receiving HDTV on ACD/MacPro

[L int.]

I am looking for the most elegant solution to get HDTV on a MP, and do know that Dell screens would work with a VCR (without having the computer running), but I definitely want an ACD.

What would I need beside the mentioned hardware?

Is there something like a TV card I can place into one of the PCI-E slots?

How important is the resolution, or better said: would the 23" or the 30" be better for my purpose?

Thanks a lot,

Joey

 

[Super Macho Man]

There are two ways you could do it:

1) Get an Eye TV 500 (Firewire) or EyeTV Hybrid (USB). These are the only two HDTV tuners for the Mac. Or,

2) Get a HDTV set top box with DVI output (or HDMI output + add a HDMI-DVI adapter). This would connect directly to the monitor... which is a problem since the ACD only has one input. Also, the STB or ACD would need aspect ratio compensation to fit a 16:9 picture onto a 16:10 display without the monitor squeezing it... most STBs I'm aware of don't have this and I'm pretty sure the ACD doesn't.

One advantage the Dell has over the ACD for HDTV is that it supports HDCP, so it can display premium HDTV channels and Blu-ray/HD-DVD. The current ACD can't and will never be able to, even if you add a BR/HD-DVD drive in the future.

The 23" can display full HD resolution, but obviously the 30" would give you a larger picture.