TV Tuner Card

[crazydog]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a TV tuner card? I'd rather just buy one of those than buy a new TV.

From what I saw on Newegg, most of them are crap, and I'd like some personal input of anybody has any.

Thanks.

[MR|337]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2930580&CatId=1427

[Hitman Smurf]

Do they make HDTV tuner cards?

[crazydog]

There aren't any that can recieve HD signals through coaxial cable, but there are ones that can recieve over-the-air HD

[Hitman Smurf]

There aren't any that can recieve HD signals through coaxial cable, but there are ones that can recieve over-the-air HD

That's what I mean...of course, a coax for the outside antenna would be nice.

[Elite_Prophet]

i have one from pinnacle systems its a usb that plugs in to coaxial its pretty nice for like the 50 bucks i paid for it, obviously quality isnt the best some things are fuzzy, but its really nice cause you can record stuff right on your laptop and since i dont have a dvr or tivo i appreciate that

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/uk/Products/Consumer+Products/PCTV%2BTuners/PCTV%2BAnalog%2BPVR%2B(cable_antenna)/PCTV%2BAnalog%2BUSB.htm

[snyper133]

Things to remember about TV tuners.

1) Standard Definition is defined as 480i (640x480). If you have a 4:3 monitor when you change it to (640x480) resolution the picture is as good as if you had a SD ( Standard definition) TV hooked up to it. The reason you see fuzziness/pixelation, is because most monitors are set up at high def resolutions or in between high def resolutions. Below are the current and mos popular resolutions. The next step above 1080 is not mentioned because it is not a finalized standard (to my knowledge). If you use any resolution other then the 640x480 4:3 resolution, it has been my experience you will recieve pixelation and degradation of picture quality.

720P=(1280x720; 1024x768; 1366x768)
1080i=(1280x1080)
1080P=(1920x1280)

**The reason that this happens is because with SD is compressed too much.**

2) Most USB TV tuners will allow you to plug a set-top-box into it therefore you would be able to bring in the digitally scrambled and HD content.

3) There are some TV tuners that come with the Cable Card interface that allows you to replace the set-top-box with a PCMCIA size card called a CableCARD. By law all cable providers must support the cable card interface. It is more popular in TV's and the computer based cable card interface blow (the last time I looked into it.)

I have a USB TV tuner that I swiped got from work. With windows Vista (64-bit), the drivers for the tuner and its infrared receiver were all downloaded with no hitches, and then Media Center set it up just fine.

From my experience the software is what makes or breaks the TV tuner hardware. As for me I have a secondary 4:3 monitor that I use whenever I watch TV through my computer. It makes a big difference when changing the resolution as far as picture quality goes.

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