Getting The BEST quality from a TV Tuner Card?? (1 Viewer)

[slimmj0k3r]

Big dilemma, i currently have Verizon FIOS (STB). Never had any experience with a tv tuner card so while i was at circuit city i picked up a hauppauge WinTV 1600. Now My fios is usually connected via HDMI to my TV for the best quality, which is pretty damn good. Now i connected my STB with my TV Tuner Card via coaxial cable, and it SUCKED...yeah i know coaxial is probally the worst type of connection to use. Now it was suggest to use the Svideo, which showed a good difference but nothing compared to HDMI. my question is Which card should i be looking at?? I've searched and there really isnt any HDMI input cards that are cheap, nor too many people who have used them for HTPC setups. Coaxial, S-Video, Component are all out of the question for me, dont want to seem picky but if its down to that i'll keep the FIOS on the HDMI straight to my TV.

need help here guys! I've been searching and searching but still no luck!!

 

[nchopp]

S-Video won't help you much - maxes out at 480p (or i, can't remember). You need to go with the coax. (Good coax has plenty of bandwidth for consumer HD) I've never done work with TV cards, so I'm afraid I can't help with troubleshooting much. I would guess there's something wrong with your configuration. Does it look terrible with the software Haupagge provided as well, or just MediaPortal?

Does FIOS provide a cable box?

 

[milhouse]

I assume you are talking HD video over HDMI? Premium channels that are encrypted, so you have to use the settop box?

You might actually want a capture card instead of a tuner card. The hauppauge HD-PVR seems to be the first thing available that actually captures HD video, though I think it uses component input rather than digital (HDMI). MP support for the HD-PVR seems to be mostly there - check the forums for details.

I don't think there are any consumer level HDMI input cards, so they're all REALLY pricey.


Someday I hope they're be a decent option to capture encrypted video in a PC without a settop box in the US. That's what the cablecard was supposed to do, but they're crap. Maybe I'll move to Europe where the DVB-S, DBD-T, and CAM combinations actually works.