Set the record straight! Does AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe MCE = M780? support QAM?+

[matstars]

Okay I am confused a bunch!

1. is this the M780 or are they 2 different models?

On that site it does not mention QAM tuning, or that it's model is M780 except in this pdf.

On newegg it says it supports QAM on newegg

So does it or doesn't it support QAM tuning??

2. Can someone give me a 2 second version of QAM? If that tuner supports QAM and my software accepts QAM (it seems like only Vista does) do I just plug the coax (cable) wire into the Digital TV in port on the PCIe card instead of the analog like I have been doing?

3. Does the newest sage support QAM tuning in XPMCE with this card? Does it support QAM tuning in Vista? Which versions of vista if so?

Upgrading to vista will be costly - but I am willing to pay the price to get better reception than analog...

Thanks!

MATSTARS

[PosterBoy]

1) Yes they are the same board, and yes using AverMedia TV application the board supports QAM tuning under both XP and Vista.

2) QAM is the format the Cable companies broadcast HDTV stations over their cable. It is a different format from OTA HDTV format. Given that you have software that is able to use your card in QAM mode, and can manage to set it up properly, yes it would be as simple as plugging your cable hookup into the Digital TV input. Note that you would also want your keep cable hookup connected ot the Analog TV input to continue to watch the standard definition channels.

3) The most current verion of Sage only supports QAM tuning on the M780 under Vista (any version). I would suspect that the next version of Sage will support it inder XP but I have not seen confirmation of that from anyone. Could someone from Sage please please please confirm it.

I currently have XP and an M780. I am extremely happy with the board, but if the next version of Sage comes out and there is no XP support for the M780 I will be buying a WinTV-HVR-1800 instead of upgrading to Vista on my HTPC. I have Vista on another machine, and while the look and feel are nice, I would not want to take the performance hit on my HTPC machine.

[BFisher]

I use 2 of these to record OTA HD and SD off my DirecTV satellite boxes using XP. They work very well and I'm pleased with the performance. About once a week, one of them will have an issue with a SD recording where the image just pixelates where it's unwatchable. Sometimes fixes itself immediately, other times it won't.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by PosterBoy

3) The most current verion of Sage only supports QAM tuning on the M780 under Vista (any version). I would suspect that the next version of Sage will support it inder XP but I have not seen confirmation of that from anyone. Could someone from Sage please please please confirm it.

I'm only guessing, but I would think its a driver issue and not anything under the control of Sage. You probably won't get anyone from Sage responding here. If you really want to know send an e-mail to support. They're pretty good about responding in a timely manner.

[PosterBoy]

Thanks Reggie14 I will send them an email

For those of you that are interested, AverMedia has released a VERY beta version of the Vista driver that allows tuning QAM stations in Windows Vista Media Center. The post on it is found about 3/4 of the way down on this page

http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/7/1...howThread.aspx

Please note that the driver appears to be very beta and is causing some people issues, so please read the entire thread after the inital post before you try it out.

Here is part of that post:

Dear TheGreenButton.com folks,



If you are interested in watching Unencrypted "Clear" QAM, aka Digital Cable channels on Vista MCE with AVerTV Combo PCIe x1 M780 tuner, I have great news!



AVerMedia Technologies just released BETA Drivers (both x86 and x64) and a BETA Plug-In for Windows Vista Media Center, that allows you to receive Clear QAM channels under Vista (only)Media Center instead of ATSC Channels.