Advice about tv

[peekaboo]

I intend on building an AMD system and I'd like to be able to watch tv on it. I am not a gamer but may play a game or two.
What should be my considerations regarding a motherboard and a tv tuner?
Is there an advantage or disadvantage to having a seperate tuner or one built into the graphics card?
any general suggestions?

[RJ]

What should be my considerations regarding a motherboard and a tv tuner?

Since no TV tuner can receive all TV signals, you should know for which kind of TV reception you want one. Terrestrial, Cable or Satellite, and should it be for analog or digital TV. If digital, should it be for HDTV as well.
Once you exactly know what you want, you can choose the appropriate TV card.

Is there an advantage or disadvantage to having a seperate tuner or one built into the graphics card?

Disadvantage of having a Tuner on the graphics card: Unflexibility. Your choice is pretty much narrowed down, the ATI AIW for example has only an anolog tuner.
Disadvantage of having an extra TV-card: Extra IRQ needed. You need to make sure that you have a free PCI slot, if possible one that doesn't share IRQ. So if your PC is loaded with cards, the TV card will likely not work properly.

RJ

[peekaboo]

thanks.

Not sure what Terrestrial tv is. I have cable tv now and i guess don't intend on getting satellite tv. digital is not yet available but will be soon so i'd like to be able to watch that. Does a tv tuner on my pc mean that i don't need a set top box? if HDTV makes the card expensive then i can do without it as I cannot afford an HDTV tv set anyway.
What is IRQ?

[RJ]

Not sure what Terrestrial tv is.

It's TV via antenna.

I have cable tv now and i guess don't intend on getting satellite tv.

Ok. All analog TV cards I know of can receive analog cable TV.

digital is not yet available but will be soon so i'd like to be able to watch that.

That would be a problem. . there aren't many DVB-C cards available, and I haven't seen any cards with both analog and DVB-C so far. Means if you get an analog TV card now, you'd have to change it for a DVB-C card later.

Does a tv tuner on my pc mean that i don't need a set top box?

Correct. TV card and Set Top Box are pretty much the same thing. . just that a set top box has usually no PC connections (only for TV), and a TV card is for the PC.

if HDTV makes the card expensive then i can do without it as I cannot afford an HDTV tv set anyway.

I don't know any TV cards with MPEG-2-decoder for HDTV, but the regular TV cards with MPEG-2 decoder (they are the expensive ones) won't be able to use their chip for HDTV, so they'd be no different to the TV cards without MPEG-2 decoder.
But then, you need quite a powerful PC to decode HDTV MPEG-2. Since you're building a new one, it shouldn't be a problem.

What is IRQ?

Interrupt Request.
http://www.sharpened.net/glossary/definition.php?irq

RJ

[peekaboo]

didn't understand.
digital cable is better quality and added features like the pop up menus that tell you what you are watching and what's next, no?
To watch digital channels you need a set top box (decoder box), no?
Some of the channels are blocked/encoded and are only available with different packages that you purchase, no?
Will I be able to watch digital channels with a tv tuner card?
will I then be able to watch analog channels?
completely lost on the mpeg-2 business.