Is There A Stand-Alone HDTV PC Tuner?

brent65

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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.)
 
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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.
 
No Such Tuner : (

No Such Tuner : (

Ok. I guess I'll settle for the Kworld SA290-Q DVI and separate DVR software then. Thank you everyone for your replies and caveman-jim for the link. I really appreciate it. Happy holidays.
 
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