I just wondered if anyone can recommend a TV Tuner card for a PC?

I am running XP sp2 (32-bit) and have spare PCI slots or USB ports available.

Are there any cards in particular that you would recommend? I have read in the past that it's better to get one that has hardware mpeg encoders so that it doesn't use up as much of your systems cpu? And also to try and get one with an S-Video connector for better quality?

I have an additional Sky box upstairs that I would be connecting to the card and just viewing on my computers monitor as well as ocassionally recording the odd TV program. Is it worthwhile getting a card that can also pick up freeview digital? My Sky box just has rf cable as well as two scart sockets, so I don't think I would be able to connect that to S-Video on any TV card?

On the few sites I have looked at so far the two big players in the PC-TV card market seem to be Hauppauge and Pinnacle. There are also other companies as well though making these things like Terratec, Freecom, Compro, Leadtek, K-World.

I also read somewhere when I was doing a bit of research into this that if you're going to get a lot of screen captures then its best to get a card with a Philips decoder as they have slightly better quality for the screen captures than other decoders like Conexant?

I'd appreciate your advice on this and what you'd recommend that's out there.

Cheers

John

Well I can't recommend any specifically but before you buy decide if you want to go down the analogue only route or the DTT (Freeview) path since with DTT you really do get a Freeview box in the PC with the ability to record the exact broadcast with no loss of quality. If you want to connect a SKY digibox you can use RF (you will need an analogue tuner not digital for this) or via composite, s-video is out with a standard SKY box.
Video acceleration has been standard for graphics cards for a long time so you should never had problems with watching analogue or digital channels not recording and playback mpeg2 video regardless of the CPU or the type of TV card.

It may also be worth considering that there are plenty of FTA satellite channels you could pick up with a PC Sat card including the BBC HD channel (with a high spec card) but HD needs a little more PC power to decode
That aside with Freesat on the way along with the BBC and ITV channels (at launch) and all the CH4 channels (later in the year) that may be a good way to watch "free" telly on the PC if you choose not to with a Freeview tuner card.

I suppose it'll depend upon what you want, if you want to record SKY PAY channels then perhaps a cheap DVD recorder is the better option with a Freeview TV card or not.

Adding satellite PVR functionality to you PC sounds like a good idea but has one major problem.

Most SKY channels are encrypted, even if you have a Sky+ box and you extract the HDD, the data is still encrypted. I don't believe that there is anyway to actually decrypt this content atm except by using the Sky box. (if someone actually knows DVD Jon and would like to sic him on this, please go ahead).

I think some folks did manage to a system that could decode Sky using T-Rex CAMs but I think Sky have changed their encryption model and this technique no longer works.

The bottom line is as Jarrak said. To record Sky channels you have to connect the analogue TV output from the Sky box to the TV input of an analogue TV Tuner.

There are twin Analogue/Freeview tuners available (like this) If you are in a good Freeview area, this would give you the best of both worlds.

Hi. I just wanted to confirm that I already have a Sky subscription. I have a box downstairs and an extra box upstairs as well so the output would be from the second Sky box to the analogue or composite input of tv card. No need to decrypt anything as already is I am Sky subscriber.

The most important thing for me is that it can do NTSC and PAL on the input as I have NTSC game console I sometimes hook up.

Would also love a screen capture button for still images from tv.

Cheers

John