Windows Media Centre (vista)

pd101

i have just bought a new laptop with vista home premium and i want to record tv in windows media centre, but when i go into "set up tv" all i get is "tuner not found".

what does this mean and what can i do to start recording tv, i am having an awful lot of trouble trying to understand the help both on windows and on the internet.

can anyone help me using plain english

5uspect

pd101 wrote:

i have just bought a new laptop with vista home premium and i want to record tv in windows media centre, but when i go into "set up tv" all i get is "tuner not found".

what does this mean and what can i do to start recording tv, i am having an awful lot of trouble trying to understand the help both on windows and on the internet.

can anyone help me using plain english

Your laptop needs to have a TV tuner card installed for that software to work.
The feature is there but you can't use it without the gear.

mathias

There must be a tuner card installed in a pc for it to record tv , its highly unlikely to be integrated into a laptop , so in your case you are probably going to have to buy a USB tuner.
This in turn , needs to be connected to a cable or aerial feed to record tv.

Note : the S video port on the back of the TV cannot let you record TV , you must have a tuner card.

admiralofthefleet

sorry to hijack the thread but im on xp media centre, can i just put an analogue tv cable into he back of my pc in order to recieve tv, the tv tuner drivers are there but i havent installed them?

5uspect

you can put a card in yes. but you'll have to install the drivers that come with it.
Does your TV card work at all or have you ever used it? Also are you sure it is a TV tuner? (sorry had to ask)

Media center just uses that decive (and its drivers).

Its like midia player. you need a sound card and drivers to play and record music.
you need a TV tuner with drivers to play TV and record it to a video file

admiralofthefleet

the drivers and tv tuner are there but i havent got a tv card, will i not just get away with putting the tv cable in the back and installing the drivers?, thanks by the way

mathias

the drivers and tv tuner are there but i havent got a tv card

Im confused about this bit so Im going to explain some basics , sorry if its stating the obvious ,

Whatever media you happen to have on your pc comes out of the video / audio output on your PC on playback , regardless of what that is , in the case of a laptop , it either comes out of your screen , or the VGA connector , or the S-Video connector , whichever you happen to have hooked up.
Audio and Video may come from the same connector , or separate connectors depending on your choice. ( separate cables may be needed for audio and video)

A TV card , in PC terms , is a device that tunes in TV to your PC ,( in various different ways depending on what type you bought , digital , analog ...whatever) and in conjunction with whatever software you have on your PC , ( media center for Vista for example ) may be able to record TV as well.

So , if you have a TV tuner / Card ... ( the names are interchangable here ) , then you can output either live or recorded TV .


So , as far as I know , if you have a tv tuner ( which , I think , is also referred to sometimes as a TV card ) then yes , you should be able to hook it up to your TV and watch TV , or watch TV on your PC screen.

Recording is of course based on the fact that you have the software.

I suggest you guys check out the HTPC forum , as its full of guys who actually use media centre for recording live TV , using a PC as a sort of Sky + box if you like. I do it myself.

8T8

With Windows Media Centre whether your on XP or Vista you need MCE compatible TV tuners otherwise whatever your using wont be detected by media centre e.g this kind of tuner for analogue input or analogue over the air TV.

pd101

would anyone be able to recommend a tv tuner

8T8

The one I linked to in my post above will do the job for analogue sources just fine.

pd101

what about recording digital tv, is this possible?

8T8

Yes if buy get a DVB-T tuner or a hybrid which does analogue & digital but you must be within range of the ongoing trials in Dublin to pick up the digital signal.

Digital only tuner - MCE compatible.

Hybrid tuner - MCE compatible.

Be aware that Windows Media Centre can only handle one source at a time in other words you can only record from a single digital or analogue source, what that means is you cannot set it up so that it can record from analogue TV and digital TV at the same time it can only be one or the other.

daithimac

don't suppose you know one which would be compatable with a laptop?

8T8

don't suppose you know one which would be compatable with a laptop?

Analogue external USB

Digital external USB

Both are MCE compatible.