Computersight -

I am sure many of you find it kind of a hassle to switch back and forth from your computer to the TV, especially when you are looking up cheats online. I hate having to always write the cheat down, run back to your TV and input it in the game. Well, with a little cash you can turn your computer into a TV of its own. Here is a quick guide to setting you a TV tuner in your computer.

I’ll start off by saying that I have media center PC with a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150MCE card installed. The first step to making this work is to install a TV tuner on your computer. Virtually any TV tuner will work, but the one I use, like previously said, is the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150MCE. Depending on the laptop you have, you can also install a TV tuner on it. Basically, what this allows you to do is provide the hardware for your computer to be able to act as a TV. It will take coaxial signal (what a lot of cable companies use) and it will also have the traditional yellow/red/white composite inputs that virtually all game consoles and modern video recorders, DVD players and cameras have.

(A computer with the TV tuner installed on it)

Next is the software that needs to be installed in your computer to make use of the TV tuner hardware. Those of you who have a Windows XP or Vista Media Center OS already have this part covered. However, when you purchase your tuner make sure that you check that it is bundled with a CD that contains all the needed drivers and setup files to have it up and running.

With your TV tuner installed, you are ready to plug in your game console. As you can see in the picture below, I also have composite inputs in the front of my computer so that I can plug multiple game consoles or other apparel. Go wild with your setup if you have some extra cash lying around.

(A GameCube connected to the composite inputs in the front of a computer tower)

The last step is to download software that simply reproduces whatever you connect to your composite inputs in real time on your computer monitor. I found that DScaler is not only free but one of the best ones out there. Click here to download the program. Once you have launched the program, click on “sources” at the top left corner of the window and select the TV tuner you want to use from the list of available choices. Unless you installed more than one tuner, you should only see one on the list. After you have selected the tuner, click on DShow > Video Input and selected video composite from the list.

Finally, turn on your game console and enjoy your new setup while surfing the web, checking your e-mail, or even replying to the forums! You can even play on full screen by simply maximizing the DScaler window. My next goal is to buy a bigger and much needed monitor. Have fun!

The Best Settings for DScaler:

There are quite a few settings, most are self explanatory.
On the first run it asks you what card you have and then goes on to ask about CPU priority.
I always select Best Quality and allow other apps to run but give DScaler priority. This works flawlessly.

BtCard settings

Set Video input to the type of connector you are using. I am using SVideo for example.

You must configure the Video Format correctly. It gives quite a lot of choices; try each one related to your signal type until you get one that looks good.

Pixel Width I always set to the max but if you find it uses too much CPU or you wish to capture video at lower res to save to disk, choose whatever suits you.

Set the Audio up how you prefer, I have it disabled as sound goes straight to my hifi.

Channels

I don’t use this as my Video recorder is my TV tuner.
You are on your own here.

View

I have always on top set for both window and full screen.
You can then work and watch TV with a small TV window in the corner of your screen.
Auto Size window is handy as it will resize the Window (when not full screen) depending on what is being viewed, i.e. 4:3 or widescreen.

Deinterlace

I have automatic format detect on
Video (TomsMoComp) is the best de-interlacing solution for me in the UK.
It may be just as good with NTSC.

Filters

I use Gamma and Sharpen.
Sharpen can look bad on a noisy picture.
Gamma is worth trying to see if it looks better on your monitor.

You may like to try the noise reduction filters if your picture is noisy.
This does use a fair bit more CPU.

Aspect Ratio

Mine is set to 4:3
Everything else is as default.

Settings

General Hardware setup – this allows you to change the CPU usage if you messed up doing this when it first ran.

Video Adjustments allows you to change the Brightness, Contrast, Hue and Color.