Is this the end of the TV receiver, as we know it?

Ever since the 1930s we have purchased and used standalone TV sets for entertainment and up to date information but now things are changing. We live in a world that is very different from what it was only a few years ago, a world where digital TV, Satellite TV, computers and the Internet are all around us. Today the computer is as common in the home as the TV set is. I know of many households that actually have more computers than they have TV sets.

Computers are now used routinely for research and information gathering. This used to be done to an extent, by television current affairs and news programmes. Informational TV programmes haven't stopped but they are relied on a lot less than they used to be. It's so much easier to use the Internet now especially when you need information immediately.

So why do we need a standalone TV set?

Good question. Computers used to lack the processing power to provide the functionality that your TV set has. This is surprisingly no longer the case. It's surprising because in the early days, it was inconceivable that computers could ever evolve into a product with such capabilities. Today almost all, if not all, modern notebook PCs and desktops are more than capable of receiving, decoding and playing digital TV from sattelite, cable or terrestrial digital TV. While they last you can even watch analogue TV broadcasts.

How to use your PC to watch digital television

Not very long ago in the early days of PC TV it was necessary to install a TV capture card inside your computer in order to watch television broadcasts without using a standalone television. This was not a difficult task but it wasn't simple or elegant either. It also made it unsuitable for use with notebook PC's which limited the appeal somewhat. Notebooks were also less common and more expensive a few years ago so there was no incentive to develop such systems.

Here come cheap powerful notebooks with USB 2 interfaces

You can now get good notebook PCs for prices comparable with television sets. They are equipped as standard with USB 2 interfaces which are fast enough to cope with a digital TV data stream from an external receiver. This means that modern desktop and notebook PCs are capable of transforming themselves into digital TV sets provided that you can find a source of digital TV data.

USB 2 and satellite television

The USB 2 standard PC interface is one of the best advances in computer technology for a long time. It's versatile and fast enough to cope with a variety of different applications including streamed real time digital video. Manufacturers of computer peripherals have jumped on this opportunity to bring you a mountain of products that enhance your computer by simply plugging them into the USB socket.

There are USB digital TV units available for terrestrial, cable and satellite TV so you should have plenty of choice. All these devices conform to the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) standards in 3 basic versions. DVB-T for terrestrial TV, DVB-C for cable TV and DVB-S for satellite TV.

Digital TV USB adapters - disadvantages

By adding a USB adapter for digital TV to your desktop or notebook PC you can easily and cheaply turn your computer into a high specification television. However if you want to watch encrypted pay for view channels then you will have to go with the decoder box supplied for the service. The output of the decoder box can still be fed to your PC via a USB 2 analogue video adapter.

The future is digital television and computers

Computers aren't going away anytime soon and neither is digital TV and video. Computers are only going to get more powerful at the same time as they get cheaper and digital TV is capable of far more than is being used right now. It won't be too long before the standalone TV set is a thing of the past.