Which HDTV Tuner Card to buy for my MediaCenter PC

hd-freak · 06-08-2006, 09:46 PM

Hello All

I am trying to build a media center which I would like to connect to my Panasonic HD Plasma TV.I am looking for a good HDTV Tuner card.

My TV has a HDMI input, and I would like to have a HDMI out of the media center aswell.

My requirements are to play OTA channels that are currently from comcast and also be able to play HD DVDs (at later point when I populate my PC with Blu-ray or HD DVD) through this media center PC.

Can any one suggest which kind of HDTV Tuner Card I need to go for. I prefer a card that has a HDMI out on the same card or please suggest me how to connect the media center PC to my HDTV.

Appreciate your help.

Thanks
Poorna

borromini · 06-13-2006, 11:01 PM

While I don't have a particular HD tuner card to recommend, there are good cards from ATI. I also believe you'll have a hard time finding cards with HDMI. They are likely to all be DVI.

Bigloww · 06-14-2006, 10:06 AM

To my knowledge, the HDMI cards are not out yet. ATI and Sapphire are the only companies developing these. ATI's should be out soon but I don't think it is out yet, and $$$$ when it does. NVidia is not even developing 1 of these yet to my knowledge. I am not positive if a standard PCIE port will be able to transport digital audio without an upgrade, but I think it will. You will most likely be better off getting a good DVI card and output your audio to a seperate digital audio card. Just use a DVI to HDMI adapter on the TV end of you DVI cable. That is the way I have my PC hooked up to my 50'' plasma and it works great. They have plenty of DVI cards out that will serve every need and or price range. I have the HP Z555 MC that I got last year. It has a NVidia 6600 GT card in it that still works great for HD TV and games. I might be looking to upgrade to the 7900 GTX or 6800U next year, but for now it is great. It also has an intergrated 3 tuner (1 ATSC) card, but not sure the model. I think it is the My HD MDP-130 card (I see it on sale for around 150.00 now). It works great for playing/recording HD OTA.

06-08-2006, 09:46 PM	#1
hd-freak My plasma is High Def. Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 7	Which HDTV Tuner Card to buy for my MediaCenter PC Hello All I am trying to build a media center which I would like to connect to my Panasonic HD Plasma TV.I am looking for a good HDTV Tuner card. My TV has a HDMI input, and I would like to have a HDMI out of the media center aswell. My requirements are to play OTA channels that are currently from comcast and also be able to play HD DVDs (at later point when I populate my PC with Blu-ray or HD DVD) through this media center PC. Can any one suggest which kind of HDTV Tuner Card I need to go for. I prefer a card that has a HDMI out on the same card or please suggest me how to connect the media center PC to my HDTV. Appreciate your help. Thanks Poorna

06-13-2006, 11:01 PM	#2
borromini HT Frontiersman Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Northern California Posts: 9,825	While I don't have a particular HD tuner card to recommend, there are good cards from ATI. I also believe you'll have a hard time finding cards with HDMI. They are likely to all be DVI. __________________ "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy"

06-14-2006, 10:06 AM	#3
Bigloww Shitter was full. Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: In a van, down by the river. Posts: 5,135	To my knowledge, the HDMI cards are not out yet. ATI and Sapphire are the only companies developing these. ATI's should be out soon but I don't think it is out yet, and $$$$ when it does. NVidia is not even developing 1 of these yet to my knowledge. I am not positive if a standard PCIE port will be able to transport digital audio without an upgrade, but I think it will. You will most likely be better off getting a good DVI card and output your audio to a seperate digital audio card. Just use a DVI to HDMI adapter on the TV end of you DVI cable. That is the way I have my PC hooked up to my 50'' plasma and it works great. They have plenty of DVI cards out that will serve every need and or price range. I have the HP Z555 MC that I got last year. It has a NVidia 6600 GT card in it that still works great for HD TV and games. I might be looking to upgrade to the 7900 GTX or 6800U next year, but for now it is great. It also has an intergrated 3 tuner (1 ATSC) card, but not sure the model. I think it is the My HD MDP-130 card (I see it on sale for around 150.00 now). It works great for playing/recording HD OTA.