A simple question

[David]

Can those set top boxes serve 2 TVS?

David

[David Angelovich]

Short answer: Yes, but they will both be displaying the same thing.


"David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:419D3083.94BDF51A@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
> Can those set top boxes serve 2 TVS?
>
> David
>

[David]

Does that mean you tune to the stations on the set top box instead of on
your TV? If so then is the output RF or Video/audio?

I have my TV in the lounge room and a PCI TV card in my computer - does
that mean I have to have a set top box for each of them when the
stations go digital?

David

David Angelovich wrote:

> Short answer: Yes, but they will both be displaying the same thing.
>
> "David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
> news:419D3083.94BDF51A@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
> > Can those set top boxes serve 2 TVS?
> >
> > David
> >

[David Angelovich]

"David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:419D3976.E4444CE7@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
> Does that mean you tune to the stations on the set top box instead of on
> your TV? If so then is the output RF or Video/audio?

Yes, the stations get tuned in on the set top box.
The output depends on the set top box. I'm not sure if any will output RF,
but most will do several of the following: S-Video, Composite, Component,
SCART, VGA

>
> I have my TV in the lounge room and a PCI TV card in my computer - does
> that mean I have to have a set top box for each of them when the
> stations go digital?

Yes, you will need a set top box for both of them. I'd recommend getting a
new TV card for the PC. Several manufacturers make Digital TV cards for PCs.
Many will let you record HD/SD quality video, whereas using a set top box on
an analog tv card will most likely prevent you from recording true HD/SD TV
quality.

>
> David
>
> David Angelovich wrote:
>
>> Short answer: Yes, but they will both be displaying the same thing.
>>
>> "David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
>> news:419D3083.94BDF51A@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
>> > Can those set top boxes serve 2 TVS?
>> >
>> > David
>> >
>

[Louis Solomon [SteelBytes]]

> Does that mean you tune to the stations on the set top box instead of on
> your TV?

yes

> If so then is the output RF or Video/audio?

the range of video outs (RF,Composite,SVideo,Component,VGA,DVI,etc) varies
from STB to STB.

--
Louis Solomon
www.SteelBytes.com

[Matt McLeod]

In article <419D3976.E4444CE7@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au>,
David <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote:
>Does that mean you tune to the stations on the set top box instead of on
>your TV? If so then is the output RF or Video/audio?

The tuner is in the set-top box. They typically output some or all
of composite, component, S-video, DVI, VGA, or RGB SCART. Different
models have different options.

>I have my TV in the lounge room and a PCI TV card in my computer - does
>that mean I have to have a set top box for each of them when the
>stations go digital?

You'd stick a DVB-T card in the PC rather than hook the existing
TV card up to the STB. Then you'd be capturing the MPEG-2 streams
straight off the air.

Matt

[David]

Thanks for the info David - bugger it tho as I only bought the PCI card last
week. But I am not worried too much about quality as I only record shows that
I would miss because watching something else or not home etc - if they are same
as ordinary TV I am happy.

David

David Angelovich wrote:

> Yes, you will need a set top box for both of them. I'd recommend getting a
> new TV card for the PC. Several manufacturers make Digital TV cards for PCs.
> Many will let you record HD/SD quality video, whereas using a set top box on
> an analog tv card will most likely prevent you from recording true HD/SD TV
> quality.
>
> >
> > David
> >
> > David Angelovich wrote:
> >
> >> Short answer: Yes, but they will both be displaying the same thing.
> >>
> >> "David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
> >> news:419D3083.94BDF51A@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
> >> > Can those set top boxes serve 2 TVS?
> >> >
> >> > David
> >> >
> >

[David]

> Thanks guys for the info - much appreciated

David

[David Angelovich]

The problem you pose with a set top box AND the PCI card will be that you
must set the channel on the STB before you start recording...
So if you wanted to record channel 9 from 7-8pm, then channel 10 from 8-9pm,
you would have to be there to switch the channels... Unless you were happy
to revert back to the analog broadcast when the switch was needed...

- David Angelovich

"David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:419F35C1.DB7A5ADA@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
> Thanks for the info David - bugger it tho as I only bought the PCI card
> last
> week. But I am not worried too much about quality as I only record shows
> that
> I would miss because watching something else or not home etc - if they are
> same
> as ordinary TV I am happy.
>
> David
>
> David Angelovich wrote:
>
>> Yes, you will need a set top box for both of them. I'd recommend getting
>> a
>> new TV card for the PC. Several manufacturers make Digital TV cards for
>> PCs.
>> Many will let you record HD/SD quality video, whereas using a set top box
>> on
>> an analog tv card will most likely prevent you from recording true HD/SD
>> TV
>> quality.
>>
>> >
>> > David
>> >
>> > David Angelovich wrote:
>> >
>> >> Short answer: Yes, but they will both be displaying the same thing.
>> >>
>> >> "David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
>> >> news:419D3083.94BDF51A@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
>> >> > Can those set top boxes serve 2 TVS?
>> >> >
>> >> > David
>> >> >
>> >
>

[David]

Well, I would be happy with analogue, but I gather that they are going to drop
it altogether in the near future.

And of course what I mainly use the PCI card for (and the reason I bought it)
is to record my favourite programs when I am not home or busy etc!

Why the hell they couldn't leave us with a perfectly good analogue system? I
suppose some polly has shares or something in the digital field.

David

David Angelovich wrote:

> The problem you pose with a set top box AND the PCI card will be that you
> must set the channel on the STB before you start recording...
> So if you wanted to record channel 9 from 7-8pm, then channel 10 from 8-9pm,
> you would have to be there to switch the channels... Unless you were happy
> to revert back to the analog broadcast when the switch was needed...
>
> - David Angelovich
>

[David Angelovich]

It's being dropped in 2008... You've got a while longer....


"David" <david1133@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:419FB647.AE59A99A@REMOVE-TO-REPLYoptusnet.com.au...
> Well, I would be happy with analogue, but I gather that they are going to
> drop
> it altogether in the near future.
>
> And of course what I mainly use the PCI card for (and the reason I bought
> it)
> is to record my favourite programs when I am not home or busy etc!
>
> Why the hell they couldn't leave us with a perfectly good analogue system?
> I
> suppose some polly has shares or something in the digital field.
>
> David
>
> David Angelovich wrote:
>
>> The problem you pose with a set top box AND the PCI card will be that you
>> must set the channel on the STB before you start recording...
>> So if you wanted to record channel 9 from 7-8pm, then channel 10 from
>> 8-9pm,
>> you would have to be there to switch the channels... Unless you were
>> happy
>> to revert back to the analog broadcast when the switch was needed...
>>
>> - David Angelovich
>>
>

[JHardy]

The problem you pose with a set top box AND the PCI card will be that you
must set the channel on the STB before you start recording...
So if you wanted to record channel 9 from 7-8pm, then channel 10 from 8-9pm,
you would have to be there to switch the channels... Unless you were happy
to revert back to the analog broadcast when the switch was needed...

- David Angelovich



David,

Not necessarily so. I have the TEAC DV-B350 - one of the cheapest SD STBs on the market right now. It has built-in timer / channel selector, just like a typical VCR. For decent quality recording, I just set my VCR up to record from AV1 (which is what my STB is plugged into) at the required times, and set my STB to change channels as required. (I get terrible analogue reception, especially on Channels 7 and 9, but crystal clear digital reception on all channels.) That way,I get a really good quality recording from the digital signal, using as many digital channels as I want, without having to be home to select channels.

If a timer is built in to the cheapest models, I would have thought it was a pretty standard feature on most current model STBs?