TV Tuner

raoul_1101

raoul_1101

Member
Hello everyone,

I've been doing a little research on getting a TV Tuner Card. I'm looking for one that I can plug in both (not at the same time) behind a cable box (in my dorm) and behind my satellite box (when I go home). I would like one that uses a PCI-E slot. I would like to use Windows 7's Media Center TV option, but I here that is pretty compatible with most cards.
Here is what I think I know:
  • NTSC was the old analog TV broadcasted over the air.
  • ATSC is digital and replaced NTSC.
  • QAM is also a digital, over air broadcast.
  • Some tuners have the hardware ability to process, while others put it off onto the CPU.

What I want to know:
  • Some say they only support 125 channels, but I know I have more than that on my satellite. How would this play out?
  • What is the difference between ATSC and QAM?
  • In what cases will I have to change the channel via the tuner? As oppose to using the dish or cable remote.

Does anyone have any input on what I should get?
 
As far as the channels, it would go up to channel 125 and then stop. Anything above channel 125 it just wouldn't pick up or process. The specs on the device should tell you how many channels it will support.
 
-If you have a satellite box then you are actually not using the tuners in the card. Your satellite box would output an image which would be captured by the card and reouputted by your video card.

-ATSC is for over the air HD broadcast while QAM is for direct cable connections.

-If you have a cable or satellite box then you will have to use an IR blaster, which basically relays the signal form your Windows Media remote to your box.
 
diduknowthat said:
-If you have a satellite box then you are actually not using the tuners in the card. Your satellite box would output an image which would be captured by the card and reouputted by your video card.
Click to expand...

Meaning, basically, I would use my satellite remote to change channels. There would be no cap on channels.
And for cable, it would actually use the tuner, capping out at 125.

Would it really matter if my processor did all the work for the tuner card?
And, do most Tuner cards now a days support 1080i or even 1080p?
Sorry for the ongoing questions, but would any of you recommend one over another?

Thanks a lot for what you've all given me so far~
 
If you use a satellite box you would use your windows remote to control everything. There will be a slight delay in remote functions directed to the satellite box.

And it only matters if you want to record live TV. And most tuners I've seen supports 1080p. I can't really recommend any particular units, I basically based my purchase off newegg reviews and it worked out pretty well.
 
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