ATI Brings Digital Cable to the Locked Down PC

Home Theater PC users can finally get a taste of digital cable on their setups thanks to ATI's new TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner, the first external tuner to support CableCARD. Assuming your cable company doesn't give you the runaround, this means you can finally watch new episodes of The Sopranos without even touching Bittorrent and it's legal threats. More after the jump.

Standard definition, high definition, NTSC, over-the-air ATSC, cable, and satellite - it's all supported on this bad boy. You'll be able to pick it up with your new OEM-built PC either as a package deal or a $250-ish upgrade option starting January 30th, with a strong possibility that it will become a standalone retail product later in the future when OCUR PCs are more readily available.

Of course, like all things digital in this day and age, the tuner is afflicted with heavy Digital Rights Management restrictions. First, you will need an OCUR (Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver) compliant PC. As it currently stands, this means that Mac and DIY PC builders are left in the dark, as only the major OEMs such as Dell will have access to this module for quite some time. Windows Vista Ultimate or Home Premium is also required, so WinXP, Mac, and Linux users are also left behind.