cards with tuner on a chip?

[McQuaid]

Hi, I've had a bt878 card that has served me well for many years. It's good on some channels but some channels/or the content of the show, don't look as good.

I was going to get a hauppauge 250 but my friend has the 350 and it's picture quality looked about as good as my bt878. Yes it takes off the cpu burden but I want a better picture at this point.

I remember reading a few years back about a card with a tuner on a chip instead of the shielding box that most cards have, which I've read can be the source of interference. I think philips made the chip.

Did any pci card come out with that chip? Did it live up to it's promise of better picture quality? Is there a list somewhere of the current tv tuner cards on the market and maybe a quick review/comparison of each?

[Blue_MiSfit]

well there are totally silicon tuners these days. I think the Ati Theater 550 cards have these.

Keep in mind a lot of these newer cards will enforce macrovision... so if that's an issue, stay away :)

[mr soft]

Hi

I purchaced one of these and have never been happier.
I had a grandmster tv vision before with the stream machine 2210 so many problems. Anyway I think this is the chip you are talking about.

Club zap 2202 hybrid
Features:
• Philips SAA7131 Chipset
• World-wide DVB-T TV/Radio
• World-wide PAL/SECAM/NTSC TV Tuner
• FM Tuner
• Teletext
• EPG Electronic Program Guide
• PVR Personal Video Recording
• TimeShifting (pause during liveTV)
• Snapshot from live video/TV
• Autoscan for channels
• Customize Channel lists
• Record and playback DVD-quality TV (720x480-NTSC, 720x576-PAL)
• Real-time digital video recording as MPEG2 format
• S-Video In
• Composite-video In
• Audio-In (stereo)
• Low Profile design for small PC housing
• PCI 2.1 interface for internal PC usage

[chipzoller]

I think the Ati Theater 550 cards have these.
Yes, it does. And it does enforce macrovision, unfortunately.

[jeffy]

Hi

I purchaced one of these and have never been happier.
I had a grandmster tv vision before with the stream machine 2210 so many problems. Anyway I think this is the chip you are talking about.

Club zap 2202 hybrid
Features:
• Philips SAA7131 Chipset
• World-wide DVB-T TV/Radio
• World-wide PAL/SECAM/NTSC TV Tuner
• FM Tuner
• Teletext
• EPG Electronic Program Guide
• PVR Personal Video Recording
• TimeShifting (pause during liveTV)
• Snapshot from live video/TV
• Autoscan for channels
• Customize Channel lists
• Record and playback DVD-quality TV (720x480-NTSC, 720x576-PAL)
• Real-time digital video recording as MPEG2 format
• S-Video In
• Composite-video In
• Audio-In (stereo)
• Low Profile design for small PC housing
• PCI 2.1 interface for internal PC usage

The actual card was a genuine revelation, because it didn't have the big silver tuner element I've come to expect with capture cards. As a result this is a very small and tightly designed board with just a handful of discrete chips.

http://www.micromart.co.uk/default.aspx?contentid=0af63f01-e654-430a-b6b1-0dae672dc164&reviewid=2765&categoryid=5

http://www.club-3d.nl/productshow_zaptv.php?ordercode=ZAP-TV2202&show=&filter=&p=1_full

Note: No personal experince, just added the links.

[McQuaid]

Yes, thats the philips chip I was referring to. I'll look up some reviews, and yes I realize we're still talking analogue but is the picture much better than traditional tuners? And on my zoltrix tv the sound is mono and tinny on some stations.

It still serves me fine, and I'm going to continue to use it, but I'd like to get another card for my mythtv box, and I'd like an upgrade in the visual quality department.

[mr soft]

is the picture much better than traditional tunersThe quality is always going to be as good as your reception.
I´m getting a very good picture, and the signal is split and fed from the main tv. I mainly bought it to run a couple of old vhs´s through it into MPG2 .
Today I was watching tv ,saw something I liked ,missed it, rewound it and recorded it ,then Auto gk ,then emailed it .
I love my card.