Hauppauge Ready for Freesat TV with New PC Card
By NEWS RELEASE |
November 18th, 2005
Comments (5)
Hauppauge Digital, the world leader in TV-on-a-PC technology, has released a new add-on card to convert a PC into a satellite TV receiver. Available immediately, the WinTV Nova-s receives free satellite channels, and will work with Freesat, the service announced by the BBC and ITV in September. No viewing card and no subscription fee are required.
The £59.99 inc VAT device plugs into a spare slot inside any desktop PC and decodes signals from a satellite dish. Owners can watch satellite TV on the full screen, or in a window whilst working on something else on the PC. Programmes can even be recorded to the PC’s hard disk for later viewing.
The WinTV Nova-s will appeal to householders who already have a satellite dish and wish to use a PC in the kitchen, study or bedroom as an additional digital TV. The Nova-s is also compatible with Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE), the entertainment version of XP.
Owners of Hauppauge’s WinTV Nova-s can receive all the BBC TV channels immediately, including One, Two, Three, Four, CBBC, Cbeebies and BBC News24. The BBC’s radio channels are also available, including Radios 1 to 7. ITV services, including ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and Men&Motors will become available shortly, and more channels will be added early in 2006 when Freesat officially launches.
“Freesat will be the satellite equivalent of Freeview,” said Yehia Oweiss, Managing Director of Hauppauge Digital. “Already broadcasting BBC, the service is be available to all UK households and bring free digital TV to the 25 per cent who are outside Freeview’s area. Consumers can buy our Freesat tuner now and enjoy many digital channels now, with more being added all the time.”
HDTV, EPG and PVR!
The WinTV Nova-s is also compatible with HDTV (High Definition TV). HDTV broadcasts are expected to be delivered by satellite in 2006/7, offering stunning visual images.
The EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) broadcast by Freesat will be available on the Hauppauge card. In the meantime, owners can obtain an EPG via the Internet. The Nova-s will allow for scheduled recordings, using the hard disk in the PC to store programmes at their original broadcast quality. Owners could play back the recordings or copy to DVD for playback elsewhere.
Transfer home movies to DVD
As an added bonus, the Hauppauge WinTV Nova-s has a video input socket. This allows a camcorder to be plugged directly into the PC. Home movies can be digitised into MPEG format, edited and then copied to DVD for preservation.
Freesat and encryption
ITV currently encrypts, or scrambles, its transmissions via satellite, using the service provided by Sky. In the next few months, ITV will begin to broadcast its channels “in the clear” - without encryption - so they can be watched through any satellite receiver. The BBC started doing this in 2003.
[More photos are available here]
About Hauppauge
Hauppauge Digital, is the world leader in desktop TV products, with a range covering PC and Mac, analogue and digital, satellite television broadcast, teletext, FM stereo radio, Dolby surround and video capture. In addition the company has recently moved into the set-top box market with the Freeview receiver range. Prices range from £29 to £199 including VAT. www.hauppauge.co.uk
WinTV and DEC Product is available online and on the high street, from Amazon, Comet, Dabs, eBuyer, Inmac, Insight, John Lewis, Light Computer Systems, Maplin Electronics, MicroDirect, MicroWarehouse, Micro Anvika, PCUpgrader, PC World, Procom Direct, RS Components, Savastore.com, Scan, SMC Direct, Staples, Technomatic, Time Computers.
November 18th, 2005 at 1:17 pm
Do they have a PC card like this for the US? For the Free to Air channels….
Alister
November 18th, 2005 at 1:23 pm
I don’t believe the Freesat service exists in the U.S. If anyone knows different, please tell. It still might be possible to tap in to the service if you can get a hold of the card and the tuner required. Wikipedia has a write-up on Freesat, here.
November 21st, 2005 at 7:04 am
I found this site that sales Free to Air equipment ???
http://www.ftadirect.com/
and here is a channel listing
http://www.ftadirect.com/free_usa_s…v_1610_ctg.html
Alister
November 21st, 2005 at 8:03 am
No Freesat in US Right !
November 21st, 2005 at 2:55 pm
Great find! But it looks like the programming is for DVB not Freesat. However, I did notice that Hauppauge makes DVB tuners as well (again in Europe). If you can really tune in to all those channels free, who the hell needs to pay for cable?
When I get some free time, I’ll see if can get someone from Hauppauge can tell me if any of there products will work with the listing you provided here in the U.S.