Watching tv on my mac

[MacHappytjg]

Since you can watch tv on macs now a days just from a little usb cable thing what would be the best to buy and how does the mac know just to use the screen can someone tell me how this all works since my tv is so small and collecting dust since im on the computer all the time wouldnt mind watching it here.

[Jon.Stewart87]

Elgato Eyetv Hybrid maybe?

I think it would work better but whatevs.

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by Jon.Stewart87

Elgato Eyetv Hybrid maybe?

I think it would work better but whatevs.

where would i buy this, and how does it work?

[fa8362]

Originally Posted by MacHappytjg

where would i buy this, and how does it work?

Just Google it and/or go the website. There's pages and pages of reviews and info about it out there.

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by fa8362

Just Google it and/or go the website. There's pages and pages of reviews and info about it out there.

so basically it says crap about antenna tv which they will stop brodcasting in feburary like can i just do it from cablle am i aventually going to have to get one of those digital converter boxes

[saulinpa]

Originally Posted by MacHappytjg

so basically it says crap about antenna tv which they will stop brodcasting in feburary like can i just do it from cablle am i aventually going to have to get one of those digital converter boxes

Take a closer look. They support ATSC digital tuners in the US with cable (clear QAM) or antenna. I use EyeTV with the HDHomerun network tuner and it works great with digital over-the-air signals.

It is true that any time you have a cable company involved you get the short end of the stick. A lot of them only offer a few channels in HD clear QAM as they want you to rent their box. The rest of the cable channels will still be analog for a while as the government mandate doesn't affect them.

[gehrbox]

Originally Posted by MacHappytjg

Since you can watch tv on macs now a days just from a little usb cable thing what would be the best to buy and how does the mac know just to use the screen can someone tell me how this all works since my tv is so small and collecting dust since im on the computer all the time wouldnt mind watching it here.

If you plan to record movies to watch later and still want to get decent performance out of your Mac, get the Elgato EyeTV 250+. It has hardware encoding for the MP2 file format. The EyeTV Hybrid depends on the host computers processor to do the encoding.

If you want to record and watch on AppleTV or iPod get the 250+ AND the Turbo.264 from Elgato. The Turbo.264 handles encoding to Mp4 format so your processor does not have to do the work.

I have both of them and was using them on a Mac Mini. The CPU barely had any additional load while recording and encoding.

If you get your TV via cable service you will not need an additional tuner after the 2009 switch. That applies only to people using antenna.

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by gehrbox

If you plan to record movies to watch later and still want to get decent performance out of your Mac, get the Elgato EyeTV 250+. It has hardware encoding for the MP2 file format. The EyeTV Hybrid depends on the host computers processor to do the encoding.

If you want to record and watch on AppleTV or iPod get the 250+ AND the Turbo.264 from Elgato. The Turbo.264 handles encoding to Mp4 format so your processor does not have to do the work.

I have both of them and was using them on a Mac Mini. The CPU barely had any additional load while recording and encoding.

If you get your TV via cable service you will not need an additional tuner after the 2009 switch. That applies only to people using antenna.

Yea im not and i hink thats only the states but like on all of there channels it says that but im not sure who even uses antenna anymore anyway

[cm3k]

Is there something from Apple/itunes, that allows you to watch TV on your mac?


I just purchased my new mac, and was wondering if there was a way to watch TV on it.

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by cm3k

Is there something from Apple/itunes, that allows you to watch TV on your mac?


I just purchased my new mac, and was wondering if there was a way to watch TV on it.

well basically what were talking about the eyetv hybird its a usb thing u plug in and u put the cable in the cable thing and theres some software and u get ur local channels or digital cable box if u use that or satillite...

[Jon.Stewart87]

ALL TV THROUGH ELGATO WILL BE ABLE TO BE WATCHED AFTER FEBRUARY.


if anything, it will increase performance because there will no longer be any outlet antenna TV and will all be digital - increasing the Elgato's performance.

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by Jon.Stewart87

ALL TV THROUGH ELGATO WILL BE ABLE TO BE WATCHED AFTER FEBRUARY.


if anything, it will increase performance because there will no longer be any outlet antenna TV and will all be digital - increasing the Elgato's performance.

why not before feburary as in know ?

[kryszrich]

Originally Posted by MacHappytjg

why not before february as in know ?

In the USA...all TV is going digital in February. Those with analog antennas will need to get a digital converter. Those with cable are good to go.

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by kryszrich

In the USA...all TV is going digital in February. Those with analog antennas will need to get a digital converter. Those with cable are good to go.

yea im clear of it since theres 2032032093092 commericals about it on the us channels but he must of gotten me confused with something else

[bub9001]

I had the Elgato eye for about a week. I have over the air HDTV on my 32" LCD and it it great. But on a iMac it looks alright, if you aren't using it as your main view platform I guess it would be fine. I had the 20" 2.4Ghz core 2 duo iMac and it looked ok, it had pixel distortion and it wasn't near as good as my 32" LCD. Both where using over the air Antennas for HDTV signal. I returned both because of issues i had with the amount of money I payed and the return as far as viewing enjoyment goes. I will say i did like the Elgato for the DVR function that it had and the Schedule was awesome, I think it could see almost a four days out. If and when i buy another Mac I don't know if i will buy a Elgato Tuner or something a little less expensive with the same options.