Convert your computer into a TV, radio
Aug 30, 2007
PERSONAL computers (PCs) are acquiring new roles by the day in the name of simplifying life.
By Ronald Kabuusu
PERSONAL computers (PCs) are acquiring new roles by the day in the name of simplifying life.
With a TV-FM capture card fitted to your PC, you are guaranteed free entertainment from your favourite local (some times even international) television and FM radio stations with a clear transmission signal.
A Capture card, just like the VGA and sound cards, is a sizeable rectangular circuit board with an in-built TV and FM tuner, PCI express interface slot, MPEG-2 hardware encoder and an MCE Remote centre.
For example, a Sabrent SBT-TVFM model PCI capture card has TV frequencies of CATV/VHF/UHF which enables the PC to receive up to 125 TV channels on cable or TV air broadcasts of a maximum resolution of up to 640x480.
Not forgetting the wide range of FM frequencies to be able to listen to stereo quality sound FM radio. With a capture rate of 30 frames per second, you are able to transfer video from a camcorder or conduct video conferencing with the Microsoft NetMeeting programme.
More thrilling is that it is easy to connect to a DVD player, VCR or a game console and you can record your favourite soap, movies and soccer matches concurrently, as you watch a programme. Its FM radio and TV audio outputs are routed to the PC’s existing sound card using an audio cable.
In addition, TV-FM capture cards come with an antenna, a remote control and an installation CD-Rom software accompanied with a user-friendly quick installation guide.
It is advisable to let an experienced computer hardware person do the installation to check the risk of improper card mounting which could result into burning of the motherboard. The minimum requirements for installing a capture card include:
Intel Pentium 4, 2.6GHz with Hyper Threading (HT) processor
128MB VGA card with direct X9.0 or above
512MB RAM or above
Sound Card
WindowsXP, or Windows Vista Home Premium or Media Centre Edition 2005
At least 200MB hard disk free space
PCI Express interface
Capture cards are available at Computer Vision on Nkurumah Road, Second Hand at Lugogo Show Grounds and Compulink on Kampala Road. They cost sh50,000 (without FM capture) and between sh70,000 to sh150,000.
PERSONAL computers (PCs) are acquiring new roles by the day in the name of simplifying life.
With a TV-FM capture card fitted to your PC, you are guaranteed free entertainment from your favourite local (some times even international) television and FM radio stations with a clear transmission signal.
A Capture card, just like the VGA and sound cards, is a sizeable rectangular circuit board with an in-built TV and FM tuner, PCI express interface slot, MPEG-2 hardware encoder and an MCE Remote centre.
For example, a Sabrent SBT-TVFM model PCI capture card has TV frequencies of CATV/VHF/UHF which enables the PC to receive up to 125 TV channels on cable or TV air broadcasts of a maximum resolution of up to 640x480.
Not forgetting the wide range of FM frequencies to be able to listen to stereo quality sound FM radio. With a capture rate of 30 frames per second, you are able to transfer video from a camcorder or conduct video conferencing with the Microsoft NetMeeting programme.
More thrilling is that it is easy to connect to a DVD player, VCR or a game console and you can record your favourite soap, movies and soccer matches concurrently, as you watch a programme. Its FM radio and TV audio outputs are routed to the PC’s existing sound card using an audio cable.
In addition, TV-FM capture cards come with an antenna, a remote control and an installation CD-Rom software accompanied with a user-friendly quick installation guide.
It is advisable to let an experienced computer hardware person do the installation to check the risk of improper card mounting which could result into burning of the motherboard. The minimum requirements for installing a capture card include:
Intel Pentium 4, 2.6GHz with Hyper Threading (HT) processor
128MB VGA card with direct X9.0 or above
512MB RAM or above
Sound Card
WindowsXP, or Windows Vista Home Premium or Media Centre Edition 2005
At least 200MB hard disk free space
PCI Express interface
Capture cards are available at Computer Vision on Nkurumah Road, Second Hand at Lugogo Show Grounds and Compulink on Kampala Road. They cost sh50,000 (without FM capture) and between sh70,000 to sh150,000.