TVSquad

Hauppauge has released beta software that adds ClearQAM support to several of its HDTV television tuner cards. If you've got an HVR-1250, HVR-1600, HVR-1800, or HVR-2250, right now you can tune into analog NTSC broadcasts or over the air ATSC signals. But no matter how many times you plug in the cable that runs to your digital cable box, you're not going to pick anything up without the new beta driver.

Once the new drivers are installed on a Windows Vista computer (sorry, Windows XP and Mac OS X are not supported), you should be able to access Hauppauge's ClearQAM scanner in the programs section of Vista Media Center. Using this tool, you can find any unencrypted digital cable channels available in your area. Typically broadcast networks like ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and the CW don't encrypt their signals while premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime do.

[via Chris Lanier]

AVerMedia is adding ClearQAM support to more of its HDTV TV tuners. In February, the company launched the Bravo Hybrid TV tuner, which is a PCIe card that can pick up ATSC, NTSC, and ClearQAM signals. Now AVerMedia is giving the same treatment to its USB stick style TV tuners with the AverTV Hybrid Volar Max.

The Volar Max, which was first announced at CES in January is now available for $80. The tuner supports unencrypted HDTV signals in both Windows Vista Media Center and Windows XP Media Center edition.

Users can download a utility from AVermedia that will let them scan for unencrypted ClearQAM channels. There's a chance you'll find a couple of encrypted channels during the scan, which you can manually remove from your program guide. For the most part, premium channels are encrypted while broadcast network channels are not.

In the market for a Mac-friendly USB TV tuner? Up until recently the market's been pretty much cornered by Elgato and Miglia. But last year Hauppauge announced that some of its popular TV tuners for PC were now Mac compatible. Or if none of those tuners are doing it for you, check out the new TubeStick hybrid from Equinox.

This $129 tuner can handle NTSC, ATSC, and ClearQAM signals. In layman's terms, that means you can plug in an analog cable, a digital antenna for over the air HDTV, or user the tuner to decode unencrypted HD cable channels.

The TubeStick hybrid comes with a portable antenna for watching over the air programs on the go, but we'd recommend spending a few bucks on a higher quality antenna if you plan to use this tuner at home. The tuner is also compatible with Windows.

[via Engadget]

There's never been a better time to be in the market for a TV tuner card for your home theater PC. You know, unless you're looking for a high end tuner that will let you do something like record Digital Cable or Satellite TV signals directly on your PC. CableCard and satellite tuners are either expensive or not-yet existent.

But if you're looking for a PCI Express card that can handle standard NTSC and ATSC signals, Hauppauge has announced a new $49 TV tuner that should fit the bill. The WinTV-HVR-1250 can record standard analog TV or over the air HDTV. It can also handle ClearQAM, which is just a fancy word for unencrypted digital cable HDTV signals.

The TV tuner is certified for use with Windows Vista Media Center, but should also work with other PC-based PVR software. The WinTV-HVR-1250 should be available laster this month.

It looks like Hauppauge is updating its WinTV-HVR-950 line of USB TV tuners by adding a Q to the end of the name. That's right, the all new WinTV-HVR-950Q does everything the older TV tuner does. Oh yeah, and it can also handle ClearQAM signals.

What that means, in a nutshell, is that you can use this little USB jobby to record over the air NTSC or HDTV signals, or you can plug your digital cable line into the tuner and record any unencrypted HDTV channels directly to your computer. Keep in mind, most cable providers scramble premium content, but you'll probably be able to pick up all of your local network affiliates in crystal clear high def with this TV tuner.

Oh yeah, you can also record standard definition programming by plugging in an analog cable (or bunny ears, if that's your kind of thing). The WinTV-HVR-950Q should be available later this month for $99.

[via Engadget]

If you want to watch HDTV on a media center PC, you generally have two choices. You can get a CableCard tuner for handling encrypted high definition cable, or you can get an HDTV tuner that handles over the air and unencrypted (ClearQAM) cable signals.

AverMedia's AverTV Combo PCIe x1 M780 tuner is one of the latter. But so far, it's only been able to pick up over the air signals, but no ClearQAM.

Now it looks like the folks at AverMedia have issued a driver update that adds ClearQAM support for the tuner. The driver comes in x86 and x64 varieties, and works only with Windows Vista.

[via Chris Lanier]

SageTV released a new beta of its PC based PVR software today. SageTV 6.2.5 Beta for Linux and Windows includes a boatload of bug fixes and new features, including:

• Added support for Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1800 TV tuners in Windows
  
• Added ClearQAM (unencrypted high definition cable) support for Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1600 and HVR-1800 TV tuners in Windows
  
• Added support for AverMedia M780 TV tuner in Windows Vista
• Fixed a Windows bug that caused music files to end early
• Fixed audio/video sync bug with H.264 files
• Support changing from over-the-air to cable TV tuning without restarting the application or having to pick a different input
• Added Apple TV transcoding profiles

As always, remember that this is beta software, so your results may vary. If you're the adventurous sort, and don't mind crashing your PC or missing a few recordings, it looks like a great update. For everyone else, you might want to wait until the next stable release.
[via Missing Remote]