Pioneer Computers has released a dual digital PCI TV tuner at the keen price of $199. It claims the device is an Australian first.
With the FIFA World Cup coming in June and matches featuring the Australian team to be held mostly in the daytime, the DreamVision Dual Digital TV Tuner will make sure no important sporting moments are missed.
The DreamVision Dual Digital TV Tuner is a set of two digital TV receivers which receive television on the DVB-T format, and can be used to watch and record digital TV shows under Windows XP Media Centre Edition (MCE).
As the device’s name suggests, it contains two complete TV tuners, each with its own hardware MPEG encoder. MCE users can choose to watch TV with the MyTV button on MCE, watch one TV show while recording another using the built-in dual digital MPEG encoders, or record two TV shows at once. The device allows pausing of live TV, replay and skip forward while another TV show continues to be recorded to a PC’s hard disk.
The device is Viiv and Microsoft Vista ready. When Vista is released, Pioneer Computers’ DreamVision Media Centre PC will be able to accommodate two Digital Dual TV Tuners, meaning users will be able to simultaneously view and record up to four TV channels with full PVR capabilities. Clearly, this provides new levels of digital entertainment capture capabilities.
The DreamVision Dual Digital TV Tuner is also available as an option for build-to-order DreamVision Media Centre PC.
Australians will have to acquire digital televisions or digital receivers by 2009, as by then the Federal Government plans to shut the decades-old old existing analogue television system.
