The new TV tuner

Hello everyone.

I have a questions regarding the new TV tuner. How does it compare with the old one? It this capable of receiving HDTV signal? How is the video quality of this one?

I consider getting one, since I am not overly satisfied with the old one due to its poor video quality as well as no over air HDTV reception capability.

Thanks!

 

It will capable of receiving HDTV yes, as well as a digital and analog line signal. The quality is much better than the older purely analog TV Tuner card. Though it will receive the HDTV signal I seriously doubt it will actually output it in HD.

 

The digital/analog tuner from hp is a hauppauge 885 tuner. HP does not support any software for it, the only way to use it through the quickplay media center in vista or xp.

I have used it with beyond tv, but none of the hauppauge software supports it........not sure if I misssed something, but its a pita if you went back to xp from vista. But overall, the tuner works pretty good for OTA HD and meh on the analog signals........

 

Thats not true actually, it's designed for the Vista/XP Media Center program. It will also work with Nero TV built into Nero 7 Ultra, and ofcourse yes Quickplay, but you are not limited to Quickplay by any means. There are also several third party TV programs that will work with it just fine.

 

That's good to hear. My dv6000z comes with the HP TV Tuner with ATSC. I'm looking forward to watching HD on it.

 

Let me rephrase, hauppauages wintv2k does not support it. Hence why I mention BEYOND TV, it does appear to work fine with most third part apps.......

 

Okay, so how is the output? Can you actually tell that you are getting some CSI show on CBS via 720p/1080i (not sure which one it broadcasts)? Does it appear as widescreen?

Thanks!

 

Isn't it incredible just how little information HP provides about the tuner? It seems nearly impossible to find any good information on it, but I actually just bought it about an hour ago (along with the dv9000t I bought yesterday).

Talking to a customer service representative, when I asked if it could recieve OTA HD signals, he confirmed that it did. However, I never thought to ask about the actual output signal from the tuner to the computer, I just assumed it would be high-definition. Now I'm a little worried. (but at least I got a fantastic deal on it - $60 from hp.com.. complicated story).

Anyway, I hope someone who actually owns it lends some more information. The card is slated to arrive at my house a week from now, so I'll probably know more about it then. The laptop is said to leave the factory (customized) on the 26th, so I'll know for sure by the end of the month.

Of course, I'm also worried about whether or not the HD broadcast signals are strong enough for me to recieve. I get about 12 HD broadcast channels in my areas, so I hope I can at least connect to a few of the major networks.. if not I'll be forced down to crappy analog res.

 

Okay, so I just received mine... Ordered it for $145 from and online store, not from HP shopping, of course. The output is HD, the quality is simply AMAZING! There is nothing bad I can say about it. I had previously bought RCA HDTV antenna with an aplifier, so all signals come through glitch-free. The included mini antenna is okay, but the video feed pauses once in a while. Anyway, you will not regret it. Just make sure that you know that the HD channels will appear last on the list, so be sure to scroll down.

The analog signal also appears better than with the old card. Its quite disappointing that the old one was not capable or receiving HD.

 

Are you sure that it's actually outputting HD? If so, then I'll probably try to pick it up. Where did you get it for $145?

 

Although it's my first tuner, i must say that the quality is great. The image is amazing with shows that air in HD. It quite clearly is being output as HD. There is a huge noticeable difference between analog and digital mode. (higher resolution, widescreen)

I can use Windows Media Center (great program) to record Prison Break in 720p, and it looks amazing. For some reason (glitch?), right-clicking the (.dvr-ms) file, viewing properties will show that it's 704x480, that's not true. It really is 1280x720.

The included antenna is okay. I hooked up the huge antenna that's currently on my tv (i dont have cable) and the signal was generally better. however i noticed i get the best signal if i sit over in the chair by the window, and have the mini antenna right next to the window. i get full signal on most stations, 5/6 signal on one or two channels. Windows Media Center can show you signal strength on digital channels.

It can hook up to the included mini antenna, a coax cable, and even composite/s-video input, which is pretty nice. I've figured out i can use the composite input and media player classic to display my PS2 on my laptop screen. God of War 2 looks decent on my monitor, although not nearly as good (resolution-wise) as hdtv content.

 

did your TV tuner come in a separate box or with your laptop box?

 

That's great news! Can't wait to start using the laptop.. wish they built it faster.

Thanks for providing that info.. the older card probably didn't do digital HD for reason of hardware limitations at the time. The card itself was also larger than the new one (according the image comparisons i've seen).

Are you sure the actual rendering dimensions are 1280x720? Why do you think viewing properties information is incorrect.. maybe it's just stretching the image when you view it in the media player and you didn't realize it.. anyway, I hope you're right about it just being a glitch.

I see you live in Seattle, and you get strong-signaled HD channels.. I'm in Tacoma and I'm not sure how many of the broadcasts are based in Seattle and how many are local.. hopefully I'll be able to receive them well enough.

 

Yes, I am absolutely sure. it does not appear to be upscaling the image, because the image is perfectly clear. 480p does appear a little bit soft. 720p looks very sharp. Also, i transcoded the video to a mpg stream (without re-encoding) and then my video programs show that it is 720p/60fps

EDIT: here's a website you can use to help determine signal strength. You put in your address and it tells you how far you are from the broadcast stations, for both SD and HD. Typically, if you are 20mi or less from the station, you should be able to get a perfect signal.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

 

Yeah, I've seen that site before.. right now it says I can potentially receive 16 analog stations and 12 digital stations.

All but a single one of the digital stations are 28-30 miles away. 5 of them are based in tacoma, 5 in seattle, 2 in bellevue, and 1 in everett.

So.. I guess I'll find out soon..

 

Another thing you may want to try, is a different antenna. The included antenna is rather small. Luckily for me, i can get it to work very well, even if i have to sit next to the window.
You could invest in another antenna. $20 or so could get you some bunny ears or something. Any antenna that's designed to connect to a tv. Just connect it to your tuner via the included coaxial adapter. You should see a noticeable improvement in signal strength, although if you really are too far to receive any signal, antenna size won't make much of a difference.

 

So our TV tuners can display HD??? Where are the component cables? Will we be able to get them separately?

 

You dont use component cables for HD channels. Also, only the Vista TV tuner displays HD.

To view HD, simply go to Windows Media Center and scroll to higher number channels. They're numbered with 4 digits.