no monitor only tv

[spongebath]

Hi,
Is it possible to have a pc with no monitor, only an s-vid cable to the tv?
To have a setup like that would it be better to have a tuner card with s-vid out or a tuner and video card with s-vid out?
Can you watch channels on a tv without the windows desktop cluttering up the screen?

Thank You

[flavius]

Yes.
I'd go for tuner and videocard.
Yes.
The forum has a ton of posts about all that. If you want more specific advice, you should tell us about your hardware.

[spongebath]

Hi,
At this point I don't have any hardware. I'm trying to figure out
what brands would be the most compatible. My initial thought is to go with an
ati - all in 1. Or one of the hauppage cards and an nvidia based agp vid card.


Thank You

[mikemcd]

Absolutely!
I only have a TV connected to my BTV computer. Resolution is not great, but everything works just fine (I also use a wireless keyboard/mouse combination). But, I mostly access my BTV computer through another computer on my network using the XP Pro Remote desktop facility. The only application that I have found that doesn't work through Remote Desktop is BTV (and I've tried a ton of apps).

[flavius]

About the tuner: you should get one with hardware encoding. Otherwise your box will will be pretty busy while recording. This will also leave you with the option of adding more tuners later. Software/hardware encoding combos are not supported by BTV, though they work fine for some.

[Josch]

Also, I know that Nvidia FX series cards like mine have really good quality picture on the s-video output of them. My image looks very clear on the tv

[SwissMoose]

I am building a budget BTV box that will only have moderate use. But I have been testing an old nvidia Geforce 2 GTS with TV out. It has pretty decent TV output, but only if I use the TV Tool utility. TV Tool just seems to tweak all the levels just right to make the most of an aging card. The color is really vibrant and there is hardly any jitter. When the budget allows it will add a 150MCE (to add to a TV Wonder PCI) and be good to go.