ATI All in Wonder Cards:

The ATI all in wonder cards offer a cheap route into video editing, combining a complete home entertainment solution with high end gaming performance. The latest incarnation in the All-in-Wonder series is the Radeon 9700.

This update to the All in Wonder series gives a speedy turn of speed, performing as an equal to the standard 9700 Pro on which it is based. But where competing cards such as the ti series from Nvidia may include Video In - Video Out (VIVO) connections, the Radeon All in Wonder goes one step further and throws in a TV tuner card, remote control and break out box for all your connections. It represents outstanding value for money.

Video performance of the All in wonder will placate even the most ardent of gamers; a pedigree second to none in the video game arena, the card is a fully fledged 9700 Pro offering Hyper Z III, TruForm II, with high-end performance in anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering modes. Translation? This card makes mince meat of Quake 3.

So what's all the fuss? How about the ATI theatre 200 Chip dedicated to analogue video decoding and stereo audio; what about the dual 12 bit ADC's (analogue to digital converter), or maybe the high quality stereo decoder for TV broadcasts? Essentialy this card doubles as an analogue to digital converter from external sources such as cable TV, videos or camcoders and a digital video recorder via its TV tuner capabilities. To assist in it's role of video capture and conversion the All in Wonder incorporates an MPEG encoder engine which ATI claim can provide a 15-20% CPU usage saving. Just what the doctor ordered for those with a slower PC or like to multitask. Another added bonus is the VideoSoap technology which aims to improve quality by filtering out those unwanted artifacts in TV capture. The card also comes with a funky remote control, and the retail version ships with a variety of software packages including Pinnacle Studio 8 which will have you authoring your first movie in no time.

The only slight oversight on this little card of wonders is the lack of Firewire support for DV camcorders. The other slight niggle is that the card only offers support for one monitor - standard Radeon cards provide excellent dual monitor support, but the inclusion of the TV tuner means the dual monitor support is sacrificed.