[mythtv-users] MythTV Bliss

[Volckaert, Jeff]

Hello Everybody,

I have been following Mythtv for about a year.  When it was
able to record tv I tried to install it... and failed
getting XMLTV to compile.  So I waited....

Two months ago I bought a WINTV PVR-250 and a DVD burner
(thanks to OfficeMax specials) so I could convert my
camcorder tapes to DVD.  Then I noticed the IVTV stuff and
the RH9 guide.  Apt-get got me by the XML stuff and I was
able to get Mythtv working great.  I am even able to take
the NUV files (really MPEG of course) and run them through
ModVirtualDub to play on my PocketPC (Dell AXIM).  An hour
long show is 1.3G (4M bitrate) and compresses to a 70M Divx
file after I chop the commercials, Decimate by 2,
pre-rotate 90deg, and compress to 200K bitrate.  They play
great with PocketMVP and I can store 3 shows on one 256M CF
card.

Last weekend I installed a pair of 120G drives in my server
in the basement (1700XP, 512M, GF2 dualhead w/two 14” CRTs)
and moved the PVR card down there.  This way I only have
one computer running 24x7 and can watch shows either from
the basement or upstairs in the family room.  My PC
upstairs (2200XP, 512M DDR) has a Geforce FX 5200 with
tv-out to the living room TV.  Now I have 3 places to watch
anything Mythtv puts out.

I see a future where all we have is a large plasma screen
on the wall and a small PVR mounted under it... no
VCR/DVD/Stereo/ETC... not even an entertainment center
cabinet.  $1500 Microsoft MediaPCs, I don't think so.  $399
MythTV boxes at Walmart will not stay on the shelves.

As for CPU usage... I was watching a pre-recorded Futurama
upstairs and a pre-recorded Simpsons downstairs and both
CPUs where running under 5%.  Network usage was also just a
few percent.  The frontend upstairs uses NFS to mount the
video directory.  I was amazed... especially after hearing
about many on the list with jittery playback.  I wonder if
it's more ram issues than CPU?  Or is it a GeForce Vs.
onboard video issue?  I expected the server to be running
at least at 30%+.  I am tempted to put my 1Ghz CPU back in
and see what the load looks like.  When I switch to
watching live-TV upstairs the only thing that changed was
the network utilization jumped around up to 20-40%.

All I can say is WOW!  I haven't been this excited about
Linux since Redhat 3.0.3 and painless X windows.  MythTV
could be the next Apache or MySQL.  I used to say there was
nothing to watch on TV... now I know better.  I am
recording more TV than I can watch right now (~5
hours/day... less than four without commercials <g>).

The whole thing is very polished and works great.  I'll
have to give MythWeb a go next.  One question, is there a
way to suppress channels in the guide without resorting to
manually using SQL to delete them?

Keep up the good work, especially Isaac.  To everyone
struggling to get this working, keep at it.  The end result
is well worth effort.

Regards,
Jeff Volckaert