New ATSC Tuners from AMD

By Doug Lung
published

AMD announced two new DTV tuners this week: The TV Wonder 600 USB, a USB stick tuner, and the TV Wonder 650 PCIe board. The features in the TV Wonder 600 USB look similar to those offered in competing USB ATSC tuners from Pinnacle and Hauppauge, with the exception that it supports the ATI Catalyst software suite. As with the Pinnacle and Hauppauge USB ATSC “stick” tuners, it receives analog over-the-air, analog cable and ATSC over-the-air DTV but doesn’t demodulate QAM digital cable TV. You’ll need a larger box like the Autumnwave OnAir GT or the FusionHDTV5 USB Gold to do that. I this item in the feature list: “Free-to-air HDTV with no monthly fees.”

The TV Wonder 650 PCI Express board requires a desktop computer but has two tuners which receive FM radio, analog TV (over-the-air and cable), ATSC DTV (over-the-air) and unencrypted QAM cable DTV. I didn’t see any mention of CableCARD support for digital cable. The ATI Catalyst Media Center software provides full PVR and time shifting functionality and allows access from a broadband-connected computer using Orb software.

AMD purchased ATI in October 2006. In 2002, ATI purchased Nxtwave Communications. Nxtwave developed advanced QAM, COFDM and ATSC/VSB demodulator chips. The AMD/ATI Web site didn’t mention which demodulator was used in the TV Wonder 600 USB.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.