Avid Technology announced that its Consumer division, Pinnacle Systems, Inc., the maker of the number one selling TV tuner in the market, is extending its Pinnacle PCTV line of TV tuners. Slated to reach store shelves in mid-October 2007, the newest additions to the Pinnacle PCTV family are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of consumers with three products—Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate Stick, the industry’s only USB 2.0 TV tuner stick that provides plug-and-watch TV viewing on a PC without any installation; Pinnacle PCTV HD Card, a HDTV tuner card which includes support for FM radio; and Pinnacle PCTV Remote Kit for Windows Media Center.

Like all Pinnacle PCTV HD TV Tuners, the new TV tuner products provide consumers with the ability to capture, view, record and playback high-quality HD and SD TV at a substantial savings compared to buying a new HDTV and paying monthly service fees.

With the increased amount of HD content available, the market for robust TV tuners that will let consumers watch HDTV on a PC is growing rapidly. According to estimates by research analysts at In-Stat/MDR, worldwide sales of PC-TV tuners will increase from approximately 15.8 million in 2006 to 50.8 million in 2011.

The Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate Stick is an all-in-one, ultra-portable USB 2.0 device for viewing and recording SD and free HD TV on any PC—at home, at work, at a friend’s house. Three unique features set this TV tuner stick apart from the competition:

• No installation required—the personal video recorder (PVR) software runs from the stick.
• Up to two hours of TV can be stored directly to the integrated flash memory.
• Digital Cable Support—the device is hardware-ready for Clear QAM (unencrypted digital cable) reception.

The Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate Stick comes pre-installed with Pinnacle TVCenter Pro, a complete PVR application, and FlashPVR, a technology that allows TVCenter Pro software to run from the stick’s on-board flash memory. Users can automatically record TV shows to the integrated flash memory or to their hard drive in a broad range of formats including MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (optimized for iPod® or PSP®), DivX®, or even direct-to-DVD. Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate Stick includes a high-gain telescopic antenna, a remote control and Pinnacle Studio™ QuickStart for trimming captured videos.

The Pinnacle PCTV HD Card is designed for desktop PC users who want to add SD and HD TV to their PC using an internal PCI card. It will also appeal to Windows Media Center users who want to add TV viewing and recording to their desktop PC. In addition to a full personal video recorder (PVR) and stereo FM radio, the included Pinnacle TVCenter Pro software allows TV recording in MPEG-2 or space-saving DivX formats, or direct-to-DVD. The Pinnacle PCTV HD Card includes a remote control for easy navigation and an FM radio antenna as well as Pinnacle Studio QuickStart for trimming captured videos.

In addition to delivering brilliantly sharp HDTV broadcasts via ATSC, the digital TV standard for high-definition and standard TV, both the PCTV HD Ultimate Stick and the Pinnacle PCTV HD Card support analog (NTSC) TV signals and are both hardware-ready for ClearQAM (unencrypted digital cable) reception. With the TV timeshifting capabilities that are included, consumers can pause, rewind and fast forward live TV. They can also record TV shows to their hard drive or direct to DVD for playback on a DVD player. TV programs and videos can even be captured from a cable/satellite set-top box or camcorder with the A/V adapter cable that comes with the tuners. Both devices are fully certified for Windows Vista™ and Windows Media Center.

Pinnacle PCTV Remote Kit for Windows Media Center is the ideal add-on for a Windows Vista-powered PC. With the device, users can control the media playback capabilities of Windows Media Center, which is included in the Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate Editions. In addition, if the user’s PC is equipped with a Vista-certified TV tuner, the Pinnacle PCTV Remote Kit can be used to control all TV and PVR functionalities of Windows Media Center from across the room. The included IR blaster also allows Windows Media Center to control a satellite, DVB-T or cable set-top box as TV source.

Pricing & Availability

Pinnacle PCTV HD Ultimate Stick for US $129.99 (about Rs 5,200), PCTV HD Card for US $79.99 (about Rs 3,200) and Pinnacle Remote Kit for Windows Media Center for US $29.99 (about Rs 1,200) will be available through leading retailers and online resellers by mid-October 2007.

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