Archived from groups: alt.tv.tech.hdtv (
More info?)
Del Mibbler wrote:
> Robbie <robbiex@bellsouth.net> wrote (in part):
>
>
>>We don't have the HDTV Wonder. It is
>>currently unavailable from multiple suppliers and has also has received
>>very bad user reviews due to poor receiver sensitivity and software
>>problems. An alternative might be the MyHD card. It is, however, my
>>understanding that it uses the same receiver as the ATI
>
>
> It uses some ATI chips, but I haven't read of sensitivity problems,
> and my MDP-120 seems comparable to my LG LST-3410A, which many have
> praised for its sensitivity. I have no reception problems with either
> even though one local station is on low power.
>
>
>>and it doesn't support HDMI and HDCP.
>
>
> Unlike the ATI HDTV Wonder the MyHD card has its own output in
> addition to appearing on whatever video card you have. Component on
> the card, and you can add a DVI daughterboard. DVI is easily
> converted to HDMI. It does not support HDCP, but that's not a problem
> for source devices. Some would say it's a plus. The problem comes if
> the source supports it but the destination (the display) does not.
>
>
>>Also, the MyHD software will not time shift analog TV.
>
>
> No, but the latest software will timeshift digital. I wouldn't buy an
> HDTV card to do much of anything with analog.
>
>
>>What is needed is a quality, sensitive receiver that is capable of
>>receiving OTA HD and analog TV, and cable analog TV.
>
>
> The MyHD cards will do all of these. The new MDP-130 (not available
> yet, but soon) will also handle unscrambled QAM, which is what most
> cable companies use for the broadcast digitals they carry.
>
>
>>It should also be
>>able to accept Satellite and Cable HDMI output and hardware convert
>>these data to MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 format. Unfortunately, such a beast does
>>not exist at the consumer level.
>
>
> And won't any time soon. Aside from the fact the MPAA would go
> ballistic if someone offered that at a consumer price, it requires
> some pretty sophisticated hardware to do high-quality real-time HD
> data compression. And it doesn't make a lot of sense to recompress it
> anyway. Much better to grab it while it's still compressed.
> Unfortunately most tuners won't let you do that.
>
> What we really need for ease of use is a device to grab the transport
> stream, whether from a tuner or a disk file, make it ATSC if it isn't
> already and modulate it on a TV channel for any ATSC receiver to use.
> Dish Network offered such a device as an add-on for one of their
> receivers, but later changed their encoding format so that device
> doesn't work anymore.
>
> Del Mibbler
Hi Del,
I agree with your points. The real problem is the misguided efforts of
the MPAA and the RIAA that have finally resulted in elimination of "fair
use" after many years of trying to do this. Their effort to restrict
technology has recently been abetted by a very consumer unfriendly FCC.
I agree that authors have the right to protect their property, but this
shouldn't be at the expense of unnecessarily hindering consumer use of
technology. The ability to temporarily store, time shift, and distribute
digital data throughout one's home is a great asset and it is a shame
that it is so difficult to do this. We use a LAN connected computer
based jukebox for audio. We own all the CDs, but it is certainly nice to
have the convenience of the jukebox.
Robbie
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