Getting TV on your computer
Eusebius
PC and a Mac G5. What are my choices for TV on the computer?
1) Get all programmes via broadband - BBC and ITV state they are about
to start streaming
2) Use my existing TV aerial and a freeview box and go from there
somehow into the computer
3) Buy some sort of extra TV card for the PC or the Mac
4) Other
I don't want to subscribe to anything - I don't watch TV much so
freeview channels are enough.
So what are my best options? All help appreciated and questioned
answered.
andy
SJP
"Eusebius" <performan...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6585c437-a5aa-4429...@u18g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051095
Do the TV's really take up that much room?
You'll still need a Tv License
Harry Bloomfield
My desktop PC came with a card which has two freeview (or analogue TV)
inputs, plus two satellite inputs (for free to air). You can watch one
and have it record another. There are plenty of free to air channels on
Astra 19.2
The above works very well, but I never use it.
So far as broadband goes, I doubt many have the bandwidth to watch it
live and with the quality you expect from a TV.
You can get a USB dongle (£20-£30) which can provide free view from a
TV antenna and these are supposed to be quite good.
--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
Eusebius
This is really useful. since we have a few computers in the house, it
seems to me that a USB box would be a good idea - I could put that at
the TV aerial input in the flat and then run digital cable rather than
coax. I'll have a look at the different models available. that's one
option.
I take the point about broadband being potentially not fast enough,
but TV is coming onto broadband nevertheless, so that must be an
option.
andy
Eusebius
> TV antenna and these are supposed to be quite good.
>
> --
> Regards,
> � � � � Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk
http://www.tvstick.co.uk/products/default.asp#jump1
Is this the kind of dongle?
Harry Bloomfield
Yes.
Roger Mills
Eusebius <performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051095
>
> This is really useful. since we have a few computers in the house, it
> seems to me that a USB box would be a good idea - I could put that at
> the TV aerial input in the flat and then run digital cable rather than
> coax.
Don't forget that the connection between the box and computer is USB - so
the length of this cable is limited to 5 metres.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Adrian C
> I take the point about broadband being potentially not fast enough,
> but TV is coming onto broadband nevertheless, so that must be an
> option.
Well try it. Zattoo (www.zattoo.com) is the fastest live streaming over
broadband I've seen to date. Only works in Windows XP though.
--
Adrian C
Dave Plowman (News)
<6585c437-a5aa-4429...@u18g2000pro.googlegroups.com>,
Eusebius <performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I want to get rid of my existing old TV sets and save space. I have a
> PC and a Mac G5. What are my choices for TV on the computer?
> 1) Get all programmes via broadband - BBC and ITV state they are about
> to start streaming
> 2) Use my existing TV aerial and a freeview box and go from there
> somehow into the computer
> 3) Buy some sort of extra TV card for the PC or the Mac
> 4) Other
Freeview TV card. Mine came with software that allows you to record stuff
too - including radio.
--
*Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat*
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
Grimly Curmudgeon
drugs began to take hold. I remember Eusebius
<performan...@gmail.com> saying something like:
>I want to get rid of my existing old TV sets and save space. I have a
>PC and a Mac G5. What are my choices for TV on the computer?
My own setup is...
1. A TV analogue tuner card - but that will be getting replaced with a
digital external USB tuner sometime.
2. A Technisat Skystar2 satellite tuner card which gets me all the
Freesat channels and any other free sat channels I have a dish pointed
at.
Eusebius
> Well try it. Zattoo (www.zattoo.com) is the fastest live streaming over
> broadband I've seen to date. Only works in Windows XP though.
>
> --
> Adrian C
Can't say better than that! This really works, within a small window.
It's a good start!
I'm getting glitch free reception on the small panel, but my computer/
broadband can't cope with the larger screen version. So back to the
drawing board.
Great call - thanks!
andy
OG
"Eusebius" <performan...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:6585c437-a5aa-4429...@u18g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
If you forget to switch off your screensaver and don't change your power
saving options, your viewing will be interrupted by curses and regular bouts
of moderate exercise as you jump up to move the mouse to stop the screen
going blank / screensaver
This is not necessarily a bad thing and can be incorporated into your daily
exercise plan.
Steve Firth
> I want to get rid of my existing old TV sets and save space. I have a PC
> and a Mac G5. What are my choices for TV on the computer?
Since you have a G5, get Elgato's EyeTV. They have a wide range of
receivers including Freesat, Hybrid (Analogue/DVB) and Diversity (dual
tuner DVB). This isn't anything really unusual, you can get similar
hardware for PCs. What is unusual is the EyeTV software which gives you
a personal video recorder that's better than any of the dedicated PVR
boxes, and infinitely better than the rubbish given away with Hauppage
tuners.
The "Diversity" model is here, you can also find the rest of the
products from this page.
<http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/mainmenu/products/tuner/diversity08/pr
oduct1.en.html>
If you feel that you would like a wider choice of hardware than the
Elgato offering, you can use most USB sticks and receivers with the
EyeTV software. I'm currently using a Hauppage USB stick with mine and
have tested a range of different devices such as MobiDTV, Cinergy, Avid.
They have all worked well, and the EyeTV software has always been a joy
to use.
The software supports the DVB Proram Guide, but also comes with a free
tvtv subscription. A neat feature is that it will transfer recorded
programmes into iTunes[1] and when it does it also transfers the program
information from the programming guide.
[1] It also supports export to a wide range of other formats.
The. Wanderer
Very recently purchased a USB twin tuner from Maplin, their cheapest I
think. It works perfectly, and integrates well into Windows Media Centre. I
think I paid about £27 plus p&p.
--
The Wanderer
When you hear the toilet flush and your child says 'Uh oh'
It's already too late!
dennis@home
"Adrian C" <em...@here.invalid> wrote in message
news:6rvr5mF...@mid.individual.net...
At 480x288 pixels it isn't what you would call HD.
Or even SD.
dennis@home
"Steve Firth" <%steve%@malloc.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1issjsk.dehvi1jtmq9gN%%steve%@malloc.co.uk...
> Eusebius <performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I want to get rid of my existing old TV sets and save space. I have a PC
>> and a Mac G5. What are my choices for TV on the computer?
>
> Since you have a G5, get Elgato's EyeTV. They have a wide range of
> receivers including Freesat, Hybrid (Analogue/DVB) and Diversity (dual
> tuner DVB). This isn't anything really unusual, you can get similar
> hardware for PCs. What is unusual is the EyeTV software which gives you
> a personal video recorder that's better than any of the dedicated PVR
> boxes, and infinitely better than the rubbish given away with Hauppage
> tuners.
Then there is media center built into Vista premium and above and Myth TV
which is GPL and free.
Both as good as or better than EyeTV.
Dave Plowman (News)
<5abf386b-c597-4feb...@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
Eusebius <performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Can't say better than that! This really works, within a small window.
> It's a good start!
> I'm getting glitch free reception on the small panel, but my computer/
> broadband can't cope with the larger screen version. So back to the
> drawing board.
I don't think you ever will get the data rate needed for FreeView quality
down the average ADSL line.
--
*A fool and his money are soon partying *
Dave Plowman (News)
Grimly Curmudgeon <grimly...@REMOVEgmail.com> wrote:
> 2. A Technisat Skystar2 satellite tuner card which gets me all the
> Freesat channels and any other free sat channels I have a dish pointed
> at.
I've got a satellite setup with rotator so I get dozens of the things -
and can't really say I watch anything other than what you can get on
FreeView - apart from BBC and ITV HD. It's quite fun to see what's up
there, though.
--
*A person who smiles in the face of adversity probably has a scapegoat *
Dave Liquorice
> Don't forget that the connection between the box and computer is USB -
> so the length of this cable is limited to 5 metres.
30m but you'll need 5 x active extension leads to do that. USB is really a
desktop only connection system.
--
Cheers
Dave.
Ed Sirett
It looks like you have gone the USB route.
I have about half a dozen invites to a private UK TV file sharing site.
(thebox.bz)
I am happy to send these out to anyone here, first come first served.
However before you email me, note that you will need the following:
1) To be able to setup a Bittorrent client and be able to leave it
running for extended periods.
2) You need to maintain 105%+ share ratio over time. The are two ways to
do this
a) Download anything that is marked as FREE (even if you don't want to
watch it) and then seed the program(s) for a while until you have built
up some upload 'credit'.
b) Pay.
3) The disk space to be able to do the above (20GB should be OK).
4) A reasonable ISP that does not throttle Bittorrent Traffic it does not
have to be very fast. An hour's TV a day would add about 15GB/per month
to your bandwidth.
--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
The Natural Philosopher
> In article
> <5abf386b-c597-4feb...@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com>,
> Eusebius <performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Can't say better than that! This really works, within a small window.
>> It's a good start!
>
>> I'm getting glitch free reception on the small panel, but my computer/
>> broadband can't cope with the larger screen version. So back to the
>> drawing board.
>
> I don't think you ever will get the data rate needed for FreeView quality
> down the average ADSL line.
>
Andy Burns
> actually average Freeview is about 500kbps. Yup It really *is* that bad...
Actually, even the lowest bitrate (I don't know what period that is
measured over) of the crappiest channels (excluding the shrunken video
within an MHEG page ones) is above 500kbps, the average bitrate varies
for different channels from about 2Mbps to 4.5Mbps
T i m
<performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
The Mrs watches DTV TV via her PC all the time now using a cheap
capture card and cheap 'bare bones / Maplin' external PVR. This means
she can switch the PC off and leave the box to do it's recording
thing. I was thinking of getting her a combined DTV / monitor but she
would have to switch between sources regularly (she plays word games
during the adverts <g>) and wouldn't get the recording facility of the
external PVR.
My main PC has a dual chan DVT card and I use that now and again.
Daughter has similar setup on her PC and eyeTV / hybrid on a Mac Mini
(ok but quite expensive at £99 at the time) but doesn't use either
much.
I also have a Freecom DTV USB thingy that I can use on pretty well
anything (I can also *just* get away with the portable antenna on most
channels).
FWIW we always watch our main TV [1] via a 250G Topfield PVR and
managing that is easier than any computer based solution (IMHO).
Cheers, T i m
[1] TV is analogue / digital and has built in DVD player (rarely
used).
Eusebius
> On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:34:16 -0800 (PST), Eusebius
>
>
> The Mrs watches DTV TV via her PC all the time now using a cheap
> capture card and cheap 'bare bones / Maplin' external PVR.
#What's a PVR and what's the Maplin reference?
- thanks for that.
- also does PC World do something similar?
andy
Dave Plowman (News)
<0d45a6ca-5166-4a40...@b41g2000pra.googlegroups.com>,
Eusebius <performan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jan 2, 10:26 am, T i m <n...@spaced.me.uk> wrote:
> > On Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:34:16 -0800 (PST), Eusebius
> >
> > <performanceandme...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > The Mrs watches DTV TV via her PC all the time now using a cheap
> > capture card and cheap 'bare bones / Maplin' external PVR.
> #What's a PVR and what's the Maplin reference?
A PVR is really just a VCR which records to a HD rather than tape. Many
have twin FreeView tuners which allow you to record two progs at once -
and under some conditions watch a third at the same time off FreeView even
if your TV doesn't have a FreeView tuner. One of their better tricks is
pausing or even rewinding a 'live' prog.
Maplin do (or did) a basic version where you supplied and fitted your own
HD - but it's a pretty crude and unfriendly device to use.
> - thanks for that.
> - also does PC World do something similar?
Dunno. It's a place best avoided if possible.
--
*Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.
F
> I have a
> PC and a Mac G5. What are my choices for TV on the computer?
I've got one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/KWorld-USB2-0-Digital-Freeview-Receiver/dp/B000N98FSM
that works well. I use it with Windows Media Centre rather than the
supplied software.
I've also got one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hauppauge-WinTV-S2-HD-Satellite-Tuner/dp/B000OILP7K
for high definition satellite. Works well with DVBViewer software that
now provides the freesat EPG.
Both running on Vista Home Premium.
--
F
Frank Erskine
Why not use a 'television set' to receive TV?
Horses for courses and all that...
--
Frank Erskine
F
> Why not use a 'television set' to receive TV?
I do.
And your point is...?
--
F