[mythtv-users] Cable Box and PVR-350 Question

[Bob]

Kevin Kuphal wrote:
> Bob wrote:
>>Kevin Kuphal wrote:
>>>Chris Ribe wrote:
>>>
>>>>Only slightly on topic, but is there any good reason apart from saving 
>>>>space in your in case, to get a PVR-350? 
>>>>
>>>>I recently upgraded my frontend to make it HD capable, and I am 
>>>>thinking about using the old parts to build a remote FE/SBE.  I 
>>>>thought about getting a PVR-350 t oget anouther tuner + tv out on a 
>>>>single card, but then I realized a cheap FX5200 w/ S-Video out and a 
>>>>PVR-150 cost about $60 less than a PVR-350.  ($36+68 vs. $169).
>>>
>>>Many people report that the TV-out of the PVR-350 is superior to most 
>>>cards so for the slightly higher cost, many feel they are getting the 
>>>best output and also it does this without using XvMC which an FX5200 may 
>>>require depending on the CPU you are using.  Even if you have the CPU, 
>>>the PVR-350 then does that superior output with little to no CPU usage.
>>
>>But the TV out of the PVR 350 is only designed for outputting MPEG2 SD 
>>content, if you have HD content or use another codec it’s not worth it, 
>>(I heard rumor it can now output MPEG4 with some new / experimental 
>>drivers and fair bit of work from both you and your CPU).
> 
> My understanding is that MPEG-2 is MPEG-2.  HD is just higher bitrate 
> and resolution than SD.

True but the (or a) problem as I understood it is the TV modulator is SD 
and the fact that it outputs via S-Video (which is incapable of carrying 
an HD picture).

>  I don't have a PVR-350 so I'm not sure that it 

Neither do I, the blind leading the blind springs to mind

> can push those resolutions but it wouldn't surprise me that it can.  And 
> yes, it used to suffer greatly on non-MPEG-2 content (although if all 
> you have are hardware recorders you only have MPEG-2 content probably).  
> The newer Xv drivers can do a good job of MPEG-4 playback now.

Good, but the decoding is done by the CPU hence the extra work I mentioned.