Current TV tuner is not good, recommend a different one?

[eluong1]

I'm currently using a Hauppauge HVR-1800. It appears to me that the tuner in this card is not has good as the one in my TV. I have an indoor antenna, and the TV picks up and decodes the signal perfectly fine. If I connect this same antenna to the HVR-1800, it cannot pick up any signal at all, pretty much. It picks up fragments of images here and there, but nothing watchable, no audio. I have a different antenna I connected to the tuner card, and it works, but I guess if I had a better tuner, I'd get better image quality, since sometimes there are distortions. Are there any opinions on this; is there a different tuner card I can get comparable to the one inside my TV.

Thanks,
- Eli

 

[leon2006]

I'm using hauppage 2250. Its dual hybrid channel that can be digital or analog. Its a lot better than 1800 and 1600. I tested both older models and ended up returning it.

The analog tuner of 1800 & 1600 are inferior compare to regular TV tuners. The analog video reproduction from 1800 and 1600 are degraded version on what you get from your standard TV Tuner.

The 2250 works well for CLEAR QAM, AST, and Analog TV. I use both the hauppage software and Windows Media Center. My os is WIndows Ultimate 64 bit.

I have been recording HD-TV shows on my PC using the 2250.

I tried ATI 650 PCIE dual Tuner (Analog and Digital). The hardware is prone to failure. The software is unstable. It requires a lot of work to make it compatible to Windows media center for Vista-64 ultimate.

 

[eluong1]

I'm using hauppage 2250. Its dual hybrid channel that can be digital or analog. Its a lot better than 1800 and 1600. I tested both older models and ended up returning it.

The analog tuner of 1800 & 1600 are inferior compare to regular TV tuners. The analog video reproduction from 1800 and 1600 are degraded version on what you get from your standard TV Tuner.

Thanks for the reply; bummer I cannot return this anymore. Have you tested how well ATSC compares? I'm capturing mostly OTA digital signal (so the ATSC), not analog. I guess I forgot to mention if I was using analog of ATSC in the original post.

 

[leon2006]

For digital tuner (ASTC) i used an amplified Antenna ~ $30 from wallmart.
For clear QAM i use Time Warner Cable
For Analog Cable i use Time Warner

All reproduction of video is equal if not better than the digital/analog tuner of my HDTV. I use a 70 Inch HDTV as display. Any degradation is magnified.

I use my PC as my TIVO. I hardly use the Tuner of my TV.

Make sure you have clean TV cable signals. You don't want to get confused between bad signals and bad hardware.

My GF has a little tolerance to degraded HD-video. Anything less compare to the HDTV is not acceptable.

 

[leon2006]

Use stores like Best Buy, Frys or any local computer stores with 30 day return policy. I do my trials within that range then i return it if i see any signs of problem.

 

[JessieJ]

The Avermedia Tuners have my eye - when I purchase a tv tuner card. I haven't tried one yet - but from the reviews - they seem to have a good pic on both analog and digital.