External TV Tuner Assistance

[Gibson12345]

In my time as a college student, I've turned into something of a space-saving nut. So I appreciate any help you guys can offer on this subject; I'm afraid I don't know a whole lot about video in general.

I'm looking into buying a new laptop, and I'd like to be able to watch network television on it. Obviously (at least, I think it's obvious), I want an external TV tuner. But I'd also like to feed my Xbox 360 into the laptop, through the tuner, so as to avoid having to buy a television when my roommate moves out. This seems possible in any number of ways. Component input would be the ideal, but I can't find any TV tuners that even have it. Most every tuner comes with S-Video input, though, and a few come with S-video to Component two-pronged conversion cables. But it looks like S-Video only outputs to 480i, which would really kill the 360's graphics.

Then there's the VGA input that many tuners have. The VGA adapter for the 360 claims that it can output to high definition resolutions. But would that hold up after going through a TV tuner? Is that going to depend upon the tuner? Do I have any hope of getting my 360 to display through an external TV tuner in glorious, high definition?

 

[Calculator83]

Here is the break down.

Solution 1:

You are VERY concerned about image quality. In Which case you should.

( Purchase a Transcoder, Best one price/performance, neoya x2vga ) use this to plug your xbox into any Computer oriented Monitor, be it CRT/LCD. YOU WILL get HD quality and speedy Image that is not possible on any TUNER.
All tuners, "LOW to HIGH" End have substantial lag ranging from 0.5 to 2 secs. Which makes them terrible for gaming.

Solution 2

You are Sort of concerned. In which case you'll just use a "SIMPLE" TV Tuner the kind without re-encode chips, "it will NOT output anything beyond 480i"
Unless it is an HD tuner, where it would have TOO much lag for you to play your game.

MY recommendation, Go for solution 1. it is not the cheapest. but TRUST ME a REAL HD image is worth the 70 bux for the transcoder. "" This is under the assumption you already have a Viable monitor "" any monitor that can do 1280x1024 can do 720p. That is alot more than you'll get with a tv-tuner.

If you must have it go through your laptop, u'd have to use solution 2. Bad image quality.

 

[WraithETC]

Originally posted by: Gibson12345
In my time as a college student, I've turned into something of a space-saving nut. So I appreciate any help you guys can offer on this subject; I'm afraid I don't know a whole lot about video in general.

I'm looking into buying a new laptop, and I'd like to be able to watch network television on it. Obviously (at least, I think it's obvious), I want an external TV tuner. But I'd also like to feed my Xbox 360 into the laptop, through the tuner, so as to avoid having to buy a television when my roommate moves out. This seems possible in any number of ways. Component input would be the ideal, but I can't find any TV tuners that even have it. Most every tuner comes with S-Video input, though, and a few come with S-video to Component two-pronged conversion cables. But it looks like S-Video only outputs to 480i, which would really kill the 360's graphics.

Then there's the VGA input that many tuners have. The VGA adapter for the 360 claims that it can output to high definition resolutions. But would that hold up after going through a TV tuner? Is that going to depend upon the tuner? Do I have any hope of getting my 360 to display through an external TV tuner in glorious, high definition?

Use the 360 VGA cable its the best solution. HDhomerun is an external tv tuner and connects to the computer via ethernet.