Question:

Why don't any PC manufacturers include HDMI inputs? Is it a technical or legal (DRM) constraint?

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I have a brand-new Vista MCE PC with an HDTV tuner. But it only allows RF (coax) and S-Video inputs, as apparently do all such PCs. That would be fine, but the tuner can't decode free or encrypted digital QAM. So I get no digital TV and no HDTV without a set-top box (except over-the-air HDTV). HDTV set-top boxes have HDMI outputs, which can't be input to any PC. The RF output is in standard definition (apparently because HD RF modulators are too expensive), so the PC can only receive standard definition TV (or S-Video, which is in some ways worse because of pixelation). I know that HDHomeRun is a stopgap solution for a tuner that can render free QAM (but not encrypted QAM or analog), but the question remains to this novice:

Why not have an HDMI input on a PC and let the set-top box do the work?

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  1. There are Digital TV Tuners for PCs

    HP even has digital TV Tuners with CableCard so you can record both free and premium cable channels.

    Digital TV is already compressed, so it easier for the CPU to handle.

    HDMI video is uncompressed. Even with HDMI input you would need special h/w to compress (record) HD video.

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