Tech Spotlight

A great feature of computers is the ability to work or browse the Internet while watching television.  Every computer I have owned, I have installed a TV Tuner card to enjoy television in a window while using the computer.  Not only does this let me get work done, it also lets me view some programming that I wanted to see, especially when it comes to sports.

There are 2 basic ways to add television watching and recording to your home computer.  The easiest and simplest way is by using a USB Tuner dongle.  You attach the coaxial cable to one end and plug the other end into an open USB port.  The second way is to buy an internal PCI card.  Usually the internal cards are better in the fact they have better circuity and hardware encoding built-in on the board.

TV Tuners also come with a CD-Rom that includes drivers needed to interact with the hardware, and software used to view and record television.  Hauppauge is the premium name in TV Tuner cards these days.  There are also other competing manufacturers in this market that make quality products like Pinnacle, Leadtek and ATI.  Do not skimp on a cheap TV Tuner board.  Lower end cards will result in poor video quality, stuttering and audio sync issues.  A good TV Tuner can set you back $75 dollars or more.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS