So how do you view TV on your PC?

berryoxide · Post by **berryoxide** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:28 pm

Hi!

I am building a media center PC for my family and till now I haven't found a *free* and good TV viewing application for Windows. In Linux I have the excellent tvtime application and MythTV suite, but Linux unfortunately does not support my hardware very well (Blu-ray, new GeForce 280, TV card remote control)...

In Linux with tvtime the picture I get with my TV card is excellent. In Windows however with VirtualDub all I get is a very skippy image with random white lines(?!) no matter how I configure the input source.

Some TV viewers for Windows do give me a good picture (not as excellent as that of tvtime though), but nag me after 5 minutes that I need to purchase the software...

And, where can I get a free media center suite like MythTV? Do any of them produce a good image? Thanks in advance!

harff182 · Post by **harff182** » Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:28 pm

Did you try VirtualVCR?
Or AMCap?

Or have a look at http://xbmc.org/
or http://gbpvr.com/
or http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

garretthylltun · Post by **garretthylltun** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 2:06 am

There's a few free TV apps for Windows as well as maybe 1 or 2 media center type apps for Windows. But the names and URL's escape my mind right now.

Inf0Byt3 · Post by **Inf0Byt3** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:00 am

What about JLC's Internet TV? It's built with PureBasic.

http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtop ... 1&start=30

DarkDragon · Post by **DarkDragon** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 11:04 am

He wants to watch TV through his TV Card (Better quality, pay tv and so on), not through the internet

.

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:19 pm

I use MediaCenter in Vista Ultimate, does a fantastic job. I tried some of the free applications (and one that cost me a little) and none of them gave me the performace I get from MediaCenter in Vista. Built a PC just for the purpose, works great and my wife was even satisfied with the quality (and she is really picky about TV quality). Even have the internet connection connected to it which allows us to pay-per-view movies over the internet if we wish with a simple click on the MS remote control.

I also used the "Microsoft Remote Control and Receiver for Media Center PC with Windows - remote control" which is a 'have to have' type of thing for Media Center PC's.

ts-soft · Post by **ts-soft** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:29 pm

With MediaCenter in Vista Ultimate is my DVB-T Dongle allways powered on,
so i have disabled the services required by MediaCenter.

WatchTV Pro is the better choice for me.

harff182 · Post by **harff182** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:35 pm

ts-soft wrote:WatchTV Pro is the better choice for me.

There is also a freeware-version at http://www.watchtvpro-experience.de/de/ ... ntial.html

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:49 pm

I tried WatchTV Pro, I like Vista Media center much better.

berryoxide · Post by **berryoxide** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:18 pm

Hi!

I will try GB-PVR once I have everything sorted... It seems to be the best choice and supports my TV card natively, but whether it produces a good picture is still a mystery. Well, AMCap is one of those applications that provide a decent picture, but nag you to buy the software (no, not when you open the application, but after about 5 minutes it nags you to buy the software and when you click OK it disables the TV card until you open up the application again = not good).

Never heard of Virtual VCR so will look into it. WatchTVPro Essential is totally unknown to me

But for a freeware application it looks darn good and does not require .NET Framework... Los Deutschland?

ts-soft · Post by **ts-soft** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:34 pm

WatchTV Pro is written in C++ and doesn't require das.nicht (dot.net)

I use it over 2 years with 2 TV-Cards without problems.
You can use all the filters and codecs on your system to see and save the
program (powerdvd have good filters, for example)

Test It

berryoxide · Post by **berryoxide** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:41 pm

ts-soft wrote:WatchTV Pro is written in C++ and doesn't require das.nicht (dot.net)
I use it over 2 years with 2 TV-Cards without problems.
You can use all the filters and codecs on your system to see and save the
program (powerdvd have good filters, for example)

Test It

Hallo Bruder,

Can you show me some images of the picture you get with WatchTV Pro? And what TV cards do you have? Thanks!

ts-soft · Post by **ts-soft** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:49 pm

screenshots

I have a old hauppauge nova pci and a NoName DVB-T USB-dongle with
BDA 2870 Driver, the old hauppauge doesn't work with Vista.

Thomas

berryoxide · Post by **berryoxide** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:51 pm

ts-soft wrote:screenshots

I have a old hauppauge nova pci and a NoName DVB-T USB-dongle with
BDA 2870 Driver, the old hauppauge doesn't work with Vista.

Thomas

No, I mean how good is the picture you get with your old Hauppauge in WatchTVPro

ts-soft · Post by **ts-soft** » Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:02 pm

With my USB-Dongle, Picture in Picture