TV tuner for computers

Insurrectionist · Post by **Insurrectionist** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 8:05 pm

Any suggestions on which brand to buy.

Foil · Post by **Foil** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:05 am

Depends on what you need.

I got an ATI TVW 650, because I wanted ClearQAM (for HD via cable) DVR functionality in my Windows media box.

In any case, try to get a card with hardware compression - for my P4-based media box, it really helps to keep the load off the CPU.

Isaac · Post by **Isaac** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:03 am

hauppauge is an ok brand, with a minimalist UI. Some even work with linux, out of the box.

Xamindar · Post by **Xamindar** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:17 am

I would also recommend any of the hauppauge cards. PVR 500 is really good if you are building a DVR as it is a dual tuner card and (at least for me) it works great in linux.

ccb056 · Post by **ccb056** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:04 pm

Im running the HDHomerun. Its a dual network QAM tuner. You plug 2 coax cables and an ethernet cable in it. All the machines on your network can access it and watch QAM channels (unencrypted HD). It will load balance the 2 tuners, so 2 machines can watch 2 different channels, or you can record and watch 2 different channels at the same time, etc.