question about tv tuner cards

[tsiguy96]

ok im looking for a tv tuner card that will allow me to record videos in very high quality, but i also want to make it so i can schedule recordings a week in advance and itll do it automatically, do all cards have this capability, i just need the right software? or whats the deal? what is good cheap/free software to use for this and what is a good card?

[blue60007]

Don't know much about tv tuners...but any tuner will come with software to record and program recording. If not I'm pretty sure there's some decent free software out there.

[RJ]

ok im looking for a tv tuner card that will allow me to record videos in very high quality, but i also want to make it so i can schedule recordings a week in advance and itll do it automatically, do all cards have this capability, i just need the right software?

Not all cards can do that. You need to make sure it doesn't only have a TV input, but also an S-Video-Input so you can connect a VCR or analog camcorder to it. Then you should be able to use any program to digitize your own videos. . . you can use the program bundled with it, you can use VirtualDub, etc.

You can't digitize them in very high quality, though. VHS, S-VHS just isn't like that.

There are also different programs for watching TV. But there is no software that runs on all TV cards, so which software will work depends on the card you get.

Also, you can't record TV in very high quality either unless you use HDTV. Regular TV is just average to good.

RJ

[tsiguy96]

well the only one i found is this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815100128

only thing that concerns me about it is that it only records in 720x480, id like 1024x1280 so i could make DVDs out of TV shows (im never home to see them so i want to record them and watch them later)...anyone know of another that will do prescheduled recording and record in the higher def?

[blue60007]

To get a resolution that high, you need a HD feed and an HD tuner card. Standard definiton TV is only (I think) 640x480...so that's as high as you are going to get.

[RJ]

id like 1024x1280 so i could make DVDs out of TV shows (im never home to see them so i want to record them and watch them later)...anyone know of another that will do prescheduled recording and record in the higher def?

DVD (NTSC) is 720x480. Not a single pixel higher or wider.

1024x1280 doesn't exist as a resolution. The next step higher than a DVD would be 1280x720, also known as 720p. But that's already HDTV. You sure can burn an MPEG file with this resolution to a DVD, but not DVD video compliant, so no DVD player could play it back.

If you want to record TV at 1280x720, you need a HDTV capable TV tuner card. Even then, you can't specify the resolution. HDTV comes in two resolutions: 1280x720 (720p) and 1920x1080 (i). When you record HDTV, you record the MPEG file as it's being broadcasted. If they broadcast 1080i, you can only record in 1080i. If you want 720p out of it, you have to re-encode afterwards.

In either case, you can't make a Video DVD. For that, you'd need to re-encode it at 720x480.

That kworld is only an analog card. Can't record HDTV. HDTV is digital only.

How do you get your TV signals ? Satellite ? If so, any $40 DVB-S card will be fine, and you can record HDTV content. I don't know about the encryption of TV in the states, so be sure the TV card does have a slot for a card if you need one.
For cable any DVB-C card would be fine. Again, be sure that it got a card slot if you use a card.

RJ