General TV Tuner question for SXPS 16

So i did a little searching about TV Tuners, but i'm still a little bewildered on the topic. I basically need someone to clear up some questions I have about TV tuners. Here are a few questions:

What channels do the "antennas" that come with some tuners pick up? The same as good ol fashion bunny ears would?

If I just had a coaxial cable coming from the wall or cable box (and a functioning cable outlet) could i just connect that to the tv tuner (with the right converter) and get the basic cable channels that you would if you connected that coaxial cable straight to a tv?

How does the whole recording shows thing go? Basically, what kind of play controls and/or DVR type deals do most TV tuners include?

If i had a cable coming from my Time warner box, could i connect it to my tv tuner and get the same channels on my laptop?

What channels could i get wirelessly? just the ones from the antennas?

Those are just some i came up with off the top of my head, so hopefully someone knows the answers to these. I basically just need a run down of how these things work, in lamens terms, and with examples haha. Thanks a lot guy, i need to get this stuff straight for college next year and my SXPS 16 that is coming in the mail soon.

 

Yes. But you have to get a digital tuner (ATSC) to get digital channels. Most are digital these days.

Yes. The TV has a tuner just like your computer.

That's the function of the software you decide to use, not the tuner.

No, you won't be able to output digital via the coax -- the output of the cable box these days is component/HDMI which you cannot connect directly. What you are describing is using 2 tuners, which doesn't make a lot of sense.

Not sure what you mean here.

 

Just to elleborate on this some more -- everywhere you have a coax input, you have a tuner. So in most cases that means, the cable box, the TV and you computer's tuner.

To record TV shows, you basically throw away your cable box and run you coax into the computer. The drawback is that you can only record basic cable unless your computer's tuner comes equipped with CableCard slot. Not many does, if any, for laptops. They can be had on desktops.

I have to run, but if you have any more questions, just ask here or PM me.

 

If you mean the TV tuner that comes with the SXPS than that won't work. That is a DVB-T tuner and only can recieve digital TV. When you want to use your own coaxial cable you have to make sure you have an Analog tuner!

 

No, that's incorrect. Coax can be analog or digital. In the US, starting next week it will be all digital.

There are 4 main signal formats used throughout the world:

NTSC (U.S. analog, to be phased out Jun 2009)
PAL (Rest of the world, analog)
ATSC (U.S. digital -- mandatory starting Jun 2009)
DVB-T (Rest of the world, digital)

So, if you are in the US, you want an ATSC tuner, in the rest of the world, I'd get a tuner that supports both PAL and DVB-T.

In that case, you can just run the coax into the tuner and you are all set.

 

Thanks for all the info guys, a lot has been cleared up.

So what would you guys suggest i get for the SXPS 16? Basically, what is the best choice between price and versatility. What about something like this?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...px?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A2043302#reviews

that looks like one that i could use the coaxial cable (with a adapter cable) and plug it directly in to the end of the little usb device. Is this a correct assumption?

 

yeah.... that hauppauge works

i like my Volar Max though... $75 regular, $50 on sale if you wait long enough.. no remote though

 

haha short and sweet. Most importantly--could i use the cable that comes from the wall in my dorm room to supply my computer with the same channels via the TV tuner? I would just use a cable splitter so my roommate and i could have cable on my laptop and the tv

 

if your current TV doesn't require a set top box, then yeah.... quality of the stuff on TV might be diminished a little(because you are splitting a signal), but it should work... you can tune different channels on the tv/computer

if you are using a settop box, i think for comcast, you can stil tune in channels without a settop box(u just won't get the TV Guide from the settop box, but MIcrosoft's WIndows Media Center is a good tv gudie replacement/TV tuning program)

 

thanks for all the help paper wastage, good to know all this before i move in this fall. this conversation got me thing....could i just find a coaxial to like HDMI/DVI-D/VGA adapter, and just plug it into my laptop? That way my laptop would basically just act like a tv? in other words, can i just plug in he coaxial cable into my computer, with the right adapter, and use it as a monitor without a tv tuner?

 

can't figure out what you are talking about..

you are saying that you want some sort of device that takes in HDMI/DVI-D/VGA input and display it on your laptop screen, making your laptop screen like a standalone LCD MOnitor?

 

I'm pretty sure the monitor ports on a laptop only work one way

 

A coaxial to HDMI/DVI-D/VGA adapter is called a " TV tuner"

 

That's true with analog that the signal degrades the more you split it, but digitial is all or nothing. You may get drop-outs or digital break-ups if the signal gets too weak, but not degredation like analog, which manifests itself as snow, color-shift, ghosting, etc.

 

figured someone would say that haha. i was referring to the cables that just makes a crd compatible with a different input (like DVI-D to HDMI)

and yeah, i was basically asking if i could use the laptop display as a stand alone monitor. guess i have to buy the tuner in the first place haha.

 

Yes, exactly. I wasn't trying to be a smart-a*s, but the only way to convert an antenna level signal to a digital signal is to use a digitial (ATSC/DVB-T) tuner.

Laptops don't have video INPUTs, as somebody above said it, it's OUTPUT only, so you must have a tuner that's part of the laptop and run your coax in or use the provided antenna for over-the-air TV.

 

gotcha. i'll start saving for that hauppauge one then probably. thanks for all the help guys!

 

but with cable, most digital channels are encrypted... QAM only gives you local news channels with comcast, rest in analog....

@OP, there are cheaper TV Tuners out there... kworld's cheap crap(it works, but it's just a little crappier) can be found for < $50...

 

Ok, ill look at some reviews and see what i can find!