EyeTV 300 for digital satellite television (DVB-S) and EyeTV 400 for digital terrestrial television (DVB-T) will be available in selected stores in early December for 349 EURO, in countries where the DVB standard is being supported.
“EyeTV 300 and EyeTV 400 represent a huge upgrade in the level of television quality that Mac users will be able to enjoy,” said Markus Fest, Elgato Systems’ founder and CTO. “Digital video broadcasting uses the MPEG-2 compression standard, which is also used on DVD. The remarkable picture and sound quality of MPEG-2 provides EyeTV users with an incredible television experience.”
EyeTV 300 and EyeTV 400 play and record digital television in its native MPEG-2 format, which maintains its stunning high quality when played or recorded on the Mac. The two products are the first computer peripheral digital video recorders to utilize FireWire, the gold standard for high-speed data transfer, making it possible to transfer high-quality digital television to the Mac.
EyeTV 400 offers an innovative portable television solution, allowing PowerBook or iBook users to pick up and go while watching or recording their favorite television programs. Since EyeTV 400 receives digital terrestrial television via a small portable antenna and is powered through FireWire bus power, no additional power supply or cables keep users pinned down to one place.(a)
“Elgato’s two new digital EyeTV products bring the benefits of digital video recoding on the Mac to DVB users whether they receive TV via digital satellite in their home or are forging new ground with the up-and-coming DVB-T standard,” said Freddie Geier, Elgato Systems’ CEO. “DVB-T delivers on the futuristic promise of ‘everywhere television’, so that with EyeTV 400 you can watch live, pin-sharp digital television on your PowerBook while sitting in your office, your home or even in a cafe.”
The two new digital EyeTV solutions allow users to:
—Watch digital television on their Mac
—Pause, rewind or fast forward through television as they are watching
—Record television to the Mac’s hard drive, creating an archive of their favorite shows
—Program EyeTV through the manual control panel or optional program guide from tvtv. Users can even program EyeTV remotely via the Internet.
—Edit out unwanted content using EyeTV’s built-in editor that easily identifies where programs and scenes start and stop
—Archive programs to DVD or VideoCD to play everywhere on most standard DVD players.(b)
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) is the next generation broadcast standard already being implemented throughout Europe and internationally. EyeTV 300 includes a digital video broadcasting satellite (DVB-S) tuner that receives digital television via a digital satellite dish. EyeTV 400 includes a digital video broadcasting terrestrial (DVB-T) tuner that receives digital television on the Mac via a portable antenna. Digital terrestrial broadcasting (DVB-T) is being pioneered by the United Kingdom. Today the service is also available in parts of Spain, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal and Australia. It is expected that DVB-T transmissions and reception will replace analog technologies within the coming years.
System requirements
EyeTV 300 and EyeTV 400 require: A Macintosh computer with minimum PowerPC® G4 500Mhz or G5 processor and FireWire port; Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher and 256MB of RAM (512MB recommended); and approximately 2GB of hard disk space per hour of recorded TV. EyeTV 300 also requires a satellite dish with digital or universal LNB (not included). EyeTV 400 also requires a digital terrestrial (DVB-T) antenna (included).
An Internet connection is required to use tvtv, EyeTV’s optional electronic program guide (available in UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France). A CD/DVD recorder and Roxio’s Toast 6 Titanium software are required to create DVDs or VideoCDs
(a)EyeTV 400 works where DVB-T is available
(b)External power supply may be required if additional peripherals draw FireWire bus power.
