Flat panel HDTV modification in the future?
The new flat panel screens are incredible, so incredible and relatively cheap I'd love to use one as a TV in my bedroom. Do you think Apple (or a 3rd party) will release a compatible HDTV tuner? Lots of current flat screen TV's utilize a separate unit for the tuner capabilities. The idea is so obvious, and profitable that I find it hard to believe that it's not in the works.
What do you think? Do you all see the value?
What do you think? Do you all see the value?
Comments
Originally posted by 3.1416
Ditto on the EyeTV 500. Mine arrived this morning, and I didn't have time to play with it too much, but it picks up 19 ATSC channels with a cheap antenna and the HD feed from PBS looks fantastic on my 23" ACD.
Sweet 3.1416 or should I call you "pi"?
I didn't know they were shipping them so fast. It's possible that El Gato may end up having a model someday with Cable Cards so that even premium channels will be watchable. But Hell I'll take OTA 19 HDTV channels today.
Originally posted by hmurchison
You mean like This
Actually I'd prefer to not waste a mac on it. It really seems like with the design of the flat panels that apple could make a killing if they were also marketed as TVs
Originally posted by willcurrie
Actually I'd prefer to not waste a mac on it. It really seems like with the design of the flat panels that apple could make a killing if they were also marketed as TVs
That increases the price substantially. Where as you have the G4/5 doing the heavy lifting with the El Gato piece. If you have a seperate tuner in the LCD you now have to provide the horsepower to run it. Most ATSC Tuner boxes are $500+ because of this processing need.
Originally posted by badtz
with the el gato 500 ... do you plug in your normal cable wire, and it picks up any ATSC [free?] signals?
Atenna input goes to the back of the unit and a FW cable hooks into the Mac for processing and display.
Originally posted by hmurchison
Sweet 3.1416 or should I call you "pi"?
Nah, I'm more rational than that
Originally posted by badtz
with the el gato 500 ... do you plug in your normal cable wire, and it picks up any ATSC [free?] signals?
You plug in a regular VHF/UHF antenna feed. I'm in an apartment and just have cheap rabbit ears from Radio Shack so I was worried about reception, but no problems so far. I'll have a better idea when I play with it more tonight, and I'll also see how well it interacts with my EyeTV USB which I still need for cable channels.
One potential problem is that I've heard that the EyeTV obeys the HDTV "broadcast flag", which is a signal broadcasters insert into the program to tell devices they aren't allowed to record it. It's another of Hollywood's attempts to eliminate timeshifting and other fair use; see http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/ for more info. If EyeTV does honor the broadcast flag (and I have no idea why Elgato would do that), it may become vastly less useful next year.
Originally posted by hmurchison
That increases the price substantially. Where as you have the G4/5 doing the heavy lifting with the El Gato piece. If you have a seperate tuner in the LCD you now have to provide the horsepower to run it. Most ATSC Tuner boxes are $500+ because of this processing need.
I paid about $400 for my Samsung, but your point is taken.
Originally posted by badtz
are the HDTV channels coming from the VHF/UHF antenna? Or is there another antenna that's needed to go intothe EyeTV 500?
Plain old UHF/VHF antenna like a Channel Master or Winegard. You could even use those loops and bow-ties from Radio Shack if you live in the middle of the city.
Originally posted by Eugene
Plain old UHF/VHF antenna like a Channel Master or Winegard. You could even use those loops and bow-ties from Radio Shack if you live in the middle of the city.
they have the bandwidth for HDTV?
didn't know.
Originally posted by badtz
they have the bandwidth for HDTV?
didn't know.
It's an antenna, for God's sake. Antennae are passive rods or lengths of wire. For the most part, they are not sophisticated microelectronic devices. The best antennae are tuned to particular wavelengths with narrow bandwidths. HDTV (ATSC) is broadcast over the same television channels as NTSC broadcasts. HTSC and ATSC channels are all 6 MHz in bandwidth. The major difference are that the content in HDTV broadcasts is compressed digital data whereas NTSC content is uncompressed analog data. HDTV broadcast signals are two signals 90° out of phase with each other, aka quadrature amplitude modulation.
Originally posted by hmurchison
That increases the price substantially. Where as you have the G4/5 doing the heavy lifting with the El Gato piece. If you have a seperate tuner in the LCD you now have to provide the horsepower to run it. Most ATSC Tuner boxes are $500+ because of this processing need.
I don't want the tuner in the screen... I'd just like apple to sell a "box" that turns the monitor into a TV. 500 bucks... sounds good to me.
Has anyone ever plugged a DVI monitor into an HDTV box before? What happens? Does it work?
Originally posted by Mr. Me
It's an antenna, for God's sake. Antennae are passive rods or lengths of wire. For the most part, they are not sophisticated microelectronic devices. The best antennae are tuned to particular wavelengths with narrow bandwidths. HDTV (ATSC) is broadcast over the same television channels as NTSC broadcasts. HTSC and ATSC channels are all 6 MHz in bandwidth. The major difference are that the content in HDTV broadcasts is compressed digital data whereas NTSC content is uncompressed analog data. HDTV broadcast signals are two signals 90° out of phase with each other, aka quadrature amplitude modulation.
Thanks, for god's sake.
Originally posted by badtz
Thanks, for god's sake.
You're welcome, for God's sake!
Originally posted by 3.1416
One potential problem is that I've heard that the EyeTV obeys the HDTV "broadcast flag", which is a signal broadcasters insert into the program to tell devices they aren't allowed to record it. It's another of Hollywood's attempts to eliminate timeshifting and other fair use; see http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/ for more info. If EyeTV does honor the broadcast flag (and I have no idea why Elgato would do that), it may become vastly less useful next year.
I emailed el gato and here's what they said
Thank you for contacting Elgato Systems.
Currently, neither the EyeTV 500 hardware or software supports any broadcast flag.
In the future, when such support is required by law, then we will add it to any new Digital TV products.
The legislation mandating a flag is currently ambiguous as to whether products that pre-date the flag need to be updated to respect it. That said, it appears now that current EyeTV 500's will still function as they do in the present.
Originally posted by Mr. Me
HDTV broadcast signals are two signals 90° out of phase with each other, aka quadrature amplitude modulation.
Actually, it's the cable companies that use QAM. HDTV over-the-air is transmitted using 8VSB.
Originally posted by Eugene
Actually, it's the cable companies that use QAM. HDTV over-the-air is transmitted using 8VSB.
I stand corrected.