HDTV tuner standards?

[Yousuf Khan]

It seems there are two standards for HDTV that tv tuners adhere to, ATSC
& clear QAM. The way I understand it, ATSC is the over-the-air version
of HDTV, while clear QAM is the one traversing through the cable-tv
connectors. That sounds fine, except it seems clear QAM only works in
non-settop-box cable systems. So what is needed to be able to record
HDTV broadcasts coming through a settop box?

Yousuf Khan

 

[Nate Edel]

It seems there are two standards for HDTV that tv tuners adhere to, ATSC
& clear QAM. The way I understand it, ATSC is the over-the-air version
of HDTV, while clear QAM is the one traversing through the cable-tv
connectors. That sounds fine, except it seems clear QAM only works in
non-settop-box cable systems. So what is needed to be able to record
HDTV broadcasts coming through a settop box?

2 options I'm aware of:
- component video capture and re-encoding
- Firewire/1394 output (where enabled)

 

[Richie Rich]

So what is needed to be able to record
HDTV broadcasts coming through a settop box?

Yousuf Khan

Install a TV tuner card into your PC, take the cable out from the settop
box to the input of the TV Tuner card. Record via the TV Tuner card in your
PC.

Personally, I just use an HD PVR. I read that recording HD content to your
PC will get downgraded to SD quality due to DRM.

 

[Yousuf Khan]

2 options I'm aware of:
- component video capture and re-encoding
- Firewire/1394 output (where enabled)

Actually that's exactly what we were looking at until now. The Firewire
option works some times, but it seems to get disabled as soon as the
broadcast is marked as copy-protected. The component option is also
something we were looking at, except that the component would need to be
converted into VGA output or HDMI output. Not all computers have an HDMI
input.

Yousuf Khan