[mythtv-users] pvr-250 video resolution, quality, stability

[David Rees]

Axium Computer Services wrote, On 1/5/2004 11:07 PM:
> I have just recently setup a system with two pvr-250 cards and I would 
> like to know the following from other pvr users.

I started with 1, just added a second the other day.  These are PVR-250 
iTVC15 Rev 01s with a subsystem id of 4801.  Both picked up off ebay for 
about $85-90.

> What is your video source (e.g. cable, satellite, etc...)

Cable (NTSC).

> What resolution do you record at?

Right now I'm recording at 640x480.  I have also tried 720x480 and 
480x480.  All appear to work equally well.

> What is your bitrate and max bitrate set to?

4000/8000

> What is your audio sampling rate, and bitrate?

32k/392 (I think, whatever the default is)

> How many gigs per hour do you get with your settings?

2gb/h

> Are you happy with the results you are getting?

Yes.

> As far a stability goes, what version of ivtv are you using and what 
> firmware version are you using?

Latest ivtv CVS tarball from website, also the latest firmware.

> How is your stability with this setup?

At first (early December) it sucked.  Capturing would hang frequently 
until I tried Jen's patches.  Since those have been integrated into CVS, 
stability has been pretty good.

I'm using a Via KM266 motherboard.  One of the FAQs suggests that 
various Via chipsets chan't handle lots of DMA throughput.

http://ivtv.writeme.ch/tiki-view_faq.php?faqId=1#q33
http://ivtv.writeme.ch/tiki-view_faq.php?faqId=1#q25

I'm not convinced that it's a Via motherboard issue as I have never seen 
any other reports of other peripherals which also use heavy DMA access 
(IO controllers, ethernet controllers) blame problems on the chipset.  I 
suspect there are still issues in the ivtv drivers.

> All of this would be very helpful in getting my system performing 
> optimally.

Hope this info helps.

-Dave