[mythtv-users] prebuilt pvrs for developers benefit?

[Bill Chmura]

On Wednesday 05 May 2004 06:56 pm, Jarod C. Wilson wrote:
> On Wednesday 05 May 2004 11:57, Chris Petersen wrote:
> > > I could help some. I was the CEO of a biotech startup
> > > here in the SF Bay area. (We actually worked up on
> > > Columbia St in Seattle.) I could help get the legal
> > > structure in place, float a draft of a business plan
> > > to interested players and *might* get some support
> > > from some local VC that are always interested. It
> > > might be cool to see how it would work in Seattle as a
> > > pilot and then move it around to other cities if it
> > > made sense. Let me know if you have interest.
> >
> > Not sure how much VC or legal structure would be needed for a small
> > scale venture.  Legal advice for dealing with CSS and such would be
> > somewhat of a concern, but we can get around that by just not providing
> > that feature for DVD playing.
>
> I think you'd end up having to leave out mp3 playback, unless you want to
> hear from Thompson Multimedia, and some of the MythVideo playback parts may
> be of questionable legality for resale in the US... :-(

Could it be limited to ogg or something?  I have no idea on the innards of 
that.

>
> Of course, if we're just selling the hardware and instruction time, maybe
> we'd be in the clear. Its up to the purchaser to install what they will.
>
> > I've checked with one of the owners here, and SiMech would probably be
> > able to provide hardware (we're semi-competitive price-wise - better
> > than retail, not always better than places like newegg, but definitely
> > convenient), and possibly room to offer the class (there are security
> > issues here, but can think about those later).
>
> How about hardware to maintain an in-lab apt/yum repo with all of the
> necessary goodies?
>
> > There are several logistical issues, though....
> >
> > Minor hardware questions...  Do you do PVR-250 type cards, or software
> > cards?  What about HDTV?  What motherboard/enclosure do we go with?
> > Etc...
>
> I'd say stay away from HDTV for now. Stick to PVR-250s and either an
> nForce2 micro-ATX board or an EPIA. I'd be more inclined to go nForce2,
> because EPIA boards are neither cheap nor expandable.

I have a PVR 350 and lots of OSD issues to the point I don't do OSD anymore.  
Was the 250 susceptible to problems with the framebuffer?

> > And more importantly, though many people have analog cable, a LOT of
> > people in the $1000-for-a-PVR-and-class bracket will have digital or
> > satellite setups (hence the HDTV question).  This means that they'll
> > need an IR Blaster type thing or USB/Serial interface to their box,
> > which means we'd need to know what kind of box everyone has, and know
> > how to interface with each one, without the ability to test anything
> > during the class itself (unless we can somehow find a location that has
> > one of each type of TV service).  This is the biggest issue I can forsee
> > at the moment.
>
> Yes, that could be a definite problem... I see a few legal issues that
> would have to be worked out, along with the array of input sources that
> would have to be covered.

-- 

Bill Chmura

w. http://www.fistfullofcode.com
w. http://www.explosivo.com

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