AVerMedia on Monday announced the release of its AVerTVHD Volar MAX USB TV tuner, compatible with both Macs and PCs, and able to receive digital HDTV or unencrypted ClearQAM signals. The device ships with AVerTV for Mac and Aver MediaCenter software, used to watch HDTV programming. Users can schedule recordings and timeshift programming, although resolutions are limited to a maximum of 1080i.

Shows saved using the tuner are recorded with H.264 compression, said to consume less than a quarter of the storage space compared to the typical MPEG-2 format. Video can be further scaled down to 320x240 resolution, ideal for portable devices such as iPhones, iPods and Sony's PSP. The Volar MAX is now available at a cost of $70.