Looking for dual tuner - fast channel change, high signal sensitivity & Vista resume

[deandob]

Hi,

I have had a number of older DVB-T tuners in the past and they have been a bit hit and miss, with either the tuner signal sensitivity being poor, the tuner not working when coming out of standby, or 5+ seconds channel changing, all of which is not acceptable.

Has anyone researched the most recent batch of dual tuners to decide on a make/model that works in a moderate signal area, has fast channel changing and has no problems sleep/resume with Vista SP1?

After a little bit of research it seems that a dual tuner has more stringent requirements on signal strength even if it only has 1 RF input, as the signal is split internally, and that the smaller DSP chip based tuners can be worse than the older can type designs.

USB or PCI is OK.

Any feedback?

Regards
Dean

[itr2401]

After going through my build recently, I thought I had done my homework in this regard.

Turns out that I missed one valuable thing - does the tuner card continue to work after the system returns from suspend .... well the FusionHDTV card I have - whilst good for an always powered on system - is totally useless under Vista SP1 when it comes to working fully after the machine has resumed from a hibernate / suspended state. I should have done my research better and this card is a total waste of money now.

I have shot off an email to the digitalnow guys (http://www.digitalnow.com.au/) to ask if their Dual Hybrid PCI-E S3 due for release in September will function correctly after the system resumes from a suspended state (S3).

[deandob]

Yep, exactly why its worth asking first, as I have been bitten as well.

I currently have the DigitalNow tinyUSB tuner on a HTPC in the home theatre and it works fine but never gets suspended, and an older Avermedia A777 which has worked well (resume, fast channel change and sensitive). 2 previous cards, an older DigitalNow card and a Twinhan, had problems with Visa support, slow changing or poor reception.

[sydboy007]

i just got a digitalnow tinytwin digital tuner and it's great. picked up all the stations and very easy to locate it away from the PC

for $129 inc delivery it's 1 of the best value tuners I think.

I had to go USB since my case was too small to handle a card.

[tackster]

the older hauppagen nova 500 twin HD has no problems with vista 32 or 64 bit,no problems with sleep or hibernate,no problems with original vista HP or sp1. works well with XP also.

thought i had problems, it was just channel 7 poor reception,now sorted.

[deandob]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

Has anyone looked at the relative RF sensitivities of the various products? I have some problems during/after rain as my signal has to go through a couple of trees which deterioriate the signal when wet. I had read that a good "can" tuner will outperform the latest chipsets (NXP) which use DSP for processing the RF signal.

[captn]

Originally Posted by deandob

Thanks guys for the feedback.

Has anyone looked at the relative RF sensitivities of the various products? I have some problems during/after rain as my signal has to go through a couple of trees which deterioriate the signal when wet. I had read that a good "can" tuner will outperform the latest chipsets (NXP) which use DSP for processing the RF signal.

I've tried the digitalnow tinytwin and the Hauppauge HVR2200. Ditched the tinytwin because I could only use one tuner - the second never had enough signal strength to work. No such issue with the HVR2200. Resumes from sleep just fine as well (as did the tinytwin.)

[Vico]

Their "digitalnow - DNTV Live! Dual Hybrid PCI-E S3 " looks very impresive on paper.. ETA 05 Sep 2008 ..what you guys think?

[deandob]

captn, good feedback, just what I was looking for. How does the HVR2200 work with channel change speed?

vico, yes, this card does look interesting. Not sure of its advantages over the other dual tuners.

[TheRob]

Originally Posted by deandob

captn, good feedback, just what I was looking for. How does the HVR2200 work with channel change speed?

vico, yes, this card does look interesting. Not sure of its advantages over the other dual tuners.

The HVR2200 is one of the fastest channel changers on the market. You won't get better.

I had trouble with the DNTV Dual Hybrid S2 with resume from sleep. The new S3 may fix this - I don't know (DNTV were never able to identify the exact problem). The HVR2200 has zero problems resuming from standby on my system.

I live in a marginal signal area. HVR2200 has excellent sensitivity. Some people in certain areas (like the Gold Coast) have been reporting problems getting certain channels to display. I believe this is a problem with the way Vista addresses channels that are broadcast on offset frequencies. This may or may not be a problem for you.

IMO HVR2200 is currently the best dual tuner card in the market in every respect except price. YMMV.

[andczo]

I can also attest to the Hauppauge 2200... great piece of kit...
I do have a homeless DNTV USBTwin requiring a new home now so if you are interested, please PM me.

[MCVista]

Originally Posted by itr2401

After going through my build recently, I thought I had done my homework in this regard.

Turns out that I missed one valuable thing - does the tuner card continue to work after the system returns from suspend .... well the FusionHDTV card I have - whilst good for an always powered on system - is totally useless under Vista SP1 when it comes to working fully after the machine has resumed from a hibernate / suspended state. I should have done my research better and this card is a total waste of money now.

I have shot off an email to the digitalnow guys (http://www.digitalnow.com.au/) to ask if their Dual Hybrid PCI-E S3 due for release in September will function correctly after the system resumes from a suspended state (S3).

I have the Digitalnow dual hybryd S2 version and the TinyTwin, channel change is very fast with both of them and never had any problems with resuming from standby/sleep. I think resuming from standby issues are more associated with the motherboard/chipset/OS combo than the tuners used. Best thing to do is buy from a place where you can return/exchange if does not work in your system.

[TheRob]

Originally Posted by MCVista

I have the Digitalnow dual hybryd S2 version and the TinyTwin, channel change is very fast with both of them and never had any problems with resuming from standby/sleep. I think resuming from standby issues are more associated with the motherboard/chipset/OS combo than the tuners used. Best thing to do is buy from a place where you can return/exchange if does not work in your system.

The standby issues are definately related to the DigitalNow Dual Hybrid PCIe S2 tuner card in combination with certain motherboards. DigitalNow had a note on their website for the old S2 card to the effect that some people had reported problems, but that they were unable to replicate these. I spent about six months trying to solve my problems of intermittent 'No signal' errors and losing one (and somtimes both) of the two tuners after resuming from sleep. Changing to the HVR2200 has completely eliminated these issues. Same motherboard/chipset/OS - different tuner. Where does the problem lie?

Originally Posted by MCVista

Best thing to do is buy from a place where you can return/exchange if does not work in your system.

Yes. Very good advice.

[wineds]

I am not convinced that the HVR2200 is immune from S3 issues. I still have a S3 resume problem with mine as posted here (post 511) :

Hauppauge HVR-2200 - What a fantastic PCIe Dual Digital TV Tuner

Off course it could be a motherboard / card compatibility problem but I get the same issue with two different motherboards.