[mythtv-users] Preparing for HDTV in 2005

[Chris Petersen]

> You can rule out recording from the component/S-video ports. Doing
> MPEG2 HD encoding real-time in a consumer device is not really
> feasible at this time.

That would surprise me, since the pvr-250 seems to have no trouble with 
480p..  twice that wouldn't be very hard for a company to do.  S-video 
(and component) is nowhere near hdtv quality.  I'm talking about a card 
that would look to the box as if it was an HDTV (say, via a dvi input port)

But you're right, it might be too costly to implement on a consumer 
level, for not enough quality savings due to the reencode.

> Besides, even if you could do real time encoding, you would not
> really want to since the quality of the re-encoded stream would be 
> sub-par.

How (other than the resolution) is this different than using a pvr-250? 
      Quality is quite good even at 480p, if I understand its users 
correctly.

> One solution would be to have the set-top box output the un-modulated
>  MPEG2 data somehow. How would it do this? Firewire. In fact, the FCC
> has mandated that all set-top boxes made after April 2004 include
> firewire ports.

Wrong.  The FCC regulation applies only to HDTV-capable CABLE boxes. 
Satellite companies are unaffected.

> Mostly hardware companies are just putting firewire ports on their
> stuff to make the FCC happy. I would imagine that getting your new HD
> plasma TV to work with your HD dish box via the firewire port would
> be an exercise in futility.

the firewire ports weren't meant as an interface to the tv (that's not 
what firewire is for) -- that's what DVI and other 1080p-compatible 
ports are for.  firewire only gives you 480p, anyway, and not HD.

> BTW - does anyone know if any of the VIA EIPA mini-itx boards can do 
> real time HD mpeg2 decoding?

Doesn't this dispute the first sentence you wrote?