TV Tuner Cards

Techadvice.com

Windows 95, 98, ME, XP,
NT4, 2000, Errors,
Applications,

TV Tuner Hardware | Tech Main |

General Information -

If you need to buy a TV Tuner Card, see the 'TV Tuner Cards' page.

TV Tuner Cards are devices which connect to a computer and feed a signal to the computer so that a television picture (and sound) is shown on the computer just like if it was a television. You can connect cable TV to pick up cable channels or a standard TV antenna to pick up local channels.

Many of these cards are also capable of picking up FM radio.

The majority of these devices are internal PCI type cards but there are external USB versions as well.

The input must be provided by either an antenna or a cable connection just like with a television set. You can also use the input of a VCR or a camcorder. Many TV Tuner devices also are capable of outputting the contents of a saved video file to a VCR for recording.

You can capture any video you see on the screen into either a still picture or save it into a movie like file on the hard drive in one of several formats like the Microsoft MOV format.

Hardware

One typical problem users have with internal cards is to forget to connect the TV Tuner card to the sound card. A short cable with an RCA type connector on each end is used to enable the sound. This cable normally is included with the card when you buy it.

The plug on one end is connected to the Sound Out plug on the back of the TV Tuner card. The other end of the cable is connected to the Sound Card In plug.

Software

Every card has a special program which comes with the card and is used to turn on the TV Tuner card functionality and to allow you to change the channel and other similar changes.

Additionally most of the installation programs allow you to install the Microsoft DirectX component. This can cause problems if the version used by your video card is different than the one that the TV Tuner card software loads. The best thing to do if there is a problem is to check the tech support site of the manufacturer to see if there are any special instructions or problems with the software.

Video Formats -

NTSC (Japan, North America)
PAL B/G/I/D (Europe,Australia, Asia)
PAL M/N (South America)
Secam L/K (France, Eastern Europe
Information on Worldwide TV Standards.

You are at the www.techadvice.com site which is not associated with the company or products shown on this page.
Contact Us, Disclaimer	Advertisers ExoticRecipes

---