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| Home | Features | DMA® Info | About | Vol 28 Issue 1 June 2003 |
Hardware Review : Kworld TV TunerBy Dan Woodard, DMA® member, DataBus Software Reviewer Back in college, in the early 90's, I recall my first encounter with a video capture board. The fellow across the hall had a nice computer setup. While I pretty much waited until most computer technology matured before buying it, he always had to have the latest and greatest. He shelled out several hundred dollars for a card that seemed like a fantastic toy at the time, but in retrospect was really an expensive peripheral that produced pixilated output. I remember thinking that I would probably never have anything similar on my computer system. Times certainly change. A couple of months back, I noticed that TV tuner card prices had fallen under $50, and I finally decided to pick one up to play with. After looking at the features for a while, I decided on the Kworld Mpeg Station PCI.
My second impression of the card was rather poor, especially when I noticed that documentation was pretty sparse. Although the packaging states that the card is compatible with Windows '98, I was unable to get the card recognized properly after more than a half dozen attempts. Luckily, I had picked up a copy of Windows ME at a yard sale a month earlier, so I installed that and got the card installed without even a small hiccup. I was instantly able to start watching TV on the system, and although the picture was just a bit grainier than a regular television, it was still quite acceptable full screen. There were several software applications included, and overall it seemed like a well-rounded package. The learning curve involved with the Kworld tuner is a bit higher than might be anticipated. This is not so much because of the card itself, but because its features are controlled through several different software programs. Some of the programs, especially the Intervideo WinProducer editing software, proved to be needlessly counterintuitive and frustrating. On the other hand, I found the Intervideo WinDVR recording software to be easy to use, and robust with features. After a couple of hours of trying various settings, I was able to record an hour-long TV program at VCD (Video CD) resolution using only 600 MB, which would easily burn onto a single CD. Summary: For an entry-level TV Tuner card, I was rather impressed with the Kworld 878 Pro. For only $36, I was able to turn my computer into a digital video recorder, and also turned my speakers into a nice FM stereo. Also, I now have the capability of transferring our old VHS home videos to VCD or DVD format. The only thing keeping me from giving this a perfect 10 score was the lackluster editing software that was included. Thankfully, this can be remedied by an inexpensive download of something like MPEG VCR software. ( http://womble.com/) Rating: 9 out of 10 Requirements: 500MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, DirectX 8, 250+ MB HDD, full duplex sound, empty PCI slot (or USB port for USB version) Reviewed: Athlon 700, 128 MB RAM, 32MB Video, 50x CD, Win ME, DirectX 8, 30GB HDD Best Price: $36 (includes free shipping!) www.memorylabs.net/digvidapweb.html Manufacturer website: www.kworld.com.tw |
 Dan
Woodard: At the tender age of 9, Dan got his start enjoying computer games
on his TI-99/4a home computer, and he's been at it ever since. He graduated
in 1996 with a B.S. in Environmental Studies. Dan has been a DMA® member
for about 9 years now, and enjoys playing Othello, other strategy and
role playing games, backpacking, fishing and gardening. He also dabbles
in computer repair and upgrades, & is currently studying for his Network+
certification.. Dan is a regular software reviewer in The DataBus. - dgw
(at) dmapub.dma.org |
The
Kworld tuner card is based on the Conexant 878 chipset. The model I
went with is specifically known as the kw-tv878rf pro. There are several
different "flavors" of this card available, including a USB model, a
digital satellite tuner card, a motion sensor model for security purposes,
and a Firewire version for working with DV camcorders. The model I selected
was the cheapest, coming in at $36 (with shipping!), but still had a
lot of features. Not only did it act as a TV tuner card, it also allowed
capture of video streams into MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. It has an RCA input
for camcorder hookup, a coax cable hookup (which can also be used for
rabbit ears), a SVHS input and it even has an infrared remote control
unit that comes standard with the package. Plus, it has an FM radio
tuner incorporated into the card, which turns your speaker system into
a nice stereo system and also makes it very easy to capture the latest
music to MP3s. | DMA® Home | Computerfest® | Copyright Statement | ||
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