Most TV tuner cards on the market come bundled with software, but more often than not you will be left wanting more.

Thankfully, there’s no need to put up with what’s on offer from your tuner manufacturer. DVB Viewer Pro is a standalone home theatre PC application for digital TV that gives you a host of cutting-edge features.

This latest version of DVB Viewer Pro, from AIS, is simple to install with lots of options and plenty of control.

It can appear in windowed, full-screen or a Media Center-style home theatre mode, and can work with most TV tuners that come with DBA drivers. It also offers native support for the Media Center remote control.

As a fully-fledged home theatre PC system, DVB Viewer offers an easy-to-use TV viewing experience, combined with a PVR and programme guide as well as support for CDs, DVDs and playback from your own collections of music and videos.

Bonus features include support for a large number of remote controls via the open source WinLirc, RSS news feeds and internet-based weather information.

Delving into the setup menus lets you get as geeky as you like, with full control over its appearance, recording formats and which DirectX filters should be used for which sources.

You get precise control over all aspects of the display, including skinning, font control and anti-aliasing options. This enables you to achieve the very best quality while matching the performance of your hardware.

A long list of supported DVB tuners can be found on the DVB Viewer website, along with a full list of features that seems to go on forever. An extensible plug-in system allows still more features to be added as required.

Many such features are way beyond the scope of Windows Media Center, such as the ability to view multiple channels at once using a single tuner card. You can also extend the programs functionality using VBscript.

The latest version includes support for multiple TV tuners and H.264 support, which allows you to watch High Definition TV broadcasts – something Windows Media Center does not yet support.

If you’re lucky enough to be enrolled on the current digital terrestrial trials, the combination of DVB Viewer Pro, and even a simple USB-DVB tuner, will allow you to watch high-quality 1080i broadcasts on your PC.

Once you’ve configured the software to your liking you will have created a home theatre PC that’s easy to use, looks great and works just the way you want it to.

You’ll also find that simply installing it and running it is enough to get you started, so you won’t have to miss too much TV while you’re ploughing through all the options.

Apart from its low cost, one of the most attractive aspects of DVB Viewer Pro is the thriving support forum. Purchasing the software entitles you to free updates and, in cases of severe problems, direct email support from the program’s developer.

Whether you want to set up a home theatre PC system or just watch the occasional programme on your PC desktop, DVB Viewer Pro will help you get the best out of what digital TV has to offer.

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