Using MythTV
Using A Myth Box From Day To Day
Ah, yes; the part you've all been waiting for. :-)
This section identifies all the things you can do with a MythTV unit, and explains how they work and how to control them. Hopefully, it will also identify things which can be done more than one way, and point out the most effective choice (and why you might want to do it another way anyway).
MythTV is, as we've said, a very capable, powerful, and most of all expandable system. The practical effect of this is that as we go along, we will describe things which can only be done with more than the basic configuration, or which work differently if you have more than the basic configuration.
Contents
Conventions and notes
Screenshots will vary depending on the Theme you have chosen. If you want to do screenshots of live TV you must turn off XV video acceleration. Use this command to run Mythfrontend. It does software rendering of the Video stream so is slow. Would suggest that you dont turn on any de-interlacing to help it along.
>NO_XV=1 mythfrontend
The remote button Icons refer to common names for remote control keys. In reality these map to physical keyboard keys. You will need to setup your Remote Control to suite.
Watching Live TV
Changing channels
While watching live tv you can change channels with the and Keys. There is a pause of several seconds while MythTV buffers the new channel. People often find this pause disconcerting as they are typically coming from a normal TV where they are used to "Channel Surfing".
The way to overcome this is to put MythTV into "Browse Mode", instead of changing channels with the Cursor keys, you just display information on the next/previous programme in the OSD. Then when you see the programme you want press the Select key and Myth will then jump to that channel. You can set this behaviour by checking the box "Always use browse mode when changing channels in LiveTV" under TV settings ->Playback-On Screen Display
You can also jump directly to a channel by pressing the the number keys. Press 1 and it will jump to the first channel in you channel list, press 12 it will jump to the twelve channel in your channel list etc. You can organise your channel list with the MythTV-Setup programme.
Changing Volume
The OSD will show the Vol provided you have set MythTV to use its internal volume controls. It is possible to set MythTV to bypass its internal volume controls and send the audio directly to your soundcards SPDIF output. In this case you should programme your remote's volume up and volume down keys to control the volume on your AV amplifier.
Changing Aspect Ratio
You can step through the different Screen aspect ratios with the key.
4:3
16:9
4:3 Zoom (Like Pan and Scan)
16:9 Zoom
16:9 Stretch (Eliminates black sidebars in TV signal)
Live TV Capabilities
MythTV offers some of the most sought after features of modern Media Centres.
Pause Live TV
Pausing live tv is great when the phone rings during a show or your little ones need a comfort break during a movie.
By Pressing Key on your remote the picture will freez, and MythTv will start to buffer live TV to the hard drive. An On Screen Display (OSD) will appear showing seconds behind realtime TV as well as how much live TV has been buffered
While the picture stream is paused
Press the Key to move forwards 1 frame
Press the Key to move backwards 1 frame
Press the Key a second time to unpause live tv, you will now be watching behind live TV. This is referred to as Chase TV Playback for obvious reasons.
Chase TV Playback
With Chase TV Playback the system can be recording live tv while you are watching the same programme behind realtime.
Press the Key to move forwards in the stream
Press the Key to move backwards in the stream
Press the Key to jump back the configured number of minutes (default is 10)
Press the Key to jump forward the configured number of minutes (default is 10)
Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)
The Electronic programme guide will allow you to get more detailed information on what is being broadcast currently as well as programmes schedules that are coming up.
Press the Key , and the OSD will show information on what you are currently watching. The OSD will stay up for a default of 3 seconds and then fade out. You can set the duration in the TV settings ->Playback Settings->OSD
Press the key and the On Screen Menu will show.
Use the , keys to move up and down the menu. Use key to Select.
Select the Programme Guide and the Full EPG will show.
Use the , , , keys to move around the EPG
Use key to Jump Back to live tv at that show.
Concurrent Channel Watching
If you have multiple tuner cards you can watch two channels at once using the Picture in Picture (PIP) facility. You can record one programme while you are watching another. Turn on the PIP via the Onscreen Menu.
Recording Live TV
While watching Live TV press the key, MythTV will start recording the show at that point until the show is finished according to the Guide schedule. There will be a few seconds pause followed by a blank screen before MythTV switchs to recording mode.
The tuner card being used to record from will be locked until the recording has finished or you explicitly cancel the recording.
Press the key, and the OSD will show the position in the recording.
Use the , keys to move backwards and forwards in the recording.
Press the key, and the On Screen Menu for Recordings will show.