Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums banner

TV Tuner Cards For HTPC Discussion

312K views 991 replies 193 participants last post by  ExDilbert 
#1 ·
I was wondering if somebody with an HDTV wonder card could do me a favor.

I need an ISO of the CD. I lost my CD and I have no idea where it went. And I need the CD to load the DTV decoder so I could watch HDTV on my computer..


Thanks.
 
#222 ·
Hey guys, I'll soon be looking into building an HTPC and I'm trying to get all the plans done now.

Right now, I currently have Bell ExpressVu Satellite, and I'll be looking to upgrade to HDTV. So my plan is to hook up Bell's HDTV Recevier to my HTPC, problem is I can't seem to find any TV Tuner cards that actually have any HD input, most of them only support Free Over-The-Air HDTV or QAM.

So my question is, are there any TV Tuner cards that have any HD Input (HDMI, Composite, DVI?) inputs so that I can do this? And if so, what card would you recommend?

Thanks.
 
#224 ·
Thanks Nick! I probably won't be building until mid/late May, so that would be perfect!

But just for comparison purposes, are there any other HD Tuner cards out there or any other [non-illegal] methodes of receiving an HD Satellite signal with an HTPC?

Thanks again! :D
 
#226 ·
This might be a real dumb question....but here goes...

Looking into building a HTCP with OTA HD and analog. Can I get guide data? How long does it look forward? Is it internet generated or OTA generated? Is it TVGOS (how does that work)?
Is it better to get a Media Centre OS or is just standard XP SP2 fine?

thanks
 
#227 ·
Vista in a Media Center flavour (ex: Ultimate) is your best bet - but you will be trading more up to date features for some reliability.

I built my own HTPC and went to VMC and have been pretty happy so far - but it's a bit of work to get it all working properly. I've been quite disappointed with the performance of the TV set-up - for one thing Canada is not supported properly and although there are some "hacks" for getting partial work arounds it's not ideal and it doesn't all work...

You need a Tuner for your machine. I've been using an HDHR but I find it unreliable with VMC. Make sure that the tuner that you get works WELL with MC or you will be sorry. COMPATABILITY does not mean that it works well... make sure it works well.
 
#228 ·
You are scaring me into staying with XP (and getting the Media edition). I'm thinking of getting the Happauge 1600 (or 1800 not sure the difference). But guide data is important to me. Right now I'm with shaw and can see 10 days in front. I was really hoping for that kind of flexibility. Or even the ability to "record a series". Anything like that out there?
 
#229 ·
Well... just do your research. MC on XP has it's own downsides - that's why I went with Vista in the first place...

I believe that EPG's relate to the provider that the host application consumes. VMC's provider does not support Canada now... so if you *need* complete and correct EPG information you might consider another application for this...

I wish MS would 1) get their act together, and 2) support Canada.

Good luck...
 
#232 ·
The best you can do is type in the closest American zip code to where you live and hope that the provider has a reasonable guide...

There are many other programs that have EPGs - but since I don't use any of them, I wouldn't be the right guy to give you advice.

The other problem that you might not realize, is that OTA will not replace what you have from your service provider if you are using DTV - so if you plan to keep your cable system, you can't practically integrate the two (OTA/HTPC with STB.)

Still, OTA is worth every penny...
 
#233 ·
You've been a great help, thanks. I'm thinking of cancelling shaw at least for the summer, and try to set up my HTPC. If by October when all the shows come back and it's not working the way I want, I'll just re-up with them. If I like it I'll sell my 6412 and try it out for a year.

I'm hoping I can save a few bucks in the long run, maybe ??
 
#234 ·
Hi everyone!

I'm building a HTCP and I want to know which tuner card for OTA HDTV (firmware,software) and how many I can use on the same motherboard.

I want to use it as a PVR and be able to record at least two different channel at the same time


I will use a AMD 5000 cpu and the Gigabyte MB GA-MA78GM-S2h with 4gb RAM
in a Sonata III Antec case.

Thanks!
 
#235 ·
Why is everyone scaring users away from Vista MCE? Yes it's a pain to setup but so is every other HTPC software.

Here is my setup: Vista Home Premium, 2 HDTV Combo tuners (I use analog cable and OTA HDTV). Using this setup I can record 4 shows at the same time. The cable tuners barely get used but it's nice to know they're available. I had to use the tuner hack to enable ATSC in Canada. It is a one time patch and only needs to be re-applied if replacing tuners.

I'm in Canada and I get 2 week listings for 99% of my channels. The trick is to tell MCE you have Digital cable (there are 700+ channels when selecting digital cable as opposed to 70+ with analog). All my OTA HDTV listings get full guide data. I'm only missing Guide info on a select few US Subchannels (RTN, Weather+ and Think Bright).

The software is extremely intelligent when it comes to recording series. I have added all the shows I like and I have it configured to record new episodes only. The software is smart enough to move start times ahead or behind as well as accommodate extended finales (Last week it recorded 1 hour for The Office and 2 hours for Desperate Housewives. I knew the Office was 1 hour but had no idea DH was 2 hours). The best example I can give is the return of Lost after the initial 8 episodes earlier this year. I had no idea when it returning but I took a glance at my scheduled shows and was surprised to see it spooled up in the next 2 weeks. I won't mention it's PVR functionality (kicks ass) but I'm very happy with it as a TV software.

The software does have some shortcomings. The media center side of Vista MCE is very limited. I'm used to XBMC on my Xbox so I know what a good Media Center should be able to do. I'm currently trying to get the Win32 version of XBMC to work on my HTPC but it is still very buggy. If Microsoft decides to add some user customization to Vista MCE, this can be a great Media Center. At the moment, Vista MCE is a great TV recording software with a passable Media Center tacked on. For most people the Media capabilities are sufficient (view pictures, play music, watch mkv's, etc...). For someone who has used XBMC it is very primitive.

I also tried Sage and MediaPortal before deciding on Vista MCE. Both programs have their pros and cons but neither one was as slick when it came to TV viewing IMO. I wish I could use Myth but my tuners aren't supported. My main attraction to Myth is the Linux port of XBMC that is quite mature compared to the Win32 version.
 
#238 ·
jeneral

What kind (make) the tuner you're using?
I have a VisionTek TV Wonder HD 650 PCI Express (kicks major buttski!!) and a Vista View Saber DA-1N1-I PCI (ok). They are both superior to my old ATI HDTV Wonder. My 650 PCI-E (NOT the PCI model!!!) is excellent at receiving ultra weak stations. I have no trouble getting WNYO-DT reliably using that card. The other tuner, which has the much vaunted 5th Gen LG chipset can't receive that channel. I bought that tuner because many users at another forum recommended it. I'd love to hear from someone who has the ATI 650 PCI-e and some other tuner. I'm not loyal to one particular brand - I just want the most reliable signal possible.

I use the built-in Vista MCE (included with Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate). Like I said, it's great for TV and so-so for media playback.
 
#239 · (Edited)
Thanks!

I will look in to the VisionTek tuner card

I'm looking in the best deal for the $$$ for reception and performance
for the playback I'm not concern only for OTA HDTV

:p

What's the difference between the PCI and PCI- E for the tuner card ?
Is it better for reception,faster,better?
 
#240 ·
Dropped frames- ota hd hauppauge 1600

When using the included software, video is choppy, audio is fine. so i tried sage as well as totalmedia, they both played live tv fine, but recorded video is choppy. i loaded the video into tmpgenc express and it seems that frames are dropped and probably leading to the video choppiness.

anyone know how to fix this? is it a codec issue (i'm thinking not if it plays live fine, but just recorded file is an issue)? is it some other software issue? hardware issue? pls point me in the right direction so i can try to narrow things down.

3.2 gHz intel processor
just half gig ram
radeon 9800 vid card

thanks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top