3dfx Preping TV Enabled Voodoo Cards, No Mac Support Yet

3dfx, maker of high end graphic accelerator cards, is preparing a new line of Voodoo cards with built in TV support. The new cards, using a PCI interface, will add a cable ready connection and provide enhanced video capture and MP3 encoding support. The cards will support a variety of Windows flavors, with no word on planned Mac support. According to 3dfx:

3dfx Interactive Inc. today announced it is rapidly finalizing the development of its ground-breaking VoodooTV 100 PCI, VoodooTV 200 and VoodooTV-FM (PAL version for Europe), the first in a family of leading-edge multimedia products from a global leader in 3D graphics accelerators. VoodooTV 200 and VoodooTV-FM are the first products to introduce solid state "tuner on a chip" technology to the PC. These computer entertainment solutions elevate computers from mere tools of productivity to multitasking appliances. VoodooTV products make computing more fun, intriguing and engaging by adding functionality like improved channel management and stereo capabilities, .MP3 encode capabilities and enhanced digital video recording power.

These products reflect the beginning of a long-term strategy to? be a leader in the multimedia peripherals market. In the coming year, 3dfx expects to announce products from their complete roadmap of multimedia enhancements that feature emerging technologies such as high-definition television, digital video encoding and decoding products and related technologies that will enhance its position as a leader in visual communications.

VoodooTV 200 is engineered with a breakthrough, dual-conversion silicon tuner technology that is FCC-cable ready. VoodooTV is the first product to feature this ground-breaking silicon tuner technology developed for 3dfx by Microtune (NASDAQ:TUNE). The revolutionary silicon tuner technology, MicroTuner MT2032, prevents channels from bleeding over each other through a superior adjacent channel rejection feature. Consumers need not worry about dust, humidity and noise affecting video quality. VoodooTV delivers better noise resistance and faster channel acquisition for clearly the highest quality TV tuning signal and video image available on a PC today. For the price of a single-conversion tuner, consumers can enjoy dual-conversion performance. With single conversion tuners that are not cable ready, digital channels have a greater opportunity to "step on" analog channels. Todayis tuners need to be of a higher caliber to maintain separation between television channels. VoodooTV is that higher caliber solution.

You can find more information about the Voodoo TV cards at the 3dfx web site.