Despite new entertainment technologies smart phones, the internet, etc. – flooding the electronics’ marketplace, the popularity of TV is still as high as ever. What has changed, however, is the types of device we now watch television on. Whilst the traditional TV set is still heavily utilized in living rooms around the world, people now watch the favorite shows on their PCs, laptops and cell phones; really, anything with a screen can now be used for TV-purposes. One of the most convenient methods is watching cable TV on PC. At its most basic, this allows the user to connect their cable service to their PC and watch a show in a window on their monitor. However, at the other end of the scale is fully-featured PVR software that can really enhance the viewing experience.
Of course the first thing you will need to watch cable TV on PC is a cable service. You will need to ensure that it is compatible with cable TV adapter cards. This is because not all cable services allow the user to watch the content on devices such as PCs; some companies insist that the user purchases or rents a set-top box from the cable company in question and only watches the service through that box. This means that many of the pay-TV channels will be encrypted, and your PC TV software will not be able to display the channel.
If you have a compatible TV service, you should then purchase a DVB-C adapter. These are available in several varieties some need to be fitted within the computer itself, and these clip into the computer’s motherboard, whilst some are simply USB adapters. On the exterior of the adapter card / USB stick, there will be a port, which will allow you to connect the co-axial TV cable.
After purchasing the card, the included software should allow you to watch your favorite channels immediately. However, if you would like to extend the functionality of the device, you might consider installing some PVR software. This software will allow you to record shows directly to your hard disk and to build a media library so you can watch the programs you want, whenever you want. Different PVR software will record the shows in different file formats. Modern software can now make use of very high compression file formats. This will allow you to store the recorded shows without using huge amounts of hard disk space; the problem with this, however, is that the more you compress the file, the more computer resources will be needed.
You might choose to extend this concept even further, by building your own PC-based media center. This would involve installing a DVB-C adapter card and some PVR software, and then connecting a video out card to a projector or large TV screen. However, none of these extras are really necessary – if you simply want to watch cable TV on PC, the adapters are available for around $50 and most can be used immediately with no complicated setup procedures.
