TV Tuners For PC Archives

Showing 1–15 of 30 results

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  AVerMedia BO311 Streaming Kit (GC311 + PW313 + AM310) Compact Stream Device, Webcam, Microphone (LS)

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  AVerMedia BU110 Ultra Mobile Broadcasting and Capture device UVC Pro USB 3.0 streaming on the go

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  AVerMedia C039 EZMaker 7, Standard Definition USB Video Capture Card , Analog to Digital Recorder, RCA Composite, VHS to DVD, S-Video, Cyberlink (Key)

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  AVerMedia C039 EZMaker 7, Standard Definition USB Video Capture Card , Analog to Digital Recorder, RCA Composite, VHS to DVD, S-Video, Cyberlink (LS)

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  AVerMedia C285 Game Capture HD II Capture device for Consoles, Xbox, PS4, PS4 Pro. 1080p @ 30 fps. (LS) > TVA-GC311 or SPAV-ER310

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  AVerMedia ET111 Video Adapter, Composite / RCA / AV to HDMI Output (LS)

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  Avermedia EzRecorder 310 Digital Recorder, 1080P, Schedule Recording, Auto Power On, Commercial Trimming, MP4 and JPG Format, Record and Take Snapshot

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  AVerMedia GC311 Live Gamer MINI. Recording @ 1080p60, HDMI Passthrough w/ Zero Latency. Full HD H. 264 Hardware Encoder. 12 Months Warranty

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  AVerMedia GC513 Live Gamer Portable 2 PLUS, Ultra HD 4K Pass Through Capture Device. Record 1080p @ 60 fps. 12 Months Warranty

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  AVerMedia GC551 Live Gamer Extreme 2. 4K Pass-Through * Only for USB 3.0 / 3.1 (Gen 1) Chipset Capture device. Record 1080p @ 60 fp.

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  AVerMedia GC553 Live Gamer Ultra 4K Recording, Edit, Capture. and Record 4k @ 30fps. 240 Hz refresh rate. HDR Support. 12 Months Warranty

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  AVerMedia GC555 LIVE Gamer BOLT video Capture Box 4Kp60 HDR + FHD 240FPS RGB Lighting Effect, Thunderbolt 3 interface, HDMI 2.0, 3.5 Audio. 7.1 Passth

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  AVerMedia GC570 Live Gamer HD2 PCI-Express capture Card 1080p @ 60 fps, HDMI in with RECentral 3. 12 Months Warranty

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  AVerMedia GC570D 4k HDR and 1080p240 pass-thru. Record @ 1080p60 HDR with Dual-HDMI input + 1 HDMI output.

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  AVerMedia GC573 Live Gamer 4K RGB PCI-E Capture Card, Record 4K HDR @ 60 FPS. Top of the line. 12 Months Warranty

  inc GST

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended               September 30, 2012

OR

For the transition period from____________to___________

Commission file number           1-13550

HAUPPAUGE DIGITAL INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code    (631) 434-1600

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (g) of the Act:

None

(Title of class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes                                                       No

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act.

Yes                                                       No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding twelve (12) months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past ninety (90) days.

Yes                                                       No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes                                                       No

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check One):

(Do not check box if smaller reporting company)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule12b-2 of the Act).

Yes                                                       No

The aggregate market value of the voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of the close of business on March 31, 2012 was approximately $11,602,908 based upon the last price reported on such date on the NASDAQ Capital Market. Non-affiliates include all stockholders other than officers, directors and 5% stockholders of the registrant.

As of December 12, 2012, the number of shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value, outstanding was 10,122,344.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

PART I

Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the federal securities laws. The events described in forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may not occur. Generally these statements relate to business plans or strategies, projected or anticipated benefits or other consequences of our plans or strategies, financing plans, projected or anticipated benefits from acquisitions that we may make, or projections involving anticipated revenues, earnings or other aspects of our operating results or financial position, and the outcome of any contingencies. Any such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections of management. We intend for these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe-harbor provisions for forward-looking statements. Words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate,” and “continue,” and their opposites and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and are subject to a number of uncertainties, risks and other influences (including, but not limited to, those set forth in “Item 1A–Risk Factors”), many of which are beyond our control, that may influence the accuracy of the statements and the projections upon which the statements are based. Any one or more of these uncertainties, risks and other influences could materially affect our results of operations and whether forward-looking statements made by us ultimately prove to be accurate. Our actual results, performance and achievements could differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether from new information, future events or otherwise. All cautionary statements made in this Annual Report on Form 10-K should be read as being applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they appear.

ITEm 1. BUSINESS

OVERVIEW

We are a developer of TV receivers, video recorders, video streaming devices and other products for the personal computer market. Through our Hauppauge Computer Works Inc., Hauppauge Digital Europe Sarl and PCTV Systems Sarl subsidiaries, we design, develop, manufacture and market products which (a) receive a TV signal which allows PC users to watch television on a PC screen in a resizable window, (b) receive a TV signal and ‘stream’ the TV signal around the home or over the Internet, and (c) record high definition video from cable TV, satellite set top boxes and video game consoles such as the Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. Certain of our products also enable the recording of TV shows to a PC’s hard disk, receiving of digital TV data transmissions, and the display of digital media stored on a computer to a TV set and other mobile devices via a home network. We were incorporated in Delaware in August 1994 and are headquartered in Hauppauge, New York. We have administrative offices in Luxembourg, our Hauppauge facility and Singapore, distribution centers in our Hauppauge facility, Ireland and our Singapore facility, and sales offices in Germany, London, Paris, The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Spain, our Singapore facility, Taiwan and California and research and development centers in our Hauppauge facility, Braunschweig, Germany and our Taiwan facility.

OUR STRATEGY

Since our entry into the PC video market in 1991, management believes that we have become a leader in bringing live TV and other types of video content to PCs by focusing on five primary strategic fronts:

As more people are looking to PCs for a total entertainment experience, we believe that our products are able to enhance the capabilities of the PC to enable it to become a one-stop integrated entertainment system. We feel our current products and products we may introduce in the future have the potential to be widely accepted for PC-based home entertainment systems.

Our engineering group plans and designs new products and new product families. They also work on updating our current products to add new and innovative features that the marketplace seeks, while remaining vigilant in keeping our manufacturing costs low and trying to ensure that our products are compatible with new operating systems.

During fiscal 2012, our engineering department introduced

During fiscal 2012, our engineering department tested and certified most of our TV tuners for use with the new Windows 8 operating system from Microsoft. Windows 8 was formally introduced in October 2012.

During fiscal 2012, our engineering department also introduced ‘StreamEez’. StreamEez is designed as an Internet steaming device for small groups and organizations who want to stream live events over the Internet. The target markets are local administrations such as school boards, political organizations and churches. StreamEez was designed to make Internet streaming easy, and is pre-configured to support streaming services such as Ustream, Justin.TV and Twitch. We have not commenced shipment of this product.

During fiscal 2011, our engineering department introduced ‘Colossus’, our high definition video recorder for desktop PCs, and ‘Broadway’. Broadway is

All of our PC based products introduced in 2011 are designed to run under the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Some of our products also work with Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Windows XP. Broadway and WinTV Extend are designed to work with the Apple iPad and iPhone plus Android tablets.

We believe that strategic relationships with key suppliers, PC manufacturers, technology providers, and internet and e-commerce solutions providers give us important advantages in developing new technologies and marketing our products.  By jointly working with, and sharing our engineering expertise with a variety of other companies, we seek to leverage our investment in research and development and minimize time to market.

Our domestic and international sales and marketing team cultivates a variety of distribution channels comprised of computer and electronic retailers, computer products distributors and PC manufacturers. Computer and electronic retailers include retail stores, web stores and third-party catalogs, both print and on-line, among others.  We work closely with our retailers to enhance sales through joint advertising campaigns and promotions. We believe that developing our international presence contributes to our strategic position, allowing us to benefit from investments in product development, and more firmly establishing our Hauppauge®, WinTV®, PCTV and MediaMVP™ brand names in the international marketplace. We currently have nine sales offices in countries outside of the U.S., including a sales and R&D facility in Taiwan to service the growing Asian market.

We seek to maintain and improve our profit margins by, among other things, outsourcing our production to contract manufacturers suited to accommodate the type and volume of our needs. We also leverage international supplier relationships to assist us in receiving competitive prices for the component parts we buy. We believe this two-tiered approach allows us to be the lowest cost / highest quality producer in our marketplace. This approach enables us to focus our human and financial resources on developing, marketing and distributing our products. Successfully engineering products to have low production costs and commonality of parts along with the use of single platforms for multiple models are additional important ways that we believe our design and build strategy contributes to our financial performance.

Products

Our products fall under three product categories:

See “Item 7- Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the Consolidated Financial Statements comprising part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information relating to our product categories.

TV receivers

Broadway live TV streaming products for the iPad and iPhone

Broadway, developed by our PCTV Systems Sarl R&D team in Braunschweig Germany, connects to a TV signal and then transmits that TV signal over a Wi-Fi network or over the Internet. An Apple iPhone or iPad can receive this TV signal and display the live TV program on the screen. Broadway is a small, low power, stand alone device which is designed for unattended operation. With Broadway, an iPad or iPhone user can watch live TV in the home over their Wi-Fi network, or anywhere around the world via the Internet.

There are three models of Broadway: a model for Europe and parts of Asia which includes dual digital TV receivers for over-the-air digital TV, a model for North America with a built-in universal ATSC/NTSC and clear QAM receiver, and a model which includes a free-to-air high definition DVB-S2 satellite TV receiver.

Digital TV receivers and hybrid analog/digital TV receiver

Our digital TV tuner products enable, among other things, a PC user to watch digital television in a resizable window on a PC or laptop screen. There are different digital TV standards throughout the world, and we develop TV tuner products for many of these digital TV formats. Examples of digital TV broadcasts we can receive on our TV tuner products include: over-the-air high definition ATSC, clear QAM and DVB-C digital cable, digital terrestrial DVB-T, digital satellite DVB-S and DVB-S2. To support these digital TV formats, and as many of our primary markets transition from analog to digital TV, we have been concentrating our engineering resources on digital TV tuner products and have discontinued development on analog only TV tuners.

is a PC-based cable TV set top box utilizing CableCARD technology that has two tuners. With Windows 7 Media Center, the user can record two TV programs at the same time, or the user can watch one TV program while recording another. There are other applications besides Windows Media Center which will work with the WinTV-DCR-2650. These programs will allow the user to watch and record cable TV programs which are marked as "copy freely" by their local cable operator. Most of these programs are network TV channels, including CBS, NBC and Fox.

We have a line of external TV tuners called TV tuner “sticks”. TV tuner “sticks” are small TV tuners which connect to a PC, notebook or netbook computer through the USB port. TV tuner “sticks” are typically used for mobile PC users and others who want the flexibility to simply insert a USB TV tuner and watch TV on their screen. The small size and UPC plug-in capability are good for use in laptops while traveling. Our TV tuner “sticks” include the WinTV-NOVA, WinTV-Ministick and WinTV-Aero series.

Our WinTV-NOVA products are digital only TV tuners for PCs. They support the various forms of digital TV and come in either an internal or external form factor.

Our WinTV-NOVA-T is a DVB-T digital terrestrial tuner for our European markets which allows for the viewing of digital terrestrial TV and listening to digital radio on a PC. The product also allows recording of digital TV and radio to a hard drive. This product is available as either a PCI card or an external USB device.

Our WinTV-NOVA-T-500 is a dual tuner DVB-T tuner for our European markets which uses “Diversity Technology” and allows for the viewing of digital terrestrial programs while recording another program. The product also allows recording of two digital TV programs simultaneously or watching one channel while recording another.

Our WinTV-NOVA-T-USB2 is an external high performance DVB-T digital TV tuner, with dual tuners for recording of two digital TV programs simultaneously or watching one channel while recording another.

Our WinTV-NOVA-T TV tuner stick is a pocket sized external DVB-T tuner for our European markets which allows for the viewing of digital terrestrial TV and the listening of digital radio on a PC or laptop. The product also allows recording of digital TV and radio to a hard drive. The product’s pocket size and UPC plug-in capability is good for use in laptops while traveling.

Our WinTV-NOVA-TD stick is a pocket-sized external DVB-T tuner for our European markets which employs “Diversity Technology” with the use of two antennas to maximize the reception for the viewing of digital terrestrial TV on a PC or laptop. The product also allows recording of digital TV to a hard drive in high quality MPEG-2 format. The product’s pocket size and UPC plug-in capability is good for use in laptops while traveling.

Our WinTV-Aero stick is a small but powerful external DVB-T tuner with a built-in telescoping antenna for our European markets which allows a user to watch and record DVB-T digital TV programs. It has a compact design and was designed for mobile laptop computers and compact netbook computers. The WinTV-Aero comes with a remote control and has a built-in external connector which allows a user to connect it to a rooftop TV antenna when the user is inside their home or office building.

Our WinTV-Ministick is a small and portable external DVB-T tuner for our European markets which allows a user to watch and record digital TV programs on a netbook, laptop or desktop computer. WinTV-Ministick comes with a remote control and a portable digital TV antenna which allows a user to watch TV at home or when they travel.

Our WinTV-HVR-900 stick is a pocket sized external tuner for our European markets which allows for the viewing of digital terrestrial and analog terrestrial TV on a PC or laptop. Digital and analog programs can be recorded to a hard drive in high quality MPEG-2 format.

Our WinTV-HVR-930C stick is a triple mode external tuner for our European markets which allows for the viewing of digital cable TV and radio, digital terrestrial TV and radio and analog cable or analog terrestrial TV on a PC or laptop. This product allows the recording of digital and analog programs to a hard drive in high quality MPEG-2 format and includes a DVB-T antenna.

Our WinTV-HVR-950Q stick is a pocket sized external tuner for our North American markets which allows for the viewing of ATSC high definition TV and NTSC cable TV on a PC or laptop. The product also allows recording of digital and analog programs to a hard drive in high quality MPEG-2 format.

Our WinTV-Aero-m stick allows for the receiving of

Our myTV 2GO-m is an external stick sold in the European market that allows the user to watch and record live Freeview digital TV on the user’s iPad, iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. The myTV 2GO-m's built-in antenna can be used to receive Freeview TV within approximately 10 miles of a Freeview broadcast transmitter, depending on location. The myTV 2GO-m comes with an EPG built into the application which allows the user to see a guide of upcoming digital TV programs. Other features allow the user to pause live TV or record the user’s favorite Freeview TV program.

Our WinTV-HVR-1100 and WinTV-HVR-1300 are PCI based tuners for our European markets, which are designed to be installed inside a desktop PC. These TV tuners allow the viewing of digital terrestrial and analog terrestrial TV on a PC screen, in addition to listening to FM radio and DVB-T radio through a PC’s audio system. These products also allow the recording of digital and analog programs to a hard drive in high quality MPEG-2 format. The WinTV-HVR-1300 is the higher performance of the two models, in that it includes a hardware MPEG-2 encoder for recording analog TV directly to a PC’s hard disk.

Our WinTV-HVR-1400 and WinTV-HVR-1500, are dual tuner ExpressCard/54 cards designed for notebook computers with ExpressCard/54mm expansion slots. These TV tuners are for analog and digital TV watching and recording on laptop computers, and allow the recording of digital programs to a hard drive in high quality MPEG-2 format and the recording of analog programs.

Our WinTV-HVR-1600 is a PCI combination analog and digital TV tuner for our North American market. The WinTV-HVR-1600 is installed in an internal PCI slot in a desktop PC and allows the watching and recording of ATSC high definition TV and NTSC cable TV. The WinTV-HVR-1600 can record all ATSC formats, including the 1080i format. The WinTV-HVR-1600 also supports viewing and recording clear QAM digital cable TV channels and includes a remote control and IR blaster which changes the channels on the user’s satellite or cable TV set top box.

Our WinTV-HVR-1850 is a combination analog and digital PCI Express TV tuner for our North American market. The WinTV-HVR-1850 allows the watching and recording of ATSC high definition TV, clear QAM digital cable TV and NTSC analog cable TV on a PC.

Our WinTV-HVR-3300 is a tri-mode PCI based TV tuner for our European markets. The WinTV-HVR-3300 is installed in a desktop PC and allows watching and recording of digital terrestrial (DVB-T), satellite (DVB-S) and analog cable TV; in addition it has the ability to receive FM radio and DVB-T radio. When recording digital TV programs, the original broadcast format is used which preserves the quality of the recording.

Our WinTV-HVR-4400 is a quad-format PCI based TV tuner for our European markets. It is installed in a desktop PC and can be used to watch and record digital terrestrial (DVB-T), digital satellite (DVB-S), high definition digital satellite (DVB-S2) and analog cable TV; in addition, it has the ability to receive FM radio and DVB-T radio. When recording digital TV programs, the original digital broadcast format is used which preserves the quality of the recording.

Our WinTV-NOVA-S is a low cost DVB-S tuner for our European markets which allows for the viewing

of satellite based digital programming on a PC. The product also allows for recording and playback of digital TV, using the high quality MPEG-2 format, and for listening to digital radio.

Our WinTV-HVR-1950 is a high performance external USB based TV tuner for the user’s PC or laptop. The WinTV-HVR-1950 allows the user to watch, pause and record analog cable TV, clear QAM digital cable TV, or ATSC over-the-air digital TV at up to 1080i resolution. The product comes with a remote control and IR blaster, and contains a built-in hardware MPEG-2 encoder for use when recording analog video.

Our WinTV-HVR-2200 and WinTV-HVR-2250 products are dual tuner PCI Express based TV tuners designed to be installed in a desktop PC. These PCI Express boards allow a PC user to watch, pause or record two analog or digital TV programs at the same time. A user can either watch one TV program while recording another or can record two TV programs at once. With the WinTV-HVR-2250, a user in North America can watch and record analog cable TV or high definition digital ATSC and clear QAM digital cable TV. With the WinTV-HVR-2200, a user in Europe or Asia can watch or record analog PAL TV or digital DVB-T TV. Both of these products allow the recording of analog cable TV programs to a PC's hard disk with our built-in high quality MPEG-2 hardware encoder.

Video recorder products

USB-Live2 is a standard definition video recorder which can be used to record video tapes and other types of video onto a PC. Once on a PC, these recordings can be burned onto a DVD disc. USB-Live2 is sold to consumers who want to save their old video tapes by converting them to a DVD disc. USB-Live2 comes with software which allows a consumer to record a VHS tape, and then author a DVD disc from the video recording.

HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition is our newest high definition video recorder. It is a complete kit for gamers who want to record their Sony PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 game-play in high definition. The HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition has high video quality and records HD video from either HDMI or component video at up to 1080p/30. Gamers can share their best video game-play with friends on YouTube by using the included Showbiz application to record and then upload videos to YouTube. HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition allows any user to produce their own video movies from their game-play. A special PS3 component video cable is included.

HD PVR is our previous generation High-Definitionvideo recorder for making real-time H.264 compressed video recordings at resolutions up to 1080i.  The HD PVR records component video from a game console such as the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or cable TV and satellite set top boxes. When used to record HD video from a cable TV or satellite set top box, the HD PVR can automatically change TV channels for scheduled recordings with its built-in IR blaster. The HD PVR recording format can be used to burn Blu-ray DVD disks. The HD PVR’s recording quality allows personal archival of high definition TV programs from any component video HD set top box.  The HD PVR also has standard definition composite and S-Video inputs which allows the user to record their old home video tapes into an AVCHD format for creating Blu-ray DVD recordings.

Colossus has similar capabilities as HD PVR, but is an internal card for Windows based PCs. Colossus can record high definition video from a cable TV or satellite set top box, or an Xbox 360 or Sony Playstation 3 game console. Recording is done at up to 1080i HD video.

PCTV Systems TV tuner products

Our PCTV Systems Sarl operation, based in Germany, develops TV tuner products which allow Windows or Macintosh users to view television programming on their computers. Our PCTV line consists of a family of USB sticks with a small and convenient form factor well-suited for use with laptops and PCI-based cards more appropriate for desktop users, in addition to PCI cards for use in desktop computers. PCTV products are positioned as our high end product offering. We believe that the positioning of the PCTV product line is complementary to our WinTV line and expanded our product offerings.

Analog TV tuners

With the global shift to digital TV broadcasts, the sales of our analog family of products have been declining and we expect this decline to continue during the transition from analog to digital broadcasts.

Non-TV Tuner Products

Software Products

Our WinTV application is a PC based TV watching, pause and recoding application. The WinTV application has been under continuous development since 1992. The current WinTV version 7 application is typically supplied on a CD-ROM and it is installed on a user’s PC which contains one of our WinTV TV tuner products. Features in WinTV version 7 include: live TV in a window or full screen, program pause, scheduled record, multiple TV tuner support, close captioning and parental control.

such as an Apple iPad or iPhone. The difference between WinTV Extend and our Broadway product is that WinTV Extend runs on a PC while Broadway is stand alone. WinTV Extend was initially introduced in 2009 and is standard in the Hauppauge WinTV version 7.2 application. Currently, WinTV Extend supports native Apple iOS encoding plus Adobe Flash. Adobe Flash is the preferred media format for PCs and Mac computers, plus the Android mobile platform.

Our WinTV Extend for the iPad and iPhone applications were introduced at the end of fiscal 2011. These applications are native Apple iOS applications which allow the watching of live TV over a Wi-Fi or Internet connection. The WinTV Extend for iPad and iPhone require a streaming server as the TV source. Current streaming servers supported are Broadway and the WinTV version 7.2 application. These applications are provided through the Apple application store.

Video Capture Boards

Our ImpactVCB Video Capture Board (“ImpactVCB”) is a low cost PCI board for high performance access to digitized video. Designed for PC-based video conferencing and video capture in industrial applications, the ImpactVCB features “live” video-in-a-window, still image capture and drivers for Windows. There are also third party drivers and applications available for use with the Linux operating system.

Digital Media Adapters

Our MediaMVP-HD™ is a Linux-based digital media device, and is one of a class of PC products which link TV sets and PCs. Media, such as music, digital pictures, and digital videos, are transmitted from the PC, where they are stored, to the MediaMVP™, where they are converted from a digital format into an analog format, enabling playback on a TV connected to the MediaMVP™. MediaMVP™ was introduced to the market in fiscal 2003, and the first shipments to customers were made at the start of our 2004 fiscal year.

Our MediaMVP™ enables a user to watch and listen to PC-based videos, music and pictures on a TV set through a home network. The MediaMVP™ connects to TV sets or home theater systems and, via an Ethernet network, plays back MP3 music, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 videos, and JPEG and GIF digital pictures that have been recorded and stored on a PC. The MediaMVP™ decodes this media and then outputs video through composite and S-Video connections for high quality video on TV sets and high quality audio through stereo audio output connectors to TV sets or home theater systems.

Our MediaMVP™ also provides an on-TV-screen display of media directory listings. It receives commands from the supplied remote control, and sends these commands to the PC server. The TV menus are created on the PC server, sent over the Ethernet LAN and displayed by the MediaMVP™’s browser. The MediaMVP™’s remote control allows a user to pause, fast forward and rewind through videos, plus pause music and picture shows. A user can adjust the audio volume from the MediaMVP™’s remote control, avoiding the need to use the TV’s remote control. The MediaMVP™ is available in a wired or wireless version.

Technology

Video Recorder Technology

Our HD PVR and Colossus high definition video recorders accept video from a component video source, such as the output of a cable TV or satellite set top box, or a video game console such as an Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. Hauppauge uses HD video encoder chips from Ambarella or Vixs inside these products to compress the component video into an H.264 form. H.264 is the compression technology used in Blu-ray DVD discs and is high quality. This compressed high definition video is then stored on the computers disc drive. Once on the disc drive, a user can playback the video recording in HD, burn the video recording onto a Blu-ray compatible DVD disc, or upload the video recording to YouTube.

We plan to continue our engineering effort to deliver higher quality video recordings. In addition, we plan to continue developing support in our HD Video Recorders for third party applications such as Microsoft’s Media Center application.

Digital TV Receiver Technology

Our WinTV®-D board, developed during the 1999 fiscal year and delivered to the market in the beginning of fiscal 2000, was the first ATSC digital TV tuner for the North American market which allowed PCs to receive, display and record over-the-air digital TV signals. ATSC digital television is the digital TV standard for North America which has replaced analog television in the United States and Canada. In the U.S., all analog over-the-air television transmissions have ceased as of June 19, 2009 and only digital TV transmissions are broadcast. Since our first ATSC digital TV tuner delivered in 2000, we have introduced 8 new digital TV tuners for use in North America.

In fiscal 1999, we also introduced the WinTV®-DVB board for the European market. This board brings European digital TV to PCs, and is based on the Digital Video Broadcast standard. Both the WinTV®-D and the WinTV®-DVB have the ability to receive special data broadcasts which some broadcasters may send along with the digital TV signal, in addition to displaying digital TV in a resizable window. Data broadcasts on digital TV are transmitted at several million bits per second. Our proprietary software can decode and display some of these special data broadcasts. We may work on standardized reception and display software, if such broadcasts become standardized.

The software to control the digital TV reception is based on our WinTV®-2000 software, which was developed during fiscal 1999 and had a major update in 2006 and 2008. Over the two fiscal years ended September 30, 2010, we further developed the digital TV reception capabilities of our digital family of products and as of September 30, 2010 we had 18 products for DVB-T terrestrial, DVB-S and DVB-S2 satellite, ATSC and clear QAM digital TV reception. In addition, there are seven PCTV products which allow digital TV to be watched on a PC or notebook computer.

Our MediaMVP™ is a device which allows TV recordings which are stored on a PC or notebook computer to be viewed on a TV set. Based on the Linux operating system, the MediaMVP™ works in a client/server system with a PC, communicating with the PC ‘server’ and receiving digital media from the PC and displaying the media on the TV set. The core technology to the MediaMVP™ comprises the configuration and enhancements to the Linux operating system, the user interface displayed on the TV set, and the technology to transmit digital media reliably over the local area network. The MediaMVP™ is available in a wired or wireless version.

Analog TV Receiver Technology

We have developed four generations of products which convert analog video into digital video since our first such product was introduced in 1991.

The first generation of WinTV® products put the TV image on the PC screen using chroma keying, requiring a dedicated “feature connector cable” between the WinTV® and the VGA (video) board. Our initial customers were mostly professional PC users, such as financial market professionals who needed to be able to view stock market-related TV shows while spending many hours on their PCs, who found having TV in a window on their desktop useful and entertaining.

In 1993, we invented a technique called “smartlock”, which eliminated the need for the “feature connector cable.”

In June 1996, we introduced the WinTV®-PCI line of TV tuner boards for PCs. These boards were developed to eliminate the relatively expensive smartlock circuitry and memory used on the WinTV®-Celebrity and CinemaPro products.

The fourth generation analog TV tuners were WinTV®-PVR models which were first developed during fiscal 2000 and introduced to the market in early fiscal 2001. The WinTV®-PVRs include both internal PCI and external USB TV tuners which are designed to add the ability to record TV shows to a PC’s hard disk. The core technology in the WinTV®-PVR products is a hardware MPEG encoder, which compresses analog video from a TV tuner or external video source into an MPEG format in real time.

Research and Development

Our Research and Development efforts are focused on both extending the range of our current TV receiver and high definition video recording products, plus developing new features for our WinTV and WinTV Extend software products. We intend to develop more highly integrated versions of hardware products to further improve performance and price points, and new versions of software to add features, improve ease of use, and provide support for new operating systems.

As of September 30, 2012, we had three research and development operations: one based in our Hauppauge, New York headquarters, one based in Taipei, Taiwan, ROC and one in Braunschweig, Germany. The New York and Taiwan R&D operations are aimed at extending the range and features of our high definition video recorders and digital/analog TV receiver products. The PCTV Systems research and development operation is based in Braunschweig, Germany, and is responsible for the updating and enhancement of Broadway and developing other PCTV products.

The technology underlying our products and certain other products in the computer industry, in general, is subject to rapid change, including the potential introduction of new types of products and technologies, which may have a material adverse impact upon our business. See, “Item 1A — Risk Factors”. We maintain an ongoing research and development program. Our future success, of which there can be no assurances, will depend, in part, on our ability to respond quickly to technological advances by developing and introducing new products, successfully incorporating such advances in existing products, and obtaining licenses, patents, or other proprietary technologies to be used in connection with new or existing products. We continue to invest in research and development. We spent approximately $3,399,000 and $4,258,000 for research and development expenses for the years ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively. There can be no assurance that our current and future research and development will be successful or that we will be able to foresee, and respond to, advances in technological developments and to successfully develop other products. Additionally, there can be no assurances that the development of technologies and products by competitors will not render our products or technologies non-competitive or obsolete. See “Item 1A- Risk Factors.”

Production and Suppliers

We design the hardware for most models of the WinTV, HD PVR, HD PVR 2, PCTV and MediaMVP products, and also write the operating software to be used in conjunction with the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Apple iOS operating system.

During fiscal 2012, we sub-contracted the manufacturing and assembly of most of our products to six independent third parties at facilities in various Asian countries. We monitor and test the quality of the completed products at any one of our facilities in the U.S. (Hauppauge, New York), Singapore or Ireland before packaging the products and shipping them to our customers. We also buy some models of TV tuner products, such as the WinTV Nova-T-Stick from other unrelated third party companies, add Hauppauge software and sell under our name or on a private label basis.

Certain component parts, such as TV tuners, video decoder chips and video compression chips, plus certain assembled products, such as the WinTV-HVR stick products that are essential to our business, are available from a single source or limited sources. Other essential component parts that are generally available from multiple sources may be obtained by us from only a single source or limited sources because of pricing concerns. See “Item 1A-Risk Factors.”

Components are subject to industry-wide availability and pricing pressures. Any availability limitations, interruption in supplies, or price increases could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, our new products may initially utilize custom components obtained from only one source. See “Item 1A-Risk Factors.” We typically attempt to evaluate and qualify additional suppliers for these components.

Where a product utilizes a new component, initial capacity constraints of the supplier of that component may exist until such time as the supplier's yields have matured.

Components are normally acquired through purchase orders, either issued by us or by our contract manufacturers, typically covering our requirements for a 60-120 day period from the date of issue. Purchased assembled products are normally covered by longer term purchase orders. Our principal suppliers of component parts are Arrow Electronics, Dibcom S.A., Ambarella, Sigma Designs, NXP Semiconductors, WT Microelectronics Singapore Pte Ltd and Conexant Systems.

If the supply of a key component, or a purchased assembled product, were to be delayed or curtailed, or in the event a key manufacturing vendor delays shipment of completed products to us or our contract manufacturer, our ability to ship products in desired quantities, and in a timely manner, will be adversely affected. Our business, operating results and financial condition will likely be adversely affected, depending on the time required to obtain sufficient quantities from the original source or, if possible, to identify and obtain sufficient quantities from an alternative source. See “Item 1A-Risk Factors.” We attempt to mitigate these potential risks by working closely with our key suppliers on product introduction plans, strategic inventories, coordinated product introductions, and internal and external manufacturing schedules and levels.

We have, from time to time, experienced significant price increases and limited availability of certain components. Similar occurrences in the future could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. See “Item 1A-Risk Factors.”

During fiscal 2012 and 2011, all HD PVR, WinTV, PCTV and MediaMVP manufacturing was performed by six unrelated contract manufacturers in Asia. Product design specifications are provided by our engineering team to ensure proper assembly. Contract manufacturing is primarily done on a consignment basis, in which we provide all the significant component parts and we pay for assembly charges and for certain additional parts for each board produced. Some products are purchased on a turnkey basis, in which all components and labor are provided by the manufacturer, and the manufacturing price includes parts and assembly costs. We monitor the quality of the finished product produced by our contract manufacturers. As of September 30, 2012, we had six qualified contract manufacturers located in Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and China, who are capable of producing our products to our standards. If demand were to increase dramatically, we believe additional production could be absorbed by these qualified contract manufacturers. For fiscal 2012 and 2011 we did not engage any contract manufacturers in Europe or North America.

Customer Service and Technical Support

We maintain customer service and technical support departments in our Hauppauge, New York headquarters, as well as in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavia, Taiwan and in Singapore. Technical support is provided to help with installation problems or pre-sale and post-sale questions on our products, while customer service provides repair service in accordance with our warranty policy free of charge for product that is within the warranty period.

Customers and Markets

We primarily market our products to the personal computer market, including both Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh based systems. Our HD PVR Gaming Edition products are marketed to the gaming market. To reach these multiple markets, we sell to a network of computer retailers in the U.S., Europe and Asia and through computer products distributors and manufacturers. To attract new users to our products, from time to time we run special promotions and participate in cooperative advertising with computer retailers. We actively participate in trade shows to educate and train key computer retail marketing personnel. Most of our sales and marketing budget is aimed at the consumer market.

Apart from the typical home user, we also target business users. One example of a business application is in the fitness market where our product is primarily used to display TV on treadmills and elliptical exercise machines. We have sold our WinTV® products on a direct corporate sales basis to financial services information providers for incorporation into their workstations, and several independent financial institutions. This market segment is typically project-based.

We also offer our products to PC manufacturers that either embed a WinTV® product in a PC that they sell, or sell the WinTV® as an accessory to the PC.

Sales Channels for Our Products

We primarily sell through a sales channel which consist of retailers, PC manufacturers and distributors. We have no exclusive distributors and retailers. For fiscal 2012 and 2011 we had one customer, Best Buy in the United States, that accounted for about 10.35% and 11.4% of our net sales, respectively.

Our PCTV products are offered as our high end line and are sold through similar retail and distribution channels as our WinTV products.

Marketing and Sales

We market our products both domestically and internationally through our sales offices in the U.S. (New York and California), Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Taiwan and Singapore, plus sales representative offices in the Netherlands, Spain, Scandinavia and Italy. For fiscal 2012, approximately 56% of our sales were made within the United States while approximately 44% were made outside the United States. For fiscal 2011, approximately 59% of our sales were made within the United States while approximately 41% were made outside the United States. More information on our geographic segments can be obtained from “Item 7-Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and the notes to the “Consolidated Financial Statements” which comprise part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

From time to time, we advertise our products in a number of consumer computer magazines. We also participate in retailers’ market promotion programs, such as store circulars and promotions and retail store displays. These in-store promotional programs, magazine advertisements, plus a public relations program aimed at editors of key PC computer magazines and an active website on the internet, are the principal means of getting our products introduced to end users. Our sales in computer retail stores are closely related to the effectiveness of these programs, along with the technical capabilities of the products. We also list our products in catalogs of various mail order companies and attend trade shows.

We have thirteen sales people located in Europe, two sales people in the Far East and two sales people in the U.S. In addition to our sales people we also utilize the services of 6 manufacturer representatives in the United States and 3 manufacturer representatives in Europe.

See “Item 7-Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” with reference to a discussion on the impact seasonality has on our sales.

Foreign Currency Fluctuations

For each of the fiscal years ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, 40% and 37%, respectively, of our sales were generated by our European subsidiary and were invoiced and collected in local currency, which is primarily the Euro. On the supply side, since we predominantly deal with North American and Asian suppliers and contract manufacturers, approximately 95% of our inventory required to support our European sales is purchased and paid in U.S. Dollars.

The combination of sales billed in Euros supported by inventory purchased in U.S. Dollars results in an absence of a natural local currency hedge. Consequently, our financial results are subject to market risks resulting from the fluctuations in the Euro to U.S. Dollar exchange rates.

See “Item 1A-Risk Factors” and “Item 7-Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Competition

Our business is subject to significant competition. Competition exists from larger companies that possess substantially greater technical, financial, human, sales and marketing resources than we do. The dynamics of competition in this market involve short product life cycles, declining selling prices, evolving industry standards and frequent new product introductions. We compete against a number of Asian and European companies. For example, our WinTV-DCR-2650 digital CableCARD receiver competes in the cable TV set top box market with Motorola, Scientific Atlanta, and with Tivo Inc. Our Broadway product competes in the consumer electronics market, where competition comes from Sling Media, a subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation, and others. Our HD PVR product competes in the video recorder market with Roxio, a subsidiary of Rovi Corporation, and ElGato. Our Win TV tuner products compete in the PC peripheral market where competition comes from a number of large Asian suppliers. There can be no assurance that we will not experience increased competition in the future. Such increased competition may have a material adverse affect on our ability to successfully market our products. Competition is expected to remain intense and, as a result, we may lose some of our market share to our competitors. Further, we believe that the market for our products will continue to be price competitive and thus we could continue to experience lower selling prices, lower gross profit margins and reduced profitability levels for such products than in the past. “Item 1A-Risk Factors”.

Though management believes that the delivery of TV via the internet will become more popular in the future, we believe that TV delivered via cable, broadcast or satellite will continue to dominate the way consumers watch live television. Since our products connect directly to cable, broadcast and satellite tuners, we view our products as the preferred way to watch and record TV on the PC.

Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks

With the proliferation of new products and rapidly changing technology, there is a significant volume of patents and other intellectual property rights held by third parties with regard to our market. There are a number of companies that hold patents for various aspects of the technologies incorporated in some of the PC and TV industries' standards. Given the nature of our products and development efforts, there are risks that claims associated with such patents or intellectual property rights could be asserted by third parties against us. We expect that parties seeking to gain competitive advantages will increase their efforts to enforce any patent or intellectual property rights that they may have. The holders of patents from which we may have not obtained licenses may take the position that we are required to obtain a license from them.

If a patent holder refuses to offer such a license or offers such a license on terms unacceptable to us, there is a risk of incurring substantial litigation or settlement costs regardless of the merits of the allegations or which party eventually prevails. If we do not prevail in litigation, we may be required to pay significant damages and/or cease sales and production of infringing products, and also may incur significant defense costs. Additionally, we may need to attempt to design around a given technology, although there can be no assurances that this would be possible or economical.

We currently use technology licensed from third parties in certain products. Our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected by a number of factors relating to these third-party technologies, including:

The ATI Twin Wonder TV tuner card

A TV tuner card is a kind of television tuner that allows television signals to be received by a computer. Most TV tuners also function as video capture cards, allowing them to record television programs onto a hard disk much like the digital video recorder (DVR) does.

The interfaces for TV tuner cards are most commonly either PCIbusexpansion card or the newer PCI Express (PCIe) bus for many modern cards, but PCMCIA, ExpressCard, or USB devices also exist. In addition, some video cards double as TV tuners, notably the ATI All-In-Wonder series. The card contains a tuner and an analog-to-digital converter (collectively known as the analog front end) along with demodulation and interface logic. Some lower-end cards lack an onboard processor and, like a Winmodem, rely on the system's CPU for demodulation.

Types[edit]

There are many types of tuner cards.

Analog tuners[edit]

Analog television cards output a raw video stream, suitable for real-time viewing but ideally requiring some sort of video compression if it is to be recorded.

Some cards also have analog input (composite video or S-Video) and many also provide a radio tuner.

An early example was the Aapps Corp.MicroTV for AppleMacintosh II, which debuted in 1989.^[1]

More-advanced TV tuners encode the signal to Motion JPEG or MPEG, relieving the main CPU of this load.

Digital tuners[edit]

Hybrid tuners[edit]

A hybrid tuner has one tuner that can be configured to act as an analog tuner or a digital tuner. Switching between the systems is fairly easy, but cannot be done immediately. The card operates as a digital tuner or an analog tuner until reconfigured.

Combo tuners[edit]

This is similar to a hybrid tuner, except there are two separate tuners on the card. One can watch analog while recording digital, or vice versa. The card operates as an analog tuner and a digital tuner simultaneously. The advantages over two separate cards are cost and utilization of expansion slots in the computer. As many regions around the world convert from analog to digital broadcasts, these tuners are gaining popularity.

Like the analog cards, the Hybrid and Combo tuners can have specialized chips on the tuner card to perform the encoding, or leave this task to the CPU. The tuner cards with this 'hardware encoding' are generally thought of as being higher quality.^{[citation needed]} Small USB tuner sticks have become more popular in 2006 and 2007 and are expected to increase in popularity. These small tuners generally do not have hardware encoding due to size and heat constraints.

While most TV tuners are limited to the radio frequencies and video formats used in the country of sale, many TV tuners used in computers use DSP, so a firmware upgrade is often all that's necessary to change the supported video format. Many newer TV tuners have flash memory big enough to hold the firmware sets for decoding several different video formats, making it possible to use the tuner in many countries without having to flash the firmware. However, while it is generally possible to flash a card from one analog format to another due to the similarities, it is generally not possible to flash a card from one digital format to another due to differences in decode logic necessary.

Radio tuners[edit]

Many TV tuners can function as FM radios; this is because there are similarities between broadcast television and FM radio. The FM radio spectrum is close to (or even inside) that used by VHF terrestrial TV broadcasts. And many broadcast television systems around the world use FM audio. So listening to an FM radio station is simply a case of configuring existing hardware.

Mobile TV adapter[edit]

External TV tuner card attachments are available for mobile phonehandsets like the iPhone, for watching mobile TV, via TV stations on 1seg in Japan (SoftBank), and for soon for the proprietary subscription-based MediaFLO in the U.S. (Qualcomm). There is also a "converter" for watching DVB-H in Europe and elsewhere via WiFistreaming video (PacketVideo).

Video capture[edit]

Video capture cards are a class of video capture devices designed to plug directly into expansion slots in personal computers and servers. Models from many manufacturers are available; all comply with one of the popular host bus standards including PCI, newer PCI Express (PCIe) or AGP bus interfaces.

These cards typically include one or more software drivers to expose the cards' features, via various operating systems, to software applications that further process the video for specific purposes. As a class, the cards are used to capture baseband analog composite video, S-Video, and, in models equipped with tuners, RF modulated video. Some specialized cards support digital video via digital video delivery standards including Serial Digital Interface (SDI) and, more recently, the emerging HDMI standard. These models often support both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) variants.

While most PCI and PCI-Express capture devices are dedicated to that purpose, AGP capture devices are usually included with the graphics adapted on the board as an all-in-one package. Unlike video editing cards, these cards tend to not have dedicated hardware for processing video beyond the analog-to-digital conversion. Most, but not all, video capture cards also support one or more channels of audio. New technologies allow PCI-Express and HD-SDI to be implemented on video capture cards at lower costs than before.

An early example is the Mass MicrosystemsColorspace FX card from 1989.^[2]

Applications[edit]

There are many applications for video capture cards like EasyCap including converting a live analog source into some type of analog or digital media, (such as a VHS tape to a DVD), archiving, video editing, scheduled recording (such as a DVR), television tuning, or video surveillance. The cards may have significantly different designs to optimally support each of these functions. Capture cards can be used for recording a video gamelongplay (LP) so gamers can make walkthroughgameplay videos.

One of the most popular applications for video capture cards is to capture video and audio for live Internet video streaming. The live stream can also be simultaneously archived and formatted for video on demand. The capture cards used for this purpose are typically purchased, installed, and configured in host PC systems by hobbyists or systems integrators. Some care is required to select suitable host systems for video encoding, particularly HD applications which are more affected by CPU performance, number of CPU cores, and certain motherboard characteristics that heavily influence capture performance.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]