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Next: Toshiba 27wlt56 - Any good for HDTV
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External
Since: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 1) Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:31 pm
Post subject: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC.
Archived from groups: uk>tech>digital-tv, others (more info?)
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I've only seen Freeview on a PC via a 15" CRT a couple of years ago
and was very impressed by the picture quality. I'm wondering what the
Freeview picture quality is like on a large PC TFT monitor; does it
scale well? I'm thinking of something in the range 19-23", with a
widescreen resolution of 1680x1050 - 1920x1200.
The above question relates to using a Freeview adapter (USB or PCI)
with the computer, but I'm also wondering if it's possible to get a
decent image quality on a PC screen when using an external Freeview
PVR, which I already have. Has anyone tried connecting the S-video or
composite output of a PVR to the relevant input of a PC video capture
card? What was the picture quality like and did the card & software
handle widescreen format okay?
I'm reluctant to use my PC as a PVR, but if anyone has a positive
experience of using a PC with TWIN Freeview tuners, then I'd be
grateful for some info. Does anyone make a twin tuner Freeview PC
device? I understand that Windows XP Media Centre Edition does now
support twin tuners, but I'm not sure if they are shipped with two
single tuners or one twin tuner.
Any help appreciated. |
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External
Since: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 1
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(Msg. 2) Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 1:31 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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I've used a Freeview USB adaptor on a laptop with a 17" 1280 x 1024
resolution display and the picture quality was MUCH better than I
expected, pretty much on a par with DVDs played on it and much better
than a freeview box plugged into the RF or scart socket on a typical
(VGA) 15" TFT television.
FYI, the laptop is an Acer 1703 desktop replacement and the freeview
box a Hauppauge. |
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External
Since: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 3) Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:20 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On 13 Oct 2005 06:54:49 -0700, "Madge O'Reene" <madge.RemoveThis@poohfan.com>
wrote:
>I've used a Freeview USB adaptor on a laptop with a 17" 1280 x 1024
>........
Thanks. What software were you using to view and did it handle
widescreen well? Could you switch between widescreen & 'normal', did
it letterbox or stretch the image? >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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External
Since: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 4) Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:11 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On 13 Oct 2005 08:58:31 -0700, jolly.green.giant.RemoveThis@ntlworld.com wrote:
>The PC uses a Nebula Freeview receiver that I find to be very good, it
>certainly gets all the top awards in mags. Their current beta software
>is a bit flaky (v3.5) but their stable version (v3.2) is very good. You
>can download their software to play with before buying the hardware.
Thanks, I've heard good things about the Nebula, although the cost of
running two of them is starting to get a bit high. That's assuming
they can work together!
>I use a 23" widescreen LCD monitor at 768*1280 from a PC over VGA and
>the picture's pretty good.
That's quite a low resolution for such a big screen; are you using an
LCD TV as a monitor? Which model do you have, I'm currently looking
for one. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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External
Since: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 5) Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:20 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On 13 Oct 2005 08:52:47 -0700, kandifromababy.DeleteThis@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>Embrace the freeware! Knocks the socks off MCE IMHO.
Yeah, I'm not considering the MCE route.
>3GHz, 1GB RAM, WinXP. Haven't monitored CPU usage, but recording two
>channels while watching another recording is fine. You don't want to
>do *too* much on the server PC at the same time, though. Web
>browsing/word processing etc is fine, however CD ripping/burning (for
>instance) is not.
I hear you; do you have a Pentium 4 with hyper-threading? That can
make quite a difference under certain multi-tasking situations.
It's good to hear that you can record 2 channels whilst simultaneously
viewing a previous recording, that's as flexible as a good PVR.
What screen resolution are you using for viewing? One of my concerns
is that I don't know what Freeview will look like scaled to a high
resolution wide-screen TFT; I'm looking at a buying a 20" 1680x1050
widescreen TFT as a main monitor if I go the PC PVR route. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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External
Since: Mar 15, 2005
Posts: 42
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(Msg. 6) Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 9:12 am
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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"HS Crow" <nomail RemoveThis @please.com> wrote in message
> Thanks, I've heard good things about the Nebula, although the cost of
> running two of them is starting to get a bit high. That's assuming
> they can work together!
I've had the Nova-T card before, the Nebula is much much better. I only
have the one card, but it allows me to watch two things on the same mux at
once. If watching, say BBC1 on HTPC, I can watch or record bbc2 in the
office, and even have something else on the same mux picture in picture.
My two pcs are connected by lan, and it's nice to be able to get a quality
radio feed in my office, or have Sky News as a video desktop while the htpc
kit is not being used in the other room.
You're right though, by the time you've bought 2 cards, you're not too far
away from having bought a twin tuner Humax or similar. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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External
Since: Oct 13, 2005
Posts: 16
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(Msg. 7) Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 10:27 am
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 09:12:54 +0100, "Andy F Batter"
<uknewsgroups RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
>I've had the Nova-T card before, the Nebula is much much better. I only
>have the one card, but it allows me to watch two things on the same mux at
>once. If watching, say BBC1 on HTPC, I can watch or record bbc2 in the
>office, and even have something else on the same mux picture in picture.
Thanks. Is the actual picture quality better with the Nebula or the
software for basic usage?
My DAB radio is very similar in regard to allowing access to 2
stations on the same MUX and over the network. It's certainly a
useful feature, but not one that I use much. More useful for a TV
card I think. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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External
Since: Mar 15, 2005
Posts: 42
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(Msg. 8) Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:40 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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"HS Crow" <nomail.RemoveThis@please.com> wrote in message
> Thanks. Is the actual picture quality better with the Nebula or the
> software for basic usage?
To be honest, I'd expect the picture will be much of a muchness with all the
cards. I can't really say, because when I had the Nova-T it was in a
different pc with an old crt projector. Since buying the Nebula I've
switched to LCD and am using different Powerstrip settings and so on.
The difference is in the bundled software. For not too much extra money,
the Nebula gives you a much nicer interface, with a range of natty features.
You can for instance access your pc from anywhere in the world (assuming you
have a static IP address) to cancel timers and add new ones. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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External
Since: Oct 11, 2005
Posts: 3
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(Msg. 9) Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 10:33 am
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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"Andy F Batter" <uknewsgroups.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:HMqdne13Oqv149LenZ2dnUVZ8qudnZ2d@pipex.net...
>
> I've had the Nova-T card before, the Nebula is much much better. I only
> have the one card, but it allows me to watch two things on the same mux at
> once. If watching, say BBC1 on HTPC, I can watch or record bbc2 in the
> office, and even have something else on the same mux picture in picture.
>
Sorry Andy, but can you expand on this a bit further..
Are you using the latest Beta software that will allow access to two
channels on one Mux ? Or has that now been released as a production
version?
Or is the multiple access a byproduct of using the lan streaming features ?
T. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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Since: Mar 15, 2005
Posts: 42
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(Msg. 10) Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:38 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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"HappyDace" <me.DeleteThis@there.com> wrote in message
> Are you using the latest Beta software that will allow access to two
> channels on one Mux ?
I'm using the latest beta version. I'd upgraded as I never could get
networking to work. I later learned it was nothing to do with the
software - It had everything to do with me not knowing how to configure it
properly. Once I'd run IPconfig, and put the other machine's IP address in
each installation of DigiTV then it worked a treat.
> Or is the multiple access a byproduct of using the lan streaming features
> ?
I've since changed the network settings so the server pc only sends one
channel's data instead of the whole mux. This means PIP on the remote
machine no longer works. The bandwidth required to transmit the whole mux
was a bit much for my network, and I was getting occasional brief audio
glitches. It's a faultless transfer now. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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Since: Oct 11, 2005
Posts: 3
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(Msg. 11) Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 6:14 pm
Post subject: Re: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. [Login to view extended thread Info.]
Archived from groups: per prev. post (more info?)
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"Andy F Batter" <uknewsgroups DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
news:dvKdnTMRlLD0m8zeRVnyjQ@pipex.net...
>
> "HappyDace" <me DeleteThis @there.com> wrote in message
>
>> Are you using the latest Beta software that will allow access to two
>> channels on one Mux ?
>
> I'm using the latest beta version. I'd upgraded as I never could get
> networking to work. I later learned it was nothing to do with the
> software - It had everything to do with me not knowing how to configure it
> properly. Once I'd run IPconfig, and put the other machine's IP address
> in each installation of DigiTV then it worked a treat.
>
Thank you..
I'm just waiting for some bits to arrive for a new PC. I'll give the beta a
try..
T. >> Stay informed about: Questions on viewing Freeview with a PC. |
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