Dual Hybrid PCI-E TV tuner card (28/02/2007)
The KWorld DVB-T PE310 stands out from the crowd as it uses a PCI Express x1 interface instead of the more usual PCI slot. Depending on your point of view that may seem like a welcome step forward, or possibly a slap in the face for anyone who owns an older PC, but there's a good deal of sense behind this move.
KWorld has used the new Philips SAA7162 chip, which is a native PCI Express part, giving the benefit of dual digital tuners. However these aren't regular tuners that have a fixed function, as you can reconfigure either tuner at any time, so the DVB-T PE310 can have dual analogue, dual digital or one of each. This feature gives the card its 'Dual Hybrid' tag.
The backplate of the card looks quite conventional with dual RF connections, a connection point for the remote receiver and a mini DIN plug. That last port accepts an adapter cable that carries S-Video, composite and RCA audio connections. Plug it all together and you have the usual tangle of cables that is a feature of every TV tuner that we have ever seen, however the hardware side of this model is very good indeed.
Wish we could say the same about the software, though. KWorld's Hyper Media II software has all of the functions that you need .
Once you figure out which button acts as the central control, you can select either of the tuners and then configure it for digital TV, analogue TV or FM radio. You can re-configure the tuners at any time. The next job is to scan for channels and we found that the results here were comparable to any decent TV tuner.
Watching TV is straightforward and the quality is quite acceptable but of course that's only the starting point for a dual tuner card. You'll want to watch one channel while you record another, or you may wish to record two channels simultaneously, and in every respect the Hyper Media II software makes life difficult.
Take the simple function of channel preview as an example, where the KWorld software served up a patchwork quilt of thumbnails that is next to useless. We found it quicker and simpler to step through the channels one after the other, and that's surely not the point at all.
The Hybrid nature of the KWorld DVB-T PE310 is incredibly clever, as you can configure either tuner independently of the other. It clearly has huge potential provided the card has proper software support, but as things stand that's the pitfall as we weren't impressed by the Hyper Media II software. In spite of that, this TV tuner is good value and we can only hope that in time the software is updated and improved.
By Damien Virulhapan | May, 2007
KWorld’s DVB-T PE310 Plus TV Instant PVR looks like every other TV tuner to hit the market in recent times. Except for the little plastic bit at the bottom, which gives away the PE310 as one the few TV tuners that supports PCI-E x1.
The PE310 gets its PCI-Express x1 ability from the Philips SAA7162E chipset and also features two Philips TDA100046A ICs that allow simultaneous dual-channel viewing.
Featuring an analogue antenna input, digital antenna/FM input, AV in, remote sensor input for the remote control, a low-profile PCB, full-height bracket, and offering support for Windows XP MCE, the PE310 is ideal for larger HTPC enclosures as well as the average desktop beast. Oddly the package doesn’t come with a half-height bracket despite the small size of the PCB itself, requiring you to source your own – something that as far as we’re aware is impossible. The PE310 can also record video in MPEG 1/2/4 with the relevant codecs installed.
Unless you like admiring installation diagrams, the manual is extremely brief and can otherwise be avoided if you know how to install an expansion card with drivers.
The bundled viewing software includes basic file conversion, editing and scheduled recording functions, as well as the ever-present time-shifting feature. However, the software looks extremely dated and cluttered, as if it had been dragged from the ’90s and in no way resembles the slick and clean intuitive interfaces we’ve come to expect from this type of software.
Once we it set up through auto-tuning, the picture quality was good, although it can get a bit confusing when you’re making your way around the poorly marked interface.
The PE310 is great if you desperately need to fill that unoccupied PCI-E x1 slot. Otherwise, KWorld really needs to bundle in some polished software and a half-height bracket. For now just stick to using Win XP MCE.