Our TV is set up in one room and is connected to a DVR in another. The room with the DVR also has a PC with available video and audio inputs. Since the DVR has its own tuner, wouldn't connecting it to the PC simply make the PC a passive monitor. Or do I still need a tuner in the PC itself? And is the picture quality going to be worth the hassle? What if the PC monitor itself had a tuner and I connected the DVR directly to the monitor...does that improve the results and simplify the process? I can't find a thorough "How-To" out there.

You don't mention the TYPE of inputs on the PC, but if in fact they are inputs (most pc's these days come with an Svideo OUTPUT but not input unless you install a video capture card), then your pc will have the ability to be a monitor and/or a recorder depending on the software that you have, unless the output on your DVR is RF. If the output on your DVR is rf (cable) then yes you will need a tuner for the pc. (but usually these outputs are either (composite, component, or Svideo) Video quality will depend on the signal that you input. If it is an analog signal, or analog converted to digital then the quality can range from marginal to just plain bad. If the signal is pure digital then the quality will be pretty good. Video quality will be as good as the weakest link so to speak.

try D-scaler to tune your tv-card if you have one, as mentioned above

mjpeg is a good codec to cap tv and not need immense Harddisk's, you still need big ones though.

I had posted a reply, but it never appeared. There is a composite jack in the video card that I am hoping is an input. There is also an S-video which I think is output. The audio card also has composite inputs. So the idea was to connect the DVR to these two cards. Alternatively, has anyone used SlingBox?

both the composite and s-video jacks are outputs i'm afraid. there's nothing stopping you getting a capture card, and you can then connect the dvr to the pc, and use the pc to run it to the tv. it will open a world of oppertunities to what you can do.

some videocards do offer an input, but they're usually the ones with turners included. What type of video card do you have? Truth can become lie, but if lies become truth we're in trouble.