EPIA + Which PVR ?? Was [Re: [mythtv-users] VIA EPIA-M]

[Scot L. Harris]

On Tue, 2005-03-29 at 10:00, Jeff Simpson wrote:

> > The PVR-350 comes with a remote control and provides Svideo and
> > composite outputs.  The caveat is that the output is good for things you
> > record (the PVR-350 has a hardware decoder for mpeg2) but apparently
> > getting a DVD to play using the PVR-350 output is not possible.
> 
> correction - it's possible, but not particularly good. It requires a
> bit of a hack in mplayer. IMHO the software dvd playing programs
> available in linux aren't as good as the hardware ones, so just use a
> standalone DVD player whenever possible.
> 

Thanks for the correction.   :)  Does the hack for mplayer make use of
the PVR-350s decoder?  Or does it use the X overlay to display the
picture for the DVD?  

I agree with using a standalone DVD player.  However, it would be nice
to have it all in one box.  

> > If you want the mythtv box to be able to play DVDs apparently you are
> > better off using a standard video card output to the TV.  This means you
> > will need more CPU.  And if you go that route the PVR-350 does not make
> > as much sense.
> 
> agreed.
> 

Does the picture quality suffer much compared to the PVR-350 output?  I
know that during my initial testing I used the video card output and the
quality was sometimes poor, but I think my cable provider was supplying
the poor quality signal, they do that every 4 or 5 months for some
reason.

> 
> I believe the 250 and the 150 are the same in terms of features, the
> only difference I know of is the price point and which tuner / other
> chipset are used. The 250 is better supported than the 150 from what
> I've heard. The 500 is recognized by the system as two 150s but it has
> a single coax input, does all the splitting and tuning internally.
> Very snazzy, but might be a pain with digital cable / satellite.
> 

I was very interested in the PVR-500 but opted for the PVR-250 for the
second tuner card, mainly because it appeared to be very well
supported.  I expect in the next few months the PVR-500 should become
more stable and widely used.  Possibly in time for my next Mythtv box.

> > The TV output from the PVR-350 replicates the input signal so well that
> > I doubt that I could tell the difference between a live broadcast from
> > the cable company and what is being played back from the mythtv box.
> 
> PVR-350 output is pretty beautiful (once set up correctly)

Agreed!

> > In the next few months I plan on building a cheaper cooler quieter
> > frontend box and may opt for using a video card output so I can get the
> > DVD playback working.  I also like the live tv listings better over the
> > video card.  With the PVR-350 the tv listings overlay the entire
> > picture.  When I was testing it seems that the output to the monitor put
> > the current channel in a small box in the upper right corner and
> > provided the listings below that.  Much easier to view.  So if you are
> > not going to use the PVR-350 output you may be better off getting a
> > PVR-250 and some other remote control setup.
> 
> I am pretty sure the difference in where the channel number and
> listings are is a theme configuration, having nothing to do with how
> you get your output. You may have used different software versions or
> different themes in the testing. iirc, myth has two modes for channel
> listings, one is the EPG where it takes the whole screen for listings,
> the other is in browse mode, where you can scroll through the channels
> one at a time, taking half the screen or less. If you use the PVR-350
> you'll want the video to always be full-screen sized, otherwise it
> will use the X driver and play much slower.
> 

It has been several weeks since I started using the PVR-350 output so
maybe my memory is playing tricks on me.

I just don't remember the program listings being translucent and
covering the full size image being played on the monitor.  For live TV
it does not look the best but I understand why it is done that way.


-- 
Scot L. Harris
webid at cfl.rr.com

You will lose an important disk file.