HD TV-Tuner questions

[snow]

How easy is it to install a HD-TV Tuner
card in a pc? I read where two companies now sell them. Is the HD-TV Tuner
card expensive?? I just bought a Dell 1704
LCD Computer monitor. I also have a fast PC, with a high end graphics card.
I know I can install a regular analog TV Tuner card in my PC, but I am
wondering if an HD card is now feasible.

 

[J. Clarke]

How easy is it to install a HD-TV Tuner
card in a pc? I read where two companies now sell them. Is the HD-TV Tuner
card expensive?? I just bought a Dell 1704
LCD Computer monitor. I also have a fast PC, with a high end graphics
card. I know I can install a regular analog TV Tuner card in my PC, but I
am wondering if an HD card is now feasible.

Where are you located? The considerations for the US may be different from
other parts of the world.

In the US it's not any hassle at all to install such a board. and there are
more than two companies in the US market, there's Dvico, MIT, ATI, Sasem
(external USB model), Hauppauge, and PCHDTV (Linux-only), and there were
some other companies in the market at one time that no longer appear to be
active.

All of the ones currently on the market can be made to work well. There's
no real hassle to installation, just plug in the board, connect the cables,
install the drivers, and go. The Dvico and the ATI seem to work better
using the nvidia decoder and Media Center Edition 2005 than they do the
manufacturer-provided software (to use MCE with them though you'll need a
second analog tuner board with a hardware encoder--don't ask me why, I
didn't design it), but Dvico has made huge improvements in their software
since the first release and it mostly works pretty well at this point. The
MIT MyHD models seem to be generally the best regarded if you're not
running MCE.

As far as pricing goes, the range in the US is from about 120 for an open
box Dvico to about $350 for a MyHD with all the accessories.

Note that these all work with over-the-air broadcast--some work with cable,
none get the encrypted channels--if you have cable then you need to check.

 

[dlessard1]

I got a Nvidia GeForce 6800 MB graphics card, and I would likely buy a ATI
HD Wonder TV Tuner Card with it. I guess this would be a good match??? The
ATI card
is selling for about $150. Also, I live 30 miles from the best digital
station, though it has a strong transmitter. I figure a small outside
antenna for HD will pull it in??

 

[J. Clarke]

I got a Nvidia GeForce 6800 MB graphics card, and I would likely buy a ATI
HD Wonder TV Tuner Card with it. I guess this would be a good match??? The
ATI card
is selling for about $150. Also, I live 30 miles from the best digital
station, though it has a strong transmitter. I figure a small outside
antenna for HD will pull it in??

Read up on the HDTV Wonder--it's apparently no great shakes. The Dvicos go
for about the same price and they're in their third generation. Whether a
small outside antenna will get adequate reception depends on many
factors--it might or might not depending on the actual signal power and
what obstructions are in the way and what sources of reflection are nearby.

 

[chris]

dlessard1 wrote:




Read up on the HDTV Wonder--it's apparently no great shakes. The Dvicos go
for about the same price and they're in their third generation. Whether a
small outside antenna will get adequate reception depends on many
factors--it might or might not depending on the actual signal power and
what obstructions are in the way and what sources of reflection are nearby.

Does it work with Sage?

 

[J. Clarke]

Does it work with Sage?

Sage has _no_ HD support. None. Nada. Nicht. The only way you can get HD
with Sage is if you have a Set Top Box with a firewire output.