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Is There A Stand-Alone HDTV PC Tuner?
- Thread starter brent65
- Start date
ATSC tuners are all MPEG-2 from what I understand.
Beyond that, your question is hard to understand. You want a PC tuner that will work without the PC being on which is to say without a PC!?! The best bet is probably to buy a 22" HDTV and use it as a PC monitor.
As for HDTV recording in something other then MPEG-2, the Hauppauge HD PVR records in H.264 AVCHD .ts file format and with a new software update it can record to .m2ts. The Hauppauge HD PVR requires the use of a PC though and a PC robust enough for Blu-Ray decode at that. The Hauppauge HD PVR is not a tuner though. It will record from just about any Component source in up to 1080i without DRM restrictions. So that means HBO-HD, ShowTime-HD, MAX-HD and more! It can connect to a Netflix Ruko device, Blu-Ray player, HD DVD Player, Xbox 360 and more.
Beyond that, your question is hard to understand. You want a PC tuner that will work without the PC being on which is to say without a PC!?! The best bet is probably to buy a 22" HDTV and use it as a PC monitor.
As for HDTV recording in something other then MPEG-2, the Hauppauge HD PVR records in H.264 AVCHD .ts file format and with a new software update it can record to .m2ts. The Hauppauge HD PVR requires the use of a PC though and a PC robust enough for Blu-Ray decode at that. The Hauppauge HD PVR is not a tuner though. It will record from just about any Component source in up to 1080i without DRM restrictions. So that means HBO-HD, ShowTime-HD, MAX-HD and more! It can connect to a Netflix Ruko device, Blu-Ray player, HD DVD Player, Xbox 360 and more.
caveman-jim
New member
Is there an ATI or other brand ATSC / 1080i / MPEG-4 TV tuner for a PC that doesn't require turning on the PC to watch TV? Or will I have to get a 1080i set top box tuner and separate scheduling / recording software?
http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun
Right, the Silicondust HDHomeRun is a great product! I have two HDHomeRun units and use them the most out of all my tuners. However, its still ATSC / QAM MPEG-2 not MPEG-4 AVCHD / H.264 and I don't see how you can use one without a PC being on to access the stream over ethernet.
caveman-jim
New member
Yeah, I guess I was envisioning him using it with different PC's in different rooms, rather than as an external decoder hooked to a monitor.
So no such animal then?
So no such animal then?
Hmm. Well, I want to watch over-the-air TV (I thought ATSC implied that) on an LCD monitor, not an HD TV, and if I could watch it without having to turn on my PC first, and then turn the PC on when I want to schedule and record a program onto its hard drive, not a separate DVR / PVR, so I can edit out the ads if possible, and - or at least, burn it to a DVD, and do it all with one tuner, instead of a set-top box tuner and a PC tuner, that would be nice.
Does the HDHomeRun tuner do both - send an OTA TV signal 1)to a monitor without the need for the PC to be on and 2)to a powered-on PC to record a show? If not, I take it there isn't a tuner currently being sold that can do both?
Or can an LCD monitor - in my case a Samsung 245T - only display OTA TV and DVDs through a powered-on PC? If so, my original question is irrelevant. I guess I should've asked if that was possible without a PC, regardless of the type of tuner.
(I included MPEG-4 partly 'cause I thought I saw some ATSC PC tuners that support it, even though I know ATSC doesn't, and partly in case ATSC decides someday to support MPEG-4. Hey, DISH Network and DirecTV now air some, if not all, of their premium channels in MPEG-4, so it could happen.)
So no such animal then?
Hmm. Well, I want to watch over-the-air TV (I thought ATSC implied that) on an LCD monitor, not an HD TV, and if I could watch it without having to turn on my PC first, and then turn the PC on when I want to schedule and record a program onto its hard drive, not a separate DVR / PVR, so I can edit out the ads if possible, and - or at least, burn it to a DVD, and do it all with one tuner, instead of a set-top box tuner and a PC tuner, that would be nice.
Does the HDHomeRun tuner do both - send an OTA TV signal 1)to a monitor without the need for the PC to be on and 2)to a powered-on PC to record a show? If not, I take it there isn't a tuner currently being sold that can do both?
Or can an LCD monitor - in my case a Samsung 245T - only display OTA TV and DVDs through a powered-on PC? If so, my original question is irrelevant. I guess I should've asked if that was possible without a PC, regardless of the type of tuner.
(I included MPEG-4 partly 'cause I thought I saw some ATSC PC tuners that support it, even though I know ATSC doesn't, and partly in case ATSC decides someday to support MPEG-4. Hey, DISH Network and DirecTV now air some, if not all, of their premium channels in MPEG-4, so it could happen.)
Last edited:
caveman-jim
New member
Hmm. Well, I want to watch over-the-air TV (I thought ATSC implied that) on an LCD monitor, not an HD TV, and if I could watch it without having to turn on my PC first, and then turn the PC on when I want to schedule and record a program onto its hard drive, not a separate DVR / PVR, so I can edit out the ads if possible, and - or at least, burn it to a DVD, and do it all with one tuner, instead of a set-top box tuner and a PC tuner, that would be nice.
Does the HDHomeRun tuner do both - send an OTA TV signal 1)to a monitor without the need for the PC to be on and 2)to a powered-on PC to record a show? If not, I take it there isn't a tuner currently being sold that can do both?
Or can an LCD monitor - in my case a Samsung 245T - only display OTA TV and DVDs through a powered-on PC? If so, my original question is irrelevant. I guess I should've asked if that was possible without a PC, regardless of the type of tuner.
(I included MPEG-4 partly 'cause I thought I saw some ATSC PC tuners that support it, even though I know ATSC doesn't, and partly in case ATSC decides someday to support MPEG-4. Hey, DISH Network and DirecTV now air some, if not all, of their premium channels, so it could happen.)
I don't think you can do that (at least for a reasonable price); you either get an external ASTC/QAM decoder that hooks up to your monitor (some with passthrough, like these - http://us.kworld-global.com/main/prod_in.aspx?mnuid=1306&modid=10&pcid=71&ifid=28&prodid=187) or you buy an external which either network or directly connects to your PC for it's software to run software to provide the DVR functions.