[mythtv-users] HDTV Question from somebody considering MythTV
Kirk Bauer
kirk at kaybee.org
Mon Nov 26 16:00:17 UTC 2007
I know this is a FAQ and I did a lot of research but for somebody who
has never actually used MythTV it is hard to determine the best
option.
I currently have an HD DirecTivo (and a regular-definition DirecTivo).
DirecTV is moving to MPEG4 and at some point will eliminate the old
MPEG2 HD channels. This will leave me two choices for recording HD:
1) "Upgrade" to DirecTV's non-Tivo PVR
2) Purchase an HD Series 3 Tivo with CableCARDs from Cox
Downside to #1 is it continues to tie me in to DirecTV and it is not a
Tivo-brand PVR. Downside to #2 is that Cox may be fairly expensive to
have to pay for perhaps 4 CableCARDs, plus the number of HD channels
is limited.
So I wanted to once again investigate the possibility of moving to
MythTV. I am a long-time Linux user and have long been a fan but
never a user of MythTV.
So, what is the best option for getting HD content into MythTV? I'm
not looking for the easiest option but instead the best. From what I
can tell I can record OTA HD from my antenna no problem. But what if
I want to record other HD channels like HBO, Showtime, FX, Discovery,
etc?
To me the only possible option is to get one or more HD set-top boxes
from DirecTV, control them with IR, and somehow capture the HD output.
I know this may not be cheap, but is it possible? I see three
options here:
1) Capturing the HDMI output -- obviously HDMI is made to avoid this
but it seems there has to be some sort of hack for this?
2) Capturing the component video output -- but what resolution will a
Satellite box output to Component outputs? Not full HD I believe?
3) Using a HD Tivo to capture from CableCard and extracting that video
into MythTV for distribution to other rooms, etc.
Is there any good option for me here?
Thank you!
--
Kirk Bauer <kirk at kaybee.org>
http://linux.kaybee.org | www.logwatch.org
Author, Automating UNIX & Linux Administration
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