What is a TV Tuner?

How to view TV from a computer?

All digital products are now getting integrated in a single product. MP3 player, digital camera, radio are all now integrated into a mobile phone. Even internet is accessible from mobile phones. Likewise you can now view TV from your computer.

Are you one of those who fight for the remote control of your TV to choose your favorite channel at home? If you would like to watch a football match while your sister wants to watch her favourite TV serial and often end up fighting then the obvious solution is to buy another TV. But this is a waste.

If you can watch TV from your own computer then you can save lots of money. You can save space by not buying another TV. Moreover you get more options that are not available in a TV.

If you are not at home but you do not want to miss an important TV program, you can ask someone at home to record the show using your computer. You can then watch it later at your own time. If you have camcorder or VCR then you can capture the video and create video CDs.

To do all these you need to buy a 'TV Tuner' card. This card costs from $40 to $100 depending on features.

Internal or external TV tuner cards

Internal TV tuner card can be inserted inside the motherboard of your computer. Since internal TV tuners are cheap many prefer this type of card.

These TV tuners come in two forms. Just as a TV tuner or 2 in 1 which is TV tuner + graphics card. If the graphics card in your computer is already good then you can buy the TV tuner without the graphics card. On the other hand if you feel that your existing graphics card is not suitable for playing 3D games then you can buy the TV tuner with graphics card that can support 3D graphics.

External TV tuners are more expensive. But it is easy to install. And easy to port to another computer. You can connect VCD player / DVD player to these tuner and view it from your computer. If you have a Gaming console you can connect it to your tuner and play games.

To install an internal TV tuner:

External TV tuners can be easily installed. Most of the times you don't even have to install the drivers. But installing an internal TV tuner is a bit complex. Here are the steps to install an internal TV tuner.

1. The static current in your body can damage a TV tuner. Therefore before touching the TV tuner touch a metal or it is advisible to use the 'Grounding strip' to hold the TV tuner. But it is unnessary to buy it just for a single day's use.
2. Disconnect the power supply and open your computer's cabinet. See if your motherboard has a free PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect) slot. If there is then remove the cover in the cabinet that covers this PCI slot.
3. If you had bought the TV tuner+graphics card then remove the existing graphics card from your computer.
4. Insert the new TV tuner card into the PCI slot firmly and screw it to secure it.
5. Now you have to connect the audio to the tuner card. If your computer has an inbuilt audio circuit or you have an external sound card, in either case connect the audio cable to the TV tuner card.
6. Now connect the TV's Coaxial cable to the TV tuner card.
7. Close the cabinet and power up the computer.
8. Now window will detect your TV tuner and prompt your for the driver. Insert the driver CD and install the driver.
9. Together with the TV tuner card, the accompanying CD will have the software to compress the TV video and save as video files in your computer. Install the necessary software and you are ready to use your computer to view TV programmes.