[mythtv-users] A few starting-out questions.

[Matt Morgan]

Thanks!

Joseph A. Caputo wrote:

>On Tuesday 01 June 2004 17:16, Matt Morgan wrote:
>  
>
>>I'm starting to buy a system to set up mythtv on. I've been reading
>>docs and shopping all day, and some things still confuse me.
>>
>>2) I'm very confused about the tuner cards. Obviously I'd like to buy
>>a cheap one, for example the Hauppauge WinTV-GO ($50 at compusa). But
>>maybe the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 (at eBay for roughly $100) is
>>important. What do I lose with the WinTV-GO, is it that it tunes, but
>>doesn't encode? In which case I'd need a faster computer (but I can
>>get a lot of processor-speed for the extra $50).
>>    
>>
>
>Right.  All (most?) of the cards being used with Myth can tune (though 
>that's not really important either if you're using an external tuner), 
>but the PVR-x50 series and their counterparts (AverMedia M-179, Yuan 
>MPG-xxx cards) encode to MPEG-2 in hardware, so your PC doesn't have to 
>do the work.  The trade-off is that MPEG-2 results in larger files than 
>Myth's software-encoded MPEG-4; but you can save space by transcoding 
>from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 after the recording is finished (Myth will do 
>this for you, and it doesn't require as much CPU because it can take 
>its time doing it, rather than encoding in real-time as the video is 
>captured).
>
>Also, the PVR-350 additionally has a hardware MPEG decoder with a 
>superior TV-out (though the driver stability is still an issue for 
>some).  So, as long as you leave your recordings in MPEG-2 format (the 
>decoder won't help with MPEG-4 or RTjpeg), the -350 can take the 
>decoding load away from your main CPU.
>
>So yes, you can get a lot of CPU power for the extra $$ that you would 
>spend on a PVR-250 or -350; it all depends upon your goals.  Using a 
>less powerful CPU might go a long way to reducing noise, heat and power 
>consumption, if those things are important to you.
>
>  
>
>>3) In shopping for a computer, of course I'd like a small one in a
>>form factor something like what AV-type equipment uses. Or a shuttle
>>would be nice, but they're expensive compared to old Dell GX110's,
>>Compaq Deskpros in the SFF, Evos, etc. The problem is that all these
>>small ones have limited PCI/AGP slots. Generally these small
>>computers have up to 2 slots; either one agp plus one pci, or two
>>pcis. Into those slots I have to fit sound, video-in, and video-out.
>>Hopefully I can use the built-in sound; and if necessary I can use a
>>Hauppauge pvr-350, which gives me video-in and video-out in one card.
>>Is there anything I'm forgetting?
>>    
>>
>
>With SFF systems, it's best to look for a board with most of what you 
>need already on-board.  Sound, video, USB and Ethernet are pretty 
>standard these days.  You'll probably want something that has dual 
>video-out (VGA + S-Video or DVI).  Then you can use the 2 slots for 2 
>tuner cards, or a tuner card + an add-on video card (if the on-board 
>video isn't to your liking).
>
>-JAC
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>  
>
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