Who needs a TV receiver anyway?

For decades the world has been buying and watching standalone TV sets. They have faithfully entertained us and provided up to date information. Well as up to date as was possible in between the adverts. Things are now radically changing. The world you live in is very different from the world of past years, this is a world where digital communications, computers, digital TV, Satellite TV and the Internet are everywhere you look. The computer is now as common in your home as the TV set ever was and I know of many people that have more computers in their home than they have standalone television sets.

We use computers routinely for gathering information and research. Only a few short years ago this was the role of television news and current affairs channels. The TV channels haven't gone away but we rely on them a lot less than we used to. It's often so much easier to reach for the Internet browser on your PC especially when you need the information right now.

Do you need that TV set anymore?

Good question. Computers used to lack the processing power to provide the functionality that your TV set has. This is surprisingly no longer the case. It's surprising because in the early days, it was inconceivable that computers could ever evolve into a product with such capabilities. Today almost all, if not all, modern notebook PCs and desktops are more than capable of receiving, decoding and playing digital TV from sattelite, cable or terrestrial digital TV. While they last you can even watch analogue TV broadcasts.

How to use your PC to watch digital television

When it first became possible to watch digital video, or analogue video for that matter, on your PC you were required to install a video capture card inside your PC. You then had to find a way to get your chosen source of signal converted into a form acceptable to the add-in card. Typically you had to provide an analogue signal for the capture card. This provided an acceptable solution for desktop PC's but it wasn't very good for notebook PC's.

Along came cheap powerful notebook PC's and USB 2

You can now get good notebook PCs for prices comparable with television sets. They are equipped as standard with USB 2 interfaces which are fast enough to cope with a digital TV data stream from an external receiver. This means that modern desktop and notebook PCs are capable of transforming themselves into digital TV sets provided that you can find a source of digital TV data.

USB 2 and satellite television

The USB 2 interface is one of the most significant additions to the PC in recent times. It is fast enough and versatile enough to handle a variety of applications including digital video. Manufacturers have seized this opportunity to bring you all manner of gadgets that become part of your computer simply by plugging them in.

You will find that there are many USB 2, solutions for receiving, decoding, streaming and watching sattelite, cable and terrestrial TV by simply plugging it into your PC. DVB is the digital TV standard to look out for. It stands for " Digital Video Broadcasting" and there are 3 versions - DVB-C, DVB-S and DVB-T for cable, satellite and terrestrial use.

Digital TV USB adapters - disadvantages

By adding a USB adapter for digital TV to your desktop or notebook PC you can easily and cheaply turn your computer into a high specification television. However if you want to watch encrypted pay for view channels then you will have to go with the decoder box supplied for the service. The output of the decoder box can still be fed to your PC via a USB 2 analogue video adapter.

Your TV is a computer - Your computer is a TV

Computers aren't going away anytime soon and neither is digital TV and video. Computers are only going to get more powerful at the same time as they get cheaper and digital TV is capable of far more than is being used right now. It won't be too long before the standalone TV set is a thing of the past.