[mythtv-users] resolution confusion

[Vince LaMonica]

Hi all,

I've got a MythTV box setup and running fairly well using one Hauppauge
PVR 350 on a Mandrake 9.2 box. I plan on redoing the setup soon via a
normal compile [i used a Mandrake 0.14 RPM install], as I need to compile
in support for the Hauppauge remote and figure out why I'm only getting
mono sound.

But before I do that, I would like to better understand how Myth/X/PVR-350
resolution works. I currently have both X and mythfrontend outputting to
my A/V receiver [which goes to the TV]. And while watching a recording or
live TV works nicely, the mythfrontend and X both offer a 'cropped'
version of what should be displayed.

I am pretty sure I know why - my TV is outputting 640x480, but I've got X
setup to display 720x480 as per Jarod's XF86Config [i've modified it to
better suit my system].

In a similar manner, my recording profiles for TV, default, low quality,
and high quality all are set at 480x480. However, when playing the
resulting mpeg2 [.nuv] file on a networked OS X Mac, the movie shows up as
640x480.

So, a few questions:

1) If I change the default recording profile to 720px width by 480px
height, I'll increase the disc space used, but i should still be able to
view the recordings on the Myth box, right? [i want to record in 720x480
so i can easily burn DVDs of myth-recorded tv on my Mac]. I want to be
able to [obivously] view the recordings even if I do step 2 below:

2) If I change my XF86Config-4 [quoted below] to 640x480 instead of
Jarod's 720x480, will both X, mythfrontend, and Myth's TV/recording output
all be shown at 'full screen'?

Also, FWIW, after I get all of this setup [and the remote and stereo
audio], I am planning on making a HOWTO like Jarod's, but geared towards
Mandrake users [so far, in order to get up and running, I had to use info
from a lot of different sources, since RH's Fedora does things slightly
different than Mandrake].

Here's a copy of my XF86Config-4:
------------8<--------------8<-----------------

Section "Files"
    # Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated
    # together)
    # By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent
    # of the X server to render fonts.
    FontPath "unix/:-1"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    #DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
    #DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)
    AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse
                       # doesn't work
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
    Load "extmod"
    Load "fbdevhw"
    Load "type1"
    Load "freetype"
    Load "glx" # 3D layer
    Load "dri" # direct rendering
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard1"
    Driver "Keyboard"
    Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option "XkbLayout" "en_US"
    Option "XkbOptions" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse1"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
    Option "Device" "/dev/usbmouse"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

        Identifier  "NTSC Monitor"
        HorizSync  30-68
        VertRefresh 50-120
        Mode "720x480" # change this to 640x480??
          # D: 34.563 MHz, H: 37.244 kHz, V: 73.897 Hz
          DotClock 34.564
          HTimings 720 752 840 928
          VTimings 480 484 488 504
          Flags    "-HSync" "-VSync"
        EndMode
          # looks like i need to add a 640 to the HTimings?
EndSection

Section "Device"

        Identifier  "Hauppauge PVR 350 iTVC15 Framebuffer"
        Driver      "fbdev"
                    ### change fb0 to whatever your card grabbed
        Option      "fbdev" "/dev/fb1"
                    ### change the BusID to whatever is reported by lspci,
                    ### specify it ashex.
        BusID "0:0x11:0"

EndSection

Section "Screen"

        Identifier  "Screen0"
        Device      "Hauppauge PVR 350 iTVC15 Framebuffer"
        Monitor     "NTSC Monitor"
        DefaultDepth 24
        DefaultFbbpp 32
        Subsection "Display"
          Depth 24
          FbBpp 32
          Modes "720x480"
	  # should i change Modes to "640x480"?
        EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "layout1"
    Screen "screen0"
    Option "Xinerama"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
    Mode 0666
EndSection

------------8<--------------8<-----------------

Thanks for any tips you might have [esp. in regards to altering my
XF86Config-4 to use 640x480].

/vjl/