For the most part tv tuner cards are useless

[dichotomy]

I'd like to consider myself in the mainstream hdtv market since I've been following it's progress with mild intrest for years. Meaning I'm not a hardcore early adopter or anything but I know in a pinch I could do a little more research and swing with the best of them. As I see it the main problem with all these tuner cards (analog included) is the same reason my avermedia tuner card goes virtually unused, Content. With the unexpected demise of Futurama and even more increasing number of the shows I watch are only available to me through cable or satellite. Which means in most locations in the US you need a seperate box to decode the signal before it's sent to the reciever. This is all fine and dandy except that this box must also control the channel. This extreemely limits the usability of any computer tuner product(my titantv profile is absolutely useless) and renders it another piece of clutter between what you want to watch and how you want to watch it. Until the cable and satellite companies relinquish control of the channels these products will remain idle tinkerings for the few(comparitively I know their are a lot of you guys) true enthusiasts.

 

[okietex]

Well, as a NOOB to this TV TUNER stuff, I don't understand what you mean by "...main problem with all these tuner cards ... Content."

Couldn't you just use your computer with your cable and get all the content you want?

Then, you say "...in the US you need a separate box to decode the signal...".

So, will my idea not work. I want to be able to take the coax cable for my cable tv and run it to my computer directly and hook it into one of these TV TUNER cards. Then, with whatever software that is available with the TV TUNER cards, I assume I should be able to watch all shows on my Cable TV that I'm subscribed too.

Is this not right? Or, would you please explain a little more for me as I don't understand what you're talking about.

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

 

[Crashman]

Standard cable will decode on your TV-Tuner card as it would with any modern TV or VCR.

If you had to use a special cable box to unlock certain (scrambled) channels or for digital cable, you'd simply use the Video Input on the tuner card instead.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[siranthony]

all true. I looked into a All in Wonder. It made me wonder why I wanted it. Yes you can use the tuner or tv in with the cable box. But that defeats the capability of recording multiple shows on different channels at different times with your tuner software. You can program your cable box and tuner to do it but it makes it more complicated. Thats if your cable box has that ability. Mine only sets reminders and doesn't change the channel for you. Also if you want high definition forget it. As far as I know there isn't anything that can record HD in real time except HDvcr. They cost 500 to 700 bucks. Another drawback of the AIW is it uses mpeg2 which takes uo a huge amount of hard drive space. So in my opinion there is no point unless you like the programs you can get for free of the air or what the cable company gives you for free (meaning you can pick it up without the cable box). Most cable companies do give you 20 or so channels without the cable box. They all suck but thier there. Just use a 75 dollar VCR. Your life will be easier.

P4 2.4c @ 3.0 ASUS P4P800 dx Geil Golden Dragon PC4000 2.5,3,3,6 250FSB 1:1 Radeon 9800 non-pro 2 Maxtor 60gig 7200rpm 8mb cach in raid 0 SB Audigy 2 Antec True 480

 

[Crashman]

AIW is it uses mpeg2 which takes uo a huge amount of hard drive space

Actually that's one of it's ADVANTAGES. By standard settings in records in the proprietary ATI VCR format, which takes up less space but is proprietary! If you set it to record in MPG2 mode, at least you have a true STANDARD that can be played on nearly any hardware and written to SVCD. In fact, it's better than MPG4 IMO because it supported by various hardware and doesn't require you to load 16749 different codecs just to make sure you have the right one.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[siranthony]

I didn't know that Crashman. But it takes up lass space than what? MPEG4? DVD's are in MPEG2 right? Converting a DVD to MPEG4 reduces the size by 10 times usually. Depending on your settings. I don't pretend to know alot about the different MPEG codecs but it just makes sence that MPEG4 would make alot more managable files. I hadn't really thought about compatability. Somthing to consider.

P4 2.4c @ 3.0 ASUS P4P800 dx Geil Golden Dragon PC4000 2.5,3,3,6 250FSB 1:1 Radeon 9800 non-pro 403core 335mem 2 Maxtor 60gig 7200rpm 8mb cach in raid 0 SB Audigy 2 Antec True 480

 

[Crashman]

ATI's proprietary format takes up less space than MPEG2. DVD's are a version of MPEG2, but MPEG2 SVCD's take up far less space, typicaly 10MB/minute.

XVID is a nice format, but again requires a real PC to use it. Notice the spelling! I reencode all my movies to MPEG2 and MPEG so they'll work in a variety of hardware including DVD players.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>