Watch HDTV On A PC

By Dorothy Grant

Watching HD TV on your computer is easier than you might think. There are two ways to go about it. Your first option is either by the use of an adaptor that acts as a TV receiver to decode the signals and display them on your screen. The other method is by viewing TV broadcasts which are streamed over the internet.

To turn you computer into a television you will required to spend some money on hardware. You will need a PC TV tuner card, they can either come with USB or PCI interfaces. You can use the PCI version with a desktop PC, the USB versions can be used with a laptop or desktop (as long as you have a free USB port). The adaptor is used to decode the TV signal and display it on you desktop or notebook.

There?s a lot of choice when it comes to buying a TV tuner adaptor. Though they all have the same basic purpose, they also have optional features and capabilities. Be certain that the type you buy is capable for use with the TV signal you want to watch.

Some have a ?built in? aerial, or for a better reception can plugged into your TV aerial, cable or satellite systems. Which ever method you use you will then have to ?tune? the adaptor to discover the TV stations that are available. Once done then all you need to do is use the viewing software to watch the channels on your computer.

TV tuner cards are not expensive, there is a big choice to consider though. Your best option might be to look at a comparison websites to compare prices features and read others people?s reviews.

The next option available to enable viewing television on your computer is via websites that stream TV channels over the web. The choice or providers is wide and there are over 3000 channels available online.

The benefits of this are that if you already have a suitable computer and internet connection then there is no extra investment in hardware required. You don?t need a super computer or a mega fast internet connection (2mb connection and above should be fine).

There are numerous providers of TV broadcasts on the internet. Just open your browser and search for ?watch TV online? to see for yourself. You will find some which are free, the quality of the broadcasts is usually poor and the range of channels is limited, they will largely be channels from around the world that you have never heard of. There are TV channel websites that involve fees these have are usually better quality with more familiar channels.

If you are happy to watch TV online you could find yourself ditching the expensive subscription services that you pay your satellite or cable provider. You don?t need to purchase any hardware either, as opposed to splashing out $1000 or more on a high definition TV. - 29852

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here