Tuner Card to change channel of digital box?

Etnies

I'm just wondering is it possible to :

Install a tv tuner card in a pc,
connect it to a digital tv box,
and set it to record via an epg (with a pvr in say WMC) to the hard drive of the pc, changing channel if required?

I know this would requite an IR blaster also, just don't no what the setup would need to be.



Have tried to google this but can't seem to get an easy answer.


Edit :

I know it is possible to record from a box without the feature of channel changing and I also know you have to watch what you are recording,

watty

Video capture (i.e. connecting via Analogue output of a set-box) gives very poor quality and is difficult above 1/2 VGA resolution.

If it's a Free To Air channel then a Digital Terrestrial USB stick or Digital Satellite Tuner card will give perfect results (from aerial or dish).

Recording direct from a set-box with a PC is poor quality and expensive. Any cheap Analogue DVD recorder works better. (only SCART is needed, not the RF / Tuner which reduces the quality)

moro_original

Etnies,

It is entirely possible to do what you require, and furthermore it can be done in good quality (as good as an external DVD recorder). What's more, because fewer people do this anymore you can buy the equipment for very reasonable prices on eBay.

I recommend you consult a PVR forum such as the ones on MythTV / NextPVR / Media Portal as they are more experienced with this sort of thing, but they'll probably recommend getting a Hauppauge device. I've read plenty of posts of people recording from Sky\Cable set-top-boxes to their PC.

You can even get HD recorders that will record the component video signal from a HD set-top-box, but they're kind of expensive at the moment.

If it is free to air digital terrestrial / satellite, then you can get USB cards that record these directly to the hard disk drive.

Knasher

In response to your question about changing channels, yes it is possible. You need to use and IR blaster which is just a little ir led connected to your computer which replicates the signal from a remote to change the channels.