[mythtv-users] new myth hardware

R. Geoffrey Newbury newbury at mandamus.org
Tue Dec 20 15:34:51 EST 2005


On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 15:01:31 -0500, Bob Coffman Jr. wrote:

>>- I would like to watch live TV so I am considering getting a dual tuner
>card that is
>well supported by MythTV and has a hardware encoder/decoder. I am
>considering the PVR
>500. Do you have comments/suggestions?
>
>I think the PVR 500 is a fine choice, I have a similar setup (DirecTV/2
>tuners/2 PVR 250s).


The PVR500 has 2 tuners running off one cable/antenna input. It has
S-video and composite inputs. The PVR500 has NO video outputs. Each tuner
has hardware encoder/decoder which really takes a load off the CPU.

>>- Do I just hookup the s-video cable from the receiver to the PVR500 or do
>I need to
>some how have 2 s-video cables going in to the PVR 500 (2 receivers, 2
>s-video outputs)?
>You will plug your S-video cable into the 500 (I think that does TV-out) or
>the Svideo-out connector on your video card.

No S-video out, only S-video in, on the PVR500. The PVR350 has only one
tuner, but it does have S-video out..... Choices choices...

>- Do I need a seperate video card that has s-video/component output to
>connect to the
>TV? Any recommendations?
>Nvidia FX5200 is a great choice if fanless.  Nvidia seems to be the way to
>go.

Or a motherboard which has a builtin mpeg hardware decoder such as the
latest VIA motherboards. I have the SP130000 which has both VGA and
S-video out, and has builtin XvMC acceleration.

>>- If I get a good TV tuner card which has hardware encoder/decoder, can I
>get by with a
>slower processor? I have read about people using Athlons 1.8+ on their
>machines and see
>50% CPU when saving at 640x480. Since my TV can support it, I would like to
>use the
>highest resolution possible. What are the experience of the people on this
>list?
>Athlon 1.2 worked for me for a long time with the above setup.  You will use
>almost 0 CPU recording, and playback on the Tbird used about 30% CPU.

I record with the PVR500 or the HD3000 card using 720x480 for standard
definition TV. Recording 2 shows at once with the PVR500 gives about 7-10%
load. Playback is about 30%. This motherboard will not likely do HD...I
haven't gotten any HD content, either recorded or to play, to check it
out. I'm not really worried about it at this stage.

Then again VIA has just announced a new motherboard/chipset combo for
release early next year... It is supposed to do HD....using hardware
encode/decode. Maybe I'll buy myself a late christmas present! The present
mb would still make a rather nice fileserver here in the office..or just
replace the Pentium200 which my wife does not use (often) for her email..

Geoff

R. Geoffrey Newbury                          newbury at mandamus.org
Barrister and Solicitor                         Telephone: 905-271-9600                 
Mississauga,Ontario, Canada              Facsimile:   905-271-1638



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