SITE METER *
says you are
TV Viewer
number
|
PC-TV Page Watch TV on Your PC Connecting Videogame Consoles
| 
|
Build Your PC-TV PVR | Other TV Cards Frontend | No Descramblers | PC-to-TV Connecting PC-TV | Daily Deals for PC |
CONNECTING
VIDEOGAME CONSOLES
TO YOUR PC-TV
This page is set up in response to the general question as to
whether you can hook up a videogame console to a TV Tuner
card on a PC since the PC-TV pages here at Ruel.Net are about
TV Tuner cards and watching Television on a PC system.
-
YOU CAN HOOK UP YOUR
NINTENDO, PLAYSTATION,
SEGA, OR XBOX TO YOUR PC
VIA A TV TUNER CARD
Years ago, the first time I hooked up my Sega Saturn to my old MiroVIDEO 20TD TV Tuner card on my PC, I had the most fun playing videogames while watching the great picture on the PC monitor. And you too can also try hooking up a videogame console such as a Sony Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, Sega Saturn, or Sega Dreamcast to a TV Tuner card on your PC. I've done this for realtime play with connections from a videogame console to my ATI TV Wonder card, my WinTV-GO card, and my old MiroVIDEO 20TD card. By "realtime play," I mean it is just like connecting a videogame console directly to a regular TV set and without any PVR-type delays. Like with a connection to a regular TV set, you are still using the game controls ON the videogame console.
PLEASE NOTE: Hooking up a videogame console to a TV Tuner card is like hooking up a videogame console to a TV set. However, instead of connecting the videgame console's cables to the TV set's inputs, you are instead connecting the videogame console's cables to the inputs on the TV Tuner card. Generally, keep in mind that a TV Tuner card is a TV-set-on-a-card with the same video inputs like there are on a TV set. So don't get confused because it's a TV Tuner card -- because you are still making the connections to a TV even if the TV's inputs are on the TV Tuner card. (Note if there is no audio input on the TV Tuner card, then hook up the sound from the videogame console to the sound input on your PC's sound card.) And, again, like with a regular TV set, you are still using the game controls ON the videogame console.
HOWEVER, BE CAREFUL WITH
PVR-SPECIFIC TV TUNER CARDS
WHICH MAY HAVE THE PVR-DELAY
(PVR-DELAY MEANS YOU CAN'T PLAY
WITHOUT AT LEAST A 1-SECOND DELAY)
I do NOT advise that you hook up a videogame console to a TV Tuner card that is always in a time-shift PVR (Personal Video Recording) mode because then you will get the PVR-recording delay. With a PVR, you will always get a delay and will not be able to engage in actual realtime play. PVR-specific TV Tuner cards will be behind actual live "realtime" TV by at least one second or more because PVRs need that delay so that you can immediately pause and instantly replay video as well as for recording TV shows. If you have a TV Tuner card with software that is made specifically to be a PVR (that includes the abiltity to pause "live" TV, albeit the "live" TV is really one-second behind actual live TV, and do instant replay), then the chances are you will not be able to get rid of the delay -- meaning you may not be able to turn off the PVR delay. So, for further emphasis, don't be surprised if you cannot eliminate the PVR delay in a PVR-specific TV Tuner card. Again, PVRs are made to always have that delay so you can do instant replay, pause the TV, for time-shifting, and for other PVR-specific capabilites.
Note that many TV Tuner cards may have some sort of default recording capability, but those recording capabilities tend to be primitive when compared to the more tivo-like personal recording capabilites found with PVR-specific cards like the Creative Video Blaster Digital VCR card or the Media Center PVR software found in the new WinXP Media Center Edition (note: you can only get that new WinXP MCE with new Media Center PCs). Don't be fooled by the advertising if it says a TV card can record because that recording capability may NOT be a tivo-like recording capability. Note that the term "PVR" is used so loosely by some manufacturers who say they have a "PVR" if their TV Tuner cards really only have a simple recording function. And they may even say "tivo" even if their basic TV Tuner cards only have a simple recording capability. So, what you should probably look for in any advertising are words that say "pause" and "instant replay" to get an idea as to whether or not a TV Tuner card has a real PVR capability.
Otherwise, you should be able to hook up a videogame console to almost any TV Tuner card for a live no-delay connection. For instance, any of the Hauppauge WinTV cards, most of the ATI TV Wonder (PCI, VE, USB, Pro) and ATI All-In-Wonder cards if you are using the ATI TV software that comes with the ATI Multimedia Center software, and many other TV Tuner cards should be okay and should not have the delay at all. Just hook up via the composite video or the S-Video from the videogame console to the video inputs on the TV Tuner card and hook up the sound from the videogame console to the sound input on the PC. (However, if you using a newer version, such as version 9.1x, of the ATI Multimedia Center software where the TV-On-Demand feature is turned on all the time, then you may have to go into the Setup, go to the Digital Video Recorder tab, and change the Recording Preset to something other than the Native setting. Apparently, if you use the Native setting, then the TV-On-Demand feature would be turned on all the time and that would cause the PVR delay. So try a different Recording Preset setting. Also, if you have the newer ATI TV Wonder Elite card which comes with the PowerCinema software, then you may be stuck with the delay.)
What if you may want to have a tivo-like PVR on your PC-TV system *AND* be able to also play using a videogame console hookup. How do you do that? Get two TV Tuner cards with one card being a PVR-specific TV Tuner card and with another TV Tuner card devoted to the videogame console. (If you have read other parts of the PC-TV section here at Ruel.Net, then you would know that I have three TV cards on my system -- so it can be done particularly if your video card can support it but if not then try changing your video card.)
HOW ABOUT HOOKING UP
A VIDEOGAME CONSOLE
DIRECTLY TO A PC MONITOR
WITHOUT THE PC?
Okay, you can hook up a videogame console to a TV Tuner card on a PC. However, another related typical question I would get would also ask something like this: "I have an old PC monitor. Can I hook up a videogame console to that PC monitor but without the Personal Computer and without a TV Tuner card?" Well, yes, you can. An example of one such device that will you do that is the StarTech COMP2VGA Game-Console-To-PC-Monitor Adapter. This is just one example and you could probably find other similar products out there that do pretty much the same thing.
StarTech COMP2VGA Game-Console-To-PC-Monitor Adapter
A device like the StarTech COMP2VGA Game-Console-To-PC-Monitor Adapter will convert composite video and S-Video signals (NTSC or PAL) to a full-screen VGA signal. Note that the StarTech COMP2VGA Game-Console-To-PC-Monitor Adapter also has connections for stereo sound. You can use this type of device to directly hook up a videogame console to a PC monitor without the PC. (You can also use this type of device to hook up a camcorder, a VCR, a laser disc player, or DVD player directly to a PC monitor without the PC.) Hook up from the composite video or S-video output on the videogame console to the video inputs on the device, then hook up the PC monitor to the device, plug in the electric, and turn it on. If you use a different adapter device that doesn't have connections for hooking up the sound, then you will have to try hooking up the sound in a different manner.
Note that the StarTech device is only one *EXAMPLE* of such devices. There are other devices out there which may be called VGA adapter boxes -- so you may want to look for them at your local videogame stores with regard to your particular videogame console.
So, you have two ways of hooking up a videogame console to your PC. The first way is to hook up a videogame console via a TV Tuner card on the PC. And the second way is to hook up the videogame console to a PC monitor via an adapter device.
Happy PC-TV Watching!
Ruel
WHAT RUEL SAYS ABOUT PC-TV
NOTICE: Ruel provides many free links seen on these pages. If you buy anything, your purchases would be from a linked third-party website(s). The links are for your convenience since everyone asks for suggestions about products. The products should come with their own guarantees and warranties. As for return policies, PC Mall, TigerDirect,
Micro Warehouse,
and Creative Labs
have return policies (click this sentence's links; and for TigerDirect, look in the help center, and for Micro Warehouse, look for the link at the bottom of the home page). For other vendors, look at the specific vendor information carefully and decide for yourself what card, device, or other product you may want to get.
Thank You
For Visiting
Ruel.Net
RUEL.NET TV PAGE | SET-TOP | PC-TV
TV-VIA-NET | PC-TV TUNER CARDS
ITV LIST | ITV RESEARCH | TV BOOKS
INTERACTIVE TV DEVELOPERS
CONFERENCES | NEWSLETTER
INTERACTIVE TV TOP.BOX.NEWS