Cyberlink software

Unlike previous ATI multimedia offerings, which have relied on ATI’s excellent Multimedia Center software, all three THEATER 550 PRO cards we’re evaluating today, including ATI’s own TV WONDER ELITE, utilize the ATI version of CyberLink’s PowerCinema software for TV viewing/personal video recording. Unfortunately, this is where things begin to go downhill.

PowerCinema ATI Edition

Setting up PowerCinema for TV tuning

For starters, and most importantly, the ATI version of PowerCinema doesn’t ship with an electronic programming guide (EPG). If you want to see what’s currently on TV, you’ll have to whip out your local newspaper’s TV listings, or head to an online source such as tvguide.com. This is a definite step back from ATI’s own Multimedia Center software, which ships with Gemstar GUIDE PLUS for this functionality. ATI is working with CyberLink to get the electronic programming guide implemented for TV WONDER ELITE users in the near future, but we weren’t given an exact ETA by ATI on when this will occur. For now, your only option is to upgrade to the full version of PowerCinema, or purchase other third-party PVR software such as SnapStream’s BeyondTV, Multimedia Center didn’t work with any of the THEATER 550 PRO cards we tested.

Another problem with PowerCinema is the depth of recording options; there just aren’t enough. CyberLink provides three basic settings, that’s it. You also can’t adjust volume control for your recordings. When saving files you’ve recorded, PowerCinema won’t allow you to specify where you’d like to save television programming you record, everything goes in the default “Documents and Settings” directory of Windows XP.

Very simple setup

Newbie friendly

Like MMC will autoscan for channels

File types supported are also limited, PowerCinema only supports MPEG-2 for video (bit rate adjustment isn’t provided) and WAV/WMA for audio (when saving your FM recordings). Surprisingly enough, the MP3 format isn’t supported! When files are saved, the filenames aren’t descriptive at all, merely naming the recordings based on the time they were recorded.

Recording in general is a frustrating process, since there’s no EPG you literally have to enter in the time, date, and channel you wish to record for each program. If you remember the old days of programming your VCR by hand manually, the experience is pretty similar.

CyberLink was good enough to provide a “preview” feature in the ATI edition of PowerCinema, which takes snapshots of other channels so you can see what’s on, but herein lies the THEATER 550 PRO’s other problem. It’s MT2050 tuner is so slow that it takes some time to scan through all the channels.

ATI says that they moved to PowerCinema because “a standalone TV tuner product such as the TV WONDER ELITE needs to provide a compelling and easy to use software solution in order to gain acceptance from not only enthusiasts but mainstream users alike”. In the case of mainstream users, ATI certainly accomplished their mission, as the PowerCinema interface is easy to use and looks appealing. But the problem is that in the process of making PVR software with an easy to use interface, CyberLink loses too much of the functionality that’s needed on a high-end card like TV WONDER ELITE. It’s like getting a shiny new Enzo Ferrari with 10” tires and wheels. Sure, it looks good and has impressive specs on paper, but you can only expose 50% of the product’s functionality – where’s the fun in that?