While Apple continues to deny developers access to MPEG-2 hardware decoding, Elgato is working hard to improve its digital TV software.

Elgato's EyeTV is one of the slickest Mac-based PVR packages around, but it's always been hampered by Apple's refusal to open up the full power of Mac OS to developers. Apple allows QuickTime and iTunes to take full advantage of the new NVIDIA graphics chip when playing video from the iTunes store, using hardware decoding to offer an exquisite high-def picture. Meanwhile third-party digital TV software such as EyeTV is forced to decode MPEG-2 digital television pictures in software, even though the job could be offloaded to the NVIDIA hardware for superior results. The NVIDIA graphic chip is up to the job, but Apple would rather its efforts went towards playing content you've bought from the iTunes store.

Trying running Elgato's EyeTV on a Mac mini hooked up to a 50-inch high-def television and you'll see that the image isn't as crisp as a TiVo or even a Windows-based media centre leveraging hardware decoding. Each time a more powerful Mac mini is released I try the same test and I'm always disappointed. No matter how much processing power and RAM you throw at MPEG-2 HDTV decoding I'm convinced that - on a big television - it will never look as good as hardware decoding.

Thankfully the boffins at Elgato are still working hard on EyeTV to offer the best possible picture. They're planning to offer a 64-bit MPEG-2 software decoder as part of the next EyeTV update - which could come as early as next week. Hopefully it will improve the HDTV picture even further. I still don't expect it to match hardware decoding, but every little bit helps.

The EyeTV update will also offer compatibility with the new EyeTV Netstream (pictured above) - a network-based dual TV tuner than lets you watch digital television on any computer on your home network. Elgato took me through a Netstream demonstration this week and it looks very impressive, especially if you own a notebook and what to watch TV around the house without the need for a USB tuner.

Apple is obviously obsessed with an iTunes-centric lounge room, but it's great to see developers such as Elgato still trying to squeeze more from the Mac.