This is the part where most people go hunh? TV Tuners for a Personal Computer? Don't you have enough content with Adobe Flash, YouTube and all the rest? Well, except that TV's are changing along with streaming video. It is getting to the point where people are deciding to dedicate a PC for a home entertainment center. It changes some things.
This is ASUS My Cinema-EHD3-100 What it does is allows the PC to receive TV signals.
Smallest PC TV card. I included it because it is designed to be put in a different slot. If you don't have a certain slot handy, you might have another one.
These basically are comparable. They all work about the same. They accept the signal and then send the signal out to TV.
What is more important is the software that controls all this. The software from Microsoft Windows works fine as long as the Remote is certified by Microsoft
This is AVerMedia H797R. I included it because the software is NOT Microsoft.
These boards are just input boards. It inputs TV video from antennas, cable or satellite. It also substitutes the keyboard and mouse for a TV remote. The software is the real engine here. If you want a DVR setup, you choose the software and it acts accordingly.
Now, there are some considerations. If you need to control your cable box, you get a wire which will blast infrared to the cable box telling it to change channels or to shut off or what ever.
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I take it the remotes are non-optical? Just tryin' to wrap my head around all the details.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't know how it works. Not infrared. I think they work by radio wave. If you think of the board as a way of creating your computer into a fancy DVR setup, I don't think that would be that far wrong. It does have the added ability to peruse the internet, but is that such a great thing? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI do know that a PC with this tuner becomes dedicated to running the TV and music radio. I could have done it to my HP, but I found that I prefer to peruse the internet while the television is on.
I guess, all it does is create a glorified DVR with pretensions to being a computer.
Forgot to subscribe so I missed the reply. That sounds exactly like what I want to do. I, too, like to cruise the internet while I watch TV. But the problem is, for me, that increasingly means Hulu, so I pretty much need a dedicated 'puter for the TV. Plus, I've killed the cable, but I still miss the DVR, so this will allow me to shift programing and eliminate the need for cable in toto. Besides, the local cable company doesn't carry all of the aux.-digital channels anyway, which now comprise about a quarter of my TV viewing.
ReplyDeletetryanmax,
ReplyDeleteA better deal is the standalone box which routs all netflix, Hulu and various other streaming video. NETGEAR provides a great product. Roku Player, Part number, NTV250. (I wish I had the option to buy it earlier. I had to buy a new XBox to get NetFlix) It will allow internet streaming video from a variety of providers. Hook it into your router or modem, attach it to your HDMI input on your TV and voila! No need to get a computer to view HULU anymore.
I've looked at a Roku, but not the NetGear one, so maybe you can clue me in on details I'm missing. From what I can tell, if you want to DVR with a Roku, you need to hack it. It's not a complicated hack, nothing that would void the warranty, but it's a clunky one that still requires a PC. Since part of what I'm trying to do is free up a PC, it's not so much of a savings to me. Plus, one thing that none of literature is clear on is whether a Roku can gain access to my PC library?
ReplyDeleteOh, and is it true that you can only do Hulu Plus with a Roku and not free Hulu? 'Cos that is a deal-breaker for me.
ReplyDeleteAh, now I see what you are trying to do. You are right that Roku can't see your library, nor can it access Hulu, just Hulu Plus. In your case, yes, I would set up a separate PC to accomplish your ends. Get an inexpensive computer and put a TV tuner card in it. Then hook it up to your TV and router and you accomplish the same thing with the ability to search your PC library. You might have to set up your router with sharing files. Alternatively you can take the Hard drive with your PC library and put it in the PC/DVR set up.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd probably get a large hardrive (or two) and make the HTPC my main video library. I have a ton of vintage cartoons that you can't even buy anymore, many of which I lifted from VHS myself. (what a pain!) I can always just grab a usb stick if I want to move a file or two. I'd probably use this as an excuse to finally get a blue-ray drive, too.
ReplyDeleteI'd probably just go with a single-tuner setup. The only drawback would be that I could only record one broadcast at at time and I couldn't watch and record at the same time. I don't see that being a problem since I cut the cable due to a lack of worthwhile programming. I'd be using the DVR to timeshift things I want to watch that are on when I'm not home or sleeping.
Who says you have to only install one tuner in a computer? Also, there are several that allow you to watch and record at the same time.
ReplyDeleteNo one says, I'm just not planning to. But the nice thing about building your own is you can always change your mind later.
ReplyDelete