TV Tunner: Internal VS External

Axonn

Axonn

Geek Trainee
Hi everybody. This is my first post here so I salute you all.

I got a question which has been on my mind for almost 3 years. Back then, when I bought the computer I currently own, I also bought an internal TV tunner. I could go for an external one but didn't want to 'cause of budget problems. Now that tunner kind of broke down. So I gotta buy a new one.

Now the budget is no longer a problem. So I saw a Sapphire Theatrix @ 12 bits + other nice stuff and it's said to be a good card. It has an ATi chipset. And I saw other external tunners but those are only @ 9 bits.

Which is better? Pros and cons? :- ). Thank you in advance for taking part in this discussion :- D.
 
It doesn't really matter whether you buy an external or internal TV card.
An external card would be a good idea if you plan to use it on more then one computer.
An internal card will be cheaper of course.

I suggest you check out some of Hauppauge's TV cards. They are very well supported in Linux (most of the time) and Windows.
 
Yes but as far as I heard, external tunners have the advantage of a better image quality because there are no intereferences from the other components of the system. An internal PCI tunner loses this advantage. However, that Theatrix has 12 bits. Is this a real reason why it could be better?

Linux support is not a priority but I am sure I will be able to find a driver for Linux as well.
 
Having it internal or external makes no difference seeing as USB shares the same bus as PCI does and therefore uses the same bandwidth. Internal has the most abvantages IMO.
 
Yes but what about the interferences that other internal components put upon that card? Such as electromagnetic interferences which can disrupt the quality of the picture.
 
I'd suggest either the Nebula DigiTV, DVICO FusionHDTV DVB-T Plus or
the new DNTV Live! - many have an internal/external model option if
that is important to you. All run on Windows, some also run on Linux.
If you don't intend running any serious video editing software (simple
TV stream capture should be OK), then even the my old Pentium II
266MHz is quite adequate. Typically the tuner card does all the hard
work.


What has to be remembered when considering a card is that most if not
all are derived from PC interface cards and TV tuner software
originally developed overseas. Some have had a lot of effort spent on
hardware and software modifications for our perculiar TV transmission
specifications, but some have been rather quickly adapted often with
little actual software support - just promises of software/firmware
upgrades to follow an abysmal initial version.


I had an analog Spirit TV PCI tuner card that had worked OK, though
the tuner software was obviously a rush local adaptation, but after
upgrading my PC graphics card the tuner card could no longer show a
high-res overlay - just a low-res blocky TV window. Dick Smith/Spirit
were of little use, simply saying there was now a decoder mis-match,
infering I should buy another one.


I intend putting a new PC together soon and have my eye on the above
HD digital models. Digital will be the only choice in about 4 years,
the HDTV cards are relatively cheap, the image streams are clear and
capturing them is relatively easy. I have just replaced my 10 year old
Sony VCR with a Topfield SD PVR 120GB HDD (changes your viewing habits
- marvelous concept!) and the digital reception is great even with a
$5 dish/rabbit ears antenna. I can't wait for the HDTV tuner card in a
new PC.


Good luck!

Edit: [link=http://groups.google.com/group/aus.tv/browse_thread/thread/1086a6f2690a283b/d698d5d9dfcfb296?lnk=st&q=TV+Tuner+Card+internal+or+external&rnum=3&hl=en#d698d5d9dfcfb296] Source [/link]
 
Hm. Interesting and good to know. It doesn't answer my question however:

Yes but what about the interferences that other internal components put upon that card? Such as electromagnetic interferences which can disrupt the quality of the picture. Some would-be neighbours of the card are the CPU, or the motherboard chipset and videocard which all operate at rather high frequencies.
 
Choosing an internal card over an external card is a wise decision unless you really need it to be portable. I have a Leadtek DTV card installed in my system and the clarity of the image is excellent and is also adjacent to my AGP video card and my Sound Blaster audio card. Interference is not an issue here.
Anything from ATi, Leadtek, DVICO or Hauppage will do fine.
 
Ninja Fetus, money are not an issue with something like a tunner. It's not an expensive part.

I keep hearing about Leadtek around here. It's a good manufacturer but I can't reach all those things so easy. My local retailer has a bunch of cards, among which:

One or two Leadteks @ 8 bits
The Sapphire Theatrix @ 12 bits and ATi chipset.
[all internal]

I prefer the 12 bits ATi chipset as I heard good things about it. But Sapphire isn't really a good manufacturare as far as I know. More like a budget one... but the chipset is good and the card is 100$ so I would hope it's the right investment.
 
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