Can PC TV tuners receive and broadcast cable channels?
Most PC Tuners only have QAM cable tuners which means they can only receive unencrypted cable channels that are broadcast ‘in the clear’. Usually this means you will only receive the free over-the-air antenna channels (most cable-only channels are encrypted), so using a QAM tuner is not really useful unless you don’t have an antenna or if some of the antenna channels are out-of-range. A cable-card PC tuner lets you pick up all of the cable channels you are subscribed to, provided that you are able to obtain an authorized cable-card from your cable company. The alternative is to use a video capture/tuner card with an analog video input and connect your set-top box to the card to receive cable channels. Many PC tuners with analog inputs will also have an IR emitter that can be used to control the set-top box (e.g. to change channels). It’s a slow round-about method, but it works. Currently the only way to get HD this way is to use Hauppauge’s HD PVR. PC Tuners cannot be used to broadcast
