[mythtv-users] Group advice sought on setup please.

[debian at nc.rr.com]

Jonathan Link wrote:

>On Mon,  4 Oct 2004 09:59:44 -0600, mark at onnow.net <mark at onnow.net> wrote:
><snip>
>  
>
>>2) How many TV cards?  Record and watch a different channel would be great.  So
>>two?  Two 350's?
>>    
>>
>
>Just to be clear, if you intend to use the 350 for TV Out, you really
>don't need more than one. One 350, and any number of 250's should be
>just fine.
>  
>
Yep, you probably want to start with just one 350, it's easy to add 
another one if you need it (assuming you have pci slots open.

>>3) S-Video.  Should I use the S-Video on the PVR-350?  Or get a graphics card
>>with TV-OUT too? I want to be able to watch DVD's on this too if that makes a
>>difference.  Can I watch a DVD on this box using the S-Video out on a PRV-350?
>>I have read some that say not.
>>    
>>
>I have an RCA VGA-Component video connected to my video card, which is
>a cheap video card and works fine (Geforce 2 MX).
>  
>
I just tried that...  I've been using the 350 tv-out for over a year now 
with no problems at all, before that I used the tv-out of my nvidia card 
and it was horrible for watching sports and it looked worse than my TIVO.
IMHO the 350 is easier to set up because you don't ever worry about sync 
problems, never have to worry about colors or resolution _AND_ it does 
the interlacing correctly.
BUT the problem is that the 350-TV out is only good for TV and not much 
else.
I just tried the VGA-Component converter... really easy to set up... or 
at least to get to work but then I have problems with sync and the 
colors and the resolution and the overscan and worst of all, the 
interlacing is all screwed up! you watch a football game and it make you 
laugh... I hope I can find that receipt or soon you'll see a barely used 
VGA to Composite converter.

>>4) What processor speed do I need?  I want great performance.
>>    
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>Performance to do what, watch TV, record TV, both?  I ran a system
>with 2 PVR250's on a PII 400 w/ 256 MB RAM.  I could watch, and record
>two shows without too much problem.  Sometimes watching would pause,
>but it wasn't intolerable.  The PVR 250's will do the bulk of the work
>of recording, if you have a 350, it'll decode the stream for viewing.
><snip>
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I have an Athlon 2000 recording two shows with a 250 and a 350 and 
viewing a third with the 350 tvout my cpu usage is below 10%, I tried 
compiling a kernel and did not even get one hiccup (sp?)

>>Software/OS:
>>1) I am a RedHat fan.  However, I will use what ever works best.  KnoppMyth?
>>Again, looking for ease of install/use, but still want full featured.  What
>>RedHat version is most supported?  FC2?  I have also read some howto's on SuSE
>>9.1.  That would be an easy install if MythTV was happy there too.
>>    
>>
>
>Jarod has THE guide for FC1/2.  Helped me, being a relative linux noob.
>
><snip>
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>-Jonathan
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I use debian, but I hear that Jarod's way is the way, of course, 
KnoppMyth might be worth a try since its supposed to be plug and play.

-jose-