HTPC FREEVIEW AMATEUR USER

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › HTPC FREEVIEW AMATEUR USER

shyst12

11 posts

Geek

#25176 14-Aug-2008 01:28

Hey helpers of geekzone,

As you can see I'm an amateur to the HTPC world and freeview. I just have a few questions/queries i'd like help with...
(these q's may sound lame to some but it's a knowledge builder for me. VERY IMPOTANT.)

*If you have an HTPC with freeview, which is the best card to get?
*Are there any extra devices besides the htpc itself i.e freeview decoder etc. once you have the tuner card in? (no clutter)
*Is analogue or sattelite best?
*Why do some people have 2 tuner cards?

THANKS ALOT FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP!!!!!

munchkin

939 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 16

Trusted

#156776 14-Aug-2008 08:29

1. IMO, the best card to get is the Hauppauge HVR 3000, this card will to analogue connections (Sky, TelstraClear) or DVB-S (Freeview Satallite) or DVB-T (Freeview|HD) Other people may have different suggestions, though - listen to them :)

2. No.

3. If you want HDTV, then go for terrestrial - you'll need a much more powerful PC for this though. Freeview from a satellite is SD only.

4. To record more than one channel at a time

nzkc

1634 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1041

#156778 14-Aug-2008 08:43

munchkin:
3. If you want HDTV, then go for terrestrial - you'll need a much more powerful PC for this though.

This is only partially true. Some graphics cards allow for the HD signal to be decoded on them rather than having the CPU do all the work.

In my opinion this is probably the most important decision you need to make at the moment. If you want HD (and I think you do

) then you'll want a graphics card that can do the HD decoding. There's a thread on here about which graphics cards do HD decoding.

I run a AMD x2 3600 and a nvidia 8500 for my HTPC. Handles the HD stream with ease. So as you'll see you dont necessarily need a top of the line pc to manage HD.

On the tuner card front. Get something with dual decoders. I have a hauppauge HVR2200 which does both analog and digital. Great little card - also its a half height card which is good for some cases. Dual tuners allows you to record one channel and watch another. Infact with digital you can record more than on a single tuner - this is because many of the channels share the same frequency and are interlaced with another channel (you'll see the phrase MUX used - this is what it is I believe). I have recorded 3 channels and watched a 4th on my rig through the HVR 2200.

munchkin

939 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 16

Trusted

#156779 14-Aug-2008 08:46

In terms of running Vista HP with Media Center, I wouldn't set up Freeview|HD on a 2.6GHz Celeron with integrated graphics - something very capable if you're only watching Sky.

amphibem

138 posts

Master Geek

#156780 14-Aug-2008 08:47

shyst12: Hey helpers of geekzone,

As you can see I'm an amateur to the HTPC world and freeview. I just have a few questions/queries i'd like help with...
(these q's may sound lame to some but it's a knowledge builder for me. VERY IMPOTANT.)

*If you have an HTPC with freeview, which is the best card to get?
*Are there any extra devices besides the htpc itself i.e freeview decoder etc. once you have the tuner card in? (no clutter)
*Is analogue or sattelite best?
*Why do some people have 2 tuner cards?

THANKS ALOT FOR YOUR TIME AND HELP!!!!!

shyst12 making seperate posts about 1 topic, in two different forums (neither of them the HTPC forumn) is just confusing.

Please clarify what you want: the best card for Freeview depends on if you want Terrestial (not analogue) or Satellite. As I said in the other thread, go have a bit of a look at what each of these mean (ie SD vs HD etc).

Then go back to your other thread, which maybe freitasm can move to the HTPC forum, and we can sort you out a suitable machine.

Regards,

Andrew

Desktop: 5200 X2 - 3GB - 320GB - Nvidia 8600GT - Vista Home Premium - PVR150 - MediaPortal 1.0
My HTPC Blog - HTPCnz, the Home Theatre PC Resource

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80658 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41071

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#156781 14-Aug-2008 08:50

Please follow up all replies to the other discussion.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.