Buying Guide : TV Tuner for TFTs Wide Screen [19 or 20"]

[premsharma]

This is what I was talking about, Advance LCD TV box
*img412.imageshack.us/img412/3536/lcdtunerou6.th.jpg

Now there website is running so u can read details about the product
*blscomputer.com/1680-lcd-tv-box.html

This seems same as comprovideo mate & pixel view. They have little bit of more features. How is this brand and what is its tentative cost?

 

[assasin]

Assasin, I tried 2 times & failed so I am not sure may be I was doing something wrong in connecting but the signal was not available to the LCD, hence I just want to be sure that they work with STB & should allow pausing live TV &recording a particular channel from 9-10 Pm on a particular day when I am not there.(I don't think they do)

hav u selected the video source in the pvr as composite/s-video.
on which tuner did u try.i've connected a stb (tatsky) to my PCTV 100i thru both composite and s-video and it worked like a charm.
as far as signal not coming to LCD is concerned,it comes from gfx card/onboard gfx.its not depedant on ur tuner.
as far as xternal tuners r concerned i dont know whether it'll work,but internal will work.

 

[ranjan2001]

I dont remember the brand which I tried but it was external tuner & I dont have tata sky , I have the regular CAS STB which is supplied by citicable in delhi.
Once I have some time I will try again.

Prem I have not tried that but my dealer told me that they will provide support & assure that it works with STB , but I need to find time to get it going.

I did not ask the cost but should be within 4-5K, just a guess.
You can mail them & ask.

Their delhi service center is
615,Hemkunt Chambers,
Nehru Place
New Delhi-110 019
Tel :- 09313992593

 

[assasin]

since it was a xternal tuner with which u tried,i think it wasnt a true LCD tuner,so u didnt get any signal in ur monitor cuz the scanning freq didnt match.

 

[ranjan2001]

That is what even I suspected

 

[premsharma]

since it was a xternal tuner with which u tried,i think it wasnt a true LCD tuner,so u didnt get any signal in ur monitor cuz the scanning freq didnt match.

That is what we have been deliberating for i.e. what is true LCD Tuner?

 

[ranjan2001]

Thats why my dealer asked me to try this one as its meant for widescreen LCd specifically.

But I am having too many other issues to handle , once I am free I would try it for sure.

 

[premsharma]

Yes I had that bad luck once, which fried everything. I am not saying multitasking. Yes I can't watch TV while working on PC but i am talking about Listening TV while working on PC. Haven't you heard about it or you are saying that it is not possible on present breed of Tuners.

I had one External Tuner from Zenith, which lasted 6 years, When I bought, it was prices 5000. TV tuners were very new then. This tuner had that fantastic feature of PC/TV button of remote. Enquired with Zenith, they says they have stopped making now such tuners.

So what I am looking is very different from all you, exept that I also want it for 19" wide LCD monitor with better resolution & sound.
__________

I did not ask the cost but should be within 4-5K, just a guess.

If it is 4-5 thousand, it is better you go for Compro Videomate or ATI Theater, They are all within this range. ATI theater series are known to be top class in internal TV tuner cards. They have only internal I beleive. i don't think you should consider any other brand except ATI, Compro, PixelView and they are vista compatible too and are available in India at almost at same price what others brands are trying to sell by saying specific LCD tuners.

 

[ranjan2001]

Where in India are they available I inquired at Nehru place for many days from different shop, but none had them. Can u tell where specifically its available & what support service is available.
I remember Fortune marketing at NP use to deal in Compro earlier but now they dont.

I am not sure about the price but will let u know on Saturday, my usual day of visiting Nehru place.

 

[assasin]

That is what we have been deliberating for i.e. what is true LCD Tuner?

afaik a true lcd tuner is one which provides video out in the native format required by lcd monitors.

 

[ranjan2001]

You maybe right thats why it did not work as it did not support my native resolution of 1680x1050

 

[premsharma]

@Ranjan2001 see this what i got reply from them and this was from mediatechindia.com [email: webenquiry@mediatechindia.com]

Dear sir,
Thanks for the query.
Action Pro External TV Tuner will cost you for RS. 3850/-
You can check the specifications on www.comprousa.com

We have our branch at Delhi.
Tel – 011 - 32578081


And the same tuner is sold for 5000 on ebay.in. Same Seller on ebay have all the high end tuners from Videomate, ATI & PixelView. This ebay seller is also from Delhi, so I guess this authorise dealer of mediatech is also on ebay.

Better you go to him directly and not through ebay, because there is price difference of almost 1000 bucks.

For other models you check the price. I could have decided anyone of them, because they seems plenty good but I am looking for a strange feature of listening to TV while working on PC. No body is ready to confirm whether any one of these compro baby have that or not.

If U are in Delhi, you should be the better person to do little research & market survey. But don't look beyond compros, Pixelviews, ATI or Pinnacles.

 

[ranjan2001]

I am looking for a strange feature of listening to TV while working on PC. No body is ready to confirm whether any one of these compro baby have that or not.

This should be surely possible on any of the tunner, I have one in our office 5 yrs old internal tuner even that has this feature that while working on another software the speaker sound the Tv commentry & we work in phtoshop, any 4s or 6s or an appeal we press alt+tab to switch to another window.

So this is a standard feature, u dont have to be in the TV mode if you dont want to, & on wide screen u can even have both windows, which means watch TV as well work regularly.

I will inquire on saturday when I go to NP

 

[premsharma]

I don't want that way. i want this button to be on remote as well as on TV tuner box. I wanted to use otherway round from remote. At far from PC and watching TV while some job like download or Video encoding is going on PC, just by that button on remote, without leaving bed, i will be able keep track on progress of job i had put on PC.

This is the way I am use to for past 6 years or so. I really loved that Zenith tuner but it has turned bad now & beyond economical repair. Any information from your side on this from ATI & compro Videomate would be great.

 

[ranjan2001]

humnmnm...............so u want to be lazy, alrite.

Need to check if any of the models we discussed have this feature or not.

 

[assasin]

i've used one xternal tuner,dont remember the make but it didnt hav that fuct.

 

[Rollercoaster]

Just as we sort of on the topic, I need to control my Media Center in Vista. I don't have a remote. I need a TV tuner just to control the Media center and nothing else. I don't have a TV so I won't need the tv recording and all that. And if there's another way other than using a TV tuner, then please let me know, price is not reeeeeeaaaly a factor...

that was my problem some time ago. but sadly, the IR remotes that come with tv tuners have the reciever on the tv tuner board and those dont work with media center or any other app in windows as it is not accessable by the OS

I then needed a wireless key/mouse set so i bought Logitech s510 media remote (a cordless mouse, keyboard and a media remote) it works really nice with media center.

another option is to buy a media center kit from Microsoft and get their actual media remote (but that is costly)

another option is to look for utilities on the net that can process(and fwd it to windows) signals from the onboard IR reciever of the tv tuner. but this one is a 6itch

@to all others
guys i recommed a internal tv tuner as it offers the most features and control. i have been using tv tuners for more then 5 years without a hitch. my home even got hit by lightening once but only the lan card got fried. the tv tuner separates the cable and the reviever from each other so even of u have surge trouble then also only the tuner will fry. a external tuner is only usefull for use with laptop, but watching tv on a laptop is realy not comfertable.

i have used pixelview play tv pro, pinnacle 50i, pinnacle 50e, pinnacle 110i and tata sat. reciever(thru video/audio in only)
__________

I am looking for a strange feature of listening to TV while working on PC. No body is ready to confirm whether any one of these compro baby have that or not.

this is simple with internal tuners. u can use any capture software to listen to only the audio or see only the video stream from ur tuner. like for eg linking the tuner video to the yahoo messenger webcam or recording audio only in virtualdub etc. i have done that many times

 

[premsharma]

this is simple with internal tuners. u can use any capture software to listen to only the audio or see only the video stream from ur tuner. like for eg linking the tuner video to the yahoo messenger webcam or recording audio only in virtualdub etc. i have done that many times

Sorry you are saying something else. No software is required for that feature and that can only be available in normal externals. Not very many people are aware of that feature here. Thus I will try at my own if I can find any such tuner.

 

[Rollercoaster]

that is available in external tuners cause u can just plug in the audio out to the line in(or mapped via software). there is not much more to it.

all i ment was that the same is easily possible with internal tuners

 

[assasin]

personally i think that internal tuners r the best in all respect.