ATI Theater 550 Pro Chip

Anyone know when these chips are going to be available? Anyone know just how
much better the video will be.

This link is all I could find!
http://www.ati.com/buy/promotions/mcesolutions/

 

And how much they will cost!

 

See here for the product.
http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2005/4810.html

Since it is listed now, release should be pretty soon if it hasn't happened
already.

 

Hi there

The ATI TV Wonder Elite will use the Theater 550 chipset, however, it
appears as though it has yet to be released.

If you want to purchase one now, you can get the Sapphire Technology
Theatrix 550 PRO (this PCI board is built using ATI technology and I believe
is is built to ATI's specs - it looks to be identical to the TV Wonder Elite
and uses the same purple breakout box to connect to S-Video and RCA audio).

I'm currently using two ATI eHome Wonder's (recently discontinued by ATI)
and I am undecided about switching to the ATI TV Wonder Elite/Sapphire
Theatrix 550 PRO. I would like to see if the audio and video quality are
better. Anybody have any experience with the new cards?

In any case, look here:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/theatrix.asp

Also, you can purchase the Sapphire Theatrix 550 PRO TV Tuner now at
Newegg.com:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=15-117-601&depa=0

Regards,
Ford F150 Guy

 

Hi

I just upgraded my dual ATI eHome Wonder TV tuners to dual Sapphire Theatrix
tuners (based on the ATI Theater 550 Pro chipset). I've only been using the
new tuners for about 6 hours, however, the picture quality is definitely
better. It's a bit brighter, richer in color, a bit sharper and high motion
scenes look excellent. The difference is not night and day, but it is an
improvement.

In addition to better picture quality, the other reason I upgraded from the
ATI eHome Wonder was that the sound on Live TV would occasionally stutter - I
am no expert but I suspect the stuttering was from the audio and video
getting out of sync. This does not seem to be an issue with the new tuners.

Also, other people have mentioned sound issues (like the sound level is very
low compared to their old tuner) but my system is not suffering from this
problem at all - sound levels are great. I imagine it's possible going from a
different manufacturer (i.e. Hauppauge or AverMedia to ATI) could result in a
larger sound level difference. It's also possible that using the on board RF
TV tuner will produce different results than using the breakout box with
s-video and RCA audio connections (I am using the breakout box).

Overall I am very pleased with my Media Center 2005 setup - I only wish the
new TV Tuner cards had Component Video and SPDIF input. In any case, there is
no going back to "regular" TV.

My system is a Dell Dimension 8400 with a 3.6GHz P4 w/ 800MHz FSB, ATI
Radeon X800 XT PCIe Graphics w/ 256MB of RAM, 2 ATI/Sapphire Theatrix Theater
550 Pro TV Tuners, 1GB 533MHz RAM, Maxtor 250GB 7200RPM SATA HD, Creative
Audigy 2 ZS Soundcard, Hitachi-Goldstar 48x CD-RW, NEC 16x DL DVD-+RW,
USR5633a 56K USB Modem (for Caller ID), Dell 1703FPT 17" LCD connected via
DVI, Toshiba 51" HDTV connected via ATI Component Video Out Dongle and a
Logitech Bluetooth diNovo Media Desktop. I am using dual Motorola STB's (set
top boxes) connected via s-video and RCA's for audio. Sound is output from
the Audigy 2 via SPDIF to my Onkyo home theater receiver.

I purchased my Sapphire Theatrix tuners from www.zipzoomfly.com for $83 each
with free 2nd day shipping. Newegg.com recently raised their price to $110
(without shipping). The Sapphire card looks identical to the ATI TV Wonder
Elite and it's about half the price. Both the Sapphire and ATI versions come
with a remote (the Sapphire is IR and the ATI is RF) which is likely going to
be irrelevant for those that already have a Media Center remote.

Hope this info helps someone.

Regards,
Robert
"Ford F150 Guy"

 

I am having the low sound issues too any one have a fix for it?