HTPC TV : Choose How To Connect
Part of having a HTPC is being able to connect your HTPC up to your TV. There are quite a few different sources for getting TV, and in this article we aim to cover these different sources, and explain how to connect each one up to your HTPC.
Over the Air Analogue TV
Ok well first thing to be said is that in a lot of countries worldwide they are stopping to broadcast analogue TV stations within the next few years. This means that if you are planning on setting up a new HTPC it is best not to use this solution.
If you already have this setup, an analogue TV tuner in your HTPC is all you need to get HTPC TV to play.
Over the Air HDTV
This is a great route, because it allows you to get all the broadcasted stations for free, including the HD ones.
Most current HTPC TV cards are either digital or hybrid, so can play digital TV. Also all the current HTPC front ends support this.
I am going to assume you already have a roof mounted antenna or a good indoor antenna, so then all you need is a standard TV cable to your HTPC TV card.
Analogue Cable
Analogue cable has been around for a while (especially in the US) and is what started pvr and PCs being able to tune into TV.
Analogue cable is easy because the majority of TV cards and software support them, s it is very easy to set up. All you need to do is plug in a COAX cable into the HTPV TV card, and the software can automatically tune in the channels.
Unfortunately you can’t get HD channels, as analogue cable only supports analogue TV (surprisingly).
Digital Cable
Digital cable is the new replacement for analogue cable. Digital cable allows stations to air more data through the same bandwidth, so they can have multiple channels. It allows for standard and HD definition channels, and you can get premium content (movies on demand, TV guide etc.)
There are three main methods for connecting to digital cable:
1. Cable set top box – this box is connected to you digital cable, and then the svideo from your cable set top box to the TV card in your HTPC. This means that you can use any type of TV card, but can only get analogue channels.
The downside of this method is that the HTPC uses Infra Red to change the set top box, which can make it quite fiddly to set up.
2. Firewire with set top box – this is similar to solution number 1, but you use firewire to connect instead of svideo. The handling of changing channels is also done through firewire, so you don’t have to worry about infrared.
The downside of this is that you need to decrypt premium channels, and this can be quite difficult. Only some software supports this.
3. Tuner Card – Get a tuner card that supports digital cable. These cards allow you to get HD and SD channels, and change channels easily. Unfortunately you need to get a cablecard ready PC, and these can be very expensive. You also need to call out a technician from the cable company to install the card (more money). So this can be quite an expensive solution.
Satellite
Using a satellite dish to get HTPC TV can seem quite difficult. The best option is the use a cable set top box to connect your HTPC to your satellite. This is basically the same as the first method outlined for digital cable.
There are other sources to get TV for your HTPC, but these are the most popular five. Hopefully this has helped you understand the different options you have for getting HTPC TV and how you can interface it to your Home Theatre PC.
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