watching tv on a mac

yeah so my tv broke..and i started to think..hey, i wonder if i can use my mac for a tv?
so my question is...is there any way to hook up my powerbook and use it for a TV? it would be connected to my reciever so no need for a tv tuner or anything...just a way for the video input..
any ideas?

i would actually like to get a nice studio or cinema display instead of another tv so i can use it for both things...or maybe even a projector
what are your thoughts?

i know if i had the money... i would buy one of the mid range projectors would make watching movies a dream lol

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=557805&Sku=O38-1012&SRCCODE=NEXTAG&CMP=EMC-NEXTAG

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DualG5Lova said:

i know if i had the money... i would buy one of the mid range projectors would make watching movies a dream lol

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=557805&Sku=O38-1012&SRCCODE=NEXTAG&CMP=EMC-NEXTAG

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Click to expand...

not quite what im looking for but thats still cool...

just do a search for input devices...

if you find something thats really nice, post it...i wanna watch tv on my g5 tooo

Will Apple ever make anything like Formac or Elgato's EyeTV? Cause both of those alternatives suck...

Obviously, when you mean TV, you mean live television, right? Well, the only way I know how to do that on your computer is with the operating system Windows XP: Media Center. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/ Of course, that requires a PC, which defeats the whole purpose of watching it on a Mac. So to answer your question, I really don't know.

Nightblade said:

Obviously, when you mean TV, you mean live television, right? Well, the only way I know how to do that on your computer is with the operating system Windows XP: Media Center. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/ Of course, that requires a PC, which defeats the whole purpose of watching it on a Mac. So to answer your question, I really don't know.

Click to expand...

Well I guess then this looks like something that would run through VPC on Mac maybe?

witeshark said:

Well I guess then this looks like something that would run through VPC on Mac maybe?

Click to expand...

No. MCE only runs on certain PC hardware combos. And MS doesn't make it separately.... Linux-based ones work (see MythTV.org -- I am working on porting it to PPC, as I am a developer with them...)

--PCjabber

Well, there's gotta be a way to watch tv on a mac...I know there is...it's just...I don't plan on watching tv on a 12" screen..especially when there are two tv's downstairs (27" & 19"....mine and my roommates)...and I don't have cable anyways.

You can watch TV on any computer, but what you need is a TV tuner. You can either do it via hardware (get a video card that has a TV tuner built inside of it) or you can get a product that looks like a little box. You plug your cable into it, and on the other end there's a USB connector. Wala! You've got TV.

That goes for any system. You need a TV tuner (TV capture card, or what ever). I'm sure that if you look around you can find such a device. I've seen then before. there's no way (or software) around it, recieving TV needs some kind of TV tuning device -- hardware style.

A good TV capture card from ATI will cost you a few hundred -- and it might work with a mac. It should. I've heard that you can use different video cards in a mac box. But I don't know much about setting it up...Plug and play may work and you may need a driver from ATI.

Check it out. Go to ATI's web site and see what they say about their TV cards, and then do a search on the net for TV to computer tuners. The stand-alone tuner boxes might be more costly, however.

--nate