Elgato Systems is shipping the USB 2.0 EyeTV Hybrid analog/digital TV receiver ($149) which allows users to watch, pause, record and edit analog and HDTV broadcasts via a USB 2.0 connection. The EyeTV Hybrid provides a 125 channel cable ready analog TV tuner plus a 78 channel Digital ATSC HDTV tuner for watching or recording TV broadcasts. The EyeTV Hybrid can be connected to a cable service, an analog antenna or an ATSC HDTV antenna. In addition, users can utilize the EyeTV Hybrid break out cable to record content from any video device that supports composite or S video connections.

System Requirements
Mac OS X version 10.4 and later.
Macintosh with USB 2.0 connectivity.
Requires 256 MB of physical RAM (512 MB recommended).
Requires a Cable TV connection or a TV antenna (HD or analog).
Uses up to 8 GB of hard drive space per hour for HDTV recordings.
Dual G4, Dual G5 or Core Duo processor required for 1080i HDTV.

The Elgato Hybrid comes with a 26 digit activation key. Users will need to type in their name and the code to activate the EyeTV 2 software. Once the code is accepted the user can continue with the software install.



After the EyeTV software is activated the "Auto Tune" menu is available. EyeTV Hybrid users have three options. An analog NTSC antenna, a Cable TV connection or an ATSC antenna. In the example below the digital ATSC antenna is selected. Clicking on the Auto-Tune button allows EyeTV to locate which channels are available in your area with the antenna selected. In the Phoenix area, I was able to tune in 18 HDTV channels using the small ATSC antenna that ships with the Miglia TVMini HD. The EyeTV Hybrid model for North America does not include an antenna.

The EyeTV software scans for 78 different ATSC frequencies when ATSC service is selected or 125 channels when Cable TV service is selected. Users that want to access free "over the air" digital HDTV channels will need to purchase an ATSC antenna. If you are unable to tune in all of the local ATSC channels that are available in your area with an indoor antenna you may need an outdoor ATSC antenna. If you visit your local Radio Shack or Best Buy they can probably tell you which ATSC antenna works well in your location. I found that while an indoor antenna would work with all 18 ATSC channels on one day, the next day some channels might be unavailable. Users may have to try different setups to find one that provides a reliable ATSC signal in their location.


If a user wants to use a Cable TV connection instead of the ATSC antenna they will need to select "Cable NTSC" as the service source. As the EyeTV Hybrid only has one antenna connection, it is not possible to connect an ATSC antenna and Cable TV at the same time. You could use a switcher to activate the different antennas or simply disconnect and reconnect the desired antenna.



Once your selected channels have been setup, EyeTV will ask for your zip code so that it can properly setup the channel guide with TitanTV. If you have not registered with TitanTV already you can do so and within the new TitanTV registration dialog boxes built into EyeTV 2.3.



The ability of the EyeTV Hybrid to utilize analog NTSC, Cable TV or ATSC programming expands the number of channels that can be viewed with this digital video recorder. While viewing HDTV provides a wonderful picture, users may find the viewing selection is limited in comparison to the selections available on Cable TV. Phoenix is a high population city and I was able to tune in 18 ATSC channels. If you are accustomed to 100 channels or more it may be difficult to be satisfied with less.

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The transition to over-the-air digital television (ATSC) is scheduled to be completed by 2009. However, there is no schedule for Cable TV companies to stop transmitting analog signals over cable. The ability of the EyeTV Hybrid to function with both analog and ATSC provides users with the ability to be compatible with the broadcast standards of today and tomorrow.



When using the EyeTV Hybrid with an ATSC antenna it provides the HDTV video signal to the computer in the original format that it was broadcast. When using an analog or Cable TV connection to record video, the user can select MPEG1 (Video CD) or MPEG2 (Standard = 1.8GB per hour/ High = 2.7GB per hour) formats. The EyeTV "Controls" menu allows the user to switch between selecting the tuner, composite video input or the S-Video Input. I have used

Users will need to utilize the computers CPU to export video if they need it in a different size or format. EyeTV 2.3 has the ability to compress recorded video into iPod format or to burn a DVD for TV viewing using Toast 7.

The EyeTV 2.3 software has a number of export options. You can export video in the original format or use any of the formats in the list to the right. When exporting a video users can specify the file format, data rate, resolution, frame rate, and audio format parameters.

The EyeTV Hybrid works with Front Row and the Apple Remote can be used to control the EyeTV Hybrid. The EyeTV software also has the ability to automatically compress EyeTV recordings to the iPod format once the recording is complete. This feature makes sure that the recordings are properly encoded for the iPod and that they are available when you want them.

The EyeTV Hybrid hardware and the Elgato EyeTV 2.3 software provide a very nice combination. The ability to display ATSC 1920x1080 HDTV or Cable TV programming with the same device is amazing. A normal analog 740x480 image takes up about 25% of a 20" LCD screen while a HDTV 1920x1080 broadcast fills the LCD. You can view the broadcasts at "Half size" and "Small size" but they look great at the normal size. If you have a Dual G4, Dual G5 or a Core Duo processor you will find that the EyeTV Hybrid adds a very nice TV viewing experience to your computer setup.

ATSC Image Quality
The next test compares the ATSC tuner image quality of the EyeTV Hybrid against the Miglia TVMini HD. The EyeTV Hybrid video is about a quarter of a second ahead of the Miglia TVMini HD image. Both ATSC images are amazingly clear and well defined. In an A-B test between the EyeTV Hybrid and the Miglia TVMini HD, I am unable to find any image quality differences.

The EyeTV 2.3 software that is bundled with the EyeTV Hybrid allows users to watch live TV, pause, rewind and skip forward. You can schedule and record shows in their original broadcast ATSC (MPEG-2) format or record from Cable TV in MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 formats. While the ATSC tuner provides a live TV buffer with instant rewind capability the EyeTV Hybrid analog tuner does not have a live TV buffer unless you actually start a recording. Once users have recorded a program with EyeTV the edit menu allows them to cut portions of the video so that only the desired content remains.

An hour of recorded MPEG-2 1920x1080 video requires approximately 6.5GB of hard drive space and an hour of analog Cable TV when recorded at high quality uses 2.7GB per hour. The EyeTV Hybrid also utilizes 2GB of hard drive space for the Live digital TV buffer. Should you decide that you would like to use the computer with the EyeTV Hybrid as a recording and storage facility for digital video programming, you will need substantial amounts of hard drive space. Storing 40 hours of 1920x1080 video recordings requires approximately 260GB of hard drive space. Eighty hours of programming would require 520GB. Users can edit out unwanted material which will help cut down on the required hard drive space but no matter how you slice it, EyeTV Hybrid users that want to retain recordings will need a large hard drive. While the quality of EyeTV Hybrid ATSC recordings is awesome, they require more hard disk space and CPU power than when recording analog media.

Once a TV broadcast is recorded with EyeTV Hybrid, users have the option to edit out unwanted material. To do so, click on the desired recording. This will highlight it in blue. Next, click on the sprocket menu and select the edit menu as shown below.



Next, verify the "Fine" button is highlighted and start selecting sections to delete. Material that will be cut is shown in light blue with the last cut in yellow. Once the cuts are all selected, clicking on the sprocket button provides the "Compact" command as shown below.



Once the recording has been compacted only the desired video is left. EyeTV 2.3 displays the final time of the new video and allows you to compact it knowing that the operation cannot be undone. As recorded MPEG-2 1920x1080 video utilizes approximately 110MB per minute, cutting 22.5 minutes of video in the example below saves about 2.47GB of disk space. Editing recorded shows can be a good way to optimize the available hard drive space.

If Toast 7 is installed the EyeTV 2.3 software is configured to launch it when burning DVDs. If you select a recording and click on the Toast icon, EyeTV will open Toast 7 and automatically setup the selected video for burning within Toast 7.


The user can customize the menu styles and other Toast 7 setup features or simply hit the red burn button at the bottom right of the Toast 7 window. As part of this review a 57 minute 1080i Elgato Hybrid ATSC recorded video was burned to a DVD using a Mac Pro 2.66 GHz with 3GB of memory. Fifty-seven minutes (6.37GB) of HDTV content was encoded by Toast 7 to standard DVD format. Toast compressed the video to a file size of 3.24 GB. In this test, the Mac Pro required 46 minutes for encoding, plus the time to burn the content to the DVD media. The DVD burning speed will be determined by the speed of the media and the recorder.



After the DVD was created it was inserted into a DVD player and examined for quality. The DVD provided very good quality without any artifacts or dropouts. Burning recordings to DVD provides a good way to archive recordings that users may want to keep. However, burning an hour of video to DVD can easily require an hour or more for encoding time and DVD burning.

Personally, I find using a large hard drive with the EyeTV Hybrid to time shift my HDTV viewing is a better option. It requires no DVD burning time and the video quality is not degraded by compression. You can watch the recorded video on the computer or on a TV by connecting the computer to the TV. After I watch a show, I usually delete it. However, if there are shows that I want to keep I can archive them to a backup hard drive.

For those users with an iPod video player, the EyeTV 2.3 software will automatically convert any selected recording to the iPod video H.264/AVC, 640x360, 29.97 fps format once the iPod icon is clicked in the EyeTV menu.



As a test, a 6.37GB MPEG-2 1920x1080 fifty-seven minute video was converted to the 640x360 H.264 iPod video format using EyeTV 2.3.2. The newly created iPod video was automatically placed in the iTunes video index with a file extension of .m4v. During the conversion process the video shrunk from 6.37GB to 590.6MB in size. It took 56 minutes for the Mac Pro 2.66 GHz to convert the HDTV program to iPod video format. The Activity Monitor indicated that EyeTV utilized between 250-275% of the Mac Pro CPU power during the conversion process. According to the Kill-a-Watt electricity usage monitor the Mac Pro 2.66 GHz was using 228-232 watts of power to perform the iPod video conversion.

When scheduling a recording with the EyeTV Hybrid, iPod video users can check the "Export to iPod" box at the right of the schedule window to automatically instruct the computer to create a second iPod video version of the recording once the show has been recorded. This is a nice time saving feature.

CPU Usage

ATSC CPU usage	Mac mini 1.4GHz PPC	Mac mini 1.66GHz CD	PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0	Mac Pro 2.66
CPU percentage Available	100%	200%	200%	400%
EyeTV Hybrid
EyeTV Hybrid Watch 1920x1080	Unwatchable	92-97%	85-87%	71-76%
EyeTV Hybrid Record 1920x1080	Unwatchable	92-99%	85-87%	73-77%
EyeTV Hybrid Watch 1280x720	82-88%	82-87%	72-76%	58-64%
EyeTV Hybrid Record 1280x720	82-88%	82-88%	72-76%	60-65%
EyeTV Hybrid Watch 704x480	36-39%	26-27%	24-25%	17-18%
EyeTV Hybrid Record 704x480	36-39%	26-28%	24-25%	17-18%
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Miglia TVMini HD
TVMini HD Watch 1920x1080	Unwatchable	92-97%	83-85%	69-72%
TVMini HD Record 1920x1080	Unwatchable	92-99%	83-86%	71-72%
TVMini HD Watch 1280x720	80-86%	82-87%	73-76%	60-65%
TVMini HD Record 1280x720	82-90%	82-87%	73-77%	60-65%
TVMini HD Watch 704x480	38-39%	24-25%	21-23%	15-16%
TVMini HD Record 704x480	38-39%	24-25%	21-23%	15-16%

In the test above, the EyeTV Hybrid and the Miglia TVMini HD provided very similar CPU performance. When there is lots of action in a broadcast it will require a little more CPU time than a slide show or other slow moving video. The difference in the CPU results between the Hybrid and the TVMini HD when used with ATSC signals is minimal. The Miglia TVMini HD does not have the ability to work with analog TV signals. However, it can work with Clear QAM channels that are found on most Cable TV systems. Usually the Miglia TVMini HD is a little more expensive to purchase than the EyeTV Hybrid. If you want both ATSC and Cable TV capability in a single unit the EyeTV Hybrid is an easy choice.

During these tests, the PPC Mac mini 1.4GHz was unable to display 1080i HDTV source without dropping lots of frames. It can display lower resolutions but the main draw for HDTV programming is the 1080i high resolution video. As such, I would not plan on using any single processor computer for 1080i HDTV playback or recording with the EyeTV Hybrid.

The Mac mini 1.66 GHz Core Duo performed well with all of the ATSC broadcast resolutions. As it has two processors, it has plenty of CPU power in reserve when the EyeTV Hybrid is recording video. A Firewire external hard drive can be used to store lots of EyeTV Hybrid recordings and it can also be used as a boot drive to increase the performance of the Mac mini.

The PowerMac G5 Dual and the Mac Pro provide plenty of CPU power for the EyeTV Hybrid. The Mac Pro has the advantage of including four processors with all models. With that kind of CPU power the Mac Pro can easily be working on other CPU intensive tasks while playing or recording 1080i HDTV video with the EyeTV Hybrid.

Mac mini PPC 1.4 GHz users can ignore the warning and close the playback window to provide sufficient CPU cycles to accomplish the recording process. However, the EyeTV 200 performs this same task with much less CPU cycles on a PPC Mac mini. As that is the case, I would not recommend using the EyeTV Hybrid with PPC Mac mini models.

In each analog recording comparison test between the multiple processor Macintosh models, the EyeTV 200 with the built-in hardware encoder was able to accomplish the task with four times less CPU usage. What really surprised me was that recording analog video with the EyeTV Hybrid can require just about as much CPU processor power as when recording ATSC 1080i HDTV broadcasts.

Users that want to create a full featured digital TV recording station with their multi-processor Macintosh computer may want to record both Cable TV and ATSC broadcasts. Page 25 of the EyeTV users guide discusses how to create EyeTV favorite channel lists. Using this feature users can create a favorite channel list that includes both Cable TV and ATSC channels. Double clicking on the new "Combined" favorite channels folder makes it the setting for the EyeTV remote control. While the EyeTV Hybrid can record both analog and ATSC broadcasts it only has one antenna connection. This leaves users having to connect the correct antenna before each recording takes place. If you have both ATSC and Cable TV programs scheduled for recording this can become complicated. The EyeTV Hybrid really needs two antenna connections to solve this issue.

EyeTV software provides the ability to work with multiple EyeTV recorders on the same computer. Users that have a dual or quad processor Macintosh model can connect two EyeTV compatible recorders. However, EyeTV 2.3.2 is not smart enough to allow two EyeTV Hybrid units to work together when one has a Cable TV antenna and the second unit has an ATSC antenna. The problem shows itself when recordings are scheduled and the EyeTV software selects the wrong unit for the recording. For example, if the EyeTV Hybrid with the CableTV antenna is selected by the EyeTV software for the ATSC recording it fails.

However, if an EyeTV 200 and a Miglia TVMini HD recorder are connected to a single computer, the EyeTV software automatically assigns the Cable TV recordings to the EyeTV 200 and the ATSC recordings to the Miglia TVMini HD. This configuration works with EyeTV software for multiple TV recorder users.

Since the EyeTV Hybrid has the ability to work with both analog and digital sources the EyeTV software needs to have a mechanism that tells the software when one Hybrid has a Cable TV antenna and the other an ATSC antenna. This could be corrected by adding a "Recorder" field in the EyeTV schedules window so that users could assign the correct recorder to the correct program. Another solution would be to have an EyeTV setup feature for the Hybrid that would identify which antenna it is connected to. Due to these limitations with the EyeTV 2.3 software it is hard to recommend using the EyeTV Hybrid in any configuration with multiple EyeTV recorders. Adam Steinberg of Elgato has informed me that this issue will be addressed in a future version of the EyeTV software.

The size and quiet of the Mac mini makes it ideal for use with a home theatre. Once EyeTV is launched, it can be utilized in conjunction with Front Row and the Apple remote. During the review a Mac mini 1.66GHz Duo Core was connected to a 24" analog TV using the Apple M9267G/A DVI To Video Adapter. Holding down the menu button on the Apple remote brings up the EyeTV program currently playing. Pressing the menu button and releasing it brings up Front Row. Pressing the Apple Remote menu button once EyeTV is playing displays the various menus available within EyeTV.

Users can watch live TV, play recordings, setup new recordings and view them in the schedules menu. The abundance of features available with EyeTV using the Apple remote are very cool. If you do not have Front Row or the Apple remote these same functions are available using the EyeTV remote.



One feature that I found interesting is that EyeTV Hybrid recordings and live TV can be viewed via an analog TV even if the EyeTV Hybrid source is an ATSC HDTV broadcast. This feature allows both the Cable TV and the ATSC broadcasts to be viewed from either an analog TV or a HDTV. That is an awesome feature.

The EyeTV full screen mode looks very nice on a TV. Typically, text is hard to read on a TV screen using the Apple DVI To Video Adapter. However, the menus of EyeTV look pretty good. The only one that looks small is the program guide page and it duplicates the selected text in a larger format for easy reading. I imagine a large HDTV screen would provide for easier program guide reading. You can also use another computer with Timbuktu or the Titan TV system to schedule recordings for an EyeTV system remotely. The network options available with an EyeTV home theatre system are impressive.

When you consider that Cable TV companies charge $10-$20 per month for a HDTV recorder and that their recordings cannot be exported to a computer you start to realize that the EyeTV Hybrid with a Mac mini can save money on cable company fees and provide extended functionality.





EyeTV 2.3 is the best software available for TV recording on the Macintosh. It provides a great interface and a rich set of features. The ability to use it with the Apple remote and Front Row adds one more dimension to this very nice application. The EyeTV Hybrid enhances the capability of the EyeTV product line by providing hardware that can display and record TV broadcasts using

Cable TV service, an analog antenna or an ATSC HDTV antenna. Most Macintosh TV recorders work with analog or digital. Not both. The source selection flexibility of the EyeTV Hybrid adds lots of options for users. In addition, the small size of the EyeTV Hybrid USB stick makes it a great traveling companion for the Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks with Intel CPUs.

While the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid is an awesome device it does have a few weaknesses. It cannot connect to Cable TV and an ATSC antenna at the same time. It currently does not work well with multiple EyeTV devices, the North American version does not come with an ATSC antenna, it does not provide a Live TV Buffer for analog TV viewing and as no hardware encoding is provided, I would only recommend it for fairly recent Macintosh models with dual processors.

However, with these restrictions in mind, I find that the EyeTV Hybrid at $149 is one of the best values available for Macintosh users that want to purchase a USB 2.0 TV recorder. The EyeTV Hybrid dual functionality of being able to play and record Cable TV or ATSC broadcasts is very nice.

EyeTV Hybrid gets 4.5 AMUGs out of 5!
The EyeTV Hybrid marks a new chapter in Macintosh TV recording history by supporting both analog or digital broadcasts with a single device. At $149 it is an excellent bargain and provides more functionality than most other single source TV recorders available for the Macintosh. If you have a dual processor and want the capability to display and record Cable TV or ATSC HDTV signals using a small USB stick the EyeTV Hybrid is my first choice. For a limited time AMUG members can purchase the EyeTV Hybrid for $124.95 by visiting the AMUG Members Only web page and clicking on EyeTV Hybrid special offer. This offer is valid until December 31, 2006.

Contact Information:
Elgato Systems LLC
900 Kearny Street Suite 750
San Francisco CA 94133-5145
http://www.elgato.com/

Copyright 2006
Arizona Macintosh Users Group, Inc. (AMUG)
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