AutumnWave OnAir Creator Review

In response to Kevin O’Brien’s review of the AutumnWave OnAir GT, I thought I’d take the time to post a review of my AutumnWave OnAir Creator USB TV Tuner. The Creator is a desktop or “less mobile” version of the GT. Unlike the GT, which draws power from the USB bus, the creator comes with a dedicated AC power system. (A dedicated power source was on my list of priorities when I began researching PC TV tuners on the net a few months back.) Below is a short feature list that accompanies the Creator on AutumnWave’s site:

• Supports HDTV resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 (ATSC)
• Watch Digital (ATSC), Analog (NTSC), or Digital Cable (unencrypted QAM) TV
• The latest 5th-generation LG Electronics tuner/demodulator offers unsurpassed metro and fringe area reception with virtually no multi-path problems
• Hardware MPEG2 encoder to reduce CPU usage for Analog video sources



Creator vs. GT

As you can see, the GT and Creator models are very similar. However, there are four main differences which separate the two. First, the Creator makes use of an analog hardware MPEG2 encoder, as opposed to the software decoder utilized by the GT. Second, due to the increased power requirements of the analog hardware encoder, an AC Adaptor is provided. Third, the Creator does not come with an included antenna or carrying case (although it is important to recognize that this model is not meant to travel as readily as a GT). Fourth, the Creator is $249 compared to the $179 GT.

The only point that may need explanation is the analog hardware encoder included in the Creator. What you gain from this part is two-fold. First, CPU usage is decreased because encoding responsibility is offloaded onto an internal chip. Second, Windows Media Center will actually detect the analog channels coming out of this tuner (WMC will not detect these channels with the GT). The latter benefit is intriguing, but I much prefer the included OnAir software to WMC. This is especially true because I receive an HD signal through Clear QAM cable, which not supported by WMC.

Installation

The installation procedure for the Creator is virtually identical to that of the GT. Drivers and software are included on the CD that comes with the Creator, but they are also readily available from the AutumnWave website. I prefer installing drivers directly from the site, as they are guaranteed up-to-date.

I use the recently-released OnAir Creator Driver v3.2.0.2 and the OnAir HDTV Program v3.20P2 for my Creator. I run in Windows Vista Ultimate on a 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro.

AutumnWave OnAir tuners utilize an Nvidia software decoder for playback; it does not require Nvidia hardware. So far, I have not had any problems with the decoder.

Setup consists of simply activating the program, right-clicking on the main window, and selecting the channel manager. From this panel, the user can set the tuner to scan any or all possible broadcast inputs (Over-the-Air Digital, Over-the-Air Analog, Cable Digital, Cable Analog).

The remote (identical to the GT model remote) works flawlessly, and each function does exactly what you would expect. I recommend turning off the confirmation sound in the remote application, as it can be startlingly loud if you leave your computer’s sound on maximum while using the remote to adjust volume or channels within the OnAir Program.

Installation went without a snap for me; the program works well without any tweaking, although it is certainly worthwhile to explore the various settings. There are panels used to enable/disable/alter encoding paths, recording quality, timeshift options, screen capture options, video render options, etc.

Reception

I use my Creator in a dorm room connected to the school’s cable network. I prefer this configuration to using an antenna as we receive more than 10 digital Clear QAM HD channels and over 60 analog channels for free through the school.

Clear QAM support is fairly rare among USB TV Tuners, which is one of the reasons I decided on an OnAir tuner in the first place. Needless to say, while connected to the wall coaxial input, all channels come through loud and clear, both Digital HD (even some digital audio) and analog standard definition.

With thoroughness in mind, I ran over to RadioShack and bought the crappiest set of rabbit ears I could find. I live in an 18 story dormitory surrounded by several buildings of comparable height. After channel scanning, I managed to find about 30 channels, 13 analog and 18 digital. AntennaWeb reported 16 analog channels and 12 digital channels available at my address. The analog feed was terrible (with tearing and color shifting) until I manually adjusted the rabbit ears, at which point the picture became acceptable.

AntennaWeb readout

NOTE: It has come to my attention that the technical term, rabbit ears, is no longer in the public vocabulary. For those who are confused, rabbit ears are television antennae.

The digital Over-the-Air response was far superior. I managed to get all major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW) as well as PBS and some local channels. The picture was incredible compared to the analog input, but that is expected with Over-the-Air Digital HD, which either engages fully or not at all. I had a bit of trouble keeping FOX engaged until I manually aligned the antenna by direction of AntennaWeb.

Performance

Using a Kill-A-Watt monitor, I recorded the wattage values of my laptop with the OnAir program in three configurations: active and viewing at Medium Screen size (viewing 1080 content), active and viewing on Full Screen (viewing 1080 content), and turned off. I also recorded the wattage of the OnAir Creator tuner while viewing 1080 content, analog content, and no content.

All content for the test came from cable input.

I ran the test with timeshift activated, meaning all video and audio was constantly being written to the hard drive. (Timeshift provides the fast forward, rewind, and pause live TV functions.) I also ran a final test without timeshift to detect deviations.

MacBook Pro, plugged in, OnAir Program OFF - 43 Watts
MacBook Pro, plugged in, OnAir Program ON (medium) - 57 Watts
MacBook Pro, plugged in, OnAir Program ON (full) - 70 Watts
MacBook Pro, plugged in, OnAir Program ON (full, no ts) - 66 Watts


OnAir Creator, plugged in and not viewing content - 7 Watts
OnAir Creator, plugged in and viewing 1080 content - 9 Watts
OnAir Creator, plugged in and viewing analog content - 8 Watts

As is obvious at this point, the OnAir Creator can only be used as a desktop tuner where power outlets are readily available. Watching time-shifted HD content on my MacBook Pro required 36 watts of power by itself.

CPU Usage

Screenshots are provided with the help of Vista’s Snipping Tool. Timeshift was active for the test.

OnAir Program OFF





OnAir Program ON, Viewing Analog





OnAir Program ON, Viewing 1080 Digital




I should mention that when the program first started, CPU usage stayed around 30-40% for almost 30 seconds before reaching the ranges reflected in the screen shots. Also, every 2 minutes a 30-40% increase in CPU usage occurred (as compared to the screen shots) and lasted for 20 seconds before returning to normal. I am not sure of the cause of this.

Also of note, memory usage increases by 80MB when viewing 1080 content as compared to analog content.

Overall, I have been very pleased with system performance while running my OnAir Creator. It is possible to run other programs without fear of conflict, although I refrain from heavy gaming (Team Fortress 2, BioShock) and media encoding while recording content.

Here is an added image of the entire setup

http://www.stormeffect.com/picture/cr/cpu-all.jpg

Tivo-Style Functionality

When I began looking for a tuner, I wanted something like a Tivo for my room at school. After quite a bit of searching I discovered that the only decent replacement for a Tivo… is a Tivo. In addition to standard Tivo functionality, I wanted to receive and record HD channels coming in via an uncommon format, Clear QAM. At one point I found an industrial, network-attached dual tuner with support for Clear QAM. This option seemed to come with every feature imaginable and could bypass the Clear QAM issue in Windows Media Center. Still, the sheer amount of work involved in addition to the excessive size, extremely ugly exterior, and high price, encouraged me to look elsewhere.

The OnAir program supports all the features I was looking for, although it does not provide the necessary (and rare) work-around for WMC to play Clear QAM. Other than that, most Tivo-style functions are supported right within the program itself. The only major function I missed was the ability to choose a show from a program guide and set it to record. Luckily, the free, television programming guide site, TitanTV.com, supports the OnAir scheduling program, so I simply set up an account with them and now I can view shows or set them to record in advance by clicking on them in the program guide.

Additional Comments

There are two issues I’ve had with the OnAir program in the past. These problems may have been fixed by the recent driver and software release. First, the program recording scheduler did not work reliably after Vista had come back from Sleep mode. A Vista restart fixes the issue. Second, Windows Media Center had trouble giving control of the Creator tuner back to the OnAir program after I set up the available analog channels in WMC. In fact, I had to completely disable WMC in the services panel to fix it.

Note: This issue has been rectified with the most recent driver and program update.
Note: AutumnWave has recently informed me that they are actively working on fixing the issue the recording scheduler has with Vista Sleep Mode. I'll report back with more information when it is available.

Also, I’d like to mention that when the OnAir program starts, Vista disables the Aero graphical theme and sets it to Vista Basic theme. When the program closes, Vista reverts back to Aero.

Finally, it is important to consider the importance of the hardware analog encoder that the Creator boasts over the GT in the coming years. Analog television will eventually be completely phased out of usage in favor of digital transmission. When analog no longer matters, one of the major selling points of the Creator (compared to the GT) will have become largely irrelevant.

Support

Before I purchased my Creator, I researched an excessive number of possible tuners. By the time I heard about AutumnWave and their products I was full of new and complicated questions about tuners in general. After visiting the AVS Forum thread dedicated to OnAir support and corresponding over email several times with Ryan Pertusio, I was finally able to make my decision 100% informed. I don’t know if anyone else runs support for AutumnWave, but it seems to me that Ryan has done a tremendous job all by himself for over a year now. If you have ANY troubles with your OnAir tuner, you will probably deal with Ryan personally. If there is a solution to your problem, he will find it.

Conclusion

The OnAir Creator is a solid USB TV tuner. It provides impressive performance, with the mere concession of the mobility provided by the GT model tuner. Remote control functionality adds classic television-viewing capability to the system. While it is not quite as simple and intuitive as a Tivo, there is no subscription fee and it supports free digital HD, (Clear QAM). For users who want desktop tuner functionality through USB, this is a great choice.


Pro:
• Receives Over-the-Air Analog and Digital with hardware encoding.
• Receives Cable Analog and Digital with hardware encoding.
• Clear QAM support.
• Powerful program with TitanTV support.
• Involved support team.

Con:
• Deskbound by power requirements.
• Takes up a USB slot.
• Cost

 

Thanks for the review. Well done.

 

Very well done, StormEffect!

If anyone needs technical support for their OnAir Creator (or other OnAir products), please let me know.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

-- Ryan Pertusio

AutumnWave Technical Support
OnAir Solution North America
http://www.AutumnWave.com

 

Thanks for the great review. Especially the info about WMC and clear QAM was very helpful to understand.