[mythtv-users] PVR 250 Install Procedure?

[Joseph A. Caputo]

-----Original Message-----
>From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org
[mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org]On Behalf Of
>Shannon Carver
>Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 9:11 AM
>To: mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>Subject: [mythtv-users] PVR 250 Install Procedure?
>
>
>I am going to add a second tuner to my mythtv box.
>I am considering adding a pvr 250 because I can use the remote
capabilities.


If the remote capability is your driving factor, don't rule out the older
Hauppauge cards (WinTV PCI cards).  The main advantages of the PVR-250 are
that it encodes in hardware (so it doesn't tax your CPU), and it produces
standard MPEG-2 recordings that are viewable with other software on most
platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac).  However, bear in mind that if you tend to
record a lot of shows and not watch them immediately, a PVR-250 will fill up
your disk very quickly, as the recordings can easily be 4GB - 6GB/hr,
depending on your capture settings.  Also, a PVR-250 will cost you USD$50 -
$100 more than a regular V4L tuner card, plus (potentially) whatever you end
up spending on extra HD storage space.

[snip]

>Also, will I need a second audio card to use a second tuner?

Depends on the tuner card.  With a PVR-250, the audio & video are both
captured by the card and multiplexed into a standard MPEG-2 stream, so you
don't need another sound card.  If you get a standard V4L tuner card that
supports btaudio, you also don't need another sound card as the audio will
be recorded directly from the tuner card.  If, however, you get a V4L tuner
card that doesn't support btaudio, then you'll need to dedicate a sound card
input to that tuner.


Bottom line:  your current system capabilities, budget, and overall feature
priorities will determine what kind of tuner you get.

-JAC