Want an ATSC tuner for my SDTV

[JerryK]

Hi All,
I have a decent 32" tube SDtv (no component input). I'd like to improve my locals by getting an atsc tuner and using it's s-video or rca output.

Seems like this should be easy, but I'm not having luck shopping. Below are the 2 frontrunners, but neither have reviews that are exciting:

-Samsung SIRxxxxx: Most common, I'd like one, but menus only work on component output?? Why would your menus not work on s-video/RCA output??

-RJ-Tech J1000- Cheap, loud, hot, remote is bad?


Are there other models I could look at to get DTV signals to my regular tv?

Many Thanks,
Jerry

 

[Peter Parker]

Try a web search. Here is one possibility

http://www.mydtv45.com/store.php?cmd=view&dpid=search&iid=35627b4a458f5f07cc1df6871de86720


Another possibility consider a DVD recrder with an ATSC tuner. Not much more 4 and it would give you more features.

 

[brantlew]

Seems like this should be easy, but I'm not having luck shopping. Below are the 2 frontrunners, but neither have reviews that are exciting:

I have had no luck finding one either. I am astonished that with the digital deadline less than 2 years away, nobody has stepped up with a cheap and simple ATSC to SD down-converter - especially because the company that does it right is going to make a fortune when in Feb 09' everybody wakes up and takes their $40 government subsidy coupon down to WalMart to buy a cheap tuner so their bedroom TVs still work.

 

[digiblur]

I have had no luck finding one either. I am astonished that with the digital deadline less than 2 years away, nobody has stepped up with a cheap and simple ATSC to SD down-converter - especially because the company that does it right is going to make a fortune when in Feb 09' everybody wakes up and takes their $40 government subsidy coupon down to WalMart to buy a cheap tuner so their bedroom TVs still work.

Not a lot of people will realize nor do they realize what is all about right now. Most people think it is about cable TV.

I have a couple of friends that work for the local cable company and they get quite a few questions about people saying will they bring those boxes to make their TV work in 2009. LOL....

But like I said before, the cable companies will probably ride the 2009 confusion wave, convert to 100% digital, and blame the extra charges for the digital cable boxes on the FCC.

 

[tonare1]

I have heard good things about the Hisense DB-2010 receiver. It is from a company that formerly had plans to do a cable-like over the air broadcast of cable channels from different metro areas. The parent company has recently ceased to operate, but these units have been sold at many
wal-marts and on ebay for a while. They are set up to do over the air originally and have an update to do this continually (once reflashed) are pretty decent units as I have heard.... Can be picked up as I said on ebay for relatively reasonable cost. Or search for the new dvd recorders with atsc on standard. They are very new, but there are some out there...
Let us know what u decide/how it works out...

Tonare1

 

[JerryK]

Try a web search. Here is one possibility

http://www.mydtv45.com/store.php?cmd=view&dpid=search&iid=35627b4a458f5f07cc1df6871de86720
Another possibility consider a DVD recrder with an ATSC tuner. Not much more 4 and it would give you more features.

Thanks for the great info! The Zinwell looks like a good unit.

But if I WAS to consider a DVD/ATSC combo unit, do you know what the favorites are?

Thanks again,
Jerry

 

[KyDave]

Here is an article from CES that describes some upcoming DVD recorders with ATSC tuners. Not sure if any of them have actually been released. though.

 

[torrent_guy]

Thanks for the great info! The Zinwell looks like a good unit.

But if I WAS to consider a DVD/ATSC combo unit, do you know what the favorites are?

Thanks again,
Jerry

I seen some DVD recorders with digital tuners in stock at walmart, but I didn't see any of them on the website.
Also they had no description on which digital tuner the units had.
When I asked all I got was these units are new and I may be better off going to a real electronic store.

 

[timmy1376]

I bought a Voom STB from a member here for $50 and it has worked like a champ for me. Just make sure they guarantee it will work for OTA.

 

[navychop]

LG put out what was probably the best, but it's been off the market. More are coming out over the next year. Those $40 vouchers are available starting January 2008.

 

[JerryK]

The results are in. I went to WalMart and purchased the Philips DVDR3505.
DVD Recorder with built-in tuner. Walmart price: 169.

I'll look into CD burning in the next couple days, below are my initial thoughts on the OTA reception that I really was concerned with....


Pros:
HDMI Out- I'm not using it but someday I might. Many other only have component.

Firewire Input- If it works, this is another rarity on cheaper units. Warning: This needs to be tested. someone posted on the internet it doesn't work. I'll burn a video from my camcorder and let you know.

Price- at 169 it seemed cheap for a burner, firewire input AND HDMI

OTA Channels- ALL of my analog locals are bad with my antenna..this unit pulls them ALL in (digital) and they look great.

DVD Playback- My son watched a movie this morning and it worked well.



Cons: (take with a grain of salt, I'm just learning the machine)
Philips- Often first-to-market I've found their stuff to be clunky/buggy. For this unit, we're so-far-so-good.

No EPG???: Do other units build a tv-guide chart with future shows? This only has an info button for CURRENT shows.

Slight time-lag changing channels- about 5seconds

Remote- My (non-philips) universal remote had 3 Philips codes, but none could drive this machine.


Summary:
I have nice access to my local Digitals! I'm happy. Firewire Input will be a showstopper though... I'll let you know asap.

 

[brantlew]

I still think it's crazy that for a PC the prices for a basic ATSC card ranges from $30 - $70, but somehow people have "accepted" the fact that for their old analog television they should spend upwards of $120 for this capability. Where are all the cheap simple ATSC to SD converters? These things should cost no more than $40 right now and should be $20 by 2009.

 

[Peter Parker]

How do the tuner cards work? are they entirely self sufficient or do they use the CPU to some degree?

 

[digiblur]

How do the tuner cards work? are they entirely self sufficient or do they use the CPU to some degree?

The MY-HD cards have ATSC & QAM tuners on board with an on board decoder. Even playing back a pre-recorded file the CPU usage is about 5%.

 

[Peter Parker]

Just asking because perhaps part of the explanation lies in the fact that whatever the CPU does has to be done some other way in the non PC converters. Evena 5% CPU usage might be significant. then again it might not be.

Does anyone else have any thoughtws?

 

[digiblur]

Just asking because perhaps part of the explanation lies in the fact that whatever the CPU does has to be done some other way in the non PC converters. Evena 55 CPU usage might be significant. then again it might not be.

Does anyone else have any thoughtws?

Can you translate this?

Some cards are software based and do require the CPU to do the decoding since it is displayed on the primary display device of the PC.

The MyHD line is different. There's a DVI or Component out straight from the card. No CPU usage required for tuning ATSC and QAM. I've seen people use the My-HD on old Celeron 1ghz's with 128meg of RAM. Full bitrate 1920x1080i HD from that PC.

 

[navychop]

Slow channel changing is the nature of digital. You'll probably get used to selecting from the EPG, rather than surfing.

 

[JerryK]

Slow channel changing is the nature of digital. You'll probably get used to selecting from the EPG, rather than surfing.

So far I haven't found an EPG in this unit. That was a bit of a bummer. I'll clarify that in my review.

 

[Peter Parker]

I was simply asking if anyone can explain why there is a price difference and speculating that perhaps the card based tuners use other computer resources. One source indicated that there is some CPU usage (5%) . You seem to indicate that there is none.

I am simply asking what accounts for the price difference and offering one possible explanation.


jerry thanks for telling us about the unit.