watching tv

[s0ccergoof]

Ok, I have been reading on this forum for a couple of weeks now, and I am still not quite sure that I know what I want for my video card yet. I am building a new computer for school next year, it will be pretty high end, 1.2ghz athlon with 256mb ram, and I want a geforce3 for the system. Some considerations I have to consider are that I am going to have a small room so I want a way to watch tv on my monitor. What I was planning to do was to get a vcr and run cable into that and then the video out from that into my computer, so I can watch vhs and tv on the monitor. Up to this point I have been leaning towards the Asus Geforce3 deluxe, but my question is, will it let me just watch that tv on my monitor with its tv in? I am not looking to encode from the tv in or anything like that, but if I can go without a tv and monitor in my room it will save a lot of space. I guess another option would be to get a cheaper video card and a tv card or something like that, but I don't know who makes decent cards like that. What would be my best option here?

 

[71skylark]

Yeah, I'm looking at the MSI w/TV in, what software do I need to use a VCR as a tuner and watch it full screen?

 

[frizzlefry]

PInnacle makes good TV cards. I'm using the PCTV Pro not and I must say its a pretty good card. There are a few glitches here and there but I'm pretty sure it's my ATI 2000 card. It worked flawlessly on my other comp with Voodoo 3000.

I was told to avoid WinTV cards. Something about conflicts and what not.

Pinnacle Systems

 

[birddog]

I think the best solution is to get an ATI TV wonder card. THey cost about $50 new retail. THey have a built in TV Tuner (cable ready), also Line In's for hooking up a VCR or Camcorder. You can resize the TV window to any size you want (from full screen to less than 1"x1&quot. I have one running with a GF2 right now & no conflicts. I have the PCI version, there are also USB ones also.

 

[NeoMadHatter]

yes, like stated the ATI and pinnacle ones are good. i'd prefer the ATI though. I'm trying to get rid of this wintv for an All in wonder radeon. if not, oh well. good luck

 

[stephpar]

ok, now i'm confused. So if i have a video card with Video-IN, can i just run a cable from my VCR and get a live TV signal on my computer screen? Can someone set me straight on this one.

Thx
Steph

 

[rbV5]

<< can i just run a cable from my VCR and get a live TV signal on my computer screen? >>



Yes, just use your VCR's tuner.

 

[stephpar]

more newbie questions.....
what software would be suitable for such things?
I'm trying to get a grasp of what features would be missing/present with this setup. I guess i could only change channels from the the VCR.....is that right?
How about cableing.....my vid card has composite and s-video plug capabilities.
Sorry for such a huge bunch of useless questions, but i'm clueless in this regard.

Thx in advance for any input u can provide.

Cheers
Steph

 

[SpeedTrap]

i have a PCTV PRO card forsale here

open to offers. I ran a Geforce3 and had 4 of my 5 pci slots full, i had to allocate a IRQ for it, so it would be a good card, looked great and i used it fullscreen at 1600x1200