Just like the EyeTV Hybrid we discussed a couple of weeks ago, the EyeTV Diversity allows you to enjoy digital terrestrial TV wherever it is available, and regardless if you’re moving in a car, a train, or sitting in your office at home. The hardware resembles the Hybrid version --it’s a big USB stick with a coaxial connector at the top. But the side doesn’t come with a mini-USB connector, but with a second, tiny connector that accepts one of the two antennas that are delivered with the device.

The EyeTV Diversity is aimed at people who want to have the highest possible signal quality, or those who lack good signal strength in their area. You may add mobile TV to that list, because the Diversity will capture a signal even when you’re on the road, provided you use the two antennae. In my own tests I was amazed to find that occasional drops in signal strength that I experienced with the Hybrid version were totally absent with the Diversity module.

Two Modes with Diversity

The Diversity version has another mode --dual-tuner-- that allows you to also receive picture-in-picture TV, where two different channels are shown. You can swap the two channels from background to foreground, and vice versa. That’s a great feature when you want to keep an eye on a program that you don’t want to miss live while looking at another until the former starts. It gets even better: you can record one channel while watching the other.

For the software capabilities of Elgato’s EyeTV, I refer to my previous review. You’ll read that I am very enthusiastic about its feature set and the quality of output. In the case of the EyeTV Diversity, I was particularly happy with the quality of the video and audio signals. With the Hybrid, switching to a different application could make the audio sound quality drop for a millisecond; that no longer happened with the Diversity.

What I also found was that having two antennas is not just a guarantee for an increase in quality, but also a sort of backup. If I moved one antenna by accident, the other one clearly kept the signal clean and at 100% --with the one antenna of the Hybrid, an accident with the antenna made the signal drop for a short moment, but it dropped nevertheless.

Of course, if you buy a powered digital antenna, you can avoid all those problems, but then you’ll get stuck with a larger contraption that also needs separate power. The elegance of the USB stick concept demands small antennae and not a thick piece of metal sticking vertically out of your desktop.

Hybrid or Diversity?

The difficult question for me to answer now is: what would I recommend to readers: the Hybrid or the Diversity? The answer is in no way straightforward. If you’re going to convert analogue signals (such as from a VCR) to digital and don’t want to spend extra on a dedicated Elgato device like the EyeTV 250 Plus (which will decode faster and better, but costs more), then the Hybrid is your device of choice.

If your priority lies with receiving digital terrestrial TV with the best possible quality, and perhaps even while you’re mobile, then the Diversity is your best bet. I would also chose the EyeTV Diversity when you’re in an area that has weak signal strength. You won’t get any additional channels, but those that you can receive will be a lot cleaner and clearer.