Computer TV Tuners...

Odale

Odale

Active Member
We have two LCD HDTVs in our house. One is a 40" Sony Bravia - a few years old. The other is an Insignia NS-LTDVD19 (19" TV/DVD Combo). Upstairs, the Sony gets much more HD and regular channels than the Insignia does in my room downstairs - it just gets normal, non-HD basic cable channels. Whats the deal?

This got me thinking. If I were to slap a TV tuner in my computer could I watch the channels I usually watch upstairs on the Sony in my room on my computer?

I have heard some people say that as it stands right now, TV tuners will not turn your computer into a full fledged TV set. Is that true?

Ideas?
 
Last edited:
well the insignia has a digital tuner..however it may not be enabled. Try making sure it is set to tune to digital and analog cable and rescan. Also the bravia is a 1080p panel and the insignia is a 720p panel. if the insignia is unable to down convert 1080i or 1080p to 720p(and some of the earlier 720p panels could not) then you'll have that problem as well since the panel will simply reject anything higher than 720p.
 
Hescominsoon said:
well the insignia has a digital tuner..however it may not be enabled. Try making sure it is set to tune to digital and analog cable and rescan. Also the bravia is a 1080p panel and the insignia is a 720p panel. if the insignia is unable to down convert 1080i or 1080p to 720p(and some of the earlier 720p panels could not) then you'll have that problem as well since the panel will simply reject anything higher than 720p.
Click to expand...

I think he means for a tv tuner, as in cable -> computer not computer -> tv.

Probably the biggest issue with the cards is:
- Quality. Most of them don't have the correction algorithms like most boxed sets. So you end up with a lot of fuzz and blurriness.
- Recording can consume up to 5MB/sec. That is what my hauppage's MPEG2 coder spits out.
- Most applications that require realtime (ie console gaming) response is a pain to setup or you wont be able to do it at all.
 
the question was why can't the insignia get as many channels as the bravia which i answered.

Now then..if you get a tuner for your tv you need to make sure it's hd...which then gives you digital tuning(which you need to be able to match what the bravia does). Recording to your hdd is going to take between 5-15 megabit's per second in HD(for digital streams) and about half that for standard def.
 
Sorry for being vague. The bigger question I wanted to convey was getting a tuner for my computer since the Insignia doesn't perform (though I will check its settings).

Thanks for the answers thus far! XD
 
as far as the tuner for your compouter it relaly should be an hd one so you can make sure you can get all of the digital channels available.
 
to answer your original questions...tuners can NOW turn it into a full fledged set. while you have tuners that have been around that could do OTA and unencrypted cable ( Clear QAM), now they've dropped the OEM requirement on full fledged cable tuners meaning you can watch ALL (e.g. your pay and/or encrypted) channels through a device (CableCard). Get Win7 + Ceton Cable Card Tuner (not released yet) = the same as watching it through a normal tv + tuning box and you obviously have the option to pump it out to a TV.
 
nattyg said:
to answer your original questions...tuners can NOW turn it into a full fledged set. while you have tuners that have been around that could do OTA and unencrypted cable ( Clear QAM), now they've dropped the OEM requirement on full fledged cable tuners meaning you can watch ALL (e.g. your pay and/or encrypted) channels through a device (CableCard). Get Win7 + Ceton Cable Card Tuner (not released yet) = the same as watching it through a normal tv + tuning box and you obviously have the option to pump it out to a TV.
Click to expand...

Just note that you need home premium, pro, or ultimate to get media center.

--

Some companies only require decryption on their premium channels, so you *might* be able to get all of your channels with just an HD tuner. If you don't have a cable box on the sony then that might be the case and getting a cable card (or setting up a nasty infrared relay) wont be a necessity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top