TV tuner card help.

[inflames988]

My next purchase for my PC is definetely gonna be a TV tuner card, but i havent been able to find anything of what im looking for. Basically my requirements are here, in order of importance:

1.) GOOD picture quality. This doesnt mean AMAZING, just dont want it to look like crap.

2.)Video Connectors: I need a standard cable connector that can hangle a RF sega genesis connector, and my cable TV. I also need the Yellow, white, and red inputs. again, this is a MUST. It would be NICE to have two sets, but again i know most do not have this. I would rather have these connectors all built into the card then have the type with one connector that splits all out.

3.) SOUND: as of now i only have onboard sound, and all channels are in use with my surround sound. I will be getting either an audigy ZS regular version or gamer along with the card to go with my z-640 speakers by logitech. This way i will have enough soud inputs. BUT i would hope that the card has a way that i can output the sound from the cable, yellow/white/red inputs all through ONE input to my sound card.

4.) Usb or PCI? here i am open to suggestions. Soon i will be getting a USB hub as i have run out of ports, so that i can put my scanner, mouse, graphing calculator, and printer all one one USB port. Although i WOULD prefer a PCI card, if a USB would be better i would gladly do this, because i have only 2 PCI slots left, and with the new sound card that means none open.

5.) Remote--needs to have one. not too picky here, just need a way to change between the channels and inputs, etc.

If theres anything else to take into consideration on these, tell me. I am fairly new to the concept and dont understand them fully.

thanks

[RJ]

Hi,

look at the Hauppauge WinTV PVR series, they are very good for analog cable.

http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/produ...ta_pvr150.html
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/produ...ta_pvr250.html
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/produ...ta_pvr350.html

1) The picture quality will be as good as analog TV can be

2) They have the coax connector, and also S-Video (black) and Composite (yellow), as well as the audio connections for stereo audio (red/white), it comes with the necessary adapter.

3) The card already has the sound inputs, you don't need the sound card for this. And BTW, the yellow one is video, no sound card will have an input for that.

4.) It depends. You have 2x PCI left. . does that mean your board has only 2x PCI and they're both empty or does that mean your board has 5x PCI and 3 are full ?
TV cards should have their own IRQ, they don't work as good when they're sharing IRQ with other devices. If you can install the card so that it has its own IRQ, I'd get the PCI version, otherwise USB.

5.) They come with a remote control.

RJ

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by RJ 3) The card already has the sound inputs, you don't need the sound card for this. And BTW, the yellow one is video, no sound card will have an input for that. 4.) It depends. You have 2x PCI left. . does that mean your board has only 2x PCI and they're both empty or does that mean your board has 5x PCI and 3 are full ? TV cards should have their own IRQ, they don't work as good when they're sharing IRQ with other devices. If you can install the card so that it has its own IRQ, I'd get the PCI version, otherwise USB. 5.) They come with a remote control. RJ

regarding the sound card, what i meant was i have no inputs, from what i saw most tuners used lines out that went to the sound card for sound. I meant that i have only 2 PCI slots left--i have 3, one being used. one has a network card, a d-link wireless G card, the others will hopefully have the tv tuner and new sound card.

EDIT: im thinking of ditching the new sound card. my setup now has basic onboard sound (5.1 ch) with no open sound ports of any kind, is there a way i can still get the sound signal to the speakers from the card

i dont see a remote with it?

[lokodezine]

I was just about to post a question about TV TUNERS so I guess Ill post in here...

HEre is the TV TUNER I was looking to get

[USB 2.0] Kworld Xpert TV-PVR TV-Tuner w/Remote

-- How is that? And would you recommend having a TV on your pc or will it cause problems? Also can you save you TV shows ?

[lokodezine]

please if anyone can lend their 2 cents on this because I am purchasing everythign tommorow

[RJ]

regarding the sound card, what i meant was i have no inputs, from what i saw most tuners used lines out that went to the sound card for sound. I meant that i have only 2 PCI slots left--i have 3, one being used. one has a network card, a d-link wireless G card, the others will hopefully have the tv tuner and new sound card. EDIT: im thinking of ditching the new sound card. my setup now has basic onboard sound (5.1 ch) with no open sound ports of any kind, is there a way i can still get the sound signal to the speakers from the card

I see what you mean. Yeah, some TV tuners have the Line-Out, you need to connect it to the sound card's line-in. As far as I can tell from pic's I've seen, the WinTV PVR150/250/350 have that line-out.
But if your sound card's line-in is already used, I can't tell you what to do.

i dont see a remote with it?

That one has no remote control. Neither do the other MCE versions.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEre is the TV TUNER I was looking to get [USB 2.0] Kworld Xpert TV-PVR TV-Tuner w/Remote -- How is that? And would you recommend having a TV on your pc or will it cause problems? Also can you save you TV shows ?

For analog terrestrial and cable, it looks fine. It plugs into the USB port and has all the necessary connections (including S-Video and Audio). And yes, you can record TV sources to hard drive (you can also digitize camcorder videos etc.).
Having a TV card doesn't cause problems.

RJ

[inflames988]

What is an MCE version? Basically i need a link to one that has the remote and everything im looking for, if you can provide that it'd be great. Thanks.

[RJ]

What is an MCE version?

It's the card for Windows Media Center Edition. It says MCE in the title.

Basically i need a link to one that has the remote and everything im looking for, if you can provide that it'd be great.

I did. I provided you a link to the WinTV PVR-150, the -250, and the -350.

Or do you want a link to newegg ? If so, here for the -150, here for the -250, and here for the -350.

RJ

[inflames988]

thx--the 150 looks right up my alley, but how does the sound work on it. it has a line IN, but nothing going out from what i can see? i suppose i would need a comkposite white and red to a standard 1/8th to get the sound for my xbox or n64 that i would connect there?? just dont get how the sound works oin that type. That one does look good though and since its not MCE im sure itd be compatible with my system. I may still get my audigy card anyway, to get rid of the pops and weird sound i get out of my onboard, plus i would have the inputs that way. I think the big rebate newegg has on the gamer edition is almost over but who knows, maybe itll get cheaper befor sept.

[Xayd]

you don't want a card with hardware encoding if you intend to play video games through the capture card. the encoding that the card does will cause a noticable (and unplayable) lag time between controller actions and the output on the monitor.

if you intend to use it to play console games on your PC via a capture card, a cheapo BT878 card (like a Hauppauge wintv-go or Leadtek TV2000, there are lots of them) would actually be better.

the recording quality with such a card would be inferior to one of the hardware encoding cards, but for just playing whatever is coming through the cable without encoding it there shouldn't be any noticable difference.

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by Xayd you don't want a card with hardware encoding if you intend to play video games through the capture card. the encoding that the card does will cause a noticable (and unplayable) lag time between controller actions and the output on the monitor. if you intend to use it to play console games on your PC via a capture card, a cheapo BT878 card (like a Hauppauge wintv-go or Leadtek TV2000, there are lots of them) would actually be better. the recording quality with such a card would be inferior to one of the hardware encoding cards, but for just playing whatever is coming through the cable without encoding it there shouldn't be any noticable difference.

ugh geez, alot of variables on these cards. So basicaly the ones i looked at before are hardware encoding, and thus good for recording while bad for playing games/watching tv? Where does is say which type of encoding the cards have on newegg for example?

[RJ]

So basicaly the ones i looked at before are hardware encoding, and thus good for recording while bad for playing games/watching tv?

I can't imagine that. The MPEG-2 chip is only used if you record something (as that's what the chip is for). Otherwise the card behaves like a regular TV card without MPEG-2 chip, there won't be any lag. At least my WinTV PVR used to be that way, but I don't think it has changed, as for watching TV/games the MPEG-2 chip is senseless, and therefore not used.

RJ

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by RJ I can't imagine that. The MPEG-2 chip is only used if you record something (as that's what the chip is for). Otherwise the card behaves like a regular TV card without MPEG-2 chip, there won't be any lag. At least my WinTV PVR used to be that way, but I don't think it has changed, as for watching TV/games the MPEG-2 chip is senseless, and therefore not used. RJ

So basically any of the WinTV (hauppage) cards will still work fine for me? For games, TV, etc? I dont mind lag in recording, because it basically just means a couple seconds of nothing before the show starts or w/e, but with video games i cannot have lag.

[RJ]

Yes, any of them should be fine. There wasn't any kind of lag with the WinTV PVR (as only when recording with the Hauppauge software the MPEG-2 chip was actually used) and I can't imagine the new models be any different, as it just wouldn't make sense.
But after all, only one who uses one of the newer models can tell you how it really is.

RJ

[inflames988]

Thanks RJ...my only concern is still that they dont seem to have an INPUT for my red and white composite cables....?

[Xayd]

http://www.shspvr.com/smf/index.php?topic=4821.0

described in the above thread, but it looks as if you can build a custom graph to bypass the encoder, they have a guide linked.