OT: TV Tuner

[Chris Kulbaba]

Hey all! We just got a nice 56" TV for our living room,. and we have our PC on it now, instead of in a seperate room. very nice...



Anyways, I have a cable box, and id like to watch the TV thru the PC, so what kind of Tuner would I need? I dont know anything about TV tuners. But what i'd like to do is watch HDTV thru it, do I still need my cable box? Or can you get HD TV Tuners for your PC?



THanks!

 

[Jeff C]

I've not seen any HDTV tuners for PC, not to say they don't exist. I bought a $20 pc cable card from newegg and it took a day to get working properly, but now I love it. Just need to replace the 17" LCD that just went out, though.



Depending on which TV you got, you can probably get a "cable card" to go in the back from your cable provider, which will eliminate the need for a box. I opted to keep our HD box because I'm running everything through an HD system selector, so instead of running wires from the TV, to the box, back to the TV, everything just runs to one box, then there's a few cables running to the TV.

 

[TracN Jack]

Also look at the Logitech Harmony remote to bring the control of everything together into one remote including you lighting and av/sound system, I even programmed our Roomba to it....





THe was a thread about this a couple of weeks ago.



Jack

 

[Thomas Rogers]

XST, I am a little confused as what you are trying to do. First you mention your 56" HD TV and say you have your PC on it now (meaning you have the PC as an input signal to the TV). Then you mention your cable settop box and say you want to watch "TV through the PC"?



It sounds like you want to watch HDTV on your PC as well as on your TV, and possibly use your PC and an HDTV tuner card in it to drive both the PC as well as your HDTV TV (thus the mention of the TV).



If that is the case, then YES, there are HDTV tuner cards for the PC, but none of them yet support the Cablecard standard, meaning that they can only be used for OTA (over the air) HDTV, and won't really replace your Cable system's settop box, yet.



See one review at Tom's hardware:



http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/09/17/ati_brings_hdtv_to_the_pc/



Now, as I said, there are no PCI tuner cards that give you exactly what you want. However, there are some offboard solutions that act like settops in-of themselves, and work only with the upcoming Windows Vista. One such solution, that support HDTV, the CableCard standard, and Windows Vista in Media Center mode, is "ATI's OCUR" product. This sounds like a great offering and if you have a PC with a good video card that has HDMI out (and can be viewed on your connected HDTV) then this product which is brand-spanking new just might be for you:

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Well honestly... I dont even know what I mean, lol...



What I wanna do is watch TV thru my PC. But I have a digital cable box for cable, so how do I incorporate that into the PC viewing... I dont want to really use cable box to tv anymore.



With the tv looking excellent on my pc, I no longer need to have a computer and a tv setup, I think I should be just doing it all on my PC connected to my TV....



Sooo... instead of upgrading my cable box to the HD one, is there a PC card that will do that?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

XST,



The part that is confusing me is that you mentioned your nice new 56" TV, and you mention that you have the PC in the living room, but you keep saying things like "PC viewing", "watch TV thru my PC", and "tv looking excellent on my PC".



Are you using the 56" TV as your computer monitor?



And if so, when you say "watch TV thru the PC", are you meaning that you want to watch the 56" TV, but use the computer (and not your cable settop) as the source?



If this is what you are saying, then yes, by all means, look at that link I supplied (supplying it again below) as it has the first HDTV solution for your PC that supports the CableCard standard (meaning that your PC acts like a settop box):

 

[Frank Marano]

why would you want to watch HD tv through your PC if you have a huge tv to do it on?



Call your call company and get an HD cable box, hook it up to your tv and watch HD tv......

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

Just remember that any TV signal watched on the PC will be delayed by 7 seconds or so for "live" tv.



I have a Hauppauge MCE card that was an absolute b*^ch to setup, but it works great for standard TV stuff, radio and video capture.



HDTV? I have 4 tv's in my house, the newest of which is 5+ years old (oldly, the one that is now giving me fits). I have 2 units that are more than 13 years old each (both 13").



HDTV will be awhile for me...

 

[Bill V]

There are several HDTV tuners for PCs out there. I've not seen any of them except the ATI HDTV Wonder in stores, the rest would likely need to be ordered directly from the company or via the internet. This site can tell you a whole lot more about them, including info on cable box compatibility....

 

[Nelson Atwell]

HDTV isn't too expensive if you stick with a standard flat tube technology. I found mine for $169 at Best Buy. Not bad for a 21" HDTV with tuner built-in. I've never seen them again, so perhaps they were a discontinued model.



Hauppage has some good stuff, but they are pricey. If you have an HDTV set already, it makes no sense to hook it to a PC. That big monitor will take a very expensive PC graphics card to push the resolution needed for true HD quality.

 

[Bill V]

XST, regarding using your PC to replace the cable box--it can't happen. A PC with a tuner card acts like an HDTV, not a cable box.



If you're just getting local channels, you don't need the cable box. Just get an HD compatible antenna, hook it up, and point it in the right direction. Or, if your cable provider provides local channels in HD without encryption, you can plug the cable feed directly into your TV and view them without the cable box as well. (If you have an HDTV tuner card on your PC, you can plug either the antenna or unencrypted cable feed into that as well, and view HD on the PC.)



But if as I suspect, you're getting cable HD channels (ESPN, Discovery, etc.), then you're going to need the cable box to decode and view them--regardless of whether you're viewing them on your HDTV or on the PC.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill V, please take a look at the link I gave above on "anandtech"....you say "it can't happen", but the day is coming very soon as the products are already announced.



With Vista and ATI's new OCUR box your PC can turn into a settop box and DVR on 'roids, and work with encrypted/premium channels...replacing your settop.



TJR

 

[Jeff C]

XST, I think it's possible, but it will likely be more trouble than it's worth. I would say just to get an HD box and use both independently.

 

[Bill V]

TJR, I looked there, and agree that it's coming. But my statement was about today, not the future, and to my knowledge is still an accurate statement. However, in your line of work, I suspect you have far better knowledge and info on what's coming down the pipeline, so please let us know when this option becomes a reality. Thanks!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill V,



I wish XST would chime in. I'm still am not sure if he wants to:



a) ditch his cable settop, turn his PC into a settop and use the PC as a source to his big HDTV



or



b) put an OTA hd tuner in his PC and watch OTA and cable TV sources on his PC and monitor





The second option he can do today as you said, the first, he as to wait for, and it will cost a lot.



I'm actually considering (pie in the sky) for creating a startup biz around option a., catering to products and services for early adopters in the media center space.



TJR

 

[Jeff C]

Are there any PC cards that output component video and/or optical audio? Just out of curiosity. I have 200+ gigs of HD movies and TV shows on my PC and it'd be nice to watch them on my HDTV.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Jeff C, I haven't seen any cards that have the component out directly. However, there are TONS of cards that have DVI output (its a rectangular shielded connector with several rows of female pin slots). Get one of those, if you don't already have one, then buy a "DVI to Component" adapter cable (one linked below from the first e-tailer I googled):





P.S. Such cables and adapters may not work for all vid adapters. Note that the site makes reference to ATI cards and chipsets.

 

[Jeff C]

TJR, my TV says specifically not to use any kind of DVI to HDMI adapter, so I was wanting to just use straight up components. I may try the DVI to Component adapter, thanks!