AMD Releases Two New TV Wonders

AMD announced two new multimedia TV Wonder products – the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe and TV Wonder 600 USB. The new TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe features the Theater 650 Pro video processor, which made its debut over a year ago.
AMD equips the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe with dual tuners, one to receive analog and one to receive digital broadcasts. Both tuners can operate simultaneously, allowing users to watch and record from two sources at the same time. The digital tuner on the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe features ClearQAM technology, which allows users to receive unscrambled digital broadcasts over cable TV lines.
The digital tuner on the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe can also tune into high-definition broadcasts from over-the-air and ClearQAM digital signals. An FM tuner is also integrated. The TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe slips into a single PCIe x1 slot. Other notable features include Avivo video processing for hardware MPEG-2 encoding, motion adaptive 3D comb filter, automatic color control, automatic gain control, noise reduction and edge enhancement technologies.
The new TV Wonder 600 USB tuner features a hybrid TV tuner design that can tune into analog and digital broadcasts. Unlike the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe, the TV Wonder 600 USB does not have dual tuner functionality. Nevertheless, users can tune into free over-the-air digital and high-definition broadcasts or analog broadcasts. The TV Wonder 600 USB does not support ClearQAM. AMD doesn’t divulge details of the new TV Wonder 600 USB’s innards. Both new tuner products come bundled with Catalyst Media Center software and fully compatible with Windows Vista Media Center and Windows XP Media Center Edition. Expect the TV Wonder 650 Combo PCIe and TV Wonder 600 USB to show up in September.