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What's a good basic tuner for my needs?

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Gregory_WE

Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2002
This is all I believe I will need from this tuner card:

1) Right now I'm on an internship and the house I'm in has analog cable, so I would need to just run coax from the wall to the card (I think any tuner should be able to do this?)

2) When I get back to school, we have digital cable (and HD services), so I would like to be able to take advantage of that - if I understand correctly, I need a card that supports QAM? I would also want to just run the coax cable from the wall to the card in this setup.

So, is this the kind of card I'm looking for? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100021

Any other ones you'd recommend? I just need something pretty basic, so I'm not looking to spend a lot of $$. Thanks!

Edit: One more question, how much better would the picture be in #2? Cause I could just go with a real basic tuner rather than pay extra for something better
 
The AverMedia AverTV PCIe Combo is a dual tuner (analog and digital) than can do QAM. Newest revisions of the Hauppauge HVR-1600 and HVR-1800 also are capable of QAM.

HD captures are as good over SD in the same manner that HD picture quality is better than SD quality. The differences between digital and analog SD sources are a bit less, but digital is better.

Keep in mind that not all digital tuners are QAM-capable and if you want to capture both, you need to get a card that specifically has both types of tuners on board. Digital tuners are not analog-capable.
 
Ok so the one that I linked would not work with the analog cable, I need to make sure it has an NTSC tuner also?

If so, good thing I asked before buying then - thanks!

For clarification, what exactly does QAM allow you to do? Is it OTA or through your cable, or both?
 
Ok so the one that I linked would not work with the analog cable, I need to make sure it has an NTSC tuner also?

If so, good thing I asked before buying then - thanks!

For clarification, what exactly does QAM allow you to do? Is it OTA or through your cable, or both?

Right now, some cable companies are sending local channels over basic cable in an unencrypted digital QAM format which can be tuned by a capable QAM tuner. When digital TV goes live in 2009, all cable companies will be required to do this. It's the equivalent of the most basic cable subscription you can get, but being sent digitally.

Since it's not a requirement, some cable companies are not doing it...probably because they don't have the proper equipment in place or are still trying to prepare for it and are encrypting everything. Those that have it are putting it out to have it in perfect order when that deadling comes next year.

When I moved recently, I was nearing the end of my Total Access package with Comcast and decided to just keep the Internet, digital voice, and basic cable. However, with that basic cable subscription and my HDHomeRun tuner, I can pick up about 40 digital stations that are being transmitted via unencrypted QAM. My old plan had the basic HD upgrade for $11 a month. I'm getting this for nothing now and paying only $12 for basic cable. With those, I get about a dozen HD channels (same as with the basic HD service I had before).
 
Ok something I'm confused about... with digital cable, if I have a digital tuner can I just take a coax cable from the wall and connect it to the card and get all the channels? Or do you only get the Clear QAM ones? My cable co back home is Comcast, I'm not sure if they'd have the Clear QAM channels. Would a set-top box be of any help?
 

Yes.

Actually most cable companies will have until 2012 to totally eliminate their analog signals. Cable companies will have the option to convert their digital SD signal to analog or they must provide a converter box to each customer.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...e-you-must-support-analog-tvs-until-2012.html

Yes...I just spoke of the digital requirement.

Ok something I'm confused about... with digital cable, if I have a digital tuner can I just take a coax cable from the wall and connect it to the card and get all the channels? Or do you only get the Clear QAM ones? My cable co back home is Comcast, I'm not sure if they'd have the Clear QAM channels. Would a set-top box be of any help?

You will only get clear-QAM. A set-top box works, but you can't capture HD with it (and the digital channels will come through the analog input)...you'd need a cablecard to capture true digital and HD channels and those require an entire OEM system.

There is new hardware coming out that looks to capture some true digital/HD streams, but until they've been on the market and thoroughly tested, I don't know how they're going to fare.
 
Alright, I've got it all cleared up now - thanks for all the help Jon!
 
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