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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > watching tv on a ti powerbook?

watching tv on a ti powerbook?
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corp miler
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Jan 29, 2004, 01:26 PM
 
i have a nice little desk area in our kitchen by the breakfast table where i keep the powerbook. i've been wanting to get a small tv, perhaps an "under cabinet" flip down, for watching news, etc., in the morning. they run about $600 for a 15" set. then i happened to think, what about running some sort of a/v out from the tivo to the powerbook? is this possible? it wouldn't have to be from the tivo necessarily, but i assume you'd need some external tuner, tv, vcr, etc for the video output. even if i could just get a video signal to watch on the powerbook, i could still hear the audio from the stereo in the adjacent room. i have a 15" ti book, airport network and a series2 tivo (if that matters). sorry if this has been covered. i couldn't find anything.
     
mattyd
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Jan 29, 2004, 09:39 PM
 
what you're looking for is a simple "Video In" port that would allow you to pass a signal through to your display. unfortunately, i don't think that exisits.

see this thread...

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=199459

i asked the same question last summer...

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=163720
     
corp miler  (op)
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Feb 9, 2004, 03:47 PM
 
looks like this would work just fine, but i'd have to get the more expensive unit for suitable resolution and its not a whole lot less than an under-cabinet tv. anyway to get a video input on a tibook using the pci slot? or better yet, any way to broadcast a tivo's video output over an airport network?! now that would be cool... maybe i should just stay low tech.
     
msykes
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Feb 9, 2004, 07:27 PM
 
Originally posted by corp miler:
looks like this would work just fine, but i'd have to get the more expensive unit for suitable resolution and its not a whole lot less than an under-cabinet tv. anyway to get a video input on a tibook using the pci slot? or better yet, any way to broadcast a tivo's video output over an airport network?! now that would be cool... maybe i should just stay low tech.
You can hack your tivo to add an 802.11b card, and then connect to it and view it's hard drive on your mac (www.tivofaq.com). I suppose once you have connected to the TiVo's hard drive, you coudl then access stored shows and watch them on your Mac. However that would only apply to already recorded shows, and you would not be using the interface of the TiVo itself, so this isn't probably exactly what you are looking for. I almost did this myself once, and then realized I had no need, but I think the hardware costs were pretty minimal, really just the wifi card for the tivo.
     
tooki
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Feb 9, 2004, 08:31 PM
 
Check the peripherals forum, there are tons of threads on TV tuners. Look for them.

tooki
     
yticolev
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Feb 10, 2004, 08:40 PM
 
Originally posted by corp miler:
i have a nice little desk area in our kitchen by the breakfast table where i keep the powerbook. i've been wanting to get a small tv, perhaps an "under cabinet" flip down, for watching news, etc., in the morning. they run about $600 for a 15" set. then i happened to think, what about running some sort of a/v out from the tivo to the powerbook? is this possible? it wouldn't have to be from the tivo necessarily, but i assume you'd need some external tuner, tv, vcr, etc for the video output. even if i could just get a video signal to watch on the powerbook, i could still hear the audio from the stereo in the adjacent room. i have a 15" ti book, airport network and a series2 tivo (if that matters). sorry if this has been covered. i couldn't find anything.
irez.com used to make a "Capsure" PCMIA card that is a video capture card. I could not find it on their website - check eBay. I still use it along with a VCR for a tuner, works fine on every PowerBook I have used it on. Depending on which TiBook you have, you may need a USB adaptor to input sound. The card has analog sound input and a choice of SVHS or composite jacks. Very elegant solution, especially for someone like me who is moving every three months to a different contract and does not want to lug along a TV. I've been doing this for close to eight years now.

Along with the video PC card (there used to be other manufacturers as well - same technology also worked on modern windows laptops), you need a software program to view. Apple Video Player works but is not full screen on the TiBook. Irez also had a product called ReelEyes that did do full screen. If it can not be had elsewhere, contact me.
     
corp miler  (op)
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Feb 11, 2004, 03:17 PM
 
Thanks for the info. I emailed their support department and received this:

"The Capsure is no longer available. You will need a device called the USBLive new edition. You can view it on our web site at globalmedia.com under video capture devices on the left side of the page."

Its only $99 on their site, which is great, however it only supports up to 320x240 resolution... and I don't don't know what SQCIF, QCIF, CIF formats are. Wouldn't that resolution be a bit small on a 15" monitor and aren't USB ports too slow for live video?
     
gbarill
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Feb 11, 2004, 05:39 PM
 
320x240 isn't that big, but TV (at its ideal best) has a resolution of 640x480. so i guess that is quite a difference now that i think of it....
320x240 at fullscreen won't look GREAT, but it shouldn't look too terrible...

and about USB, the reason it's probably 320x240 is because of the slowness of the USB port...
it's just a matter of preference, i guess, but if this is the only card you can find you have no other choice...
     
yticolev
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Feb 14, 2004, 07:39 PM
 
Originally posted by corp miler:
Thanks for the info. I emailed their support department and received this:

"The Capsure is no longer available. You will need a device called the USBLive new edition. You can view it on our web site at globalmedia.com under video capture devices on the left side of the page."
Just for fun I checked eBay and there is one for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=25449
     
corp miler  (op)
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Feb 17, 2004, 10:57 AM
 
Originally posted by yticolev:
Just for fun I checked eBay and there is one for sale:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=25449
great. thanks for doing the work for me. is this the same product as yours? if so, what do you think about the video quality at full screen view? does the usb connection make it look like a webcam stream? i have a 15" ti book running os10.2. thanks again.
     
yticolev
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Apr 29, 2004, 06:03 PM
 
Originally posted by corp miler:
great. thanks for doing the work for me. is this the same product as yours? if so, what do you think about the video quality at full screen view? does the usb connection make it look like a webcam stream? i have a 15" ti book running os10.2. thanks again.
Yes, this is the same product. That auction is ancient history but I am now listing MY Capsure card on eBay because no drivers available for OS X on my new Al Book (and it does not work in Classic either). You can see it here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=4128057916

USB connections to my understanding are not fast enough for full screen at full quality at full frame rate. Next choice are FireWire models starting at $350. Ouch! But that is likely what I'll end up doing.
     
C.J. Moof
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Apr 30, 2004, 02:53 PM
 
Originally posted by corp miler:
looks like this would work just fine, but i'd have to get the more expensive unit for suitable resolution and its not a whole lot less than an under-cabinet tv. anyway to get a video input on a tibook using the pci slot? or better yet, any way to broadcast a tivo's video output over an airport network?! now that would be cool... maybe i should just stay low tech.
Get an EyeTV from ElGato to be the tuner on another mac, and use CyTV to stream it to the powerbook. You can do your recorded content and live TV (well, almost live, it ends up being on a 30 sec or so delay) through this.

PM me if you're interested in a used USB EyeTV. I don't use mine anymore, after getting TiVo.
OS X: Where software installation doesn't require wizards with shields.
     
angelmb
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Apr 30, 2004, 05:00 PM
 
Originally posted by yticolev:
no drivers available for OS X on my new Al Book (and it does not work in Classic either).
Yes, same for me, I have that CapSure, I can use it under Mac OS 9 on my Pismo, but no with my Al. Not only there are no drivers for Mac OS X, but Apple removed ZoomVideo support since the 667 Titanium PowerBook :-(
     
romeosc
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Apr 30, 2004, 06:31 PM
 
Originally posted by angelmb:
Yes, same for me, I have that CapSure, I can use it under Mac OS 9 on my Pismo, but no with my Al. Not only there are no drivers for Mac OS X, but Apple removed ZoomVideo support since the 667 Titanium PowerBook :-(
Will it still work on a Ti500 using OS X.3?
     
yticolev
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Apr 30, 2004, 07:05 PM
 
No, you have to be booted in an OS other than X.

Question for angelmb: Does the 667 have zoomed video support? The way you phrased it sounds like it does. And do you have any idea why zoomed video support was dropped?

For C.J. Moof: Streaming video does my traveling lifestyle very little good. If I was willing to carry a server aroung the country, I might just as well carry a regular TV. And does Eye TV end up as full quality, full screen and full frame rate? (I really do want to know).
     
   
 
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