USB TV Tuners Turn Your PC Into A Second (Or First) HDTV
It wasn't that long ago that the only way to watch a High Definition TV (HDTV) broadcast was to own a TV with a HDTV tuner.
Not long after the invention of HDTV came the development of HDTV tuner cards for the PCI slot in your PC. These tuner cards eliminated the need for an HDTV set and cables as they are installed in the computer's motherboard to allow for HDTV signal reception. The technology has advanced enough to allow you to plug a fairly advanced HDTV receiver into your USB port.
One of the first ones to market was a company called SASEM CO., Ltd., who released the first external USB HDTV card called OnAir USB HDTV.
OnAir is a software-decoding USB HDTV reciever that that connects to the PC via a spare USB port.
It is meant to play live analog and digital TV hassle-free and record them in PVR format. OnAir USB HDTV tuners were introduced to the American and Canadian markets in January 2004.
The biggest advantage of USB TV tuners is that they are plug and play. You don't have to open up your PC to install them. With the earlier PCI versions you needed to open up your computer to install them and they were only able to run on desktop's. Disassembling and reassembling the computer to plug in PCI tuner cards on motherboards is also risky.
Smaller desktop PCs might not even have a slot availabe or just not have enough room inside for the card to fit. A cheaper card might also be prone to signal interference from inside the case as well.
Most USB TV tuners have support for 1920x1080 (ATSC) HDTV resolution. Maybe it's a bit gimmicky but you can also have the TV playing as your wallpaper.
Most USB TV tuners have an MPEG2 Encoder chip so you are able to convert a TV signal directly to DVD MPEG2 (720x480) so now you can watch your favorite TV show on the bus or train. This is also a good format for recording an analog TV signal if you're receiver is capable of receiving them..
Need more detail? You now have the ability to zoom into a particular part of the image in real time.
These days you don't even have to be sitting at your desk to control your USB TV tuner. It would be very rare to find even the cheapest of USB TV tuner's without a remote control.
Pausing your program for live time shift like the famous TiVo is also possible on a USB TV tuner.
USB TV Tuners For Sale
OnAir Sasem HDTV Receiver & DVR for PC (HDTV)
This was the first USB TV tuner available on the market.
Before the OnAir Sasem, there was no easy solution to transform a PC into a high definition television.
This was the world?s first USB 2.0 DTV tuner. The OnAir Sasem has a built in Philips ATSC/NTSC/QAM (unencrypted) tuner to receive and display broadcasts from over-the-air or cable signals.
Purchase at Amazon.com OnAir Sasem USB TV Tuner.
Hauppauge 1192 WinTV HVR-1950 External USB HDTV Tuner/Video Recorder
This a great example of quality external USB TV tuners. With this you can turn your computer into a virtual HDTV personal video recorder.
You can record directly to hard drive while letting your PC run at full speed with the onboard MPEG-2 encoder.
The included remote control will also control satellite and TV set top boxes.
Supports NTSC analog cable, over the air TV, ATSC Digital over the air HDTV, and Clear QAM digital cable TV; watch TV in window or full screen
The Win-TV software also enables you to schedule and record your programs automatically.
Available at Amazon.com Haupage HVR-1950.