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==History of MythTV==
 
==History of MythTV==
Sometime back in 2002 (before May 15th, which is his first website news posting), [[User:Isaac|Isaac Richards]] decided he wanted something more from his television.
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Early in 2002 Isaac Richards wanted more from his television and thought it might be fun to try to build a replacement for his AT&T broadband cable box.
  
 
He says:
 
He says:
  
:I got tired of the rather low quality cable box that AT&T Broadband provides with their digital cable service. It's slow to change channels, ridden with ads, and the program guide is a joke. So, I figured it'd be fun to try and build a replacement. Yes, I could have just bought a [http://www.tivo.com TiVo], but I wanted to have more than just a PVR -- I want a webbrowser built in, a mail client, maybe some games. Basically, I want the mythical convergence box that's been talked about for a few years now.
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:I could have just bought a [http://www.tivo.com TiVo], but I wanted to have more than just a PVR -- I want a webbrowser built in, a mail client, maybe some games. Basically, I want the mythical convergence box that's been talked about for a few years now.
  
:So, in late April 2002, I started tinkering with stuff. I bought a cheap TV tuner card from [[Best Buy]], and threw it into my desktop box (P3-550). I started playing around with different video encoders, and eventually decided that [[NuppelVideo]] provided the best quality video for the amount of CPU it took up. It's based on a modified [[RTjpeg]] codec, and it looks rather nice, in my opinion.
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In late April 2002, he started tinkering, installing a cheap Best Buy TV tuner card in his (P3-550) desktop box. He settled on the [[NuppelVideo]] video encoder on a quality/CPU load basis. It's based on a modified [[RTjpeg]] codec.
  
:Unfortunately, the poor P3-550 really couldn't encode and decode video at the same time. So, I took the plunge and bought a better machine — an Athlon XP 1800+. I based the machine off of an Abit NV7-133R motherboard, and put it into a nice black case.  
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Because the P3-550 couldn't encode and decode simultaneously, he bought an Athlon XP 1800+ and an Abit NV7-133R motherboard, and put it into a nice black case. And the rest is history!
  
:See the news [http://www.mythtv.org updates/archives] for what's happened since.
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:See the news [http://www.mythtv.org/news MythTV News Archive] for what's happened since.
  
 
==What is MythTV?==
 
==What is MythTV?==
  
MythTV is a collection of software that runs under the [http://www.linux.org Linux] operating system and provides the functions commonly known as a PVR or DVR (personal, or digital, video recorder) — essentially, it's a computerized VCR, similar to a TiVo or a Replay... but since it's open source [http://www.opensource.org software], if you don't like the way it does something, you can always change it — that's how much of its current functionality came about in the first place.
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MythTV is a collection of software that provides digital video recording functions (PVR or DVR--personal, or digital, video recorder) — a computerized VCR, similar to a TiVo or a Replay. It runs under the [http://www.linux.org Linux] operating system.  Since it's [http://www.opensource.org open source software], if you don't like the way it does something, you can always change it — that's how much of its current functionality came about in the first place.
  
In addition to the basic PVR functions of recording and playing back scheduled programs and allowing you to schedule recordings automatically in advance, MythTV has a plugin system that permits it to be extended by other programmers. Plugins currently exist for playing external video, viewing photos, listening to music files, using your TV and a web camera as a video-telephone over the Internet, browsing the web, retrieving current local weather, and many other functions.
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With MythTV, recordings can be scheduled from a listing service to record all episodes of a program, or they can be manually scheduled based on day and time. MythTV keeps track of previously recorded episodes, so that it can catch up on missed episodes without re-recoding ones already seen.
  
There are two types of plugin for MythTV
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MythTV allows watching of live TV together with the ability to pause, rewind, fast forward.
  
The official [[:Category:Plugins|Plugins]], and the [[Unofficial Plugins]].
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MythTV also has built in the ability to play videos from the file system, from a server, or DVDs. It can also play video DVDs. Most types of video are supported, but not DRM protected content. Encrypted DVDs can be played if you install libdvdread4 (available separately).
  
==Current Version==
+
In addition to the basic PVR functions of recording and playing back scheduled programs and allowing you to schedule recordings automatically in advance, MythTV has a plugin system that permits it to be extended by other programmers. Plugins currently exist for viewing photos, listening to music files, using your TV and a web camera as a video-telephone over the Internet, browsing the web, retrieving current local weather, and many other functions.
  
As of early 2008, MythTV is in release version [[Release Notes - 0.21|0.21]]; this is probably a late-beta to gamma quality release despite its low version number (a common characteristic of [[Open Source Software]] projects). Features planned for an upcoming release, or are currently available in the [[Subversion|SVN]] release are listed at [[Under Development]]. New features in the current release can be found at [[Whats New|What's New]]
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There are two types of plugin for MythTV, [[:Category:Plugins|official]], and [[Unofficial Plugins]].
  
==I Want My MythTV!==
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==Current Version==
  
MythTV isn't (yet) for everyone. While it's likely that at some point you'll be able to treat it as an appliance, requiring no special care or maintenance, that day hasn't entirely arrived yet. There are companies selling pre-configured MythTV [[Commercial MythTV System|boxes]] and those units likely are stable enough to toss on the living room shelf and hand the remote to your kids. But if you're building one yourself (or having someone build one for you), then the process may be more complicated — this is the price you pay for power and flexibility.
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The current release is {{CurrentRelease}}. Features planned for an upcoming release, or are currently available in the unstable/development version are listed at [[Under Development]]. New features in the current release can be found at [[Release Notes]]
 
 
If you want to build yourself a MythTV box (there isn't really a great way to use MythTV unambiguously as a noun; that's my compromise), then there are two approaches you can take:
 
 
 
*Build it out of all those pieces you've got lying around.
 
*Buy all the pieces from scratch.
 
 
 
Which of those two choices you'll make depends a lot on how much money (and what parts) you've got lying around and on how much work you want to do. If you choose each part specifically for the task you will likely spend a little more money and have a lot less hassle.
 
 
 
[http://baylink.pitas.com I] built a [[Myth Box]] for my [http://www.bakulanews.com sister] and since she is the ultimate couch potato (the machine's name is, actually, 'potato' :-) and a hardcore taper (want a copy of a TV episode from 1989? She might have the entire series), the machine has to be a production-quality unit.
 
 
 
For us, this indicated "buy all the parts new" and, since she was planning to have more than one tuner card (between 3 and 5, actually), it indicated "use hardware-MPEG tuners" as well. We'll get into those discussions in an appendix because this manual is aimed at the person with an operational [[Myth Box]] in front of them. If you haven't built one yet, check that section out — I'll be including links to useful information for making that decision.
 
  
 
== MythTV Configurations ==
 
== MythTV Configurations ==
  
A MythTV system can be configured in many ways, the only limit is your imagination, and probably also the money you're willing to put into your setup!
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A MythTV system can be configured in many ways.
  
 
There are two main logical elements in a MythTV system:
 
There are two main logical elements in a MythTV system:
* The backend: this is the part that contains the TV capture cards, and stores the recorded video. A typical system will contain at least one backend
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* The backend contains the TV capture cards, and stores the recorded video. A typical system will contain at least one backend
* The frontend: this is the part that is connected to your TV screen and lets you watch LiveTV and recorded shows. Of course, the frontend will rely on the backend to get its data.
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* The frontend is connected to your TV screen and lets you watch LiveTV and recorded shows. It gets its data from the backend. Of course you can just as easily watch on a computer monitor and speakers, or a laptop computer.
  
In a basic configuration, both frontend and backend will be installed on the same physical box, there is nothing wrong with this. This is also the simplest way to put a MythTV setup together.
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The simplest configuration, puts both frontend and backend in the same physical box.
  
But you can also separate your backend and frontend hardware in order to create a more advanced setup. For example, you can create a high power backend system that will capture TV through several TV capture cards, will flag commercials, run transcode jobs, etc, and is located in a closet, while one or several frontends can run on low power diskless and silent systems in each room where you want to watch TV. Nice, eh? You can actually have as many backends and frontends as you like for a given system, so let your imagination run free and tell us about your setups in this Wiki.
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An advanced setup might separate backend and frontend hardware. For example, a high power backend system might employ multiple TV capture cards, detect commercials, run transcode jobs, etc., and hide in a closet, while one or several frontends can run on low power diskless and silent systems in each room where you want to watch TV. Nice, eh? You can deploy as many backends and frontends as you need, so let your imagination run free and tell us about your setups in this Wiki.
  
Some people take the opposite approach and actually install MythTV backends on very low power backends such as Linksys NSLU2 units, which are appropriate to record IPTV, for example, as long as they are connected to large disks for video storage.
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Some people take the opposite approach and actually install MythTV backends on very low power systems such as [[Myth_On_NSLU2|Linksys NSLU2]] units, which are appropriate to record IPTV, for example, as long as they are connected to large disks for video storage.
  
 
In any case, the key points for each element are:
 
In any case, the key points for each element are:
  
* Backend: large disk capacity, big horsepower in case you want to run transcode jobs or comm flaggging
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* Backend: large disk capacity, big horsepower if you want to run transcode jobs or commercial detection
 
* Frontend: good graphics card, compatible with the screen you want to use, and just fast enough to display the most demanding type of video you're planning to use.
 
* Frontend: good graphics card, compatible with the screen you want to use, and just fast enough to display the most demanding type of video you're planning to use.
  
As you can see, a combined backend/frontend system will need a fairly high-end machine if you want to get good performance, but fear not, with current Intel Core2 CPUs and the equivalent AMD, you can get a really decent system that runs at under 40W and keeps silent!
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A combined backend/frontend system can run with good performance on low end equipment.
  
 
===Basic Configuration===
 
===Basic Configuration===
  
In the course of this manual, I will often have reason to refer to a Basic Configuration... mostly to point out something that can't be done unless you have more than that. :-)
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A Basic Configuration for a [[Myth Box]] is this:
 
 
My idea of a Basic Configuration for a [[Myth Box]] is this:
 
  
 
*A [[Linux Distros|Linux]] Distribution
 
*A [[Linux Distros|Linux]] Distribution
*A VGA card supported by linux, optionally with TV-out via composite or s-video (or integrated video on the motherboard)
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*A VGA card supported by Linux.
*256MB (preferably 512) or more of RAM
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*512MB (preferably 1GB) or more of RAM
 
*A CPU that meets your needs:
 
*A CPU that meets your needs:
**At least a 800MHz CPU (for hardware-MPEG [[Tuner Card]]s, including [[DVB|Digital TV]] cards)
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**Almost any CPU made since 2005 will suffice if you are recording digital TV or using hardware assisted encoding.
**At least a 1500MHz CPU (if not using hardware-MPEG [[Tuner Card]]s)
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*One [[tuner card]] (also known as a "video capture card") of some flavor appropriate to the TV services you have available at your location, supported by Linux or MythTV
**At least a 2800MHz CPU (for HTDV recording playback)
 
*One [[Tuner Card]] of some flavor appropriate to the TV services you have available at your location, (ATI cards are not fully supported)
 
 
*At least 60GB of hard disk space, most of which can be used for storing recordings.
 
*At least 60GB of hard disk space, most of which can be used for storing recordings.
  
This is a basic system, which will let you [[Scheduling Recordings|schedule recordings]] and [[User Manual:Watch TV|watch live TV]], though not at the same time.
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With one tuner you can record and watch recordings at the same time, or watch live TV with that ability to pause live TV
  
==Expanded Configuration==
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===Expanded Configuration===
  
As you have money and motivation, you can expand your system in many ways.
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With money and motivation, you can expand your system:
  
*You can add more [[video capture card]] inputs.
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*Add more [[video capture card]] inputs.
*You can add more storage. Many users on the [[mailinglist]] have multiple terabytes of storage(via [[Storage Groups]] as of 0.21 and/or [[RAID]], which comes in handy with an [[HDTV]] capable system.
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*Add more storage. Hard disk prices are coming down all the time.
*You can add more [[Front End]] machines to serve additional television sets.
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*Add additional [[Mythfrontend|Front End]] machines to serve more TVs.
*You can add additional [[User_Manual:Detailed_configuration_Backend|Back End]] machines to add even more [[video capture card]]'s or storage and to unload the processes of [[Commflagging|Commercial Recognition]] and [[Transcoding]] from the machines doing the recording.
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*Add additional [[User_Manual:Detailed_configuration_Backend|Back End]] machines to add even more [[video capture card]]s or storage and to offload the processes of [[Commercial Detection]] and [[Transcoding]] from the machines doing the recording.
 
*There is growing list of [[Unofficial Plugins]] to expand the capability of your MythBox.
 
*There is growing list of [[Unofficial Plugins]] to expand the capability of your MythBox.
  
 +
For more information on hardware configurations refer to [[:Category:Hardware Setup | Hardware Setup]].
  
{{NavigateFirst|User Manual:Index|User Manual:Setting Up}}
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[[Category:Introduction|1300]]

Latest revision as of 04:19, 23 September 2021

Software-update-available.png This page is up-to-date as of MythTV version 0.27.6, the current release is 34.0

History of MythTV

Early in 2002 Isaac Richards wanted more from his television and thought it might be fun to try to build a replacement for his AT&T broadband cable box.

He says:

I could have just bought a TiVo, but I wanted to have more than just a PVR -- I want a webbrowser built in, a mail client, maybe some games. Basically, I want the mythical convergence box that's been talked about for a few years now.

In late April 2002, he started tinkering, installing a cheap Best Buy TV tuner card in his (P3-550) desktop box. He settled on the NuppelVideo video encoder on a quality/CPU load basis. It's based on a modified RTjpeg codec.

Because the P3-550 couldn't encode and decode simultaneously, he bought an Athlon XP 1800+ and an Abit NV7-133R motherboard, and put it into a nice black case. And the rest is history!

See the news MythTV News Archive for what's happened since.

What is MythTV?

MythTV is a collection of software that provides digital video recording functions (PVR or DVR--personal, or digital, video recorder) — a computerized VCR, similar to a TiVo or a Replay. It runs under the Linux operating system. Since it's open source software, if you don't like the way it does something, you can always change it — that's how much of its current functionality came about in the first place.

With MythTV, recordings can be scheduled from a listing service to record all episodes of a program, or they can be manually scheduled based on day and time. MythTV keeps track of previously recorded episodes, so that it can catch up on missed episodes without re-recoding ones already seen.

MythTV allows watching of live TV together with the ability to pause, rewind, fast forward.

MythTV also has built in the ability to play videos from the file system, from a server, or DVDs. It can also play video DVDs. Most types of video are supported, but not DRM protected content. Encrypted DVDs can be played if you install libdvdread4 (available separately).

In addition to the basic PVR functions of recording and playing back scheduled programs and allowing you to schedule recordings automatically in advance, MythTV has a plugin system that permits it to be extended by other programmers. Plugins currently exist for viewing photos, listening to music files, using your TV and a web camera as a video-telephone over the Internet, browsing the web, retrieving current local weather, and many other functions.

There are two types of plugin for MythTV, official, and Unofficial Plugins.

Current Version

The current release is 34.0. Features planned for an upcoming release, or are currently available in the unstable/development version are listed at Under Development. New features in the current release can be found at Release Notes

MythTV Configurations

A MythTV system can be configured in many ways.

There are two main logical elements in a MythTV system:

  • The backend contains the TV capture cards, and stores the recorded video. A typical system will contain at least one backend
  • The frontend is connected to your TV screen and lets you watch LiveTV and recorded shows. It gets its data from the backend. Of course you can just as easily watch on a computer monitor and speakers, or a laptop computer.

The simplest configuration, puts both frontend and backend in the same physical box.

An advanced setup might separate backend and frontend hardware. For example, a high power backend system might employ multiple TV capture cards, detect commercials, run transcode jobs, etc., and hide in a closet, while one or several frontends can run on low power diskless and silent systems in each room where you want to watch TV. Nice, eh? You can deploy as many backends and frontends as you need, so let your imagination run free and tell us about your setups in this Wiki.

Some people take the opposite approach and actually install MythTV backends on very low power systems such as Linksys NSLU2 units, which are appropriate to record IPTV, for example, as long as they are connected to large disks for video storage.

In any case, the key points for each element are:

  • Backend: large disk capacity, big horsepower if you want to run transcode jobs or commercial detection
  • Frontend: good graphics card, compatible with the screen you want to use, and just fast enough to display the most demanding type of video you're planning to use.

A combined backend/frontend system can run with good performance on low end equipment.

Basic Configuration

A Basic Configuration for a Myth Box is this:

  • A Linux Distribution
  • A VGA card supported by Linux.
  • 512MB (preferably 1GB) or more of RAM
  • A CPU that meets your needs:
    • Almost any CPU made since 2005 will suffice if you are recording digital TV or using hardware assisted encoding.
  • One tuner card (also known as a "video capture card") of some flavor appropriate to the TV services you have available at your location, supported by Linux or MythTV
  • At least 60GB of hard disk space, most of which can be used for storing recordings.

With one tuner you can record and watch recordings at the same time, or watch live TV with that ability to pause live TV

Expanded Configuration

With money and motivation, you can expand your system:

For more information on hardware configurations refer to Hardware Setup.