This review is intended for those interested in buying a USB TV turner for their notebook or desktop computer and are seriously considering the AVerTv Hybrid Volar MAX MTVHBVMXR. Details regarding hardware, bundled software, Linux support, etc. will be the focus of this review. For basic information regarding the AVerTv Volar Max visit one of the following links:

Windowsuser.org - a good review with several screen captures from May of 2008.
Notebookreview.com Forum - a forum posting with a review and relevant postings by fellow forum members.
Archived MythTV document - Myth TV Linux instructions.
MPlayer Details - MPlayer usage instructions.
Avermedia Driver Page - for AVerTv Volar MAX H826

IMPORTANT NOTE: You will NOT be able to view the High Definition programming you receive directly from your cable box with this tuner or the vast majority of TV tuners for PC or MAC. The only HD channels you will be able to view through your cable company will be UNENCRYPTED QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) channels by connecting the coaxial cable directly to a PC TV tuner like the PCTV HD pro stick. Search for "OCR" to find out about the few tuners that can decrypt QAM channels using a cable card.

The system used by reviewer:
CPU: Mobile Intel Core 2 Duo T5870 at 2.00 GHz (1995 MHz)
OS: Window Vista Business (which, like Windows Vista Basic, does NOT include Windows Media Center)
GPU: NVidia GeForce 9300M GS with 256MB of dedicated memory. Shader clock speed of 1450 MHz and a core clock speed of 580 MHz

A person on an older system may have a very different experience with the AVerTv Hybrid Volar MAX from the reviewer.

Hardware

The Avertv Hybrid Volar MAX hardware is impressive. NTSC is suprisingly good for a USB TV tuner. The picture is clear and sharp with accurate colors even when in full screen mode. ATSC over-the-air HD digital television is handled effortlessly while generating very little heat. The unit becomes only slightly warm to the touch even after a hour of HD television viewing. The lack of hardware encoding keeps the Avertv Volar MAX's temperature relatively low. Radio stations come in clearly and all where picked up in my area. The weak link with radio or over-the-air television will most likely be the antenna, not the unit itself.

The included antenna conveniently clips on to the cover of a notebook computer and I imagine a flat screen monitor as well -- though I have not tried that. Padding prevents the clip-on antenna from scratching your laptop lid or flat screen monitor. Unfortunately, AVerMedia sacrificed the ability to effectively tune in most channels for portability. The small antenna requires adjusting with several channels to get a decent picture in my area. Several radio stations can only be picked up with a considerable amount of static. The dual antennas are just too short. Using the non-powered, longer single antenna that came with the Pinnacle PCTV HD 801e does a much better job of handling weaker signals.

The AVertv Hybrid Volar MAX MTVHBVMXR is longer and almost twice as wide as a typical USB flash memory key. In many cases on a notebook or desktop it will block two horizontal side-by-side USB ports, so it might be necessary to use the included USB extension cable. Even if you don't need the port next to the one you plug this device into, you might still opt to use the extension cable. From personal experience, I have learned that using a USB TV tuner with a coaxial cable connected to it puts a lot of stress on the device's USB connector. Eventually, it may break due to the stress. Trust me on this one. I would probably still be using my two year old Pinnacle PCTV 801e if it hadn't...

If you are basing your decision on hardware alone you will not be disappointed by the Avertv Hybrid Volar MAX. With the right software its performance is excellent.

Software

• Analog recording options:
  MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI (Xvid MPEG-4 Codec), VCD, DVD, WAV, WMA, WMV, H.264, iPod

• Digital recording options:
  Source Format (MP4 or H.264), Audio Only, WMV, WMA, H.264, iPod

• There is an XVid MPEG-4 encoding option under TV > Configure Analog TV > Confirgure Recoding as well as an option for an uncompressed AVI capture. Other options include user selected video resolution settings, audio encoding, and audio bitrate. With the exception of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2, there is no option for setting the video encoding bitrate.

• Screen capture formats: .tif, .bmp, .jpg, .png, .gif

• Broadcast radio can be saved in either .wma (Windows Media Audio) format or .wav format.

• Time shifting option available. However, you cannot record once time shifting starts.

• Color adjustments for video include: brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and sharpness.

• Channels switch quickly.

• titantv.com and over-the-air EPG (electronic programming guide).

• An ATSC multi program view that allows the user to view up to three related digital channels at the same time. For example, you can watch the High definition digital CBS local affiliate while in a smaller window you can also watch the programming on the standard definition CBS channel. This picture in picture option only works with programming close to the same frequency. You will NOT be able to watch, for example, the local NBC affiliate with the local CBS affiliate in a picture in picture view.

• AVerMedia Center does not support recording to .ts (transport stream) format.

• The AVerMedia Center's user interface is rather annoying at times. The EPG and scheduled recording areas do not have an efficient layout. The biggest problem with the software is its unfortunate tendency to become sluggish after extended high definition television viewing. In Windows Vista, the picture begins to start and stop on my system after about a half hour. Not each time I am watch HD TV but enough times for me to become annoyed. This might be due to poor memory management in Vista. Haven't experienced the same problem as often in windows XP and never with the alternative software options I list later in this review.

• Occasional crashes when starting ATSC television viewing. Though rare, I have experienced crashes at start up with ATSC television.

• Have had problems with the software showing only a black screen when attempting to view ATSC in Windows XP and Windows Vista. I assumed that there may have been something wrong with the AVerMedia hardware and not the software, so I tried using Power Cinema during the 30 day trial period and ATSC broadcast displayed normally. Without restarting my computer, I tried the AVerMedia software again and there was still nothing but a black screen when I selected ATSC TV. After closing and restarting the AVerMedia Center I finally was able to view ATSC broadcasts.

• Frequent crashes when recoding analog broadcasts with AVerMedia's built in XVID recording codec.

• Minor complaint: After reducing my processor's frequency to 40% power ATSC broadcasts become choppy. At the same processor power setting the trial version of Power Cinema's ATSC channels were smooth.

• Channels change quickly using the channel up or down buttons. However, manually typing in the channel frequency to switch to a specific channel is suprisingly slow. It takes roughly four seconds for AVerMedia Center to switch to the local CBS affiliate by typing in 3.1 -- yes, the decimal point must also be manually typed. Over time, this may cause a bit of frustration. Note: NTSC (analog) channels switch quickly whether manually typed in or changed using the up or down channel buttons.

• Incomplete analog channel scanning.
  Here is the solution. To tune in all analog channels you must first switch to Settings > TV > Configure Analog TV > Configure TV Signal and swith "Signal Type:" to "Cable Standard." Without this change you will not be able to tune in all channels when conducting an "Auto Scan".

Verdict

Drivers

Linux Support

mplayer -tv driver=v4l2:device=/dev/video0:norm=NTSC:chanlist=us-cable:channel=36:outfmt=YUY2:alsa=1:adevice=hw.1:audiorate=48000:immediatemode=0:amode=1:normid=12 tv://

If you receive the following error when trying to use Avertv Hybrid Volar MAX's radio:
"mplayer was compiled without radio interface support"
You will need to rebuild mplayer with radio support. In Debian you should try the following...
# sudo apt-get source mplayer
# sudo apt-get build-dep mplayer
# dpkg-source -x mplayer_version-revision.dsc
# DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS="--enable-gui --enable-radio --disable-ivt" fakeroot debian/rules binary

See LinuxTV.org's AVerMedia Wiki Page for additional Linux support information.

Also see:
MythTV AVerMedia Hybrid Volar MAX page.

Software Alternatives

GB-PVR

CyberLink PowerCinema version 6.0

CyberLink PowerCinema works very well with the AverTv Hybrid Volar MAX. Live ATSC video actually looks better and is smoother with PowerCinema than it is with the AverMedia software bundled with the hardware. PowerCinema records to either uncompressed .ts (transport stream) files or to MPEG-2 format. Screen captures from ATSC channels, which I love, are in .bmp format full 1080i (1920x1080 resolution) giving the user the option of choosing his/her own compression method. The AVer Media Center provides more screen capture compression options as mentioned above.

The complaints I have so far about CyberLink PowerCinema are that there is no way to turn off time shifting, there is no support for clear QAM channels, and to register the software you will have to shell out roughly $100. Some may dislike the fact that all ATSC recordings are in .ts (transport stream) format. Also, during the trial period, CyberLink PowerCinema version 6.0 failed to record a scheduled program using the "Program Guide." It only created an empty .ts file with the name, date, and time of the scheduled television program. This occurred several times with different television shows on different channels.

The only way I was able to successfully schedule a recording was to do it manually by using the "Schedule" advanced option. Set the channel, start time, end time, (scroll down) and optionally type in the name of program you are recording and it records flawlessly each time.

Recently, I discovered that CyberLink PowerCinema 6.0 frequently freezes when rewind, fast forward, and pause are used with time shifted standard definition NTSC television shows. After closing CyberLink PowerCinema once frozen, restarting the computer (running Vista service pack 3) is the only way to get the application to display live television again. I should mention that PowerCinema handles time shifted High definition ATSC flawlessly.

VirtualDub 1.8.8 (build 30091/release)

Windows Media Center

Did you find this review useful?

Yes

No

Specifications

System Requirements:

For TimeShift and Recording in MPEG-2:
- Pentium Mobile 1.8GHz
- Pentium 4 2.6GHz (Hyper-Threading)
- AMD AthlonXP 2400+

Analog TV on MCE platform:
Pentium4 3.0G or Equal AMD CPU

For H.264 Recording:
- Pentium 4 3.0GHz with HT (Hyper-Threading) or Equivalent AMD Processor for Analog TV
- Intel Dual Core 1.6GHz or Equivalent AMD processor for Digital HDTV
512 MB RAM or above

128 M VGA card with DirectX 9.0c or above (Supporting DXVA is recommended in HDTV mode)
Sound card
USB 2.0 Port

Known Supported Operating Systems:

• Windows XP, XP MCE, Vista, Vista MCE, Windows 7

• Linux:
  Open SuSE Linux 10.3, Mandriva Linux 2008, Fedora Core Release 6 or 7, Debian Squeeze, Ubuntu 7.10 through Ubuntu 9.10 and above, Mandriva Linux 2009