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which tv tuner to use with mce 2005?

M

mastrduke

Senior member
i plan on getting mce 2005 and a tv tuner so i can record shows i miss on my pc...what is a good tv tuner to use with this software....if you have any comments on the software plz feel free to leave those also
 
Hauppauge PVR-150 MCE. My brother has one in his comp with MCE 2005 and the quality is very good.

This is the one he has. It has an FM tuner, but doesn't come with a remote (the official Microsoft MCE remote costs about $40)

If you want one with that includes a remote, you could get this one, although it doesn't have an FM tuner.

 
Windows Media Center 2005 with its latest updates supports two analog tuners and two HD tuners, which means that, if your box has enough power, you can record four TV programs simultaneously.

If your motherboard has enough PCI slots, then you can install four separate tuners. Otherwise, there are a couple of analog models that have dual tuners on one card, saving one PCI slot.

The best value and best performance combination for HD tuners are two Avermedia AverTVHD A180 cards running side by side. Avermedia's latest drivers will support two A180s in one box. Otherwise, you could install two different brands, like combo of AverTVHD, ATI HDTV Wonder, Dvico Fusion 5, or one of the Vbox models.

If you don't have enough PCI slots, there are analog and HD tuners in USB boxes. Hauppauge, Avermedia, and Vbox have USB TV tuners.

There are only a few TV tuners on PCI express cards. Check out the Vbox models.

Keep in mind WMCE requires an analog tuner that does hardware MPEG encoding.
 
so if i get that hauppauge tuner the other 2 told me to get will that one work?

my comp is the one in my sig....is that good enough?....will i be able to use computer while it is recording a show?
 
Yep, the Hauppauge PVR 150MCE will give you pretty good analog TV. This is standard definition TV, not high definition.

If you want high definition TV, you will need another tuner that does HD, like the Avermedia AverTVHD A180.

The primary consideration is what kind of antenna will give you good signal reception from where you live. CheckHD.com and AntennaWeb.org can help.

The specs in your sig are great for a WMCE box.

Underneath WMCE is Windows XP, and you can minimize the WMCE shell to get to it and do regular computing. So, for instance, you can have TV playing in a window while you reply to threads at Anandtech forums.
 
so recording wont take up so much of my system that i cant use computer....will computer still run at approximatley the same speed or will it be slower?

im not worried about high def cuz where i live it just came out on the 28th of december and its only 6 channels...so i havent gone with a hd tv yet...just analog
 
If you get a analog tuner that does hardware encoding, your CPU and OS will hardly notice the recording.

With respect to over-the-air Hi Def TV, if you can get a good signal from standard definition local broadcasts, then that is a good sign that you can pick up good HD signals. You can use the same antenna for both kinds of broadcasts.

With standard definition TV, you can pick up weak local broadcast signals and the resulting video on the TV being poor. However, with local HD TV signals, either you're going to get a good video on the TV or none at all. You won't get any HD picture at all with a weak signal.

One other thing: HD TV is all digital, and the HD tuner has a easy time of it because its digital. Your Athlon 64 3200+ will show about 10% CPU usage when you play/record HD TV in WMCE.
 
well does that hauppage card have a hardware encoder....im pretty sure it does but not positive....and i live up in maine...only hd we get is cable...so i doubt there is any hd over the air
 
It's a shame that the introduction of HDTV is taking so much time in the US. I'm currently in Korea on an assignment & I just picked up a HDTV TV card for $45 & it works flawlessly. There are so many HDTV TV cards available here from $40 to $200 because HDTV is pretty a standard feature on on-air and cable tv channels. You can find one on ebay (Dvico product) in the US but it costs twice the local price here.
 
anyone know if there is a mce 2006 coming out or if this will be the current software for awile...i can wait untill the beginning of next school year if i need to...but id rather not if there arnt going to be any advances
 
I think there won't be a MCE 2006 - media features will be part of Windows Vista at the end of 2006.

I have a question concerning HDTV tuners and I have never been able to get a straight answer! I have digital cable where some channels are broadcast in HD. My analog cable is a whole other story and I don't really have the channels I would want to record from on it. From what I understand, there is NO way I can watch digital cable with or without HD if I don't have a cable company box (one that supports HD if I want that too) hooked up before going into my PC tuner card. Now the problem is... I only have one cable company box in my house and it is connect to my TV. The cable line goes into that HD decoder box (which has to be authorized by the cable company) which connects to my TV via HDMI. There is no second cable output from the cable box, only component, HDMI, and RCA outputs.

So, is there anyway to record TV in HD from this box? Are there TV tuners that take a component signal input? And if so, how exactly would I change my TV channels? My cable box has the ability to attach an IR blaster remote thingy in the back... not sure how that works however.

I do have the option of splitting the cable into two sources, one going into the TV tuner and one going into the cable box, but I will only get analog channels on my tuner. So what do I do?

The cable company box:
http://www.pacemicro.com/americas/products/prodinfo.asp?PID=DCT551
 
If you have a HDTV TV card, you don't need the cable going through the HD set-top box. A HDTV TV card has its own decoder. It's a much cheaper alternative to a set-top box.
 
Originally posted by: GimpyFuzznut
So, is there anyway to record TV in HD from this box? Are there TV tuners that take a component signal input? And if so, how exactly would I change my TV channels? My cable box has the ability to attach an IR blaster remote thingy in the back... not sure how that works however.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: Doh!
If you have a HDTV TV card, you don't need the cable going through the HD set-top box. A HDTV TV card has its own decoder. It's a much cheaper alternative to a set-top box.
Click to expand...


Nope, there are NO HDTV tuners for the computer that can record HD from digital cable or satellite (in the US). Most HD Ditigtal TV over cable is QAM encoded, requireing a special card to be pluged into your TV or cable box in order to work (called a cable card).

ATi is currently developing a Cable card equiped HDTV tuner, but it will not be available until late this year at the earliest. For now, any HDTV PCI card on the US market will only recieve OTA (over the air) broadcast signals.
 
Does the 2005 version of MCE still require a hyperthreading CPU? I tried it on my AthlonXP, and CPU usage was regularly at ~70%.
 
Originally posted by: Traire

Nope, there are NO HDTV tuners for the computer that can record HD from digital cable or satellite (in the US). Most HD Ditigtal TV over cable is QAM encoded, requireing a special card to be pluged into your TV or cable box in order to work (called a cable card).

ATi is currently developing a Cable card equiped HDTV tuner, but it will not be available until late this year at the earliest. For now, any HDTV PCI card on the US market will only recieve OTA (over the air) broadcast signals.
Click to expand...

Maybe only in the U.S. Not where I live. I can record HD programs just fine.

 
Originally posted by: Doh!
Originally posted by: Traire

Nope, there are NO HDTV tuners for the computer that can record HD from digital cable or satellite (in the US). Most HD Ditigtal TV over cable is QAM encoded, requireing a special card to be pluged into your TV or cable box in order to work (called a cable card).

ATi is currently developing a Cable card equiped HDTV tuner, but it will not be available until late this year at the earliest. For now, any HDTV PCI card on the US market will only recieve OTA (over the air) broadcast signals.
Click to expand...

Maybe only in the U.S. Not where I live. I can record HD programs just fine.
Click to expand...

But you aren't recording from a digital cable provider. You are most likely recording "free" HD broadcasts sent over your cable signal. In Canada - Quebec specifically - there is no such thing.

 
Originally posted by: Traire
Originally posted by: GimpyFuzznut
So, is there anyway to record TV in HD from this box? Are there TV tuners that take a component signal input? And if so, how exactly would I change my TV channels? My cable box has the ability to attach an IR blaster remote thingy in the back... not sure how that works however.
Click to expand...

Originally posted by: Doh!
If you have a HDTV TV card, you don't need the cable going through the HD set-top box. A HDTV TV card has its own decoder. It's a much cheaper alternative to a set-top box.
Click to expand...


Nope, there are NO HDTV tuners for the computer that can record HD from digital cable or satellite (in the US). Most HD Ditigtal TV over cable is QAM encoded, requireing a special card to be pluged into your TV or cable box in order to work (called a cable card).

ATi is currently developing a Cable card equiped HDTV tuner, but it will not be available until late this year at the earliest. For now, any HDTV PCI card on the US market will only recieve OTA (over the air) broadcast signals.
Click to expand...

That's not entirely correct. There are QAM-capable HDTV tuners (I have one), but they can only receive those channels that are unencrypted (usually limited to the locals, though here I get Universal HD unencrypted too). For everything else you will need a cable card or cable box, as you said.

Edit: For what it's worth, most (I would say in excess of 75%) of the "regular" (non-HD) digital cable channels where I am right now are unencrypted as well, and as such I can watch/record them with my PC tuner. Don't really care to though since they're not HD 😉
 
would i be able to play world of warcraft on my comp while my hauppage 150 was recording tv to my computer?..or would it be too laggy?
 
Originally posted by: mastrduke
would i be able to play world of warcraft on my comp while my hauppage 150 was recording tv to my computer?..or would it be too laggy?
Click to expand...

This is just a guess since I've never used that tuner...

But since the PVR-150 has a hardware MPEG2 encoder, it should have relatively low CPU usage. Then the only concern might be the game and the recording fighting for hard drive access, but for low resolution non-HDTV content, that probably wouldn't be much of an issue. It would still probably be better to be recording to a separate hard drive though, ideally.
 
Originally posted by: clickynext
Does the 2005 version of MCE still require a hyperthreading CPU? I tried it on my AthlonXP, and CPU usage was regularly at ~70%.
Click to expand...

It never has. I've used various AMD CPUs (w/o HT) - 1800, 2400, 3000, without issues.
 
Originally posted by: GimpyFuzznut
Originally posted by: Doh!
Originally posted by: Traire

Nope, there are NO HDTV tuners for the computer that can record HD from digital cable or satellite (in the US). Most HD Ditigtal TV over cable is QAM encoded, requireing a special card to be pluged into your TV or cable box in order to work (called a cable card).

ATi is currently developing a Cable card equiped HDTV tuner, but it will not be available until late this year at the earliest. For now, any HDTV PCI card on the US market will only recieve OTA (over the air) broadcast signals.
Click to expand...

Maybe only in the U.S. Not where I live. I can record HD programs just fine.
Click to expand...

But you aren't recording from a digital cable provider. You are most likely recording "free" HD broadcasts sent over your cable signal. In Canada - Quebec specifically - there is no such thing.
Click to expand...

Bad assumption. I don't live in Canada. You have absolutely no idea what I can or cannot record since you don't live where I live. Again, I can record HD contents without any problems with a HDTV TV card.
 
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