Turning my PC into a TV
By TheNightFox
@TheNightFox (235)
New Zealand
April 12, 2009 12:30am CST
I've read that it's possible.
I don't mean simply running DVD's through my PC, I can do that already.
But I'd like to be able to run TV channels through my PC, but preferably not via the show's website, as that would mean it would have to download it and with limited bandwidth, that isn't a very good solution. The whole "watching TV on my PC" isn't what attracts me: I have a TV in my bedroom, it's that I want to save these shows like the New Zealand (I think it's only New Zealand, I presume other countries have similar things with different names) Sky TV extra, MySky. It allows you to pause TV, record all episodes of a certain show and even save TV shows. The last one is what I mainly want. I considered getting MySky, but I presume it would only have limited memory, and I want to be able to save up to the limits of my hard drive.
How would I go about doing this? Would I be able to connect my TV up with my computer (It's a very old TV)? Connect some sort of satalite to my computer? Or would it involve getting it from the internet? How much would all this cost?
Any help would be much obliged.
6 responses
@HeXeD79 (41)
•
13 Apr 09
I think the majority of people are not explaining this correctly.. here I go.
Scenario 1: You want to capture/record Standard definition and/or high definition TV from AIR (Signal from an antenna). We are talking about FREE TV over the air that you do not need to pay a provider for.
What you need: You need a Tuner card in your computer. This can be a High definition one or a standard definition one (usually high definition ones also have standard definition). I would recommend Digital tuners over analog. In the US, they are completely doing away with analog signals over the air, so digital will be the only way to go. Along with your tuner you need an Antenna. Dunno why all these people are recommending a tuner card without an antenna. You won't get ANY reception without one. This is where you need to do a little homework. I would first try a simple rabit ears antenna. Other than that, you might need to figure out if you have UHF signals or VHF, or both and if you need an antenna that can handle both. I personally went with the Terk HDTVa antenna.. the amplified one. Very nice.
Scenario 2: You want to get programs that are NOT on national broadcast TV, such as shows or programs coming through "pay for tv" channels. In the states, these are channels like comedy central, TNT, TBS, HBO, Showtime, etc..etc. These are programs that you will not receive over the air. This requires you to connect a cable box/Digital cable box/Satellite receiver to your computer.
what you need: You need a capture card. If you want HD captures then you need a component imput capture card. This is the inputs with Green/Blue/Red. Leadtek currently makes on finally called the PVR3000. If you want standard definition you can go to the store and buy the many different types of S-video input cards that can capture standard or DVD quality resolution. This is a pretty elaborate setup and might proove to be harder than first thought.
Hopefully this is something close to what you were looking for. Happy hunting.
@TheNightFox (235)
• New Zealand
16 Apr 09
Thanks, that's the most helpful response I've had yet (no offense to anyone else). That all makes sense. I'm planning on just buying a simple TV tuner, it's cheap and I don't need all those other channels.
@TheNightFox (235)
• New Zealand
12 Apr 09
Thanks for your response. Tv Tuner would probably be what I would go for, I'm looking it up now.
Satellitetvtopc would presumably download the TV onto your PC, wouldn't it? So, I probably wouldn't go for that as it would drain too much of my bandwidth.
@megh4u (372)
• Alpharetta, Georgia
13 Apr 09
there is a way that you can able to run TV channel on your pc......but it requires an additional hardware called as tv tuner card....there are two types of tv tuner card one is internal and the otherone is external the internal is basically used if you want to record the running program of your tv but to run tv you need to run whole computer to run.....
the other one is external tv tuner card that allow you to view tv without running whole computer you only require monitor and speaker remain open and the rest of the pc will remain closed and there is no recording facility.......just check your requirement and purchase accordingly....
@acematthews71 (1084)
• India
12 Apr 09
You can run t.v. channels on your computer by using a t.v. tuner card so then you may be able to see all the t.v. channels on your p.c. but i don't know the costs for that.
