TVmax+

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A Hardware Review
by James F. Weiher

Product: TVMax+
Company: Miglia

URL: http://www.miglia.com/tvmaxplus/

Price: $288

Minimum System: 1.25 GHz G4; OSX 10.4 and USB2

Test System:
1.25 GHz MDD G4 with 1.25GB RAM; 10.4.10

Reviewer's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Apples

Miglia's TVmax+ is an exciting new product that offers advantages not available elsewhere. It allows the novice to easily get started digitizing and encoding analog sources and the more experienced user to take full advantage of the various encoding formats built into the hardware.

In addition to the features in a product, I think the company behind the product is also very important. In this regard I consider Miglia to offer excellent product and customer support. For example, they issued a Leopard compatible version of the software for TVmax+ immediately after Apple released the new OS. A Leopard version of the software is due out soon even for their long out of production and long out of warranty Alchemy TV VCR PCI card. That is real customer support.

With the advent of TVmax+ Miglia discontinued using Elgato's EyeTV software and developed their own in order to take full advantage of their hardware and to output files that are directly usable by other applications without reformatting. I have found this to be true in all cases but the iMovie format. Such transcoding is undesirable because it both is a time consuming process and results in video degradation.

The TVmax+ encodes in hardware and in real time into MPEG-2 (DVD), MPEG-4 and DivX, each in several versions appropriate for the desired application. For MPEG-4 versions are available for Apple TV, iMovie, iPod and Full MPEG-4, each under several different screen resolutions. For all encodings the quality can be varied from very low to 100% by moving a slider.

The MPEG-4 encodings are especially valuable because they provide the smallest files sizes for a given quality and are compatible with other Apple applications. The downside of the higher compression of MPEG-4 is the greater processing power required in the display device. If the end user processing power is limited MPEG-2 encoding is better but results in larger files.

The specifications Miglia reports for TVmax+ are OS 10.4 and 1.25 GHz G4 or better. I have tested the product with a 1.25 GHz G4 and consider that a usable lower end although greater processing power would be desirable. If no other processes were running on the test unit a Full MPEG-4 encoding and simultaneous display of an analog video was just possible without overloading the processor. Since the majority of the processing power is consumed by the display of the MPEG-4 encoded signal, a timed recording without display dramatically reduces the processor consumption. MPEG-2 encoding also consumes much less of the available processor.

The unit comes with the power adapter, line cords for both US standard and several foreign power plugs, the TVmax+ hardware, cables for signal input USB2 output and a full featured full size remote. In addition to using the built in TV tuner supporting 125 channels, input can be from a composite video or S-video signal. The unit and software are fully compatible with NTSC, PAL and Secam signals.

Pros:

Encoded files are directly usable by other applications without reformatting.
MPEG-4, MPEG-2 and DivX encoding are supported.
Timed recording is possible without viewing the signal.
The online electronic program guide is integrated into the software.
A two year warranty gives peace of mind.

Cons:

TVMax+ does not include DV or Motion JPEG encoding.
User customized encoding is not possible.
It does not yet include the capability of handling digital broadcast signals.
Unlike the other encoding formats which are used in the corresponding application without transcoding, the iMovie format does result in a file that iMovie automatically transcodes before use.
The price is a bit high, but the features and Miglia backing are strong.

James F. Weiher About the reviewer: James F. Weiher

Dr. Weiher has been involved with computers, one way or another, for over 50 years — mainframes, minicomputers, and microcomputers — in university and government laboratories as well as research centers in private industry. For the last 20 years he has recommended the Macintosh as the personal computer of choice — be it on the desktop or on the road. He says: "The Mac is the researcher's best friend and tool."

His first Mac was the Mac II, his first "fast" computer the IIfx; his first laptop the PB 160, his last 68000 machine the PB 190. He was late getting into the PowerPC line first with the B/W G3 and then with the white G3 iBook. His last PPCs are the MDD G4, the last Mac bootable into OS 9, as well as his trusty one year old 17" 1.67 GHz G4 PB with DL burner, also the last in a line. As for the Intel architecture, he says: "An astounding revolution — already a success and with an even greater future ahead."

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