I just watched the video on home servers, and I'm curious about capture cards and MythTV. If I install a pci capture card into my computer and plug in my cable, can I watch and record all the channels I pay for? Or will I only receive basic cable?
Also, what's the difference between if I use a pci card or if I use something like the HDHomeRun tuner?
I have only researched this with passing interest in the past, but I believe that this will depend on how your cable provider marks each channel. Any channel flagged as "copy freely" will allow you to watch and record its content on any compatible device. I believe that for most cable providers, most channels are labeled "copy once" which requires that you use windows media center (not free with windows 8 for some blasted reason) or a media center extender to view and/or record its content. Some premium channels may be flagged as "copy never" and you will not be able to record them (unless you use an analog capture device) but you may still watch it. Naturally you should take this with a grain of salt, it is just my (admittedly limited) understanding of TV tuners.
You'll be stuck with whatever free QAM channels your cable company offers with run of the mill capture cards. You should contact your tv provider to see what cci standards they are offering on different channels. That way you'll know if you need to buy a device that supports cablecard or not to record your favorite show. Then you will see what the costs will be for your situation or if its even worth it. Most of the shows I want to see I can already obtain on demand whenever I want through the networls channel app so I don't have to catch it when it's on. If I wanted to record it it's on a drm free channel so I can capture it. It's good information to have before you make this invest and decision. Good luck to you.