I just bought a dell 2005fpw lcd monitor to replace my old and its gonna double as my television. Im looking around newegg for a tv tuner card. I guess the "right" tuner card isnt as important as the right kind of video card, but theres alot of them there and i just want to know what you guys recommend.
TV tuner cards
- Thread starter orion5010
- Start date
Well it depends some on what you wanna do. If you are just gonna watch TV, or if you want to use it like a PVR(personal video recorder). Haupage makes good cards, but there are others too, if you are just gonna watch tv on it. I am using an ATI all-in-wonder card for mine. Works good for me, but if you already have a good video card, you can just get a stand alone tv tuner.
If you already have a video card, then the ATI TV Wonder Elite is the card I would get. It has all the software, cables, and everything else you would ever need...like the RF remote. If you don't have a video card yet, or want an upgrade, the ATI A-I-W 9800Pro is a great card.
go check out the forums and reviews at htpcnews.com
they have all kinds of good information on that stuff.
they have all kinds of good information on that stuff.
does anyone know if the ati tv wonder usb2 is worth it ? i really want to use it for my notebook but also record some of my old video tapes to mpeg..
Iight guys obviusly if you want to use your computer as a tv you got two options.
One is buy a grafik card that has it built in, i suggest a geforce 6600gt.
The other option is buying the thing by itself and connecting it to the grafik card. Now if i were you i would buy a grafik ccard with it built in. (i already did it once
)
One is buy a grafik card that has it built in, i suggest a geforce 6600gt.
The other option is buying the thing by itself and connecting it to the grafik card. Now if i were you i would buy a grafik ccard with it built in. (i already did it once
)if your going seperate, the compro videomate tv Gold+ is a good choice. goes for about 55 on newegg. I own one and enjoy it. Does everything i need it to do and more.
mcveigh
Diamond Member
- Dec 20, 2000
- 6,457
- 6
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Originally posted by: megataxi
Iight guys obviusly if you want to use your computer as a tv you got two options.
One is buy a grafik card that has it built in, i suggest a geforce 6600gt.
The other option is buying the thing by itself and connecting it to the grafik card. Now if i were you i would buy a grafik ccard with it built in. (i already did it once
6600gt is a video card only....nothing to do with watching tv besides display
Originally posted by: mcveigh
Originally posted by: megataxi
Iight guys obviusly if you want to use your computer as a tv you got two options.
One is buy a grafik card that has it built in, i suggest a geforce 6600gt.
The other option is buying the thing by itself and connecting it to the grafik card. Now if i were you i would buy a grafik ccard with it built in. (i already did it once
6600gt is a video card only....nothing to do with watching tv besides display
Some NVIDIA cards have VIVO, and can capture video with the appropriate software (they do NOT have a TV tuner, though; they can only capture from something like a cable box or VCR that produces a video signal). This is something that varies by model and manufacturer, though, so you cannot just buy any 6600GT and expect to capture video with it!
I have the ATI TV Wonder VE and I am dissapointed in the image quality. Too grainy... I want to get a card that has an excellent picture, so I will be watching this thread carefully...
To break things down a bit, I rank the different solutions in this order:
1) separate video card and separate tuner card with hardware encoding/decoding
2) all in one solution with hardware encoding/decoding
3) separate video card and separate tuner card with software encoding/decoding
I currently have an nVidia card with Hauppauge 150MCE which has hardware encoding/decoding. My previous tuner card was a Leadtek one (sw encoding/decoding) that had like 1000+ posts in the Hot Deals forum and that was a good card, but I wanted better quality. Keep in mind that the best solutions may not look as good as your tv because of the higher resolution of computer monitors. If you want great quality, look for an HDTV tuner. I think someone mentioned the ATI elite.
1) separate video card and separate tuner card with hardware encoding/decoding
2) all in one solution with hardware encoding/decoding
3) separate video card and separate tuner card with software encoding/decoding
I currently have an nVidia card with Hauppauge 150MCE which has hardware encoding/decoding. My previous tuner card was a Leadtek one (sw encoding/decoding) that had like 1000+ posts in the Hot Deals forum and that was a good card, but I wanted better quality. Keep in mind that the best solutions may not look as good as your tv because of the higher resolution of computer monitors. If you want great quality, look for an HDTV tuner. I think someone mentioned the ATI elite.
which is the best solution??
im assuming #1 because of the dedicated tuner and hardware encoding << am i correct? what are some of the names of these cards?
im in the market for a TV tuner aswell so keep this thread going
For USB TV units, I think the Leadtek USB TV/FM "WinFast" unit is the best. I'm planning on buying for my laptop, and I've done a lot of research on it.
< whats the best tv tuner/video capture card w/ hardware encoding? << will that help when re-encoding video after editing??
DUR! I have the SAME card as you. Get the ATI TV Wonder Pro and the grain will go away, after getting the VE for my computer in '99 I decided to get the AIW 128 and it was sufficient until I rebuilt my system (in sig) Though after a while, realised I don't need an AIW in a 3.5GHZ system and put it in a 1.7GHZ dell (HTPC?)
i couldn't find any good detail reviews... u got any links or quick summary ? do you know if it'll be better than the ati ? cuz ati as the 12 bit decoding... lmk.. thanks..
Jeff7
Lifer
- Jan 4, 2001
- 41,596
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Hauppauge's PVR 250 and 350 have hardware encoding; the 350 does hardware decoding as well, but ONLY for its TV output. For some reason, they opted not to have the hardware decoding active for the display on the computer monitor.
The drivers....they're alright. They have improved a good bit. There were lots of problems with their first PVR card, the PVR-PCI. It did hardware encoding, but it showed the TV signal live; the new cards have a slight delay, as they encode and decode the stream before you see it.
The PVR-PCI would not install right, would display corrupted video, give audio/video sync problems, display nothing at all, or work absolutely perfectly. Hauppauge just gave up on it at some point and put their R&D money into their newer 150, 250, and 350 cards - and now they've got the PVR 500, a dual-tuner card.
At any rate, the Hauppauge cards are tough to beat; the hardware encoding is really nice, as you'd need a really fast PC to encode full-resolution MPEG2 in realtime. My PVR-350 does a fine job.
Oh, I mentioned the TV output briefly - its quality is excellent. Videocards' TV output usually introduces some distortion, but this thing does a fine job - no black borders around the screen, no interpolation artifacts, nothing; it's like running a cable right from the hard drive platters to the TV's phosphors.....or at least close. The TV output is picky about its format though - you must use Hauppauge's WinTV2K application to output through the PVR's video-out, and you need to use only MPEG2 files, with MPEG audio. No Divx files, no AC3 audio. You'll need a transcoder to make such files pure MPEG.
mcveigh
Diamond Member
- Dec 20, 2000
- 6,457
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I have a hauppauge pvr-250 (non-mce) I love it. my next card will be either the PVR-500 for it's dual tuners or the plextor PX-TV402U external USB tuner and DIVX ENCODER!!! http://www.plextor.com/english/products/TV402U.htm
it supported in sagetv, it uses about 1/3 the space to save a file.
it supported in sagetv, it uses about 1/3 the space to save a file.
<< good info....
ive seen other Tv Tuner/PVR on the market....ATI and Pinnacle << are they any good....is Hauppauge cards the best
ive seen other Tv Tuner/PVR on the market....ATI and Pinnacle << are they any good....is Hauppauge cards the best
Will the Hauppage PVR 250 allow me to record into Divx? Im not very familiar with recording video myself. I had a tv card a long time ago, and i just remember the recordings taking up a huge amount of space. How is the Hauppage card in that regard. Would the Plextor TV402U that mcveigh mentioned above be a better idea?
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