I know there are alot of smart techy kind of people on here, so I figured I'd ask. I know you can watch TV on your pc but am wondering if there is a cheaper alternative to satellite TV. I currently have Bell Expressvu and all the HD channels they offer, but its expensive for what you get. Is there an internet alternative to satellite and get all the HD channels, movies and local stations and be able to watch it on my big screen? Is there some sort of a decoder or converter that will convert the signal so a normal tv can show it?

 

As far as content to display, there are lots of them... Tvants comes to mind, but they are not as good as satellite/cable as far as convenience goes...

As far as the technicals go, putting the picture on the TV, that's easy. Depending on your video card, you may have a VGA (Dsub) output (blue 9-pin) output, a DVI (white rectangle) or S-video. If you do not have an extra one, an aftermarket videocard may be in order. The S-Video out will go straight into your s-video in on the TV. If you have DVI out, and HDMI in on your TV, then you can get a cable to convert (the signalling is the same). With the blue VGA, it is a little more tricky... the signalling is RGB, and the only adapter you can get would be a transcoder to make it Pr, Pb, and Y for component in on the tv. These transcoders are expensive.

The best solution I can offer, if you have an HDTV particularly, is an ATI card that has S-video, DVI, and HDTV out (with an adapter cable included for component) that is HDCP compatible. HDCP is the hardware based copy protection that will be required if you ever want to play Blu-ray, or HD-DVD (note, this only works with a DVI or HDMI cable).


So I guess it boils down to, what kind of TV connections do you have, and what are your goals as far as quality of picture?

 

If you have windows media edition and wireless network then you can also get a linksys media extender. It hooks u to your tv like a DVD player, has multiple ins and out and you send signal from your pc to the Extender through a wireless network.
I bought one when we bought wifes laptop but took it back, It was the only one in the best buy store and was a shelf model out of box. Got home and found out you had to have the remote to set it up. They did not have the remote...... Also found out that it would not send media to the laptop like it marketed it would, I was hoping to use the laptop as a wireless portable DVR but would need to purchase another adapter to send signal.......

I need to get that finished.....