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View Full Version : Question about video cards&tv/out


SonyGuy
09-20-2002, 12:59 AM
Forgive me for my ignorance, but what exactly is TV/Out and what option is it that allows you to plug a coax cable into your video card so you can watch tv on your computer? If you could clear this up for me I would appreciate it. If I could watch tv right here someday I would be really happy... :D
Tommy Boomfiger
09-20-2002, 01:19 AM
tv out lets you send a video signal to a television (or anything that accepts the same video signal such as a vcr). depending on which card you use the signal may or may not be the same as what you get on your monitor.

as far as watching tv on your computer there are 2 options. if you have a video card which has a video-in, you can connect a vcr or external tv tuner and watch through a capture program. the second is to get a tv card or a video card with a tv tuner built in. the latter is the easiest way to do this IMO.

i use a Radeon All-in-Wonder card which has a tv tuner and VIVO (Video-In, Video-Out) features. the only reason to plug in a coax cable to your computer is if you have a tv tuner and you have an external antenna or cable/sat tv. i use my radeon card to watch and record tv, dvd's (no dvd drive, just a stand alone dvd player), play console (ps2, snes, nes :hihi: ) games and sometimes play movies and computer games on my much larger tv screen.
Ladogaboy
09-20-2002, 01:22 AM
Well, TV/out just means that you can send a signal from your computer to your TV via--usually--S-video or composite(RCA) cables.

A TV/in allows your computer to receive a signal from your TV, etc., and watch/capture it on your computer.

To me, though, it sounds like what you want is a TV Tuner card for your computer. They fit in a PCI slot and allow you to watch TV on your computer, plus it comes with a program that acts as a channel guide so that you can switch from station to station. I don't know if you can capture through a Tuner card though. :confused:
SonyGuy
09-20-2002, 01:46 AM
Oh, ok. I gotcha. Thanks Tommy. In that case I have played around with TV/Out on a friend of mines laptop. I had an S-video cable so I hooked his comp up to a tv. Pretty neat. Yeah, I guess I will look into a TV tuner card. Are there any bad ones out there? I mean what can happen, maybe the picture is fuzzy or slow? Thanks.
SonyGuy
09-20-2002, 02:26 AM
Hey guy Ladoga thanks for the info as well. I am looking at the ATI TV-WONDER card and am really interested in getting it. Comp-USA has them in PCI($50) and USB($80) versions. The reason I want to get one is because we have one tv in the house and it's only a little bigger than my ViewSonic 19" monitor...(Yeah, sucks..) There is a coax coming out of the wall in the closet next to me so I went ahead and unplugged the tv in the living room and hooked it up to the cable line in here... No cable... :( So what I may have to end up doing is going under the house to see what's up with that. Another question- In most cases you can have two seperate tv's watching two seperate channels right? This is a dumb question but I might as well ask just to be sure. Are there ever exceptions? Thanks.
Tommy Boomfiger
09-20-2002, 03:00 AM
Originally posted by SonyGuy
Hey guy Ladoga thanks for the info as well. I am looking at the ATI TV-WONDER card and am really interested in getting it. Comp-USA has them in PCI($50) and USB($80) versions. The reason I want to get one is because we have one tv in the house and it's only a little bigger than my ViewSonic 19" monitor...(Yeah, sucks..) There is a coax coming out of the wall in the closet next to me so I went ahead and unplugged the tv in the living room and hooked it up to the cable line in here... No cable... :( So what I may have to end up doing is going under the house to see what's up with that. Another question- In most cases you can have two seperate tv's watching two seperate channels right? This is a dumb question but I might as well ask just to be sure. Are there ever exceptions? Thanks. not sure about the pci tv-wonder, but stay away from the usb version. it looks nice and all, but the video is choppy at best.

with cable you can watch different channels on different tv's. with digital cable you will need an extra box (unless you can get analog on any extention without a box) and with sat you will need a multiple room capable system.
SonyGuy
09-20-2002, 03:05 AM
USB version is choppy huh? Well that sucks. Then I wonder if the PCI version would be any better? We have basic cable here so I guess it won't be a problem to have two tv's so to speak.
smurphy
09-20-2002, 08:06 AM
I have an ATI TV-Wonder as well and the PCI version works great. One thing to note is that there are 2 versions, one that is mono and one thats stereo. When I bought mine 2yrs ago the mono version was card special edition or value. Not 100% but just a heads up to check the box if you are interested.

Cheers,
Scott Murphy
Ladogaboy
09-20-2002, 10:17 AM
Originally posted by SonyGuy
We have basic cable here so I guess it won't be a problem to have two tv's so to speak.

Yeah, I have the same thing here. If I hooked up, there would be three lines running off of the cable connection. :D

As for the ATI TV-Wonder, don't look at that as being your only option. There are versions made my Pinnacle and a few other companies besides just ATI, and I believe that they are all under $50.

Like Tommy side, you can just upgrade to a faster videocard and get all the features rolled into one unit. But if you don't have the money for it, the PCI tuner card is probably the way to go.