TV Tuner For Desktop PC Archives

A TV tuner card is a type of television tuner that lets the computer to receive television signals. Most TV tuners also work as video capture cards which allow them to record programs of the television onto a hard disk. USB TV tuners permit consumers to apprehend free TV programs employing an inside and outside TV antenna.The USB device is connected from the antenna by USB tuner, which is then linked to a free USB slot on your computer.The software consists of a guide related to electronic programming that can schedule TV shows for recording in advance with the help of internet.

To watch live TV is the common usage of the TV tuner. You can make use of your tuner to provide your PC the control of a personal video recorder.Like TV,you can record, pause,fast forward or skip through things that are present in your video buffer.With the help of a dual tuner, two things can be recorded simultaneously.The third formerly recorded show can be watched or one of the two recorded lives shows can be watched which enormously increase your viewing option. It is not necessarily used for watching TV even the tuning in to radio signals are also involved.

Many people archive things by using their USB TV Tuner for pc. The video cassettes of advanced years can be streamed to your computer and a digital copy can be created that can be archived, or clips can be taken and send it to friends and family of days gone past. You can have these digital copies to make DVD’s which will work on the DVD player. Different shows can be recorded with the main box and allowing your streaming box access your library of shows and display it any TV in your home. For household work in a networked house , you can even arrange computer as a TV server.

Feature Watching TV used to be a passive affair: you sat back and watched whatever happened to be on. These days, passivity is passé. Digital Video Recorder (DVR) set-top boxes can pick up programmes beamed out from a terrestrial transmitter, sent via satellite or pumped down a cable and save them on a hard drive so you begin watching five minutes after the show started or at any other time.

You can do all this on a PC too. Getting TV on a PC is just a matter of plugging in one or more TV tuners, either as an internal add-in card or a USB clip-on, and running the control software. While your computer's screen might not be a sharp or as big as the telly in your living room, having TV on your PC does mean you can keep an eye on what's happening in the world while you're at work or at play. It's a doddle to archive recorded shows to DVD, and network connectivity means you can watch on any computer in any room in the house.

Taking this a step further, there's no reason why you shouldn’t watch it in the location of your choice so you can watch the latest episode of The Sopranos while you're on holiday in France.

Hardware

Picking a TV tuner for your PC can be a confusing task as you'll be faced with a stack of choices and a host of acronyms and abbreviations. The first choice: analogue, digital or both - the so-called hybrid tuner? When we reviewed HP's IQ770 PC, which uses Windows Vista, we found that the analogue TV tuner provided a handful of fuzzy TV stations that were unwatchable. To our mind, the appeal of analogue TV is past, particularly with the upcoming end of analogue broadcasts here in the UK.

TerraTec's USB Cinergy Hybrid tuner

But here's a thought. TV tuner specialist Hauppauge told us: "Analogue provides two key features: the ability to capture from analogue sources, such as VCRs, and flexibility. USB tuners are often used in more than one place, and digital signals may not be available in all of them."

Indeed, we've used Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid tuner to digitise old VHS tapes that aren't available on DVD.

If you want to watch one digital channel while you record another then you need two tuners. However, there's nothing to stop you going multiple tuners. Windows Media Center is designed to run two tuners. However, we're told that you can hack it to run at least six tuners, should you feel the need. Multi-channel, multi-monitor display system, anyone?

At the most basic level, it makes little difference whether you use a USB tuner or an internal PCI or PCI Express add-in card. You're talking about roughly 1GB of video per tuner per hour, which is well within the bounds of USB 2's bandwidth. However, it's a safer bet to use an internal card, especially if you also use a number of USB peripherals. And if you plan to make the jump to HDTV, you'll need a faster interface than USB 2.0.

Windows Vista can use multiple TV tuners

Still, if you have a highly compact desktop PC, like you'll have little choice but to go for a USB tuner. You may well find that the tuner blocks one or more neighbouring ports, but USB tuners usually come with a USB extension lead.

This largely applies to laptops too. It's the work of a moment to unplug a USB tuner and aerial when you're off on your travels, but you're not limited to USB-connected devices. AVerMedia, for example, has a growing range of ExpressCard tuners such as the DVB-T Express X. Thanks to the bandwidth provided by the ExpressCard bus, it has headroom for HDTV.

AVerMedia's DVB-T Express X ExpressCard tuner

To the best of our knowledge there's no technical difference between PCI and PCIe add-in cards, although it's tempting to choose PCIe if only to make use of the PCIe x1 slots that you find on modern desktop motherboards. It's possible that the bandwidth and power of PCIe may have a beneficial effect as KWorld lists a dual hybrid card that has a PCIe x1 interface.

The DVB-T PE310 PlusTV Dual Hybrid is a dual tuner card with a difference. Each tuner can be configured in software to act either as a digital tuner or an analogue tuner so you can have dual digital tuners with the option of an analogue tuner should it be required.

KWorld's PlusTV Dual Hybrid PCIe card

Most manufacturers include a small portable aerial with the tuner. However, our experience is that they are next to useless. Clearly, how good these mini antennae are at picking up a solid signal depends on the coverage where you live, but when we connected the HP IQ770 to a proper aerial on the roof we found an impressive total of 70 TV and radio stations. Switching to a tiny indoor antenna that was packaged with a USB tuner inside a room with metal framed windows the DVB-T tuner picked up no channels whatsoever.

Placing the tiddly antenna on the outside window sill we did far better, picking up 26 channels including such gems as Sky Three, UKTV History and E4+1 - but not E4. There wasn't a single TV station that we would choose to watch but the radio selection wasn't bad.

A typical bundled mini antennna

If you plan on using one of these travel aerials then we wish you luck, but strongly suggest that you get some proper ironmongery on your roof and even then you will likely need a £15-20 mains-powered signal booster if you're splitting the signal between rooms.

Software

Every TV tuner comes with some sort of software to allow you to scan for stations, save favorite broadcasters, and schedule recordings DVR-style. Compared to the Windows Vista's Media Center software, most of the tuner-bundled apps we've tried look positively amateurish.

TV software from Terratec (top) and Hauppauge

It works, but generally performance is poor, we've found. KWorld's software, for instance, look bad and proved rather unstable. Seriously, with Media Center bundled with Windows Vista Home Premium, if you're upgrading your OS, or buying a new, Vista-equipped machine there seems little reason not to use Vista in preference to the tuner manufacturers' offerings.

Windows Vista TV tuner set-up

You'll be able to scan for channels, watch TV, pause and record from the comfort of your sofa with the added bonus of the MCE '10ft' interface on the screen and a decent remote control. On top of that you can expect that your tuner will come with a seven-day Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) but Vista's Media Center features a 14-day EPG.

Most digital tuners will work with the DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) system that's the backbone of the UK's terrestrially transmitted Freeview free-to-air network. But they're not exclusively Freeview - as there are a small number of tuners capable of grabbing cable and satellite sent content.

TerraTec's Cinergy 1200 DVB-C cable TV card

Cable looks straightforward: simply install a DVB-C (Digital Video Broadcasting - Cable) tuner such as Terratec's Cinergy 1200 DVB-C PCI card and connect the cable. Your cable company - Virgin Media, here in the UK - only feeds you the channels that you pay for so it probably doesn't much care whether you watch your TV via its own set-top box or through your PC. And you can use your Media Center PC to record content, burn it to CD/DVD, strip out the adverts and stream TV to other PCs around the house.

Satellite is a completely different story. The problem is that Sky has no way of knowing who is pointing a dish at their satellite so it has to use encryption to protect the signal. The signal feed from the dish to the Sky box and Sky card is supposed to be out of your grasp, especially as Sky charges increasing fees for Sky, Sky+ and Sky HD servies.

Hauppauge's WinTV Nova S Plus satellite tuner card

It's easy enough to buy a DVB-S card - Hauppage, for instance, has its WinTV Nova S Plus for standard definition programmes, and its WinTV Nova HD S2 for hi-def broadcasts - that will accept a feed from a satellite dish, and if you're a real buff you'll have a motorised dish that you can steer to known points to receive the satellite signal of your choice. Rumours abound of football fans who watch the unencrypted uplink signal of foreign matches before it reaches the studio and is then encrypted for broadcast.

That sounds like awfully hard work to us, and a trawl of the many AV forums throws up all sorts of issues. Take this snippet from club.cdfreaks.com:

"To use a DVB-S card with an official subscription, you will need a DVB-S card with CAM support. I had a quick look at the Hauppauge UK website, but there is no mention of CAM support with their latest cards, which means that they only pick up free-to-air channels (and data services such as broadband-via-satellite) with its included software.

"ProgDVB does support the use of so-called software CAMs, such as Yankse. However, as a software CAM is an emulation of a hardware CAM, these also require decryption keys to work since there is no physical slot insert a card to. As getting the keys out for a card is much like getting a patch for a game to work without the CD, I will not discuss this any further here."

The CAM referred to is a Conditional Access Module - tech-talk for the add-in card that authorises your set-top box to decrypt the selected channel. Without it, you'll be left only viewing the free-to-air channels, most of which you get on Freeview anyway.

Once you've installed a DVB-T tuner, or perhaps a triple mode tuner with both DVB-T and DVB-C you'll find it's simple to watch and record TV. Indeed, any student or teenager who is considering taking both a laptop and TV away to college or university should seriously consider ditching the TV altogether.

Have you ever wanted to get video from one source or another and put it on your computer? One of the best ways to do this is with a TV tuner. A TV tuner is a device that you attach to your computer that will convert video ready for TV into a format that the computer can understand in order to let you manipulate that video to suit your needs.

There are internal TV tuner cards that can perform this function, but this is not always an option. If you don’t have the room inside of your desktop, you have a laptop, or you need to move your tuner to different locations from time to time, using just one internal card isn’t an option. This is where the USB TV tuner comes in. By plugging an external TV tuner into one of your USB ports, you can instantly have access to your video.

There are many different kinds of USB TV tuners out there however, and you need to take the time to pick out the one that’s right for you.

Connecting Your USB TV Tuner to Your Computer

A USB TV tuner works as a middleman between your computer and your video. It’s important to understand that not all USB connectors are the same even if they look the same and fit the same plugs. While most new USB TV tuners will be USB 2.0 spec, it’s possible to run across one that is older and runs on the older generation connector. Even though they’ll plug into the newer socket the speed difference will be dramatic, and some of the functions that you were hoping to use it for might not work properly or at all.

That being said, if you find yourself a USB 3.0 device it might be a little overkill for your needs. While you might have the temptation to future proof your system, by the time TV quality gets to a point where you’ll need the speed benefits USB 3.0 provides something better will have come along in the years it will take to get to that point and you’ll have overpaid for nothing.

Connecting Your USB TV Tuner to Your Video Source

Just like there are wide assortments of ways to connect video to your TV, there are as many ways to connect video to your computer. The most common way to do this is through a standard coaxial cable like the one you would screw into the back of your TV or cable box. If you have access to normal analog or digital cable signals through a coaxial cable this is likely all you’ll need to set it up. If you’re getting your signal from over the air broadcasts or you’re using your tuner to listen to radio the steps are similar if your tuner supports it.

If you intend to use a different kind of connector make sure the tuner you’re looking at supports it. Many come with an additional dongle that will support several different connectors from S-Video to Component video. Due to the DRM issues with HDMI, you’re not likely to find a tuner that supports this kind of connection, but in most instances using component connectors is quite comparable.

Wait, I Might Not Be Able to Watch TV on This?

DRM (Digital Rights Management) issues don't just crop up when dealing with cables. Most USB TV tuners are not set up to be able to work with a scrambled video channel, so if you were planning on ditching your cable box you might be in for a nasty surprise.

Not all is lost however, as you can take the video that comes from your cable box and stream it through to your computer. You can even find tuners that come with their own infrared device that shoots instructions to your cable box to change channels at the right time for your recordings. Just being aware of the issue and knowing what to look for when shopping makes the issue a lot less thorny to deal with.

What Are the Uses of a USB TV Tuner?

The most obvious use of a TV tuner is to watch live TV, but that’s not all it can do. While not all recording programs are created equal, you can use your tuner to give your PC the power of a Personal Video Recorder like the cable companies try to get you to rent. You will be able to record and pause live TV, as well as fast forward or skip through things that are in your video buffer.

Taking screenshots is generally a breeze, and if you have a dual tuner you can record two things at the same time. You’ll be able to watch one of the two live shows being recorded, or watch a third previously recorded show, drastically increasing your viewing options. Although not necessary for watching TV, some tuners also include the ability to tune in to radio signals.

There are many out there that also use their USB TV tuners to archive things. Stream those aging video cassettes to your computer and create a digital copy that you can archive or take clips of and send to friends and family of days gone past. You can also take these digital copies and make DVD’s that can will work with your normal DVD player.

If you’re living in a networked house, you could even setup a computer to be a TV server for your household, recording a bunch of different shows with your main box and letting your streaming box access your library of shows and display it to any TV in your home.

It’s easy to see why TV tuners have become quite popular.

Can Any Program on My Computer Use the Video from a TV Tuner?

In general the answer is yes. By using a USB device the driver setup is generally automatic, and while each tuner comes with its individual software to use in order to record it’s not necessary to use. Programs like Windows Media Center can access the USB TV tuner directly and set up recording times and schedules. Be aware however that while some programs will be able to set a schedule, if you’re running things through a cable box the program you’re using might not be able to change the channel on the cable box, making the program very limited.

Ok, So How Much Is This Going to Set Me Back?

Prices for USB TV tuners vary quite a bit depending on what you want it to do. If all you need is to funnel an analog TV signal to your computer, you can get away with paying for something around the $50 mark. If you need something with a lot more bells and whistles, you can easily run all the way up to the $200 mark, even if that’s more then what most people need. When looking at the different options out there, be sure to check out the reviews on places like Amazon. The tuner in the Amazon ad above is dynamically updated to be the top search result for USB TV Tuners and will get you started on finding the tuner right for you.

The variety of quality out there is quite vast and it’s very easy to pick up a pretty box and inside find a lemon that just doesn't cut it for your needs. Don’t let that discourage you however as there are several great companies out there that make quality parts and will make it easy for you to convert your PC into a hefty recording machine.

This article is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge. Content is for informational or entertainment purposes only and does not substitute for personal counsel or professional advice in business, financial, legal, or technical matters.

© 2013 Ben Martin

Comments

Rudy on March 17, 2018:

Thanks for the primer. It has been very helpful as I am only now considering using my laptop for more than word processing and spreadsheets.

Darrell on February 11, 2018:

I had no idea the USB TV tuner could be used to archive VHS or other analog sources....thanks for the tip

Malek Zarzour from Turkey, Istanbul on February 14, 2013:

thank you for this useful info. voted up.

Ben Martin (author) from Liverpool, Nova Scotia on February 14, 2013:

Glad you enjoyed and glad I could help you with saving your memories :)

Winchestery on February 13, 2013:

I honestly had no idea what a TV tuner was for until I read this hub. Now I'm glad I did because i've been wanting to make digital copies of some old home movies. Great hub!

Ben Martin (author) from Liverpool, Nova Scotia on February 08, 2013:

Technically not the first hub I've written, but I'm still very new and definitely wasn't expecting this. Was a very nice surprise to be certain. Have to say though, another surprise is after looking at the poll... I wasn't expecting the percentages that are showing. I expected not many people would want one just for radio, but the number of people wanting to convert old video to digital video was interesting and made me doubly glad I put the poll up in this hub :)

Sherry Hewins from Sierra Foothills, CA on February 07, 2013:

Great hub, and it looks like you've got HOTD on your very first hub. Congratulations and welcome to Hubpages.

Comfort Babatola from Bonaire, GA, USA on February 07, 2013:

I've always wondered how I could make digital copies of my old videos to watch for later. Your hub answered that question. All I need now is to figure out the right one to get.

Thanks, and congrats on the HOTD award.

Ben Martin (author) from Liverpool, Nova Scotia on February 07, 2013:

I'm quite glad that people are enjoying this hub :) I tried to write it so that no matter the level of tech expertise one had a person could walk away with a better understanding of things. It's still a shock to me that I managed to get a Hub of the Day award though :)

Gail from Small Town Tennessee on February 07, 2013:

Being technologically disadvantaged, I had quite a different idea as to what this was for. Thank you for the information. Really good hub!

RTalloni on February 07, 2013:

Thanks for this look at what a USB TV tuner can do for us, and congrats on your Hub of the Day award.

Hui (蕙) on February 07, 2013:

This is great knowledge to know, and it must be a good selling.

Ben Martin (author) from Liverpool, Nova Scotia on February 07, 2013:

Yeah, you can sometimes even find a good one even less then $50. I currently see a Diamond one on that Amazon list for under $40 and they make solid products.

kingkos on February 07, 2013:

I can buy one of this TV Tuner, I check your price list, less than $50. I can afford it. Thanks for the tips