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So confused on HDTV for the PC... going for subscription programming.

I

iamtrout

Diamond Member
So I got a Silver Sensor and the DVICO Fusion HDTV Lite tuner card, installed it, and found out that I get absolutely no OTA (Over the Air) HD channels in my area. Now what the heck do I do?

I'm going to be moving into an apartment in a week. What subscription HDTV programming is available? Heck, I don't even know where to look or what programming to get, and what's a good price.

I don't even know what hardware I need to view HDTV on my computer and rip it 🙁
I've seen someone on here (maybe Goosemaster?) with gigs and gigs of HDTV movies that he recorded straight from HD programming, and I wanna be able to do that.

What do I do?

I've tried google but I just can't find a " Non-OTA HDTV on your Computer" article. Help?
 
Originally posted by: RossMAN
What does Antennaweb.org show for your physical address?
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

If you're in New York, here's a very helpful HDTV OTA thread
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=275729
Click to expand...



Ahhh... this is the really embarrasing part. I looked on antennaweb before all this and found that my location had a PBS station about 5 miles away. Since I love those learning channels, I figured I would get the stuff just for PBS. I got the card and antenna, and lo and behold I got diddly squat. I looked back on antennaweb and realized there was a TBD (To Be Determined) next to the "air date" for the PBS channel. So yeah. I got nothing. I have to go with a subscription service.
 
Alright, let me throw this out there and please tell me if I'm correct or not.

HDTV Programming (subscription): Can be either through land line (coaxial?) or satellite dish mounted to roof of building.

I go subscribe to HDTV programming. I assume most companies do a free professional installation of the land line/dish?

I buy a HDTV tuner card like the FusionHDTV and plug my coaxial cable, which now has HDTV signals, into it.

Record directly to PC hard drive with no quality loss through HDTV tuner card.

Does this sound right? Or am I missing something between the dish and the tuner card?
 
Yep you're missing the decoder. The HDTV signals are sent scrambled via satellite and cable. In order to get HDTV on your PC card via a subscription service you're looking for a card that can get raw HD data. They exist but they're a few grand apiece.
 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
I've seen someone on here (maybe Goosemaster?) with gigs and gigs of HDTV movies that he recorded straight from HD programming, and I wanna be able to do that.
Click to expand...

That'd be me 😉

MyHD MDP-130 + Zenith Silver Sensor
 
Doesn't the tuner card come with a decoder? From the FusionHDTV description:

"DViCO's proprietary HDTV SW Decoder
Dual HDTV software decoder for both non-DxVA and DxVA video cards
Provides the best video card compatibility with non DxVA full software decoder
Consumes low cpu power with DxVA decoder"

There's also the ATI HDTV Wonder card:

"ATI?s RADEON? line of video cards deliver the industry?s only full HDTV decoder and display capabilities."

Or are they talking about a different decoder?

Well, even if the cards can't decode raw HDTV, my subscription service should offer a decoder for a TV as part of the "free professional installation" right? If that's the case couldn't I just run a video out (component) from the decoder box to a component to coaxial adapter (here) and run the coaxial into the HD tuner card?
 
You're completly confused.

The only thing you can do with your Fusion card is get over the air broadcasts, and maybe unscrambled cable QAM broadcasts (if your Cable company offers it).

That's it.

 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
Doesn't the tuner card come with a decoder? From the FusionHDTV description:

"DViCO's proprietary HDTV SW Decoder
Dual HDTV software decoder for both non-DxVA and DxVA video cards
Provides the best video card compatibility with non DxVA full software decoder
Consumes low cpu power with DxVA decoder"

There's also the ATI HDTV Wonder card:

"ATI?s RADEON? line of video cards deliver the industry?s only full HDTV decoder and display capabilities."

Or are they talking about a different decoder?

Well, even if the cards can't decode raw HDTV, my subscription service should offer a decoder for a TV as part of the "free professional installation" right? If that's the case couldn't I just run a video out (component) from the decoder box to a component to coaxial adapter (here) and run the coaxial into the HD tuner card?
Click to expand...

That'd work, but you wouldn't get an HD signal because that's an RF modulator, which strips everything down to standard levels and sticks it on the radio frequency for channel 3. You use those to play video games on coax-only TVs.
 
What is the difference between one of these cards and the ATI HDTV wonder?

i'm planning on making a MCE2005 HD box using the HDTV wonder 🙂
 
Well crap.

So basically the ONLY way to record HDTV from a subscription service to your computer is to invest a couple grand in a special HDTV decoder card? As in there's absolutely no point in me even trying to go for HDTV if all I have is a computer and no TV?
 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
Well crap.

So basically the ONLY way to record HDTV from a subscription service to your computer is to invest a couple grand in a special HDTV decoder card? As in there's absolutely no point in me even trying to go for HDTV if all I have is a computer and no TV?
Click to expand...

Yep, UNLESS you invest in an HDTV RF modulator - MSRP $900 and takes a 19" rack mount.

Or you could get a HDTV card with component inputs. I think I've seen a few of those.
 
OR I could get a monitor with component inputs like the Dell 2405 supposedly does? Are there any, erm, component input PCI cards? Like PCI cards whose sole purpose is to accept component video?

Wow, I haven't felt like such a n00b in so long....
 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
OR I could get a monitor with component inputs like the Dell 2405 supposedly does? Are there any, erm, component input PCI cards? Like PCI cards whose sole purpose is to accept component video?

Wow, I haven't felt like such a n00b in so long....
Click to expand...

Well, I know of a few, but they're part of thousand dollar editing suites and don't work by themselves. Fun toys. There logically should be some on the consumer level, after all, it is WAY easier to take component than it is to take RF HDTV
 
Originally posted by: iamtrout
Well crap.

So basically the ONLY way to record HDTV from a subscription service to your computer is to invest a couple grand in a special HDTV decoder card? As in there's absolutely no point in me even trying to go for HDTV if all I have is a computer and no TV?
Click to expand...

Well, not exactly. Does your cable company offer HD services? If so you'll be able to save the unencrypted channels to your PC over Firewire.
 
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