Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-S : Home Theater

Hauppauge has introduced a new add-in PCI card called the Hauppauge WinTV-NOVA-S which will receive and decode free over the air digital satellite signals directly on your PC. The card will also work with Freesat - a service announced by BBC and ITV back in Sept. in the UK.

The NOVA-S features:

Watch digital satellite TV in a window on your PC (software decode)

Listen to digital stereo radio from satellite

Receive digital Teletext

Record and playback digital TV with MPEG2

Suitable for DVB data services ( e.g. "Internet via Satellite and Satellite download/streaming services" )

The WinTV-NOVA-S is a DVB receiver card and allows you to view digital satellite broadcasts in a resizeable window on your PC. It uses the PC's processor to decode the incoming TV image - no hardware decoding here. The card also comes with PVR software allowing you to record live television directly to your hard drive.

The card also supports Internet via Satellite services (which is somewhat lame). How it works is - you connect with your local ISP via a slow connection such as a phone line. All outbound requests will go this route and all inbound data will come to your PC via the satellite connection. You utilize the satellite service for fast downloads but you're restricted in upload speeds.

You can find out additional information on the WinTV-NOVA-S here. Via eHomeUpgrade.com.