HDTV Card Primer

Are you tired of your satellite going out all the time? Would you like FREE access to HDTV television programming? Would you like to be able to watch & record HDTV shows? If you answered yes to any of these questions please read on.

There are now inexpensive ATSC HDTV tuners for computers that will let you watch and record free over the air High Definition Television programming. You can even install multiple tuner cards to watch/record more then one program at a time. These Tuner cards start as low as $65.00usd, You can use them with either a regular TV antenna to receive 100% free Analog and HDTV programming or with your paid cable TV subscription to receive QAM Digital Channels and NTSC Analog Channels. Many of these cards include DVR software has Tivo like functions that will let you Record, Pause, Rewind, Schedule recordings and some let you write recorded shows to a DVD.

Introduction

There are HDTV alternatives to satellite and cable TV. Do you remember the old days of when we use to watch TV with an Antenna and had to put up with grainy pictures and overall poor reception. Then Cable TV and Satellite came out with the promise of great reception. Well the off air broadcasters are fighting back! They now offer HDTV feeds of their television broadcast for FREE. All you need is a ATSC HDTV compatible PCI card or USB Tuner and a Antenna.

The HDTV quality that local area broadcasters are using is much better than what a satellite or cable TV company can offer. Also many local over the air HD broadcasters are transmitting multiple channels besides their normal broadcast channel. Many PBS and Public Education channels offer up to 5 channels of programming. Some of the major network broadcasters offer 2 to 3 channels so in your area you may have 20-60 channels from only a dozen broadcasters.

For Digital Cable reception you will need a ATSC tuner card that also supports QAM (which is the digital format most cable systems use) you'll be able to receive any unencrypted digital channels they offer which normally includes your local broadcast stations and the basic cable channel package. If the tuner card also supports Analog NTSC channels and your cable system still offers analog channels you can receive those also.

ATSC is the North American format for terrestrial digital broadcast.

NTSC is the North American format for Analog broadcast.

QAM is the digital format that is used in most digital cable systems.

What Channels can I receive?

To get a better idea of what digital ATSC over the air channels are available in your area go to http://www.titantv.com and put in your zip code.

It will display all the digital channels with guide information available in your area. You should see all the major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS Channels, Etc. I'm going to use my zip code for as an Example. If you put in 34668 you will see all the major networks and WEDU (PBS Channel) which has up to 5 channels listed. Their local channel 3 on analog and in the guide you will see digital channels labeled 3.1, 3.2, 3.3 , 3.4 and 3.5. Their transmitting 5 digital channels. Another great example of what broadcasters are doing is channel 38 (WTTA). On channel 38.1 you will see their main broadcast and on channel 38.2 you will see "The Tube" which is a music television channel. The 14 broadcasters in this area are transmitting a total of 26 channels!! and more are being added in the future! I have free HDTV access to 26 HDTV channels which is GREAT! and I don't have to worry about my cable TV or satellite going out in a storm. As long as I have power, And the broadcasters are transmitting I can watch high quality HDTV!. Check your local area with titantv.com, You may have access to even more channels. For Example, New York has over 55 Digital channels are available for FREE with just an Antenna and a ATSC digital TV tuner.

The best part is that I can watch and record HD programming using my PC. You can schedule programs to record to watch later, and as in my case since I have two tuners, I can watch and record two things at once!. I use Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005, But there are other programs out there that do the same thing and most cards come packaged with software to let you watch, record and schedule recordings like many of the popular setup DVR/PVR's but since your using a PC you usually have more features and more options than using one of the popular commercial DVR's (I won't mention names). The quality recorded is the same as what you watch. So in many cases you can record in resolutions of 1920x1080 and if they offer audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround that to.

What type of equipment do I need?

To receive free ATSC terrestrial HDTV You will need a computer, ATSC tuner card and a Antenna.

800+ MHz or greater computer

ATSC/QAM/NTSC Tuner card

Typical VHF/UHF Antenna

To receiver QAM Digital cable channels you need a tuner that supports QAM and your digital cable system also needs to support the QAM format. Of course no antenna would be needed since you'll connect right to the cable line. There is no connection from the QAM computer tuner to your cable set top box.

Computer

The type of computer you will need will depend on which card you get and what type of video card you have, etc. If you have a computer that's no more then 2 or so years old you should be okay. Minimally you will need a 800 MHz computer but a faster computer would be better if you have it. If you decide to go with a USB tuner your computer should have a USB version 2.0 Port.

Tuner Card

In North America (USA & Canada) we use the ATSC standard for HD Digital TV and NTSC for Analog TV. If you want to do both Analog and HD Digital you will need a tuner that does both ATSC & NTSC. Make sure you check since not all cards do both. You will also see tuners that will also work with QAM which is the Digital Cable format most digital cable systems use. There are cards that will do all three formats like the Dvico & OnAir tuners.

Here is a basic comparison of some of the more popular tuner cards.

			Includes		Tuner Modes Supported			Operating Systems Supported (Y=Yes, N=No, D=Drivers are being Developed)
TUNER CARD	Picture	Cost	Remote	Windows XP DVR Software	ATSC/Digital	NTSC/Analog	QAM/ Digital Cable	Window XP	Media Center 2005	Vista	Linux
HDHomeRun Networked (Dual Tuner)		169.00	Optional	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
HDTV Thriller x8000a		$69.99	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N
Dvico FusionHDTV7 Cool		$79.95	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
Dvico FusionHDTV7 RT Gold		$99.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Dvico FusionHDTV Express		$169.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Dvico FusionHDTV7 Dual Express (Dual Tuner)		139.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	D
Dvico FusionHDTV5 USB		99.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Dvico FusionHDTV7 USB		109.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Technisat/BBTI AirStar HD5000-PCI-AV		$99.00	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Technisat/BBTI AirStar HD5000-USB-AV		$139.00	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Vbox PCI Cats Eye 150 (DTA-150)		$69.00	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N
OnAir GT		$169.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
OnAir HDTV Creator		$229.00	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	y	N

(*Note: This information may have changed from the time this was compiled as many manufactures may be developing drivers for Vista that are not yet public knowledge, Please check with your retailer for updates.)

Antenna

The size of the antenna you will need will depend on how far away the television station broadcast antennas are from you. The further the distance the larger the antenna you need. If your unsure of how far you are you can go to http://www.antennaweb.org and put in your zip code to search their database for the your distance and the direction of the broadcast antennas. If your fairly close you may be able to get away with just a small antenna that will sit on top of your TV set, If you need a larger antenna you can either put one in the attic or outside on a antenna mast.  You can use the following chart once you have your distance from your broadcast stations. You should also note which ones are VHF and UHF. In many cases most HD channels may broadcast on UHF only so you may be able to get away with just using a smaller UHF Yagi.

Software

Some cards come with DVR software. There are also 3rd party DVR software packages out that can add features that the included software may not have. Such as full guide listings, Searching for guides and more advanced scheduling options.

For Windows you have Microsoft Windows Media Center 2005 is very popular DVR software, SnapStreams Beyond TV, Sage TV. Newly released Microsoft Windows Vista also supports HD Tuner cards but please check the chart above to see if drivers are out. Many are still in beta. Please note that Windows Media Center also needs the addition of a analog tuner card to use in conjunction with your HDTV tuner card so you will also need to purchase an inexpensive analog card like a Hauppauge WinTV PVR150. How ever the software that is supplied with the cards don't need that extra analog tuner.

For Linux, MythTV and KnoppMyth are popular Linux based DVR software programs.

Most of the cards that are listed above come with DVR software that will let you watch, record and schedule programs to record. Please check individual descriptions to see what's included.

If you have any questions as to what cards the best for you please let us know and we will try to give you any information you need in order to make your decision.