Will an HDTV tuner get the job done?

[Jeff7181]

If he has the HDTV pack for Xbox, could he hook it up to a PCI HDTV tuner? Is there a better way to do it?

 

[Jeff7181]

Bump?

 

[SynthDude2001]

No, that won't really work. No HDTV tuner that I'm aware of has Component inputs...

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
No, that won't really work. No HDTV tuner that I'm aware of has Component inputs...

What does? Would he need a monitor that has component inputs? Some of the more expensive Dell LCD's have them, don't they?

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
No, that won't really work. No HDTV tuner that I'm aware of has Component inputs...

What does? Would he need a monitor that has component inputs? Some of the more expensive Dell LCD's have them, don't they?

Only the 2405FPW has Component inputs, the smaller ones (20" and below) do not. I'm not sure about other brands, but I'm pretty sure there's at least a few more LCD's with Component inputs as well. That would be one solution (and probably the most straightforward, assuming you were going to buy a new monitor anyway).

There also might be transcoders available, but I haven't really looked into it - and they would probably be pretty expensive anyway for such a small device (over $100 easily).

But yeah, he would need some means of Component input (or possibly common DVI for the upcoming Xbox360 if it has that kind of connection - but that wouldn't help you with Xbox HD stuff now). HD tuners generally only have SD analog video inputs (Composite and/or S-Video). I imagine that Component capture would require more bandwidth than the PCI bus can provide.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
No, that won't really work. No HDTV tuner that I'm aware of has Component inputs...

What does? Would he need a monitor that has component inputs? Some of the more expensive Dell LCD's have them, don't they?

Only the 2405FPW has Component inputs, the smaller ones (20" and below) do not. I'm not sure about other brands, but I'm pretty sure there's at least a few more LCD's with Component inputs as well. That would be one solution (and probably the most straightforward, assuming you were going to buy a new monitor anyway).

There also might be transcoders available, but I haven't really looked into it - and they would probably be pretty expensive anyway for such a small device (over $100 easily).

But yeah, he would need some means of Component input (or possibly common DVI for the upcoming Xbox360 if it has that kind of connection - but that wouldn't help you with Xbox HD stuff now). HD tuners generally only have SD analog video inputs (Composite and/or S-Video). I imagine that Component capture would require more bandwidth than the PCI bus can provide.

133 MB/sec? I guess that's not too unlikely if it's not compressed. Maybe such a device will be created once PCI Express cards are more popular. Maybe a x2 or x4 PCI-E slot would be able to meet the demands.

 

[SynthDude2001]

I agree...I'd love to have something capable of HD video capture from external sources (as opposed to just a tuner), especially since I have the 2005FPW which doesn't have Component inputs.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I agree...I'd love to have something capable of HD video capture from external sources (as opposed to just a tuner), especially since I have the 2005FPW which doesn't have Component inputs.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, did you ever have a 19 inch LCD? I think an LCD will be my next big upgrade, and the screen size of a 19 inch would be fine for me I'm sure, but 19 inch panels only seem to go up to 1280x1024... an extra inch, like the 2005FP would get me 1600x1200 or 1680x1050, which should give a much higher pixel density, correct? I'm wondering if there's a big difference in image quality just because of that. 320x240 video looks crystal clear on a 1.2 inch display... but looks extremely blocky on a 1024x768 monitor like I'm using now... wouldn't the same thing happen with a 19 inch 1280x1024 display vs. a 20 inch 1600x1200 display, but on a lesser scale?

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I agree...I'd love to have something capable of HD video capture from external sources (as opposed to just a tuner), especially since I have the 2005FPW which doesn't have Component inputs.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, did you ever have a 19 inch LCD? I think an LCD will be my next big upgrade, and the screen size of a 19 inch would be fine for me I'm sure, but 19 inch panels only seem to go up to 1280x1024... an extra inch, like the 2005FP would get me 1600x1200 or 1680x1050, which should give a much higher pixel density, correct? I'm wondering if there's a big difference in image quality just because of that. 320x240 video looks crystal clear on a 1.2 inch display... but looks extremely blocky on a 1024x768 monitor like I'm using now... wouldn't the same thing happen with a 19 inch 1280x1024 display vs. a 20 inch 1600x1200 display, but on a lesser scale?

Nope, I never had a 19" LCD...I came straight from an old 17" CRT.

Yes, the pixel density of any 20" monitor (widescreen or not) will be quite a bit higher than on a 19" monitor with 1280x1024 resolution (which is to say...all of them). There is some of what you're describing - DVD's (720x480) don't look as sharp as maybe they used to (although I may just be spoiled by my HDTV tuner there ), and my camera's videos (at 640x480) are the same way. The higher resolution just makes the flaws (or lack of fine detail) in such videos more obvious, I suppose. It's still very watchable at fullscreen though, and I wouldn't want to go back to a smaller monitor just for that.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I agree...I'd love to have something capable of HD video capture from external sources (as opposed to just a tuner), especially since I have the 2005FPW which doesn't have Component inputs.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, did you ever have a 19 inch LCD? I think an LCD will be my next big upgrade, and the screen size of a 19 inch would be fine for me I'm sure, but 19 inch panels only seem to go up to 1280x1024... an extra inch, like the 2005FP would get me 1600x1200 or 1680x1050, which should give a much higher pixel density, correct? I'm wondering if there's a big difference in image quality just because of that. 320x240 video looks crystal clear on a 1.2 inch display... but looks extremely blocky on a 1024x768 monitor like I'm using now... wouldn't the same thing happen with a 19 inch 1280x1024 display vs. a 20 inch 1600x1200 display, but on a lesser scale?

Nope, I never had a 19" LCD...I came straight from an old 17" CRT.

Yes, the pixel density of any 20" monitor (widescreen or not) will be quite a bit higher than on a 19" monitor with 1280x1024 resolution (which is to say...all of them). There is some of what you're describing - DVD's (720x480) don't look as sharp as maybe they used to (although I may just be spoiled by my HDTV tuner there ), and my camera's videos (at 640x480) are the same way. The higher resolution just makes the flaws (or lack of fine detail) in such videos more obvious, I suppose. It's still very watchable at fullscreen though, and I wouldn't want to go back to a smaller monitor just for that.

With an X2 or Pentium D you could watch four DVD's at the same time, on the same screen, in full resolution!

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: SynthDude2001
I agree...I'd love to have something capable of HD video capture from external sources (as opposed to just a tuner), especially since I have the 2005FPW which doesn't have Component inputs.

On a somewhat unrelated topic, did you ever have a 19 inch LCD? I think an LCD will be my next big upgrade, and the screen size of a 19 inch would be fine for me I'm sure, but 19 inch panels only seem to go up to 1280x1024... an extra inch, like the 2005FP would get me 1600x1200 or 1680x1050, which should give a much higher pixel density, correct? I'm wondering if there's a big difference in image quality just because of that. 320x240 video looks crystal clear on a 1.2 inch display... but looks extremely blocky on a 1024x768 monitor like I'm using now... wouldn't the same thing happen with a 19 inch 1280x1024 display vs. a 20 inch 1600x1200 display, but on a lesser scale?

Nope, I never had a 19" LCD...I came straight from an old 17" CRT.

Yes, the pixel density of any 20" monitor (widescreen or not) will be quite a bit higher than on a 19" monitor with 1280x1024 resolution (which is to say...all of them). There is some of what you're describing - DVD's (720x480) don't look as sharp as maybe they used to (although I may just be spoiled by my HDTV tuner there ), and my camera's videos (at 640x480) are the same way. The higher resolution just makes the flaws (or lack of fine detail) in such videos more obvious, I suppose. It's still very watchable at fullscreen though, and I wouldn't want to go back to a smaller monitor just for that.

With an X2 or Pentium D you could watch four DVD's at the same time, on the same screen, in full resolution!

lol, I never thought of that :laugh:

Edit: Actually I should correct my previous post just a bit...I did briefly own a 22" CRT for about a week or two between the 17" CRT and when I decided to get the LCD - but I didn't like it all that much and obviously it didn't have a native resolution anyway

 

[BenSkywalker]

Here you go.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
Here you go.

Nice find. :thumbsup:

(I'd assumed that such a thing would be more expensive than that.)

 

[Jeff7181]

Awesome, thanks.