Recording tv programs

Question

Can someone tell me what I need to purchase to connect to my tv and will I be able to record from tv to IPOD?

Answer 1

This depends on what equipment you already have and how well they are adapted to your needs. It we assume your TV has an A/V output capabilities (composite/S-Video and stereo audio jacks), some sort of analog-to-digital converter, some sort of capture software. some sort of editing software, some sort of format conversion software, and all the proper cables needed to interconnect the hardware elements.
1) If your TV does not have line level video outputs, then you will need a combination tuner and A-D conversion capture card or box. There are a number of such devices on the market with price ranges dependent on level of quality and/or capabilities you demand.
2) If TV does have line level outputs, then you can buy a dedicated A-D converter or get away with using a digital camera which has a throughput capability. These firewire devices will convert your analog signals to DV compressed digital video which is easiest to edit. I would steer clear of any of the USB capture devices which output files in MPEG formats as these files only allow course editing and further limit quality/require multiple conversion in your work flow.
3) Next you need capture and/or capture/edit software. A free application like Vidi will capture the digitized video signal and save it to your computer, but if you already have something like iMovie, all the better. With iMovie you can both capture and edit your movies. At the very least, most people want to trim the beginning and end of their data clips. And, if you are capturing standard broadcasts, you may wish to cut out the ad commercials.
4) Next you need to make your files compatible for sync to your iPod. Once again, iMovie is a handy application to use since having edited your content, it can then be output directly in an iPod compatible format using QuickTime "Movie to iPod (320x24)" preset. If you choose to go another route, then there are a number of freeware, shareware, and commercial applications which will perform the conversion of your editied video file(s). NOTE: If you do go with an MPEG device and unedited/roughly edited media, you will need third party software to perform your conversion to an iPod compatable as QT and QT-like applications will not convert the audio.
Hope this helps.