DVB-C PCI Cards

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On this page you will find information regarding DVB-C PCI cards.

Please be aware that:
  • The information contained here is likely non-exhaustive and, despite best efforts to do otherwise, may contain errors. (Please help to keep these lists up-to-date so that they are useful for everyone!)
  • If your device is not listed, try:
    • searching the existing mailing list archives:
      • Linux-Media Mailing List (LMML) archives (via vger or .... )
      • or from the older mailing lists (now largely deprecated in favour of the LMML):
        • dvb mailing list archives (via spinics or MARC ... )
        • v4l mailing list archives (via .... )
    • searching for information with Google or other internet search engine
    • by posting a question about the device directly to the LMML (but please do conduct a search first, as it may already have been discussed!)
    • Note: when it comes to support, it is generally a good idea to try the current V4L-DVB sources because some device drivers can be very new and thus may have not made their way into the mainstream kernel.
In any regard, in respect to the above listed suggestions, you may find it to be the case that your device is actually already supported or that experimental support is available.
  • Because the component constitution on many devices are often similar or identical, there may be devices that are unlisted but may actually work with the existing driver framework for previously supported devices. In such a case, your non-listed but working device will likely be reported in your system messages as being one of those previously supported devices. If you encounter such an occurrence, please do report your success on the LMML so that proper detection/identification of your device can be added within the drivers.
  • Lastly, it bears worth repeating the request: Please help to keep these lists up-to-date so that they are useful for everyone!


Supported DVB-C PCI Cards

The following table lists the confirmed working DVB-C PCI cards and provides a brief summary of their features and components. If you need more technical information on a device, have a look at its specific wiki article.

Hardware Decoding Cards

Vendor
Model 		Components Connectors Comments Pictures
Hauppauge
WinTV DVB-C Rev. 2.1 [1]
  • was ~ 200 € (plus CI & analog)
Hauppauge dvb-c 2.1.jpg
Hauppauge
WinTV-Nexus-CA German Swedish
  • Antenna in
  • Composite Video-IN
  • Composite Video-OUT
  • Audio Line-OUT
  • Audio Line-IN
  • Digital Audio OUT (S/PDIF)
  • Common Interface
TechnoTrend
PCLine Premium DVB-C Rev. 2.1 (C2100) [2]
  • C2100 was discontinued, replaced by the C2300 model
  • was ~ ca. 200 €
Tt dvb-c 2.1.jpg
TechnoTrend
Premium DVB-C 2300 OT [3]
  • replaces the C2100, adding SPDIF out and an analog tuner (which is not supported under Linux)
  • overall, currently not as well supported as the C2100 -- 128-QAM doesn't work properly
  • note that there is NO Antenna out or NO Jumper2(thus no RGB out) on this card
  • was ~ 100 €
Tt dvb-c 2.3.jpg

Software Decoding Cards

Vendor
Model 		Components Connectors Comments Pictures
KNC1

TV-Station DVB-C English

  • Philips Tinbox CU1216L/ A I G H M (~2003 aka v.1.0):
    • TAIFUN 6034 A1 (tuner), LA7793 3BAE, LVC244A, EPCOS X6966D 8098 IRR2, Philips TDA10021HTB3 (demodulator)
    • Note: Philips TDA1002x demodulator (TDA10021 until Q4/2006; TDA10023 starting end of Q4/2006)
  • Philips SAA7146 (PCI bridge)
  • support for the TDA10023 was added to kernel 2.6.22
  • (those running older kernels will require a patch)
  • works out-of-the-box with MythTV-0.21
Knc1-dvbc.jpg
Satelco
EasyWatch PCI (DVB-C)
  • Philips TDA10023
  • works right out-of-the-box with KnoppMyth R5F27
  • was ~ ca. 60 €
  • The Common Interface works in Mythtv (Mythdora)when used together with Conax CAM (Rev. 1.2) - 4.00e by Smit
    Tested with Swedish cable provider Com Hem
Siemens
DVB-C PCI

(PDF-Doku:
[4] En.
[5] Gr.)

was ca.~80 € gebraucht (zzgl CI & analog)


TechnoTrend
C-1500 German English
  • Tuner/PLL:
    • older cards: TD1316A/SIHP
    • newer cards: TD1316AL/IHP
  • STV0297 demodulator
  • SAA7146 PCI bridge
  • Antenna in
  • Antenna out (only with the newer cards (i.e. featuring a TD1316AL/IHP))
  • Common Interface
  • the older cards (i.e. featuring a TD1316A/SIHP) are supported since kernel 2.6.13
  • the newer cards (i.e. featuring a TD1316AL/IHP tuner with antenna in and out)) are reported to have bad signal quality on most frequencies due to unknown bug in driver
  • if running a kernel older then 2.6.16, and not using updated drivers from LinuxTV, a driver modification may be necessary for QAM128 reception; stv0297.c (line ~395, kernel 2.6.15):
 case QAM_128:
delay = 200;
sweeprate = 500;
break;
  • was ~ca. 52 €


TechnoTrend
C-1501 German [6]
  • Philips tda827x [7] (Tuner )
  • Philips tda10023 Demodulator
  • Philips saa7146 PCI-Bridge
  • about 55 €
  • (Sep 2008) Currently some problems locking to some of the channels.
  • Hardware Compatibility Issues: Some motherboard chipsets are known for hardware incompatibilities with several PCI cards. Depending on motherboard chipset, BIOS, driver versions and connected PCI cards, it could be necessary to change the PCI latency of the DVB-C card or the latency value of other PCI cards. Acoustic and image interferences appeared for example with a TechnoTrend C-1501 and an ASUS M2A-VM motherboard (AMD 690G/ATI RS690 chipset, BIOS Revision 0701, one USB PCI card with NEC chip, Linux kernel 2.6.27) after 10 to 30 minutes playback. The error message "kernel: saa7146 (0) saa7146_i2c_writeout [irq]: timed out waiting for end of xfer" occured in /var/log/syslog when the PCI latency was too low. There were also acoustic and image interferences when the PCI latency was too high. The current PCI latency can be shown via command "lspci -v". Good results were achieved with a decimal PCI latency value around 144 (90 hex) with the mentioned hardware configuration (see manual page of setpci, example: setpci -v -s 03:06.0 latency_timer=96 ). Nevertheless, the appropriate value depends on the specific hardware configuration. Play around with the value and restart DVB-C playback. Otherwise, you can try to swap PCI cards or a different motherboard with a different chipset.


TechnoTrend
DVB-C 1.0 Budget
  • antenna out (top)
  • antenna in (bottom)
  • Fit in Asus Pundit (AB-P2600) slim barebone
  • was ~ ca. 90 €
Technotrend dvb-c budget 1.0.jpg
TerraTec
Cinergy 1200 DVB-C
  • Philips TDA1002x (demodulator)
    • TDA10021 or TDA10023
  • Philips SAA7146
  • TerraTec Support Desk says "NO Common Interface"!
  • support for the TDA10023 was added to kernel 2.6.22 (those running older kernels require a patch)
  • was ~ ca. 80 € (w/o CI)
Tt cinergy 1200 dvb-c pci.jpg
TwinHan
VisionDTV Mini Cab DVB-C
  • Philips
  • Conexant Fusion 878A (25878-13) (PCI Bridge)
  • Antenna in
  • only partially supported
  • Strong artifacts in picture
  • ~ ca. 90 €


TechniSat
CableStar HD2


Experimental Support

Vendor
Model 		Components Connectors Comments Pictures
Azurewave/Twinhan
AD-CP300 (VP-2033) [8]
Azurewave/Twinhan
AD-CP400 (VP-2040) [9]


TerraTec
Cinergy C DVB-C [10]
  • Philips TDA10023 (demodulator)
  • Antenna in (Digital TV and Radio)
  • Antenna out
  • Common Interface (supported, additional module)
  • IR Remote
  • Works after some tweaking (see [11])
  • Clone of the Azurewave AD-CP400 (VP-2040)
  • CI/CAM support (on cards with optional CI module) is not working ( 2024-12-21 )
Cinergy-c.jpg



Currently Unsupported DVB-C PCI Cards:

If you own one or more devices from the following list and you want to help with support development, please contact the Linux-Media Mailing List (LMML). Note that if your device is similar to or contains components for which driver development is currently being undertaken, then it is possible that you will pique the developers' interest and can obtain some assistance that, possibly, leads to full support for your device.

However, please note that inquiries to the mailing list:

  • Should NOT be treated as an order drop-off queue. You're soliciting help from volunteer developers who work on V4L-DVB matters in their spare time, and such work can be non-trivial (i.e. requiring even thousands of hours work). So being demanding is one sure route to being ignored. (Honestly, this point really shouldn't even need to be written, but you'd be surprised at the number of irrational individuals who write into the mailing list demanding this or that).
  • May pass without garnering a response—a distinct byproduct of the fact that there are a limited number of developers, whom might be able to help, that are associated with the project. Often times, even if they wished to help, their energies are entirely tied up with other projects. In such cases, the best path might be to try to spearhead the driver development for your device yourself, or hire someone who can.
Vendor
Model 		Components Connectors Comments Pictures
TechniSat
CableStar 2 PCI / Cable4PC PCI
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