a receiver has the ability to view channels that are broadcast by various operators on satellite television. For this purpose, they are equipped with a special set of card readers. The group is represented by models that carry out the process of writing files to a flash drive.
• The middle class - represented by models that can give excellent quality pictures of high quality. The use of such receivers is by far the most common.
• Premium-class - multifunctional devices that allow you to view cable and digital channels, all kinds of files that have external drives. It is noteworthy that various formats are used for such drives.

We purchase a receiver

The question of the need for a receiver in modern TV many consumers are interested. The nature of the answer will depend on different kind factors:

• Program viewing frequency.
• Characteristics of the types of technology.

If you want to watch TV programs with an excellent level of quality, when the TV does not support this format, purchasing a receiver will help get rid of these inconveniences. A special modulator will help ensure that the set-top box is connected simultaneously to two types of television receivers if the HDMI receiver does not work.

Modern "fancy" TVs have many advantages:

• Built-in satellite.
• Cable or terrestrial receiver.

When buying a TV in order to watch digital satellite broadcasts, it is important that the built-in device supports the same format. The instructions for the device clearly indicate how to connect the receiver via HDMI.

Certainly, digital television belongs to the future. Let's join him. And for this purpose, it is not at all necessary to spend money on purchasing a new TV.

A modern high-quality receiver can save you from the costs of buying expensive television devices. You can connect the receiver via HDMI yourself.

Moreover, a lot of pleasure from watching television programs with an excellent level of quality will be provided!

FullHD-video is already firmly established in everyday life. On what kind of products you will not find stickers informing about working with it - on media players, laptops, monitors, video cards, and sometimes even on phones and communicators! Well, without exception, all modern video equipment is equipped with a digital HDMI interface (versions from 1.1 to 1.4). TV tuners are no exception. First of all, manufacturers ensured compatibility with HD-video in standalone models, but now the turn has come to internal receivers for the PCI Express bus. Just such a device manufactured by AVerMedia Technologies came to our laboratory. It is the world's first TV tuner to feature an HDMI input up to 1080i/720p.

⇡ Specifications

⇡ Equipment

• a short metal bar for installing the tuner in barebone systems;
• remote control with two AAA batteries;
• FM antenna;
• remote receiver of infrared signals with a sticky base;
• 10-in-1 A/V cable;
• CD with software;
• installation guide in Russian.

I must say that the package bundle is no different - no worse and no better than most other models of TV tuners.

⇡ Construction

As for the second HDMI port, everything is simple here. Unlike the first, the second port only outwardly resembles HDMI (or rather, the same connector is used), but in fact, a 10-in-1 cable, included in the tuner's delivery package, is connected to it. This "multi-head" cable is used to implement all the A/V inputs declared in the specification, as well as to connect an external IR signal receiver.

Now let's look at the element base of the novelty. The tuner has a one-sided printing of elements. It is almost impossible to find fault with the soldering quality - it is just perfect, which is traditional for AverMedia. The board has three electrolytic capacitors, which are rare in modern tuners. As for the main structural elements, here the developers presented several surprises.

The decoder chosen is very unusual. This is a 10-bit TM6200 chip manufactured by Trident Microsystems, Inc. Unfortunately, even on the manufacturer's website there is no detailed information on it, and therefore it is not possible to talk about any characteristics in this case.

We have already met the used HF unit earlier when getting acquainted with other models of TV tuners. It's about about the semiconductor hybrid TDA18271 produced by the company

hybrid TV and FM tuner with HDMI input

"A project is worthless if you can't make a living with it."
Sergei Nekhaev

Despite the fact that digital video content and high resolutions are successfully occupying and holding positions, on the borders of the former 1/6 of the land, the advent of the era of digital television broadcasting is firmly bogged down. It is difficult to say whether the harsh Russian winters are to blame or something else, but until 2015, when the transition to digital is scheduled (according to the current data at the time of this article), there is not so little time left. But if the doors are closed before progress, it starts looking for open windows, one of which is video capture devices, until recently, for the most part limited to analog composite, S-Video and component inputs. One of the first capture cards that supports the HDMI interface was made by a Taiwanese company. In the relevant material, it was noted that seats for microcircuits for receiving and decoding a television signal, which the device under consideration today called AVerTV CaptureHD (internal index H727) is equipped with.

Contents of delivery

Our sample has a new design box, the black color of which, combined with the inscription "5 Years Warranty" (spelling preserved) on a yellow background, has a positive effect on the results of the "clothing meeting". The box has an opening lid, which was not previously observed in AVerMedia products.

The delivery set consists of:

• tuner;
• remote control;
• remote IR sensor of the remote control;
• dipole FM antenna;
• adapter-splitter for connecting external sources;
• bracket for installation in low-profile cases;
• CD with drivers and software;
• a quick guide to installing the tuner;
• flyer with information about the SnugTV service (see below);
• branded warranty card with addresses of service centers;
• company logo sticker.

Additional software for editing recorded video files is traditionally not included, but AVerMedia compensates this to some extent with the presence of the AVer MediaCenter multimedia shell, which in our case is positioned as the default program.

At the end of 2009, the company launched a service that allows users to organize centralized network broadcasting from their devices. Details can be found further down the text.

Construction and specifications

The AVerTV CaptureHD board has a low profile design and a standard length.

All the main elements are located on the front side of the board. AVerMedia DarkCrystal HD Capture Pro's Sil9013CLU () HDMI receiver, AD9985A analog interface () and TV Master TM6200 decoder (Trident Microsystems, Inc.) now have a TDA18271HDC2 (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division) and COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division) hidden behind a protective screen. Multiplexing) DVB-T demodulator DRX 3923KA3 manufactured by .

Curious elemental base, to be sure. If NXP semiconductor RF blocks are currently widely used, then Micronas DRX 3923KA3 and TV Master TM6200 are encountered for the first time. The exotic nature of the COFDM demodulator is not of particular interest due to its insignificant effect on the operation of the tuner, but it makes sense to pay attention to the decoder. Unlike the TM6010 we reviewed earlier, this 10-bit chip has acquired PCI Express support and full-fledged stereo sound decoding, so this time you don’t have to worry about comfortable listening to FM radio stations. Interestingly, the design of the board provides for the installation of a heatsink on this chip, which, apparently, was abandoned at the stage of mass production.

We note the presence of electrolytic capacitors on the board, which look somewhat archaic for a device of this class.

As mentioned above, AVerMedia DarkCrystal HD Capture Pro is deprived of opportunity AVerTV CaptureHD television reception, so in terms of HDMI video capture, we will refer to the review of AVerMedia DarkCrystal HD Capture Pro and the corresponding one.

Now you can proceed with a clear conscience to an overview of the operation of AVerTV CaptureHD in TV and FM tuner mode.

The possibilities of this when using AVer MediaCenter are:

• support for all analog (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) standards with stereo decoding;
• support for FM radio with extended range and stereo sound;
• RDS (Radio Data System) decoding in FM mode;
• quick search and channel switching;
• sorting (reassigning) channels;
• time shift TimeShift;
• scaling;
• scheduler (one-time/regular mode);
• silent recording (muting the sound during recording);
• frame capture (single frame/sequence of frames);
• individual parameter setting for each channel;
• support for recording in MPEG-1/2/4;
• support for 4:3 and 16:9 video modes;
• teletext;
• create channel groups;
• support for Windows Windows XP/Vista/Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit versions).

To complete the picture, it remains to add HDMI and component (YPbPr) with support for resolutions up to 1080i/720p.

Test computer configuration

• CPU Intel Core i7-920
• Motherboard Gigabyte X58A-UD3R (rev. 1.0)
• RAM 8 GB (4×2048 DDR3 PC12800 Patriot)
• Video card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium PCIe sound card
• 2TB Seagate Barracuda LP Hard Drive (ST32000542AS)
• HDD 1 TB Hitachi (HDT721010SLA360)
• HDD 1 TB WD Caviar Blue (10EALX)
• 500GB Samsung Hard Drive (HD502IJ)
• 250 GB Hitachi HDD (HDT722525DLA380)
• DVD ReWriter ASUS DRW-24B1ST
• DVD ReWriter Optiarc AD-7173A
• Tagan SuperRock TG880-U33II power supply (880 W)
• Operating Windows systems XP Professional (SP3) RUS and Windows 7 Ultimate x64 RUS

Connection

External signal sources are connected to AVerTV CaptureHD via two identical connectors.

Only one of them is an HDMI input, while the second, despite the external identity, is designed to switch everything else with the help of an adapter with 10 (!) them, which contains a component input (3 RCA) and 2 RCA stereo. To avoid confusion of video and audio connectors, the latter are numbered with the letters L and R (left and right channels, respectively). Another group got a separate audio input(2 more RCA stereo with the same markings), S-Video and composite inputs and remote control IR sensor connector.

The inputs are marked, in addition, the manufacturer claims protection against accidental “wrong” connection.

Alas, despite the tricks with the adapter, there is only one antenna input, so users with cable TV to work with FM radio stations will either have to switch antennas or be puzzled by an additional adapter for summing signals.

Also, due to the location of the bottom connector, there may be problems installing AVerTV CaptureHD on motherboards with elements in close proximity to the target PCI Express slot.

The sound is transmitted only through the interface, the tuner does not provide audio outputs.

List of on-air channels during testing

Setting

During testing, the driver version 1.12.64.40 and AVer MediaCenter 3D 1.7.9 (build 11031401) were used. For the software to work, Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable -x86 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition are installed, about which appropriate warnings are displayed.

After installation in the section Sound, video and gaming devices appears AVerMedia H727 PCIe Hybrid DVBT HDMI Capture Device.

Despite the fact that the Device Manager and AVer MediaCenter define AVerTV CaptureHD in the singular, at the driver level, the tuner is represented by two devices, one of which is directly working with television and radio broadcasting, and the second includes capture from component and HDMI inputs. For this reason, those who wish to use the AVerTV 6 program instead of AVer MediaCenter are deprived of access to HD content capture, it's hard to say for technical or marketing reasons, but this functionality is not supported in AVerTV 6.

The icon of the AVerQuick scheduler resident program, which also provides work with the remote control, when installing AVerTV 6 and AVer MediaCenter at the same time, avoids confusion with the choice in the program's default settings.

We will not dwell on a detailed description of the operation of the program in the player mode, we will limit ourselves to the operation of the tuner itself. Moreover, unlike most multimedia shells oriented towards the average user, AVer MediaCenter has more advanced settings.

The interface is a standard program for this type of full-screen solution with an additional control panel at the bottom.

Several AVerMedia TV tuners are fully supported, regardless of the signal format.

The setup wizard allows even an inexperienced user to cope with this process, which is facilitated by traditionally competent localization.

The setup algorithm has been transferred from AVerTV 6, correcting for the difference in the overall ergonomics of programs. Reception of analog TV channels, digital TV channels, digital and FM radio stations is configured separately (in the absence of digital broadcasting, the corresponding items can be skipped).

For an analog signal, the image scaling setting (overscan) is available, which in AVerMedia terminology is called the non-working area. This allows you to get rid of the edge artifacts of the signal by bringing them beyond the boundaries of the visible image.

Like AVerTV 6, AVer MediaCenter, in addition to choosing an antenna or cable as a TV signal source, provides for searching across the entire frequency range.

For digital mode, it is possible to disable encoded DVB-T channels in the list.

After completing the wizard, you can change the settings by selecting the icon responsible for setting the wrench and a screwdriver in the main menu.

In the “General” section, you can configure the location of saved files (with a recording time limit and specify the file size for splitting), select a device (primary and secondary if available), interface language, activate support for power saving modes and enable the OSD status icon (last three options are in the advanced settings subsection). Frame capture is possible in BMP, TIF, JPG, GIF, PNG formats.

A unique feature of AVer MediaCenter for this type of program is the presence of individual settings for each channel. They are accessed by clicking the left mouse button on channel name in the list, which is an implicit button. Note that applying the selected scaling values ​​and the brightness, contrast, hue, saturation and sharpness settings available in a separate section (separately for digital and analog channels) to all channels will subsequently make them inactive in the individual settings menu. In addition to the color standard and the above parameters, here you can find noise reduction (change is limited to on / off), sound mode (mono, stereo, auto-detect) and manual frequency adjustment that are absent in other nooks of the interface.

Although this section is often accessed once, placing the cursor on first channel in the list after applying the selected parameters, it can be called a flaw that needs to be fixed.

In the presence organized in the usual way (the selected channel moves up or down) channel sorting. Custom lists are supported.

The recording settings provide a choice of several MPEG-1/2 encoding profiles, including VCD/SVCD/DVD, AVI (DivX and XviD are supported), WAV, WMA, WMV, H.264 and iPod, with the ability to edit them.

Settings are configured separately for analog mode, digital mode, and HDMI/component video inputs.

AT digital mode it is possible to record the entire stream, as well as the audio track separately.

Image quality settings in delayed view mode are limited to two implicit options - normal and enhanced.

AVerTV CaptureHD does not support automatic color standard detection, so the ability to explicitly specify it for each of the inputs (separately for S-Video, composite, component and HDMI) can be useful.

In advanced settings, you can detect language change, company logo display, enable/disable support for power-saving modes, and display the OSD status icon.

Selecting a signal source using the context menu, accessible by the right mouse button, runs counter to the general ideology of multimedia shells. Here you can also select the aspect ratio, turn on teletext and start the sleep timer (up to 2 hours with an interval of 30 minutes).

Implemented quick access to the channel list.

Despite the original analog signal in 4:3 format, the interface of the program window is designed for widescreen mode.

The scheduler has been ported from AVerTV 6 without significant changes. Implemented background recording with muted sound, it is possible to switch to energy-saving modes after a scheduled task is completed, or to turn off the computer.

Support for teletext on top of the main image with full-fledged Russian by default deserves praise.

The "3D" suffix that appears in the AVer MediaCenter's name stands for stereo image support for NVIDIA 3D Vision shutter glasses, polarized glasses, and anaglyph glasses.

AVerMedia was the first and so far the only company to declare support for the recent fashion trend in such a volume, but it was not without a fly in the ointment associated with marketing quirks. In our case, this manifested itself by issuing individual AV devices 3D CaptureHD, different from the AVer considered here TV CaptureHD is only an identifier in the firmware, on the basis of which the mode of converting a normal image into a “see3D” adapted for stereo viewing becomes available in the standard software.

Quality

Automatic search demonstrated good result, extra channels, like AVerTV Super 009, did not appear. AVerTV CaptureHD provides good quality reception, the details are traditionally in the next part of our comparative cycle.

The deinterlacing method used in AVer MediaCenter reduces the clarity of the image (especially in combination with noise reduction). If we ignore this feature of the standard software, then the quality can be called traditionally good for tuners based on the latest generation decoders. Chips from Trident demonstrate slightly less color saturation and slightly more graininess than NXP decoders, but you can only notice this during a close comparison. In any case, problems with SECAM, observed in Compro VideoMate U2800F, do not threaten users of AVerTV CaptureHD.

There are no complaints about the sound quality.

AVerMedia is one of the manufacturers that have implemented software emulation of hardware compression in MPEG-2. This allows the tuner to support the multimedia interfaces of modern operating systems, but the lack of automatic detection of the color standard in AVerTV CaptureHD introduces certain inconveniences in such use.

FM tuner

The FM radio section is extremely concise. Despite several years of existence of the AVer MediaCenter program, it is still not possible to rename stations. Recording is carried out only in WAV and WMA.

The result of the automatic search for FM radio stations (extended range supported) was more than acceptable, the resulting list required minimal editing. Manual addition of stations is also available.

The reception quality did not raise any complaints, AVerTV CaptureHD deserves a good rating in this parameter (corrected for one antenna input for all broadcast sources).

Sorting radio stations, selecting the sound mode (mono / stereo) and restarting the search are in the settings.

Support for RDS is originally implemented, in contrast to the ticker in AVerTV, pressing the corresponding button takes you to the information screen with all available data.

The tuner provides good sound quality in FM mode (download 20-second fragment, MP3, 470 KB).

Service SnugTV

The service is a combination of the client part of SnugTV Station installed on the user's computer (version 3.7.2 was used during testing) and a portal where, after registration (personal data is required), you can connect to the broadcast from your tuner or another user's tuner from anywhere The one that allowed access. Of course, devices must be manufactured by AVerMedia, the list of compatible models is on the website along with detailed description initial setting.

The General section of the SnugTV Station settings contains options account, auto start and choice of language. Here you can also enable the display of the icon and access the settings of the Windows Media Center scheduler.

Network parameters can be configured automatically, but manual control is also possible with the ability to automatic installation connections.

In the "TV" section, the signal source is selected. The original architecture of AVerTV CaptureHD caused the appearance of two independent sources in the settings, the tuner itself with composite and S-Video inputs and the capture device with HDMI and component inputs.

You can also disable sharing here.

The "Energy Saving" section allows you to enable remote wakeup.