How Does a TV Tuner Card Work?
The Basics A TV tuner card is a card that can be plugged into the motherboard of a computer, which in turn allows that computer to receive television signals broadcast in a variety of ways. Oftentimes the cards, using available software, also allow the user to record television signals into files on her computer for archival purposes, much the same way as old VCRs worked. Presently, there are four different kinds of TV tuner cards available. Analog TV Tuners Analog TV tuners are ones that take normal, over-the-air television signals and make them viewable on a computer. They simply transfer the raw video broadcast directly onto the computer, which makes them usable primarily for viewing television programs in “real time.” The raw broadcast feed is often so large, however, that if recording is desired they would need to be compressed in order to conserve hard drive space. These types of cards will become obsolete in February 2009 when television broadcast standards move permanently to d
