I read an article about Tv Tuner Cards in Singapore, Computer Times. It was a very brief article but it sparked my interest. However, there is one point which I don't understand. It said sometihng about needing to have at least an 80 GB hard disk. Does the TV programs stream or do yuo have to download it? Can someone give me more information?

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on your 80GB question: it is only *IF* you intend to use your TV tuner card to make recordings of TV programs you watch. with a big disk space, you could record a much higher video and audio quality. if not, then it is not really a requirement. installing the tv tuner card drivers would not eat too much space.

on your next question: a tv tuner card simply makes your PC capable of receiving TV transmissions like an ordinary TV. it does not require you to be online to use a tv tuner card, so no streaming or downloading (in internet terms) occurs.

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TV Tuner card .. requires you to connect your TV hub to your Computer. There are external ones ( which i think are better ) and internal cards. They dont need any internet access and all the reception is by the analog signals from your cable operator.
As for the space thing, You can use softwares like ULEAD Video studio that allow you to record the media on the fly. So that the transmission is directly written on to a CD or a DVD and you dont need any additional space.
You can also use, Windows Media Encoder in the Window Movie Maker. It can encode your files in Windows Movie format which can save a hell lot of space with a negligible loss. Also, Recording space required depends upon the Resolution at which you are recording. Since, DivX and WMV Format don't depend on that so much and can provide you excellent Quality at very low space. So you can encode the high resolution videos into them. The Disadvantage is it requires a lot of processing Power and can take a hell lot of time.

Hope the Above information is helpful.

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Tv cards are the *BLEEP*! I reccomend em if u can solve ur problems

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Thanks alot for the info. The only thing I find strange is that why do we take so long to recieve movies via internet and why do TV signals transfer the data like a flash? I wonder if this could be incoporated into computer/internet so we don't have to wait too long for a movie download.

Another thing I would like to know is that what type of quality will I recieve as compared to the TV? Will the quality be better or worst? Do TV tuner cards allow you to have Dolby Surround? (assuming that I have the proper hardware and the TV program is in Dolby surround)

Thanks

-Shackman

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shackman, the answer to your question should be pretty obvious even to you.
the internet you experience is limited by the bandwidth you have... so if you're just using a 56K dialup (or lower), movies via internet would surely be a crawling experience. get a T1 connection (or, a DSL connection is good enough) and watching online movies would be a breeze.

on TV tuner card video quality, it all depends on what kind of settings you have, and the type of tuner card you have. some tv tuner cards are better than others. as for dolby surround, i suppose sticking your dolby system to the audio output would be the best test if it works on the type of tv tuner card you have.

 

 

 

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Any recommendations of good TV cards? Something that is good enough for casual TV viewing. I just want a TV card that can record TV programmes clearly, or 'TV quality'. To elaborate, that means sharp and clear. HDD space is not an issue.

O ya, and my question was:"why do we take so long to recieve movies via internet and why do TV signals transfer the data like a flash?" Do you mean the TV has a 100 Mbit connection???

If only we could use the technology used to transmit data in TVs to transfer data over the world, wow...I don't know what will happen....Imagine recieving a DVD quality (say.......4 GB) movie streaming without any hitches....what would the world come to??? Yeah, its my idea...so don't steal it. Its MY IDEA, so if anyone wants to architecture/manufacture/use this idea, you will have to seek my permission.

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I'm using Leadtek's Winfast TV2000XP Delux edition. It's a PCI add-on card with TV, FM, MPEG compression and PVR (Personal Video Recording) functionality. Just google search for it if you want to check its other special features + other comparable tv tuner cards that fit your requirements and budget.

typical tv signals (video+audio) require a 6-Mhz of bandwidth. read on how tv signals are transferred to viewers:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/tv12.htm

sorry to disappoint you BUT technology has been ahead of your idea for years already. anyone is capable of streaming data over the internet in a flash, without any hitches -- YOU JUST HAVE TO PAY THE PRICE TAG faster internet has been achieved already through cable connections, DSL connections, T1 connections, satellite connections, etc -- which gives the results you "envision" lately. if you have the cash to burn, you can get the fast internet you want.

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I use Winfast too! I don't really know if there are any better TV tuners, or if they are all the same, but this one seems to work fine. For forty minutes of a program, you'd have to take up about 1 GB! Pretty hard, but maybe all the TV tuners are like that

Hmm...from what I know, you connect the TV tuner to your own TV cable. Since watching TV doesn't exactly take much time, the TV tuner is like that too, except that the video is a little behind the audio...

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chelcy, you can configure the capture format profile for winfast if you want a less-than-1GB recording output for a 40-min program. you just have to tweak the capture profile settings to your desired output.

with regards to your experience of "video is a little behind audio", you should turn ON your OVERLAY MODE option -- when just viewing & not recording a tv program. turn the OVERLAY MODE option OFF when recording -- the video and audio will already be synchronized. make this a habit: OVERLAY MODE ON -- viewing; OVERLAY MODE OFF -- recording.

just a trick i learned from my use of my winfast.

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