Help in Choosing the right TV Tuner Card

[amit_w]

Hi everyone!

Can you please suggest a right TV Tuner card for my computer?

I got a P4 2 gigs with 256mb ddr1, 160 GB with a cd writer and a Riva tnt2 graphics card!
My Budget is not more than 5000 bucks! also i want to capture tv programs in mpeg1 format. i am looking for good picture quality from the card

Please suggest!

[Sourabh]

Well as fas as the tv-tuner card that u need go for PINNACLE PCTV PRO
it has the following features:

High quality Stereo TV tuner for hyper band cable and terrestrial antenna reception
Record Stereo FM radio with real-time compression to MPEG audio and Microsoft® Audio (WMA) format
Real-time MPEG-1, MPEG-2* and DV software compression with presets for VideoCD, SuperVCD* and DVD* format
Digital MPEG VCR for TV - and video recording from Camcorder , VCR or DVD-Player
and oh yaa its the simples of the tv-tuner cards to install. Installation of all other tv-tuners card is borin and a manual process for drivers but not with pinnacle

this is wht i wod suggest since i have this personally

ur budget is more than sufficient for this card. u can get a pinncle pctv pro
at lammy for 2400 Rs. THis is the price in Mumbai i expect it to be some 300-400 higher at ur place

mate get a descent graphic card too tnt riva 2 is history mate
atleast get a XFX GeForce fx5200 for around 3k

mebbe these 2 together wod b a better upgrade

[* - To capture or export MPEG-2 video for VCD, SVCD or DVD, you need to activate this feature]

[amit_w]

Thanks Sourabh for your valued suggestion!

However between Pinnacle and pixelview tv tuners, which one u think is better?

I am not too much into gaming, only odd games i play are NBA LIVE 2003, Cricket 2004, and FIFA WC etc and these games work just fine with the old out dated graphics card of mine. Maybe i will buy new graphics card later sometime.
Right now TV tuner is on top of my 'to-buy' list. 8)

[swatkat]

Originally Posted by amit_w

However between Pinnacle and pixelview tv tuners, which one u think is better?

go for Pinnacle,it's qaulity in playing/recording is better than PixelView.

[liquid_nitrogen88]

Yaaa....pinnacle will b the best option 4 u......
Happy Viewing ...............

[_timbuktoo]

The pinnacle card that comes for ~2400 is pctv plus - it doesn't have FM .

pctv pro is significantly costlier !!

[_timbuktoo]

Btw , I was looking for a tv tuner myself and have been reading a few reviews -- the main choice is between PCTV plus or Compro videomate ( pvr/fm or gold+ )

Compro has got some really great reviews , has FM and costs less than pctv pro .
Besides I have come across complaints regarding pinnacle's service on quite a few websites

I am not sure about the exact prices - will make a final decision after that .

Any suggestions from any of you ???

Are the "budget" tuners fom mercury / intex etc. any good ?

[swatkat]

Originally Posted by _timbuktoo

Are the "budget" tuners fom mercury / intex etc. any good ?

Don't go for Mercury or Intex.Mercuy has some Software problems and u have to update it from thier website to a new version.This is also mentioned in some old issue of Digit.
The choice is between Pinnacle and Compro.Pinnacle has more experience in video encoder/decoder/DV cards.

[suhas_sm]

Read out the article by AGENT in Dec issue ... that migth help u a lot ....
its a good article .

[gsmsikar]

hi
has anyone heard about this TV TUNER CARD ?

V-Stream VS-TV878RF Xpert TV-PVR PCI TV / FM Capture

http://www.kworld.com.tw/en/product/...8/PVR-878.html

http://www.shentech.com/vvsxptvpcitv1.html


this card is available here in my place for under Rs 1500, how is this card?

help..

thanks

[_timbuktoo]

Just bought a compro videomate tv/fm for Rs. 2550 from nehru place . - Excellent reception ( I never thought such good reception was possible on a computer !!! )

Nice recording features and abundant formats to choose from !!!
The fm is more clear than on my sony music system !!!

I couldn't ask for better

[KHUBBU]

i hav a pinnacle pctv plus.

It skips some channels like AXN ,maybe due to some conflict. I have to manually scan it using SECAM option. It doesnt get detected in PAL.

[dIgItaL_BrAt]

the pinnacle card is the best option.
pinnacle pctv+sourceforge drivers=pure viewing pleasure

[gsmsikar]

Originally Posted by dIgItaL_BrAt

the pinnacle card is the best option.
pinnacle pctv+sourceforge drivers=pure viewing pleasure

which are the sourceforge drivers ?
can u give any link?

thanks

[amey_dude]

I am a owner of PixelView Tv tuner card and i must say it roks!!

It doesnt skip any channels and plus have a FM radio!!!

We can record in both mpeg-1 and mpeg-2 and avi,and lots more formats directly!!

Now, i am not saying that pinnacle is bad but, there's not much difference in quality of pinnacle and pixelview. i hv seen both and used the latter for about 4 months. Also pinnacle card is a lil bit expensive.

However just curious, which card do you want i mean an internal card or external card

[shwetanshu]

Well i think u shud go for PINNACLE only and u can also read about it on TECHTREE

[cooljeba]

hmm i had aver media card before and believe me it rocked after the got card screwed up i brought a pctc plus and it's not bad but i miss my aver media .
I didn't get the avermedia card so had to settle for pctv.

..:: peace ::..
Jeba

[sagar_mutha]

Compro Videomate rocks man!!!!!!!

Beats pinnacle PCTV PLus by far!

[paraman]

So far I have used 3 TV Tuner cards, namely TekRam, AverMedia and currently Pinnacle PCTV Pro. IMO, Pinnacle has been the best.

[sagar_mutha]

Originally Posted by paraman

So far I have used 3 TV Tuner cards, namely TekRam, AverMedia and currently Pinnacle PCTV Pro. IMO, Pinnacle has been the best.

How much is a Pinnacle PCTV Pro for

[dIgItaL_BrAt]

Here is the link for the sourceforge drivers-------->
http://umn.dl.sourceforge.net/source...aller5.3.8.zip

[Charley]

Choosing a TV tuner card

Several TV tuner card types are available. Here are points to consider when shopping for one.

• Installation: Some TV tuner cards snap into one of the computer's internal "slot" connectors, either a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot or the AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot. This requires opening the computer's case with a screwdriver. For less handy types, plug-and-play TV tuner cards are available that connect to the PC's Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, though these cards lack some of the features of the internal cards.

• Minimum requirements: Your PC should have a lot of storage space and processing power, especially to do TiVo-like functions. For instance,Marvel G450 eTV tuner card from Matrox requires a PC with at least 128 megabytes of RAM, a 600 megahertz or better processor and 2 gigabytes of free hard disk space.

• Monitor compatibility: Select a TV tuner that has a frequency rate that's as great or greater than your PC's monitor. Frequency rate measures how often the TV tuner card and monitor refresh the image on the screen, measured in hertz or cycles per second. A 75 hertz TV tuner refreshes the image 75 times per second. Most new monitors are compatible with 75 to 85 hertz TV tuners.

Extras: Some TV tuners can zoom, or enlarge the TV image, and offer different television window sizes on the monitor. Others are dual head, allowing users to put TV images on more than one monitor or follow a video game from two different angles on the same monitor. Users also may want models with remote controls to change channels from a distance.