Pinnacle has upgraded its HD Stick and HD Pro Stick USB tuners. The tuners now include the ability to receive and decode ClearQAM cable signals in addition to NTSC analog and ATSC digital broadcasts. The HD Pro Stick can also receive analog FM radio broadcasts.
The Pinnacle HD Ultimate Stick, which has on-board flash memory, already had ClearQAM capability, although users have to download beta software/firmware from the Pinnacle Web site (opens in new tab) to add ClearQAM capability.
The new HD stick and HD Pro Stick software includes what Pinnacle calls “a trial version” of support for MPEG-4 for output to a PSP or iPod.
The Pinnacle Web site does not mention what tuner and demodulator chips are used in the new USB tuners. The HD Ultimate Stick uses an Xceive tuner with an AMD (ATI) demodulator. The older HD Pro Stick used an LG demodulator.
Visiting the Best Buy Web site, I noticed the new HD Pro Stick was available in some stores.
Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. He has been with NBC since 1985 and is currently vice president of broadcast technology for NBC/Telemundo stations.
