"We have not really seen many ground breaking PC media products since the sound card; the next phase is video on the PC," says Alick Loke, executive director at Hauppauge Digital Asia, a New York-based developer and manufacturer of analog/digital video and TV/data broadcast receiver products for PCs.
"The tape came, then the VCD and DVD, but there was nothing that allowed us to record a movie on the PC and share it as well," adds Loke. Hauppauge sees the big potential for video recording on the PC.
Compatible with leading PC platforms such as Microsoft's Windows XP, Hauppauge's products complement the PC's sound capability. They support still and video images, and enable users not only to view them, but do a fair bit of authoring. In a nutshell, you can take total control over your TV viewing experience. For example, you can schedule a recording of your favourite football match that is playing live on TV in the wee hours of the morning; record it in VCD-quality or DVD-quality, and view it at your convenience, either in a resizable window on your screen or in full-screen mode.
According to Loke, the benefits of TV on the PC will eventually drive the massive adoption of PVRs (Personal Video recorders). "In the next two years, we will see more people jumping on the bandwagon," he predicts.
Today, the company's flagship product, the WinTV family, is a leading retail brand in TV cards; Hauppauge also has a booming OEM business with the "big guys" whose brands Loke couldn't reveal due to non-disclosure agreements.
The pieces of the puzzle seem to be falling into place; DVD writers, hard discs, other storage devices, and archiving media are getting more affordable. An entry-level PVR (WinTV Gold), which lets you do a VCD-quality recording, retails for about S$80. A high-end PVR (WinTV-PVR2) that offers DVD-quality recording costs about S$300.
Loke rates the adoption of PVRs in the region healthy. "Japan currently leads the pack, but considering Singapore's population of about four million, we are catching up."
Hauppauge offerings are in sync with Microsoft's recent Media Center initiative-- an interesting area especially for those who want to maximise the use of the new multimedia platform. "We will continue to work in this direction; we are also well-positioned to play a leading part in the digital TV arena."
The Hauppauge office in Singapore manages the company's sales operations in the region, primarily through distribution channels. Currently, it is focusing more on the Singapore, Japan, Korea, and Australia markets. The company's manufacturing plant in Singapore produces high-end PVRs for worldwide distribution; other manufacturing plants are located in Hungary, Austria, and Scotland.
Asked to comment on the increasing integration of hardware into the PC, and how trend will affect Hauppauge's business, Loke says: "It will take a while before the motherboard makers will jump into this. It probably takes a few more years to get this done, and even when that happens, we will still see high-end video cards being sold as standalone products."
As to the company's product positioning and roadmap, Hauppauge's PVR250 is new; the WinTVGO has been enhanced to include a softPVR, which not only lets you watch a TV on your PC, but also works behind the scene to provide an MPEG1 VCD-quality video at no additional cost. The current USB-TV (entry level) will also intrigrate softPVR, which will be available for about S$100.
Also in the pipeline are more Hauppauge USB (MPEG2) products, standalone or attached living room gadgets for the PC, and solutions for viewing digital TV. Hauppauge is also looking at applications that function without having to switch on your PC. But that's another story, so stay tuned.
Article taken from PC WORLD
By Gene Vallejo-Yeo
June 2003
