how to turn my computer into a TV

[Mike Meyer]

On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 11:22:08 -0700
VDR User <user.vdr at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 18, 2012 at 10:21 AM, Dieter BSD <dieterbsd at engineer.com> wrote:
> > user.vdr writes:
> >> Recording doesn't require any compression unless you are transcoding
> >> in real-time. There's no difference between recording ATSC, NTSC, PAL,
> >> etc, and it's actually irrelevant what the stream is.
> > This is incorrect.  ATSC is compressed before broadcast, so
> > you receive the data already compresed.  NTSC and PAL are
> > broadcast in analog.  The tuner performs A-to-D which gives
> > an uncompressed data stream.  Have fun trying to store that.
> > As a practical matter, you have to compress the data in real time.
> > Some, not all, tuners include hardware compression.
> All consumer digital broadcasts are compressed typically with mpeg2 or mpeg4.
> With very very very few exceptions, all analog NTSC broadcasts have
> been switched to digital, by the FCC mandated deadline of June 12,
> 2009.

A note of clarification: NTSC broadcasts are analog. When stations
switched to digital, they switched to ATSC.  So - with very very very
few exceptions, there are no longer any consumer analog broadcasts in
the US.

With that clarification, what you're saying is true, but 1) only
applies in the US (though I expect things are similar in other
countries), and 2) only applies to *broadcast* signals. Both of these
are true for what the OP is watching, but not necessarily for
everyone.

In particular, a large percentage of the population gets their TV from
a cable, which is *not* a broadcast signal, and thus can include
analog NTSC signals. Of course, they don't carry ATSC, either (they
get QAM in the US, so if you want to receive those, you'll need a QAM
capable tuner). The rules regarding when, how, and who can switch are
as arcane as you'd expect.

As an aside, if you're getting your TV via cable (or a dish), the
signal broadcast by your local stations are probably better quality.

Personally, I use Hulu Plus as my TV provider. This is *the* most
cost-effective way to watch TV on your computer. No extra hardware
needed, not worrying about cruft like NTSC/ATSC/etc, you can watch it
at your convenience, etc. All for an order of magnitude less than I
was paying for DirecTV.

    <mike
-- 
Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org>		http://www.mired.org/
Independent Software developer/SCM consultant, email for more information.

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