Performance and Video Quality
During regular playback of digital TV, CPU usage was small on either device. On our Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHz-based system, CPU usage was between the low and mid 20s for the PCI VisionDTV board, and a little higher due to the overhead of the USB interface for the MagicBox, where it crept up into the high 20s.
Recording from the TV showed little increase from either board, to the tune of only 2 or 3% on both devices. As the minimum CPU requirement for the board is 500MHz (or 600MHz for the USB 2.0 device), it seems safe to say that it won't be too much of a CPU hog.
Video quality
One of the beauties of digital television is supposed to be its picture and sound quality in comparison with all but the cleanest of analogue signals, and certainly neither of these products disappointed in this respect, offering both a clear, crisp picture and sound - Certainly a sight for sore eyes to anybody used to watching analogue TV signals. Sadly, the area in which I live is on the cusp of a reception area for terrestrial digital TV, so I did experience the occasional 'blocking' or breaking up of the picture, but Twinham can't be faulted for that, it serves more as a reminder for any prospective buyer to check out whether they will be able to receive Freeview channels using the postcode checker here.
The quality of recorded video was also, as you would expect, equally impressive, delivering as it should the same image quality seen when viewing the live television feed. All in all, top marks in this most important of disciplines.
