Welcome to the digitallifestyle.com video show and the first on the how to series. And we going to do is a simple how to video for you today, I’ve a real quick look at how to get me working media center with TV signal. And I am going to be using my SONY VIAO laptop and a TV tuner card to get digital TV work on media center.
And I will be using this novati, this will tune in the card which work on free views, I will show you how free views straight on to this laptop. Sony is very similar no matter what type of TV card you have. So you could have a PCI or PCI express TV card inside your PC. As I am working on my laptop I am using this USB device which looks like this and it has three parts to it here. So let me show you first, so this is the actual TV tuner, it’s a USB device and it comes with a USB extension cable so I can use that just to make things much easier to fit around.
And it comes with an adaptor for the aerial so the actual TV tuner does come with a twin aerial. But I am going to be using the aerial on the loft and so I am using this little kit, that fit in to there. And there I can put my aerial lead strain to that, so what we will need is a PC running at – I am going to be using vista – so a PC running windows vista on premium or ultimate edition. The thing that you will need to do is install the tuning cards and the drivers and everything else and we can setup our media center.
Okay so I put the TV tuner in the USB thing and the first thing it asked me is for the drivers. And so I got the CD with the drivers on – so I’m just going to put that and got to tune in and the CD in. And I will do that -choose and locate still add a software so we go with the windows, the user authentication and that now installing the drivers. Now the WinTV noveTD does have some extra software and one of those is to enable the dual tuner mode. So that is why we can call two things at once and you do need to run the setup from the CD. And install the extra bit software and just enables that you to tuner mode.
So I am going to do that again and depending on the TV card you’ve chosen. You might not need to do that, I got a PCI card and I have a miller machine and ask me how to do that. So I’m going to install the components which enables to tune it and support. And now it is asking me for the driver disc again, I don’t want to ask it again because it is already - the disc is in there. So that’s finish installing the drivers, when the drivers ready to use now and media center shopper uses a single tuning card. And now I am going to install the extra application that enables the dual tuner. So this is specific this TV card and it is not something that you will need to do in all cards.
So I don’t need all this extra PC software that comes with the application. I don’t really need that configuration tool. And in this instruction of this driver is complete now I need to do a reboot to enable the dual tuner functions. Okay so now I rebooted and gone into the driver software and this is just one application you need to use and this is a diversity mode the all two tuner mode. In diversity mode, its best design for the win TV’S own software where we will combine the two software we’re going to combine the two aerials signals to give you a stronger signal. Or if you use a two dual tuner mode, you got two independent tuners. So that where we want to be needed is we call two things at once so let setup that –okay.
I’m really done now, we can now go to media center, so now we can go to the setup the TV. So when I go to setup TV and this is going to tell me to send all the kind of signal you got what way you live what channel are announced. So let’s go for the wizard and to take them you hit UK that is fine. So now it downloads and latest set of information that needs to be needs that. So now it is asking me which TV tuners do I need to configure so let say I got two different tuners mode now. So it sees two separate independent tuners so we’re going to buff on those ticks and go with those. And now we’re going to set up the program guide, this is the EPG electronic program guide that contains all the information on what is on and what channel and the reason to power media send to is that you can flip through choose what you want to watch.
You can use search and you can setup things to record. So now you need to put a post code in so I’m going to use a Manchester 1 and so now I pick which signal I will use. We can use free view from winter hill; winter hill is the must that- I get my TV tuner from. And now it is downloading the 14 day guide, so now the download is complete I click to next. And this is now is going to scan for the available TV channels, it takes a bit of time now it better goes to it looks for all the different channels that I can pick up right through my aerial. So it found all my channels, it found some two channels in there which looks about right. Next that is still now, so I can go into a guide I can see the channels, I am going to live TV. The beauty of having it which the all tuner solution is I can record that tower and if I am a real news fan I can also record that channel.
So I can record two things at once with a two tuner card. Or I could choose to watch the news on this channel, while recording the other channel, so you got the both options. So I can go to record the TV, and they are the two channels recorded. So you can see when using the media center home premium or ultimate edition a laptop, a TV tuner card. I got - media center DVR and I got to connect the - of the network to extend this and all the other devices. And that is probably so much for the topic for the other video.
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