Watching Television On Your Pc How do I do it without buying a TV Tuner

[darran 0]

Tried searching the forums, it either gave me irrelevant results and an invalid 1. This is urgent, does anyone know how I can watch television on my PC without buying a TV Tuner card? I hope to get your answer ASAP because I desperately want to watch a football match which is going to be shown in about 5 hours but my television has somehow broken down and I am pissed with the company for refusing to bring the new television in. Bunch of no-brain idiots who promised to deliver the television today only to give a stupid excuse of the vehicle breaking down.

[Kubi 0]

I know of a TV website. I'm not sure if they have football though. I'll have to check. unfortunetly I'm at school and don't have the link. I'll post it up when I get home.

[darran 0]

I am afraid you are missing the point. I don't want to watch television through streaming, I want the content from my cable provider. I want to know how I can connect the cable set top box to watch it in my PC. I have seen people do it but I have no idea how to do it.

[rsf 0]

You need a tv tuner card. That's it's purpose.Either:-Find a site you can stream it from-Go over to a friend who wants to watch it too-Go to a sports bar or restaurant to watch it

[BuffaloHelp 24]

A capture card is also another alternative. But whatever it may require, you would definitely need some sort of input device that can decrypt the cable signal and translate it to video signal.Any cpature card + VCR = TV on your computer monitor. VCR has built-in television signal decryptor that will act like the TV tuning card.

[darran 0]

So lets say I have a cable set top box, what I need to watch the content on my PC is simply to install a tv tuner card into my PC? But the cable linking from my set top box, how do I connect it to my PC? Do I need anything else to link it up because from what I saw yesterday, there is any socket on the PC where I can connect the set top box to.

[BuffaloHelp 24]

Okay, so as long as you are willing to install a TV tuner card to your computer system everything should be very simple.

 

So a typical TV tuner card (internal) looks something like this

 

Just as you guessed it, there are external USB tuner cards available. This is your choice.

 

As you can see, there's a standard coax (where you thread RG-5 or RG-6 standard coax cable) just like you would hook up your cable box, box to your TV etc. That's all you have to do. Treat the connection to the TV tuner card like you would hook up a VCR to your television. The software included with the tuner card should do the rest.

 

However, if your cable system is something like a satellite system where you need the cable box to decode the satellite scrambled signal, you would need the satellite box before connecting to the TV tuner card.

i.e. -------[satellite box]-------[TV tuner card]-->PC

[darran 0]

From what I understand, I install this TV Tuner in my PC but which slot do I slot this TV Tuner card into?

Is this the kind of tuner I should be getting?
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Lets say I get an internal TV Tuner, but where do I connect the cable from set top box to my PC. If the TV Tuner is installed inside the CPU, how can I connect it without opening my CPU? Just need these clarification, thanks

[kdr_98 0]

First of all are you meaning Analogue Television or Digital Television ?For Analogue Television you need a TV card in your PC , there is no other way.For Digital Television , you need to connect your PC on the place you have a MPEG stream on an ehternet interface. At my place it's easy since I have IP television over DSL.Then you just have to connect your PC in the same VLAN as your setup box.Use a sniffer to detect to the IP adress and TCP port of the stream.And then use VLC to make the stream visible, then you have aslo some extra features like time-shifting, recording a stream, .... .If you are using Satelite you als have to use a satelite card for the conversion to IP pakkets.All of this works if the stream is not encoded, but most operator have their streams encoded in Europe.

[Galahad 0]

If you decide to buy the TV tuner card, you insert it in any free PCI slot you have in your PC... You don't actually do anything with your CPU... CPU is your Central Processing Unit, a small chip, burried beneath a big cooler I think you meant to say PC Case... That's what you need to open...Anyways, whe you connect the card, and install it's drivers, you connect the cable you would connect to your TV, in the appropriate socket on the back of the card... In essence, same cable that goes into your TV, goes into your TV tuner card... Simple as that... TV tuner card works exactly like a tuner component inside a TV... It decodes the signal it gets from the cable/antenna, and feeds it to the computer, where you can watch the program...Also, do you have digital, or analogue cable signal? If it's digital, you may need to have some sort of device, that will decode the signal, then re-transmit it as analogue, and that signal, you plug into your TV tuner card...I hope this wasn't too confusing...I actualy don't have a TV, I use TV tuner card, and watch all TV program on it... Plus, it hase a FM tuner, so I can listen to radio as well...

[icemarle 0]

I used to use my tuner card a lot. I don't usually watch TV on my PC cause of the low resolution. I only use it so I can record some of the TV shows I like... I still think watching it on TV is the best... unless you've got a really bad TV. ;

[darran 0]

I do not know whether the tv I want to watch is Digital or Analog. I have a cable set top box and I am just watching tv from it, is it considered an Analog or Digital content?

Anyways, whe you connect the card, and install it's drivers, you connect the cable you would connect to your TV, in the appropriate socket on the back of the card... In essence, same cable that goes into your TV, goes into your TV tuner card... Simple as that... TV tuner card works exactly like a tuner component inside a TV... It decodes the signal it gets from the cable/antenna, and feeds it to the computer, where you can watch the program...

Okay, so I would have to open my CPU casing and insert this card and if I do, how do I connect the cable from my set top box, seeing as the CPU is covered with the casing? or do I just need to find the right socket (PCI from what I understand) to put this card at the back of the CPU?

[Galahad 0]

You need to open computer case, CPU is just a small chip inside... Yes, you insert a card in PCI slot, and after you mount it, you have a small access panel on the back of your PC case, with apporopriate sockets... One is for Antenna/Signal input, one is for Audio Out, that one goes into Line In socket on your sound card, and probably you would have S-Video, or similar sockets, and one for remote control IR sensor...

 

But, you will get a full instalation manual, with the card, so it won't be hard for you to install it...

[pradeep_salian 0]

As far as i know, Its not Possible to watch television on PC without using TV Tuner Card......You will get TV Tuner Card in 2 modes like Internal and External.

[kdr_98 0]

If your not familar with PC hardware, you could best buy an external one (connected with USB).Or let your hardware supplier install it (if you are familar with it , it takes only 5 mins).