By Whitson Gordon

How to Pick the Right TV Tuner for Your DIY DVR

How to Pick the Right TV Tuner for Your DIY DVR You can pay a monthly fee to your cable provider for a time-shifting DVR, but if you prefer control and flexibility to DRM and, well, that monthly fee, you can roll your own DVR with a TV tuner for your PC.

So you've set up a geeky media center that non-geeks can actually use, but you still have a separate method for watching and recording live TV. If you'd like to consolidate your devices, a TV tuner is the perfect add-on for your media center. We've briefly discussed TV tuners before, but the state of modern television can make the buying process a little overwhelming. There is no one-size-fits all solution to buying one, so we've created this guide to sorting out whether a TV tuner is right for you, and how to go about buying the right one.

Note that the explanations in this guide assume you're using Windows. While there are solutions for Mac and Linux that work with these cards, the whole process is more complicated and varies a lot depending on the software, the card, and the OS you're using. You can still use a lot of this information for OS X and Linux, you'll just have to do more research on what the third-party drivers give you, what software you'll need, and how to set it all up.

Photo by João Paulo Corrêa de Carvalho.

A Glossary of Terms

Before we begin, there are a few terms you'll want to know as you search out your TV tuner:

NTSC is the analog standard for television. While this used to be the signal transmitted over-the-air, after the digital transition over-the-air broadcasts switched to ATSC. Analog television is still available over cable.
ATSC is the new standard for over-the-air, digital television. If you use an antenna instead of cable television, this is the type of broadcast you receive. ATSC does contain HD channels.
QAM is the format in which digital cable is transmitted. It is similar to ATSC, only it carries about twice the amount of data and thus is transmitted through cable instead of over-the-air. This may also be called ClearQAM, in which case it specifically refers to unencrypted digital cable. Many cable companies are scrambling the digital signals for non-local channels nowadays, and you can only watch scrambled channels with a set-top box provided by the cable company, or a CableCARD compatible system that replaces it (such as a TiVo).

What a TV Tuner Will Allow You to Watch (And What it Won't)

If You Have Cable or Satellite Service

If you subscribe to a cable package, a TV tuner will allow you to watch any analog (NTSC) channels available, as well as any ClearQAM (unencrypted digital channels) available. Your cable company decides which channels these are (good luck trying to find out from them), but in my experience I got a lot of local channels, as well as a few national channels. Only a few of those were in HD (like ABC, NBC and FOX), and I did not get a lot of national cable channels in ClearQAM—you know, the ones people actually buy cable for (like ESPN, Comedy Central, Food Network, and such).

That sounds bad, but fear not—you can still get every channel on your tuner by connecting a cable company-provided set-top box to your tuner with an S-Video, Composite, or Component video cable. The problem with using S-Video or Composite is that you will not be able to get these channels in HD, nor will you be able to record two of those channels at once, even if you have a dual tuner. If you've just got to have HD for all your channels, you'll want to go the Component route. This is also the method you'll have to use if you use a satellite to get TV.

There is currently one product on the market—the Hauppauge HD-PVR—that will let you watch and record all your channels in HD via Component. So if you absolutely have to have all your channels in HD through your HTPC, that PVR box is pretty much your only option for now (and, unfortunately, it can only record one channel at a time). Like other tuners, you'll still need your set-top box to receive cable—it's merely a way to output video from your cable box to your computer.

There are also one or two products that are the end-all, be-all solution right now—such as the the Ceton InfiniTV4—which is a PCI card that supports a CableCard and can record up to four channels at once. It's about $400 though, so unless you're looking to drop some serious cash, you'll have to compromise somewhere.

If You Use an Antenna

If you use a digital antenna, you're pretty much set to rock. TV tuners should receive all ATSC signals, and any channel broadcast in HD will be available and recordable in full, 1080i HD on your computer.

How to Choose the Right Tuner for You

Almost any modern tuner should work with Windows Media Center out-of-the-box, though they'll also come with their own TV watching software if you don't already use Media Center. Almost all should have the ability to watch and record TV in both standard and high definition. In addition, while there are a few companies out there making TV tuners, Hauppauge is by far the most popular and most highly recommended (which I will also stand by, as that is the brand of card I tested).

Also note, once again, that if you need to watch and record all your channels in HD (including HD cable channels), you're going to want with the Hauppauge HD-PVR. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is rather expensive and only allows you to watch or record one channel at a time. As far as the rest of the tuners go, there are a few things you'll want to consider:

How to Pick the Right TV Tuner for Your DIY DVR

Input Type

The first thing by which you'll want to narrow down your search is connection type. As with other peripherals like wireless network and bluetooth receivers, you can choose between an internal PCI card and an external USB tuner. Unlike other peripherals, though, there doesn't seem to be a downside between the two—the main deciding factor here is personal preference. If you've already filled up your computer's PCI slots, then you might want to go USB. If you're on a laptop, you'll need to go USB. If you want multiple inputs (like if you want to connect cable directly and through your set-top box via S-Video), you'll need a PCI card. This should be a pretty quick decision.

Also note that, while most computers rely on PCI Express (PCI-e) slots nowadays, some cheaper motherboards (like the type used in custom-built HTPCs) may only contain a regular PCI slot, in which case your choices will be severely limited . You may have to search a little harder for the right tuner, especially if you want to record two channels at once.

How to Pick the Right TV Tuner for Your DIY DVR

Types of Tuners

The thing that will probably narrow down your search the most is whether you are watching analog or digital broadcasting, and whether you want to record two channels at once (or watch one while recording another). There are four general types of tuners:

Analog and digital-only tuners are exactly what they sound like—they record only one type of broadcast. These are generally cheaper, so if you know you're only going to be watching TV from a digital antenna, you can feel good about choosing something like the $45 AVerMedia AVerTVHD Bravo Tuner. If you are using cable, this probably isn't the one to go with.
A hybrid tuner, like the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250, can act as either an analog tuner or a digital tuner, though switching between them isn't exactly seamless. If you only need to receive analog cable, you're better off just getting a cheaper analog-only card. If you'd like to receive both at once, you'll either need two hybrid tuner cards or a combo tuner.
Combo tuners contain two tuners on each card, one of which can act as an analog tuner while the other acts as digital. With this type of tuner, you can record one channel while watching another, as long as one is analog and one is digital. The Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600 is a good example of a combo tuner (note that it's PCI, not PCI express).
Dual tuners, such as the WinTV-HVR-2250, are by far the most versatile (though they're also the most expensive). With a dual tuner, you can watch one channel while recording another, or record two channels at once, no matter whether they're both digital, both analog, or one analog and one digital.

OEM Versions

If you're looking to incorporate this card into an existing HTPC, you can cut your cost a little bit by finding an OEM version of your card of choice. You won't get certain extras, like a remote control or standalone TV watching software, but if you're putting this in an already-built HTPC for which you have, say Windows Media Center and a remote, then there's no reason to pay for it all over again.

FM Radio and Other Miscellaneous Features

One of the last, and this is less important since most radio stations have online streams (that you can even import into iTunes), but only some TV tuners have support for FM radio. If you listen to a lot of FM radio and would like to avoid the hassle of internet radio, this may be something you want to keep an eye out for. If you plan on connecting your cable box (or video game system, or VCR, or anything else) via S-Video, you'll want to make sure the card you pick has the ability to do so as well.

After picking a card, the rest is pretty simple. You already know how to install a PCI card, and setting up the software that comes with the card was a cinch. If you're using Windows Media Center, you just need to install the drivers and set up the rest in Media Center. Have you ever set up a TV tuner in your computer or HTPC? We know it's a pretty complicated process and differs from person to person, so share your experiences with us in the comments.