[mythtv-users] Mythtv playback quality poll

[Kevin Barsby]

> I've been trying all sorts of different combinations of setups and
> kernels to make this work correctly. The main problem is that any
> viewing of videos or livetv is extremely jerky and has stuttering audio.
> The cpu usage is running at 95-98% when the problems are noticed.

I found that I needed to set the HW decoder for EPIA boards in setup
(Mythfrontend Setup), that made the TV picture much smoother.

>  I'm
> currently plodding through using a 2.6.7 redhat kernel to see if that
> will help. Attempts to watch tv with this locks the system so tight that
> nothing short of a reboot will get the system recovered.

I'm using a 2.4.25 kernel with epia patches.

> I've run both the backend & frontend on one machine with limited
> success. At least the TV was viewable. I figured that a separate machine
> would make it work better.

Yes, or at least it shoudln't run any worse, although you could
introduce problems with the network...

I think drivers are key for the frontend:
- X driver (acceleration good for visualisations etc)
- mpeg2 decoder
- Audio
I'm using the via binaries for X and mpeg2 and ALSA for audio. I'm about
90% happy with the video and 70% with the audio.

HTH
Kev