Tuner Card Question

[ZebraRampage]

Hey everyone. I have a question about tuner cards. Next year I don't feel like bringing a tv to college, so I have been thinking about buying a tuner card for my computer. I don't know much about them, but I do know that you can hook up your videogame consoles to some of them via RCA audio and video cables and you can also get television on your computer through them using the coax cables. I know basically what I need, but there are some specifics that I would like to set straight before I buy anything. I know that I have a pci interface, so that would limit things a bit, and I have also read that getting a tuner card with PVR is not good for gaming due to delay. Could any of you let me know what would be the best type of tuner card to get for my conditions?

[Bube]

We bought an Avermedia Live BOX 7 or something like that for our dorm. The only thing you need is a monitor and a monitor cable. No need to hook it up to a computer.

If you want to use it to capture stuff, it won't work (at least, we couldn't do it..).

You can hook it up to a computer and watch it while you're computer is on (picture-in-picture mode, something else we couldn't get to work :))

But if you want to use it for gaming, it's great. The image is very crisp, and it's anti-aliased (makes it a little blurry around the edges, something apart from the crispness). No delay as far as we've noticed, and we played F-Zero GX on it..

If you're not interested in capturing videos, then it's recommended.

[ZebraRampage]

I'm not interested in capturing videos, but I take it that what you have is not put into the computer. It's an external card, right? You can hook in the RCA cables, a place to plug in the speakers, and the monitor cable, and that's how it works I'm assuming. I'm looking for something internal, so I can also get cable on it, and not have to worry about unhooking my monitor from the computer. I think I found something here though, and it has what I need.

Tuner Card (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1048731&CatId=1427)


This has the audio in, and I have an adapter that converts RCA audio cables into one of the regular cables used by computer speakers(the typical green plug), so I can just plug my RCA audio(white and red) into this tuner card. The RCA in is there, except they call it the AV in which is where the RCA visual(yellow) plugs in. Then I just have to put the cable in there as well if I want to watch tv.

Can someone confirm to me if what I said is correct? I just want to make sure that I'm getting the right piece of hardware.

[Null]

i've been keepin my eye out for one with HD support, since i already have a widescreen monitor would be nice to get HDTV channels on it (since its the same as an hdtv in terms of quality resolution)


if your gunna plug in games (especially new gen consoles) then you'd want one with component cable inputs on it. which is most likely an HD card. i have a normal TV card, and while it is old, and im sure a standard tv card gets a lot better picture then this does. but still. your putting a normal tv resolution onto a pc resolution and it doesnt look quite right. but maybe newer cards fixed that.. still right now i wouldnt buy any card but an HD capable one.



also, i've never seen a tuner with pvr built in the pvr part of em is a program to run for the TV, and it records onto your Hard drive. this does NOT put a delay on any inputs like games. because you obviously wouldnt run the game through the pvr program.

(which actually you can get pvr programs for free, that support pretty much most any tv tuner, and work just like tivo. so i wouldnt have pvr as one of your worries.)

[ZebraRampage]

i've been keepin my eye out for one with HD support, since i already have a widescreen monitor would be nice to get HDTV channels on it (since its the same as an hdtv in terms of quality resolution)


if your gunna plug in games (especially new gen consoles) then you'd want one with component cable inputs on it. which is most likely an HD card. i have a normal TV card, and while it is old, and im sure a standard tv card gets a lot better picture then this does. but still. your putting a normal tv resolution onto a pc resolution and it doesnt look quite right. but maybe newer cards fixed that.. still right now i wouldnt buy any card but an HD capable one.



also, i've never seen a tuner with pvr built in the pvr part of em is a program to run for the TV, and it records onto your Hard drive. this does NOT put a delay on any inputs like games. because you obviously wouldnt run the game through the pvr program.

(which actually you can get pvr programs for free, that support pretty much most any tv tuner, and work just like tivo. so i wouldnt have pvr as one of your worries.)


Okay..two things. About the audio component cables with the consoles. I have an adapter that puts the two audio component cables into the cable that plugs into the audio in on that particular tuner card, so I'm set with that.

Secondly, are there HD tuner cards that are PCI as well?

[Null]

when i say component cables, i mean video. they are red blue green cables (all for video) and are high quality.

what you have is composite, which is yellow video, red/white audio. and that works fine for audio, infact the red/white plugs are usually still used with the component video. however the yellow plug for video is NOT for high quality, it would give a normal tv picture, component would give a HDTV picture (assuming the video your feeding into it is HD or a higher resolution). but yes, if your not worried about getting the higher quality then your converter and yellow plug should work for that.



second, yes. infact pretty much all TV cards are PCI, the others are external USB. and i think theres a couple that plug into the network. but i dont think i've ever seen a TV card thats internal that doesnt use a pci slot. its pretty much standard.

however for a HDTV card your looking at a lot more then $30, it would be around $100, at least as far as i can see with the ones i've seen. (im still looking for one, that does what i need)





[EDIT] Also, what console are you planning on using it for? the x360 and ps3, maybe even nintendos might have direct cables you can buy to plug the console directly into the monitor.

theres also sperate boxes that you can use to plug a console into the monitor.

but if you are wanting to use it for a TV also then the card is the better choice.

[ZebraRampage]

when i say component cables, i mean video. they are red blue green cables (all for video) and are high quality.

what you have is composite, which is yellow video, red/white audio. and that works fine for audio, infact the red/white plugs are usually still used with the component video. however the yellow plug for video is NOT for high quality, it would give a normal tv picture, component would give a HDTV picture (assuming the video your feeding into it is HD or a higher resolution). but yes, if your not worried about getting the higher quality then your converter and yellow plug should work for that.



second, yes. infact pretty much all TV cards are PCI, the others are external USB. and i think theres a couple that plug into the network. but i dont think i've ever seen a TV card thats internal that doesnt use a pci slot. its pretty much standard.

however for a HDTV card your looking at a lot more then $30, it would be around $100, at least as far as i can see with the ones i've seen. (im still looking for one, that does what i need)





[EDIT] Also, what console are you planning on using it for? the x360 and ps3, maybe even nintendos might have direct cables you can buy to plug the console directly into the monitor.

theres also sperate boxes that you can use to plug a console into the monitor.

but if you are wanting to use it for a TV also then the card is the better choice.


I didn't realize that the red, green, and blue cables were called component cables. See, I don't think that I really need HD, because my computer isn't all that much at the moment, and I just want the tuner card for a few years. I plan on building my own towards the end of college because I don't have enough money to do it now. If the tuner card that I found is good enough for my computer, then that's fine. I'm not looking for the top of the line product here. Also, I know that there might be consoles that can connect directly to the monitor, but the second reason I'm looking for this is so that I don't have to bring a tv to college next year. I think that the tuner card that I found is good for what I need for the next two or three years. Thanks for the input though.

[Null]

BTW, the one your looking at, a few bucks cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815123001


just thought i'd let ya know. :)

[ZebraRampage]

BTW, the one your looking at, a few bucks cheaper.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815123001


just thought i'd let ya know. :)

Yeah, I found that last night as well. Thanks though. I think it works for what I need, and thanks for all of the other input. When I actually do build my own computer in a few years I will definitely instal a high def tuner card.