Please post me some TV Tuner info links!!

gizmo1990

gizmo1990

gizmo1990

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Joined
1 Aug 2003
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832
Ok I'm going to keep this simple as I'm beginning to think I've got a bit of a lost cause! I'm posting this here because sff hardware in generally associated with home entertainment pcs. However if a mod thinks it should go somewhere else please move it along.

Does anyone have any links for good places to find information on tv tuners? It seems a complete arcane science with very little information available.

The sort of information I'm after is,
The latest reviews of tuners.
The difference between the mass of tuners available
What the quality of the picture should be like
The correct setup of these things with windows media centre etc etc

I'm reaching my wits end with trying to find out good solid information on this topic and which tuner to buy. The fact that I've already bought one, STILL can't get a decent picture out of it and can't find any help is even more annoying..

BTW please don't mention thegreenbutton nor hauppauge forums. Been there done that.. :mad:

Any advice greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks for the reply Conan257 but sadly that's another I should have mentioned I'd tried already. :( It's not so hot on tv tuners and wmc in general I find..

Any more?
 
Have to say that I am not too sure there is much difference to be had between Digital TV tuners, quality-wise......ultimately, do they not all just unravel the transport stream to the chosen channel and display - essentially native, no transcoding per se ?
Analogue tuners used to exhibit more marked differences, due to the decoding that takes place.....
Perhaps another poignant area to look at is the MPEG (de)coder ?

My experiences with DVB-T cards tends to suggest that picture quality does not really vary, however I have noted considerable variance in tuner sensitivity et al.

So, not much of a pointer, perhaps, but hopefully good info :)
 
Thanks for the posts guys.

Are any of you watching live tv via tuner cards on your tvs? The tuner I currently have is a Hauupauge PVR 500 and the picture I'm getting out of it is pretty ropey to say the least.

Basically if I revert back to bypassing the tuner/pc and just plug my cable box into my tvs (kdl40w4500) scart socket, I get fantastic pictures. By contrast live tv via the tuner is blocky/stripy and pixelated. Like crappy vhs recording but worse.

I assumed that my tuners picture should be equal to just plugging the cable box into the tv but was I wrong to assume this? Could my tuner be the problem? Could it not be up to showing the digital pictures my cable box is recieving?

jellybeard999, what's your setup like and whats your picture quality?

Conan257, I can't find the hauppage dvb-s2 anywhere one their site? Is it called that exactly?

It's all very confusing! Any help greatly appreciated.
 
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pvr 500 is dual analogue so broadcast input or captured video is subject to all sorts of inteference and processing as its converted ready for display.

Most of these should be resolvable with a good signal, the correct decoder software settings and a good quality link to the display device that limits the amound of further processing.

Your cable box is allmost certainly digital so should be better!

Are you capturing off the cable box to the tv tuner or using an aerial with the pvr 500?
 
gizmo1990 said:
Thanks for the posts guys.

Are any of you watching live tv via tuner cards on your tvs? The tuner I currently have is a Hauupauge PVR 500 and the picture I'm getting out of it is pretty ropey to say the least.

Basically if I revert back to bypassing the tuner/pc and just plug my cable box into my tvs (kdl40w4500) scart socket, I get fantastic pictures. By contrast live tv via the tuner is blocky/stripy and pixelated. Like crappy vhs recording but worse.

I assumed that my tuners picture should be equal to just plugging the cable box into the tv but was I wrong to assume this? Could my tuner be the problem? Could it not be up to showing the digital pictures my cable box is recieving?

jellybeard999, what's your setup like and whats your picture quality?

Conan257, I can't find the hauppage dvb-s2 anywhere one their site? Is it called that exactly?

It's all very confusing! Any help greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

PVR are analogue cards ( and are crap by the way )

Get a Nova-T 500 dual freeview tuner card , the quality will be much better ( cos its digital )
I have used over 6 different tv tuner cards over the years , today I will be trying out the Hauppage
HD satalite card :-)
 
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