TV Tuner for PC?

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TV Tuner for PC?

no_surrender
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p.1 #1 · TV Tuner for PC?

Does anyone know how I can connect a coaxial cable to my PC and watch tv from my monitor? I've read about USB tv tuners that seem to pull signals out of the air, but not sure that will work here. I have a coaxial cable ready to be used, but don't have a tv and prefer not to buy one. Is there a simple card that I can install into my computer that will accept the coaxial cable? Thanks!

Jun 13, 2012 at 10:46 AM

robn70
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p.1 #2 · TV Tuner for PC?

This may be what you are looking for.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116028

Jun 13, 2012 at 01:22 PM

Sarsfield
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p.1 #3 · TV Tuner for PC?

That one robn70 referenced is about the best adapter solution right now according to the reviews. I thought of doing that too at one point so maybe I'll splurge and get one too!

Jun 13, 2012 at 02:23 PM

skibum5
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p.1 #4 · TV Tuner for PC?

beware that card above only handles clearcam, you may get the basic network channels but everything else will most likely be locked down, in some cases, cable providers appear to have locked even some network

I pull in OTA with a simple antenna here so all I do is just plug an antenna into the coax input.

I think there may be some new cable card ready cards and boxes out for PCs now that can bring in all channels from cable. Anything marked though, all those recordings will be lost if you ever change OS, go to a new PC, etc. though.

You can plug component-in into a HD PVR and the like and watch and permanently record anything off any cable channel although the video is analog capture so it's a touch more compressed and softer, but since most cable isn't all that sharp these days anyway due to not enough bits it is not much of a loss for many channels other than maybe premium but even premium cable channels have terrible IQ and audio compared to blu-ray where is where it is at for that stuff. It retains full original digital sound. It can be little finicky about lost signal during recording and it uses up a ton more PC CPU resources than one of the digital tuner cards though too.

Jun 13, 2012 at 11:17 PM

lattiboy
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p.1 #5 · TV Tuner for PC?

The ONLY one you should even consider is the SiliconDust HDHomerun. It's about $50 on ebay. Has 2 tuners, does encrypted channels, and works with Windows Media Center. It's also network based, so it will work on any PC on your network.

Jun 14, 2012 at 12:47 AM

no_surrender
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p.1 #6 · TV Tuner for PC?

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into it. I just can't justify spending $500+ on a tv right now just to have watch cable maybe once every other month or so when I need to. On the other hand, I suppose I could buy a relatively cheap flatscreen and sell it after a year. I really don't want to order a pc tuner and have issues with it and not be able to return it.

Jun 14, 2012 at 04:51 AM

gardenvalley
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p.1 #7 · TV Tuner for PC?

It depends what signals are available in your area. There is DVB-S (satellite), DVB-C (cable) and DVB-T (terrestrial, from ground-based transmitters). Some cards are able to receive all of them but will not be able to decode the scrambled channels which are usually only available by subscription. There are websites devoted to this subject, Google is your friend here. I live in the UK and receive free-to-air and free-to-view channels via satellite straight into my PC using a Pinnacle twin-tuner card. Windows Media Center takes care of all the decoding, channel lists and TV guides pretty well and my PC is now a fully functioning PVR with live pause, rewind and recording. Briliant.

Jun 14, 2012 at 12:29 PM

skibum5
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p.1 #8 · TV Tuner for PC?

lattiboy wrote:
The ONLY one you should even consider is the SiliconDust HDHomerun. It's about $50 on ebay. Has 2 tuners, does encrypted channels, and works with Windows Media Center. It's also network based, so it will work on any PC on your network.

their website says unencrypted only

Jun 15, 2012 at 04:50 AM

lattiboy
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p.1 #9 · TV Tuner for PC?

skibum5 wrote:
lattiboy wrote:
The ONLY one you should even consider is the SiliconDust HDHomerun. It's about $50 on ebay. Has 2 tuners, does encrypted channels, and works with Windows Media Center. It's also network based, so it will work on any PC on your network.

their website says unencrypted only

Well, I'm using one right now on all the QAM256 channels that my cable company broadcasts. Perhaps they mean like, actually, encrypted? PPTV and such?

Jun 15, 2012 at 04:26 PM

skibum5
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p.1 #10 · TV Tuner for PC?

lattiboy wrote:
skibum5 wrote:
lattiboy wrote:
The ONLY one you should even consider is the SiliconDust HDHomerun. It's about $50 on ebay. Has 2 tuners, does encrypted channels, and works with Windows Media Center. It's also network based, so it will work on any PC on your network.

their website says unencrypted only

Well, I'm using one right now on all the QAM256 channels that my cable company broadcasts. Perhaps they mean like, actually, encrypted? PPTV and such?

most cable companies encrypt almost everything other than the basic network channels and handful of others, it varies, you may be lucky and they left everything on clearqam, apparently it can be a weird mix, fios sometimes leaves some premium channels on clearqam (maybe because they can control per house the stream anyway?)

Jun 15, 2012 at 08:47 PM

kwbarnes
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p.1 #11 · TV Tuner for PC?

no_surrender wrote:
(deleted)On the other hand, I suppose I could buy a relatively cheap flatscreen and sell it after a year. I really don't want to order a pc tuner and have issues with it and not be able to return it.

Here is a different suggestion.

Buy the "relatively cheap flatscreen", Connect it to your coaxial cable for TV, and connect it to your computer as a second monitor. You don't need the pc tuner, you don't need to have the computer running to watch TV, and you gain valuable screen area (even if it is low-res).

When thinking about the price of the "relatively cheap flatscreen", remember that you are saving the cost of the pc tuner, because you don't need it to watch TV on a TV. You just need the tuner if you want to watch TV on a computer.

Ken

Jun 22, 2012 at 06:18 AM

no_surrender
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p.1 #12 · TV Tuner for PC?

kwbarnes wrote:
no_surrender wrote:
(deleted)On the other hand, I suppose I could buy a relatively cheap flatscreen and sell it after a year. I really don't want to order a pc tuner and have issues with it and not be able to return it.

Here is a different suggestion.

Buy the "relatively cheap flatscreen", Connect it to your coaxial cable for TV, and connect it to your computer as a second monitor. You don't need the pc tuner, you don't need to have the computer running to watch TV, and you gain valuable screen area (even if it is low-res).

When thinking about the price of the "relatively cheap flatscreen", remember that you are saving the cost of the pc tuner, because you don't need it to watch TV on a TV. You just need the tuner if you want to watch TV on a computer.

Ken

That is what I will end up doing. I found a relatively cheap flat screen for $350 with auto-voltage so when I move to Italy I won't have to worry about an adapter or anything. It's not the best tv by any means, but will definitely serve its purpose here. Thanks!

Kevin

Jun 22, 2012 at 03:59 PM

tommy_sauber
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p.1 #13 · TV Tuner for PC?

a simple tv card will do the trick. as simple as that!

Jul 06, 2012 at 08:53 AM

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