Not at all directly relevant - but I wanted to mention it one day! Here in
UK we have Digital TV via normal terrestrial broadcasting - it is called
'Freeview'. It is sneaked into the gaps between analog channels, and is on
low power to avoid interference. (This will all change when we go 100%
digital in 2012)
The digital broadcasts are via MPEG2 transport streams (at least for SD they
are) and there are several devices able to capture these as desired onto a
computer hard drive. It then needs to be converted (essentially
demultiplexed) into a normal MPEG2 program which can then be used directly
as a source for any DVD authoring app. I use a freeware Java app called
'ProjectX' which came out of some geeky university research project, and
magically removes all the hundreds of sync errors that creep into my very
marginal signal quality. (Like about 40% of the UK population, I cannot
officially receive Freeview!)
Anyways, the bottom line is that it works very well once you've got your
head around the curious (but very effective) interface. The final DVD
quality is essentially the same as that received, and (dependent on the
broadcaster) gives about 3-4 hours on a single layer DVD. This is a lot more
efficient than using DVD recorders with Freeview tuners, that all
(curiously) decode/recode the MPEG2 streams.
It is a very effective way of allowing our relatives in Australia and USA to
access our favorite TV shows. I use my wife's laptop to process and burn
whilst she is at work.
FWIW
Perry Mitchell