Using the TV Wonder, Performance
Using the TV Wonder
I won't go into detail with regards to ATI's Multimedia Centre software which is used to drive the TV Wonder, allowing you to capture video, record TV, use the integrated program guide, use their full-screen interface (EASYLOOK) and the other functionality. I've covered that in my other reviews of All-In-Wonder products, one of which you can find here.With a RemoteWonder hooked up, using the TV Wonder was just like using the same hardware on an All-In-Wonder board. They're functionaly identical in that respect, EASYLOOK working brilliantly and the full-screen UI making it simple to swap media files, change channels, change inputs to the device and all the other functions.
ATI's multimedia software isn't the greatest in terms of look and feel, or usability, but they're making big strides towards cleaning up the interface, making EASYLOOK better and giving MMC a usability overhaul.
Performance
Performance was measured by recording the same 10 minute clip of video from the start of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, input from my DVD deck to the TV Wonder using S-Video, into ATI VCR format at the four available quality settings.
The CPU hit wasn't too bad, but it was higher than the CPU hit measured for similar video input on a competing product I reviewed earlier in the year. USB is the reason, but it's certainly nothing bad, the TV Wonder never dropping a frame or stuttering while recording. The test system was an ASUS K8V with Model 3400+ Athlon 64 and 512MB of DDR400 low latency memory.
Video Quality
Video quality is a subjective thing for the most part, but quick scrutiny over some sample frames captured by the TV Wonder from a broadcast video source showed that it copes well with almost all signal quality, until the signal degrades so much nothing would have a chance at cleaning it up. Analysing frames captured via the S-Video input showed similar excellent quality. I've devised some testing scenarios that let you the reader judge for yourself, but they're not quite ready for this article. Look out for something when I review ATI's Theater 550 PRO.For now, as a subjective measurement only, the TV Wonder's TV quality was as good as on their desktop All-In-Wonder hardware, as expected.
