[mythtv-users] Picture Quality...

[David Brodbeck]

Brian Wood wrote:
> TV tuners are pretty much commodity items these days, and whether  
> they are going into TV sets or tuner cards they are essentially the  
> same thing. I haven't seen any real difference between them.
>   

I've found that TV tuner cards, living as they do inside an electrically
noisy computer, often have one or two channels where the picture is poor
compared to a TV set due to interference.  On other channels they'll be
fine.  Also, maybe because of this noise pick-up problem, tuner cards
often seem to have less gain than a regular TV or VCR.  With a good
cable signal you won't notice, but if the signal is a bit weak the
picture from the card won't look as good.  I had one card for a while
where the manual actually recommended using an external pre-amp.