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| Thread ID: 36452 | 2003-08-10 12:59:00 | TV on your PC .. worth it? | Hawk (4365) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 166643 | 2003-08-10 12:59:00 | Hi, Although I've been online for several years I'm relatively new to the "Watching TV on your PC" thing... Is it good? is it worth getting a Tuner card and doing so?, does it take up massive amount of cpu resources in doing so? Some feedback from people in the know would be good.. Thanks! |
Hawk (4365) | ||
| 166644 | 2003-08-10 13:11:00 | > Is it good? Its not "quite" as good as a TV, but close . > is it worth getting a Tuner card and > doing so?, If you want to watch TV in a "window' on your PC, yes > does it take up massive amount of cpu > resources in doing so? It depends, mostly on the TV card and compatability with your graphics adapter . If they are compatable, then the loading is minimal however "full screen" and non compatability can stress a cpu somewhat . I can get 100% CPU usage at full screen on a 2GHz P4 (no overlay compatability) At 95% full screen only 20% CPU . Your mileage may vary . One thing however you do need a good outside aerial for a reasonable picture, as the PC generates a lot of local interference . Don't consider an internal aerial . |
godfather (25) | ||
| 166645 | 2003-08-10 13:16:00 | Hey thanks for your reply, What card would you recommend? IS it only certain cards that pick up whisper: (sky) ? hehe or do all them with the right software? I have a fairly new system. Thanks |
Hawk (4365) | ||
| 166646 | 2003-08-10 13:29:00 | I don't know what cards are around at the moment. Will they get Sky?? You must be able to receive the encrypted UHF channels if they are transmitted in your area, they occupy a normal channel slot, your card will pick them up just like your TV will. A card is only a TV tuner after all. I could not comment on decoding software of course, as I know nothing about such matters .... |
godfather (25) | ||
| 166647 | 2003-08-10 21:05:00 | Hawk, i can highly recommend a Dynalink CPH061, comes with a remote,does the teletext thing and ovelay mode works well on WinME, probably does for other versions as well. The CPH051 comes with a built in FM Radio, I think. It has the right chipset (BX) that allows decoding of 'free to air' TV. though of course special software is required, but could probably be found searching google. I run mine full screen with no adverse effects. If I want to use the PC for work at the same time, the TV goes into a box which can be any size at all. As GF suggested, an outside antenna is essential. The CPH051 or 061 are not easy to find, possibly because they are very good and no one wants to part with them :-). |
Tobas (224) | ||
| 166648 | 2003-08-10 22:17:00 | Yes worth it . I have been using a Pinnacle PCTV USB TV Tuner for the past 3 years and find it great . The tuner has drivers for Win 98 / 2000 but also works fine on Win XP as a tuner only - meaning - that the card also comes with a FM tuner and teletext (which they call webtext) that do work under Win 98 / 2000 . At full screen it only uses 42 % system resources and I'm running it on a 450 Mhz system . It helps not to run the card with other programs running if you are recording from TV . If you are interested in a USB Tuner then you can have a look at the newer Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe USB 2 . 0 . It has teletext as well but no radio tuner . It also comes with a remote control . Cost is NZ $456 and can be bought from Ascent . . pinnaclesys . com/ProductPage_n . asp?Product_ID=1008&Langue_ID=7" target="_blank">www . pinnaclesys . com Cheers PF1 :-) |
PressF1 User (1065) | ||
| 166649 | 2003-08-10 22:43:00 | Thanks for all your replies.... 1 question remains..... Which card is recommened? within a decent price range, no more than $ 200 I use Win XP I've seen a lot of the LEADTEK WinFast TV2000XP card, is it any good? |
Hawk (4365) | ||
| 166650 | 2003-08-10 22:50:00 | The Leadtek is an excellent card and the software is top notch as well. Although you would want to get the latset release off the leadtek site. |
metla (154) | ||
| 166651 | 2003-08-10 23:17:00 | The Leadtek Winfast 2000 is good .. get the Deluxe version not the expert version if you want to get *cough cough* sky. :) |
SKT174 (1319) | ||
| 166652 | 2003-08-11 05:23:00 | If no one minds, I have a question or two... > It helps not to run the card with other programs running if you are recording from TV. Does that mean that you can record programs to your hard drive like you would to a video recorder? > It has teletext as well Teletext and subtitles/captioning? If answer to that question is yes, can the subtitles be recorded to the hard drive as well? |
Fire-and-Ice (3910) | ||
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