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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mm1352000" data-source="post: 768955" data-attributes="member: 82144">Hi again DaveIn layman's terms, a tuner is a device that is able to receive signals from the air (via aerial or satellite dish) and/or a cable connection to a local provider and manipulate the received signal in such a way that software installed on your computer can receive the available channels. You need a tuner to receive DVB-T, DVB-S/S2, DVB-C, ATSC, clear/encrypted QAM, FM radio and analog (NTSC/PAL) signals.A capture device on the other hand does not "demodulate" signals. It is simply an interface to connect video to a computer, much like a computer video/graphics card output is an interface to connect video to a display or TV. Capture devices generally fall into one of two categories: analog and digital. Analog capture devices commonly have composite (yellow "RCA" plug) and/or s-video ("din" plug) input(s), and sometimes component (red, green and blue "RCA" plugs) input(s). Digital capture devices may have a range of inputs including firewire, HDMI, USB, and DVI. Some capture devices may have both analog and digital inputs. When you connect an STB to a computer, you generally connect it to a capture device of some kind.Finally, some tuner cards also have capture inputs. For example, <a href="http://allegro.tanielaptopy.opole.pl/7010ix_2.jpg" target="_blank">this</a> is a picture of Pinnacle PCTV 7010ix; it has four tuner inputs plus a capture input that has a breakout cable which allows you to connect composite or s-video sources.Yes - I'm a member of the development team so I often use the term "we" to describe MediaPortal. Sorry for the confusion. :sorry:Yes, a capture card doesn't tune the signal. The chips inside the STB tune (select a specific frequency, demodulate (too complicated to explain), digitise (convert voltage/current signals to 1's and 0's for the STB's digital chips to handle), decode (remove the copy protection/encryption from the signal) and decompress (video and audio are almost always compressed, and they must always be decompressed before they can be shown on a TV or heard through speakers) the signal, and provide it to the output connections on the back and/or front of the STB. Depending on the output, the signal may be in a digital or analog format. If analog, you connect it to an analog input on a capture card, which will digitise the signal so that the computer can understand it. Digital capture cards mostly just manipulate the signal a little and then pass it on to other software (the signal is already digital).Complicated stuff - hopefully you can make at least a little sense out of my ramblings! <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin    :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" />mm</blockquote>

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