Video Card To HDTV Help with DVR

[sammyv]

Ok I am building a DVR out of my pc...How hard can that be?

Currently I have Charter and a MOXI box. It is on its last leg and I do not want the new DVR charter is using (piece of *&^&&*Expletive&&&).

I have a computer with 2 gig of ram. 4600 Processor. Wireless internet. 1 terabyte HD. Geforce 7800 GT video card with 2 DVI outputs. I Bought a Hauppauge 1600 PCI TV tuner card. Computer is windows XP sp2 (haven’t installed sp3 on it yet).

Ok..Sounds like a good pc? It actually is a nice one. Fast and reliable.

I plugged the DVI port on video card To HDMI port on my Hitachi 57inch projection HDTV. The picture comes in fine. I can see my pc. I loaded the trial of BeyondTV and started watching TV from my pc dvr. It records/pauses and does everything a dvr does.

My problem is that the picture is...ok at best. You can tell there are some lines and major pixilation. It's fine for watching for a few min but I can't imagine watching my shows on that quality. I would rather keep charter dvr.

My question is if MOXi (or any dvr's) can do it why can't I? What video do they use that I need? Surely I can buy something that will work. Do I need a better video card? Do I need a faster video card? What do I need to buy to make the TV look just as good running through my own dvr then the charter dvr?

Also I do not want to listen to regular cable through my digital surround sound (HDMI ...no sound). I want the sound to come through my TV. I really want to use the pc dvr just like a charter dvr. That means I need to go through S-VIDEO and RCA. Will the picture be as good as a regular dvr?

I know someone knows the answer to this. Please help me. My cable bill is 150 bucks a month. With my pc/dvr I can take the bill to 60$.


Thank you

Sam

[redwudz]

That means I need to go through S-VIDEO and RCA. Will the picture be as good as a regular dvr?

S-video will usually look terrible on a 57" TV. You need to use a better connection. Component, DVI, HDMI will look much better. If you want audio with a DVI>HDMI setup, you would need to run a separate audio cable(s). Will your TV accept HDMI with separate audio input? If not, you may have to use your surround sound amp for audio. That was my solution with a video projector.

And welcome to our forums.

[sammyv]

I am currently using HMDI to run to my tv. I will say that the picture coming in on the tv looks the same as the picture coming in on the computer. It leads me to believe that my computer is fine it is the tuner card that is not all that great. Could that be? could the Hauppage 1600 just not be the best? Do professional DVR have better tv tuner cards? Where can i get one of those?

[yoda313]

You could always look into a TIVO if you want to go with one that isn't from the cable/phone/sat companies.

Though in your case you need to look at the series 3 hdtv model.