HELP WITH TV TUNER leadtek ??? ATI???

[TheHutch]

I am looking to get a TV tuner for my computer. I am looking for a card that will accept cable televison, has a good picture at a larger screen and 5.1 surround sound. Will somebody please let me know of any suggestions. PLEASE Thanks All

 

[Corporate Thug]

i have the leadtek, nice card, esp for $42

 

[TheHutch]

Yeah but does that card support 5.1 surround sound, cable, and a great picture?? Thats what I am looking for

 

[jhbball]

Originally posted by: TheHutch
Yeah but does that card support 5.1 surround sound, cable, and a great picture?? Thats what I am looking for

i don't think tv cards themselves support 5.1 sound. from what I can tell, tv-cards support stereo and mono, just like a real tv. if you have a nice sound card, I would imagine that it could split the sound 5 ways, and output it to 5 speakers. Though, this isn't a true 5.1 signal, just simulated.

I have one of these cards as well, and I think the picture is good on a 17'' lcd. It's better than the aiw 9800 pro that I had.

 

[Ages120]

Stay away from ati Tv tuners they are just horrible. Go look around tv tuner forums they have the most problems out of all of them. Or get an all in wonder. I got the Tv wonder pro and returned it the same week. Cruddy quality, out of sync sound, and software and drivers that reminded me of the old ati gpu drivers.

 

[rbV5]

I am looking for a card that will accept cable televison, has a good picture at a larger screen and 5.1 surround sound.

*cable television: If its analog non-premium channels below 125, most analog tuners will work and tune the channels, if its digital cable, satellite or premium analog that requires a decoder box (STB) then most analog tuners will work, but the decoder box will have to tune the channels and input via composite(rca), s-video or coax with the tuner tuned to channel 3/4. There are no PC tuner cards that tune digital cable.

*Good picture at larger screen: The tuner itself is a small contributer to Picture Quality. The analog/digital converters(ADC) contribute a little (12bit is better than 10bit which is better than 8bit), but signal strentgth, software and grahics card probably have the biggest impact on Picture Quality. An 8bit tuner with dscaler can have pretty good PQ, while a 12bit tuner with software conflicts may not work at all. At best NTSC broadcast TV is only 'OK' anyway.

*5.1 Sound: Analog TV broadcasts are Mono or Stereo, no 5.1.

 

[TheHutch]

Cool!!!! So what card should does everybody recommend??

 

[Rottie]

I am using ATI TV Wonder VE but I can't help you with 5.1 sound couz I am deaf. :evil:

 

[DarkKnight]

Get the leadtek winfast expert. I have the deluxe version of the card and I think the picture quality is good in cable, but people say the expert has noticeably better quality than my deluxe.