[mythtv-users] Hardware explanations

[Adam Biskobing]

You'll want to use either a serial cable (if your cable box supports it)
or an IR blaster, in combination with a channel changing script.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org 
> [mailto:mythtv-users-bounces at mythtv.org] On Behalf Of Vincent 
> K. Britton
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 4:41 PM
> To: Discussion about mythtv
> Subject: RE: [mythtv-users] Hardware explanations
> 
> 
> Sorry about the GHz thing.  When I read the How-To it stated 
> that you need about 1 GHz per card to encode.  Obviously this 
> wouldn't be the case with the PVR250's as it has the onboard encoders!
> 
> An additional question that I came up with is how to control 
> your digital cable box for recording?  I have many channels 
> that are only available with digital cable.  I know you would 
> have to use the component or SVideo connections to record 
> from this source but does how does one turn it on and change 
> the channel with mythtv?  Also does recording from these 
> sources utilize the onboard encoder of the PVR250?
> 
> Thanks again for you guidance!
> Vince
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Torsten Schenkel [mailto:mythtv at isl.mach.uni-karlsruhe.de] 
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 2:40 PM
> To: Discussion about mythtv
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Hardware explanations
> 
> Am Di, den 17.02.2004 schrieb Vincent K. Britton um 22:31:
> 
> > 1)      I plan on getting 3 or 4- PVR350ys or PVR250ys cards as the
> > Hauppauge seem to be the most supported by myth.  The question that 
> > remains is that in reviewing the Specifications Chart on 
> the Hauppauge 
> > web site it appears that the only difference between the 2 cards is 
> > that the 350 has a MPEG2 Decoder when the machine they are 
> installed 
> > in doesnyt directly display any video?
> 
> Well, then you won't be able to use the decoder :-)
> There's an FM tuner on the 350 which will most likely be 
> supported in the future, so if you plan to listen to radio, 
> you might want one of them. The rest can be 250s without any 
> sacrifce whatsoever. 
> 
> > 2)      With 4 PVR#50ys do I need to upgrade to a dual CPU machine?
> 
> What's this GHz-mania about? With 4 pvrx50 you'll need about 
> 1GHz worth of Intel/AMD cpu cycles. It's all i/o, the card is 
> doing the work. Your chipset has to be supported, that's all.
> 
> > 3)      I also intend to get a pcHDTV card for HD recording.  Will
> > programs that I record with that card in HD play on my Standard 
> > Definition TV connected to a different front end machine?
> 
> Don't know about that, I read somewhere ATSC was < 20Mbit, so 
> no problem on TP100.
> 
> > 4)      Speaking of the front end machine I have found the XBOX Mod
> > that makes it into a front end machine.  I would love to 
> utilize the 
> > inexpensive hardware of an XBOX for my front end units.  
> Does anyone 
> > have experience running this?  I get the impression that it 
> will work 
> > fine for Standard Definitions but not High Definition even 
> though the 
> > XBOX is capable or HD out.  User experiences would be greatly 
> > appreciated!
> 
> With pvrx50s you'll need the cpu cycles on the frontend more 
> than on the backend. An Xbox is reported to work fine for 
> standard TV, and while it can display HD resolutions, I doubt 
> it's up to the decoding task.
> 
> > 5)      Should the XBOX front end be more trouble then it 
> is worth, I
> > would be interested in hearing experiences or recommendations 
> > regarding Minimyth on the Via EPIA M systems.  Is this little gut 
> > capable of HD Output at 1080i?
> 
> Same as the Xbox, the Epia has H/W mpeg2 support, so this may 
> help, no idea though.
> 
> For HDTV you might want to put that 3GHz processor into the frontend.
> 
> > 6)      What are the network bandwidth requirements for 
> viewing?  Does
> > the backend server Stream to the front end units are the front end 
> > units caching?
> 
> Capture bandwith plus tcp/ip overhead, yes and presumably yes.
> 
> > Additionally I would like to know if any of the following 
> assumptions 
> > are incorrect
> > 
> > 1)      PIP (Picture in Picture) is built in to the myth application
> > and is independent from the Televisions PIP.  Availability is 
> > dependant on the number of tuner cards or sources on the backend 
> > server.
> 
> Yes
> 
> > 2)      Myth uses its own GUI independent from GNOME or KDE. 
> > Therefore I wouldnyt be able to load another application to access 
> > streaming audio or anything.
> 
> Yes, but you're free to use whatever you want to stream, 
> watch or listen, it still is a linux system. It won't be 
> integrated in myth, but I can watch recordings on my 
> workstation using mythweb and mplayer.
> 
> Torsten
> -- 
> Walkthrough: MythTV on Epia with PVR350 using Debian: 
http://www-isl.mach.uni-karlsruhe.de/~hi93/myth/mythtv_debian_epia_pvr35
0_walkthrough