A Capture device only pipes through the signal of your analog input (RCA. S-Video, Composite etc.) through the capture device, passing the CPU (so if offloads any processing from the CPU) and displays it directly on the Video card. The capture device does not have any tuner decoding capabilities. In other words, it must be connected to an analog video signal (such as an external DVD). So if you wish to use Live TV from Direct TV or Dish Network for example, you will still need to use a Set top box (provided from your cable or dish provider) and connect the Capture device to the RCA / S-Video / Composite signal coming out of the set top box. If you use a set top box, you will need to flip and select channels using the remote control provided from your cable or satellite provider.
Tuner cards on the other hand can decode the TV or cable channel output directly and do not need a set top box. You will be able to choose the desired channel to tune to through the software application used in our SignagePlayer.
We recommend using a capture card over tuner card as it allows an easier way to select the desired channel, provides better image quality (since the set top box usually does a better job decoding the feed) and it is simpler to configure.
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