EggXpert

If I build a HPTC Home theater with TV tuner card does the Cable box hook up to the TV tuner(yes?) and then hook TV tuner to Plasma TV(yes?)

Or am I missing something?

Is it that simple?

Do you know which tuner card you want? Is it that simple yes only if it has the right connections on the card.

It depends on what you are trying to do and which channels you are trying to get.  If you are going for analog channels you can split the cable before it goes to the cable box, run one to the tv tuner and one to the cable box.  If you are going for digital channels it will not work so well no matter how you run it but to get one channel at a time you would run to the cable box first. 

Now that cable companies are in the process of going all digital as well it will hose up a lot of htpc systems.

I was hoping to use system for Digital TV and my card was going to be MSI Video Device Theater 650PRO PCI-Express x1 Interface.

sjr:

Now that cable companies are in the process of going all digital as well it will hose up a lot of htpc systems.

 

Here's our hope...from AMD/ATI but not sure if its going to be offered to DIY'ers.  Here's an old Anandtech review about it.

*edit* 

mikeSI:

I was hoping to use system for Digital TV and my card was going to be MSI Video Device Theater 650PRO PCI-Express x1 Interface.

Sence your not giveing us a hole lot of info look thru these.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815306006

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815122010

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100015

AVerMedia AVerTV Combo PCIe ATSC/NTSC/QAM TV Tuner Card (White Box)w/L-P Bracket - OEM

AVerMedia AVERTV Bravo Hybrid PCI-E (H788) MTVBHPCIR PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1800 MCE Kit 1128 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM TV Tuner Card w/MCE Remote - Retail

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1800 1129 NTSC/ATSC/QAM/FM Tuner Card PCI Express X1 - WhiteBox - Retail

Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 MC - White Box 1187 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail

Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1250 Hybrid Video Recorder 1196 PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail

ADS Tech PYRO1394 PCI Express(API-316) 1394 DV Card Compatible with Avid Xpress DV - Retail

 

So far theses are the only ones that I can locate that have a PCI X1 connection.

I was just trying to understand if I put togther a Htpc system all I need to watch my HD TV is say MSI Video Device Theater 650PRO PCI-Express x1  and my HD cable box no? or yes?

 And side note.. what is QAM. I have seen it on a Vision tek TV 650 combo USB for TV tuner box

But the more interesting question I have is whats the point really of a HTPC?

 I mean it seems I could just get a a DVR and my HD cable box and have the same thing as a HTPC all I cant do is go online.

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813128090 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black IDE Model GH22LP20 - OEM Item #: N82E16827136147 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $9.992 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $14.99		$27.99
		Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Item #: N82E16822136131 Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Replacement Plan (Special Promo Pricing) -- $24.992 Year Replacement Plan (Special Promo Pricing) -- $34.99		$129.99
		MSI Video Device Theater 650PRO PCI-Express x1 Interface - Retail Item #: N82E16815127006 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $14.992 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $19.99		$99.99
		MSI R3650-MD512 OC Radeon HD 3650 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814127335 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $14.992 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $19.99	$20.00 Mail-in Rebate	$74.99
		Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM Item #: N82E16835100007 Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy		$5.99
		G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail Item #: N82E16820231098 Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy	-$40.00 Instant	$84.99 $44.99
		AMD Athlon X2 4850e 2.5GHz Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processor Model ADH4850DOBOX - Retail Item #: N82E16819103255 Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $14.992 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $19.99		$86.99
		Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 32-bit English 1pk for System Builders DSP OEI DVD - OEM Item #: N82E16832116485 Return Policy: Software Return Policy	-$10.00 Instant	$109.99 $99.99
		MASSCOOL FD08025S1M4 80mm Case Fan - Retail Item #: N82E16835150007 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $9.992 Year Service Net Replacement Extended Warranty Plan -- $14.99	-$0.20 Sale	$3.98 $3.58 ($1.79 each)
		APEVIA Black SECC Steel / Aluminum X-MASTER-BK/500 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case - Retail Item #: N82E16811144231 Return Policy: Standard Return Policy		$69.99

As for the MSI Video Device Theater 650PRO PCI-Express x1 Interface its analog only which if your cable box is digital then it will not work. And trying to find one that is digital well that’s a needle in a hay stack right now.

 The use to a HTPC is for the following, watch DVD, Blu-Ray, Gaming, Photo work, and the last is watching TV on it. but the rest is what its commonly used for.

For the cable box I would use the DVR feature on it. most new ones have this installed already.

 

You say the MSI is analog only but why is it so hard to find a digital/Analog ?

Does any company make digital/Analog card ?

Anolog is cheaper to produce then a digital card thats why they are hard to find. There are some companies that can make them but you will be paying at least 200 for a good card.

ok  I understand that..

But how does my Xbox 360 pickup my HD channels on my HD cable box? Or am I just totally lost here? lol

The 360 is HD thats about all I know on that part I dont play with consoles so I could not tell ya how thats works.

aso3:

sjr:

Now that cable companies are in the process of going all digital as well it will hose up a lot of htpc systems.

 

Here's our hope...from AMD/ATI but not sure if its going to be offered to DIY'ers.  Here's an old Anandtech review about it.

*edit* 

I wonder if this is a sort of backdoor route using existing cable boxes.  Hauppauge HD-pvr  I have not been able to find very many reviews but it sounds promising, though it is a bit spendy at $250.  I am very seriously thinking about getting one without much for reviews.  Only place I am finding them for sale is direct from Hauppauge.

sjr:

I wonder if this is a sort of backdoor route using existing cable boxes.  Hauppauge HD-pvr  I have not been able to find very many reviews but it sounds promising, though it is a bit spendy at $250.  I am very seriously thinking about getting one without much for reviews.  Only place I am finding them for sale is direct from Hauppauge.

Nice hunt, sjr!  Yes, it's sorta like a "backdoor" and ima buy one before it gets flagged illegal.  If I understood its manual correctly, this box and an STB will equal my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD pvr, plus more...ability to grab recordings (this is where I think legalities comes into play).  And with included ArcSoft editing and conversion softwares, we're talking about a huge hdd space-saver bonus.  With MythTV for example, a typical NFL HD game is about 18~23GB of mpeg@1080i a/v.  With commercials out and ffmpeg h264 conversion @720p, I get an almost same quality a/v at a cost of 4~6GB of hdd space.

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They seem to be quite popular.  I ordered one this morning and got an email back that it would be about 2 weeks before it would be sent out.  Since the only place I could find them for sale was directly from Hauppauge I assume they are behind in production.  On the MythTV and BeyondTV forums they seem to be a popular item many people want to get.  I was hoping to get it by next weekend so I could play with it over the long weekend but I will just have to be patient somehow.