[mythtv-users] (off topic) DVB for Dummies

[Buechler, Mark R]

I was thinking over satellite. But I won't know what type of equipment is
necessary. I assume a dish but I don't know the size. I also assume there
would need to be a way to position the dish as well.

I'm also looking at broadcast HDTV - but that is a separate issue.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Sturgeon [mailto:john at sturgeonfamily.com] 
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 3:54 PM
To: Discussion about mythtv
Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] (off topic) DVB for Dummies

Buechler, Mark R wrote:

> I see a lot of talk about DVB and until now I haven't really thought 
> much about it. Living in the US is probably the reason why I haven't 
> paid much attention but I'm curious what type of equipment is 
> necessary to receive DVB and capture it with MythTV? What should I 
> expect for broadcasting in the US (northeast) and what types of fees 
> are associated? I currently use DirecTV.
>
>  
>
> Thanks, Mark.
>

Hey Mark,

First off, the US analogy to DVB would be ATSC/HDTV (High Definition 
Television).  HDTV can be delivered to you via Satellite, Cable, or 
*most importantly* over the air.  Any way you go, you need three things 
to view HDTV:
1) a way to get the signal (see previous sentence).
2) a way to decode the signal.  If the signal is coming via Satellite or 
Cable, the decoder us in the Satellite or Cable tuner, if you go over 
the air, you can either use a tuner/decoder that is built into a 
Television, or get some kind of an external tuner/decoder, and send the 
signal to an HDTV Monitor, which brings us to...
3) A way to see the broadcast, you need some kind of HDTV capable monitor.

MythTV fits the bill when it comes to decoding over the air HDTV 
broadcast.  So a High Definition for MythTV setup would look like this:

Hardware (I would start by reading Brandon Beattie's HTPC Howto 
http://www.sllug.org/how-to/linux-htpc/introduction.html with regards to 
hardware)
  - Fast CPU for decoding/playback
  - Lot's o' disk space for High Def. storage
  - pcHDTV tuner card
  - UHF antenna (see http://www.antennaweb.org for more info on this)
  - HDTV Capable TV/Monitor (without this, you are pretty much wasting 
time) (see Jarod's HDTV output web 
page:http://www.wilsonet.com/mythtv/mythhd.php)
Software
  - Right now, HDTV support in MythTV is best in the CVS version (0.15) 
see the Wiki: http://www.mythtv.info/moin.cgi/ATSC
  - I don't know if there is a consensus about which Linux distribution 
might support HDTV the best.  It looks like Fedora Core 2 has promise, 
so as soon as they formally release, you'll probably see quite a few 
folks going to that (for more information on MythTV on Fedora Core see 
Jarod's HOWTO http://www.wilsonet.com/mythtv/fcmyth.php)

I'm sure I'm missing something, so perhaps somebody else can fill in the gap

Good luck.

--
John Sturgeon <><

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