[mythtv-users] Current wisdom on PVR-150/250/350/500

[Jeff Simpson]

> That's wrong.  My PVR-350 works splendidly here, with Myth TV 0.19, and I
> see no reason why the PVR-350 would stop working in the future, since the
> only difference between this model, and the others, is the TV-Out plug.

Try fast forwarding. Try mythmusic GL visualizations. Try MythGame,
MythVideo, MythDVD.

The PVR-350 will still *work* in the future, but the MPEG decoding
won't be supported in Myth. SO sure, the card will still work, but
without the entire reason for picking a 350 over a 150. If you have a
PVR-350, by all means, continue using it, but I wouldn't want somebody
to shell out the extra $$ to buy one new when they should be buying a
150 or 500 and an nVidia card instead.

> There's been some misinformation floating around the PVR-350, lately.  There
> are two ways of sending the TV-Out signal out of the PVR-350.  One, is using
> the native MPEG decoder in the PVR-350, the other is through the PVR-350's
> framebuffer.

Not misinformation, unless it's from somebody mis-interpreting correct
information. There are two ways to do TV-Out with the 350, and both of
them are severely limited for what Myth needs.

> The only thing that's happening is that the support for the MPEG decoder is
> getting dropped.  Which nobody really cares about, because it's always been
> clunky.  The PVR-350's framebuffer will continue to work, and it's actually
> the better option of the two.

The mpeg decoding is the one that works correctly, the framebuffer is
the one that's clunky for most people. The only time mpeg decoding
fails is when you need to throw something that isn't an mpeg at it (or
change the speed/location of the currently playing mpeg. It's just a
decoder, not a player). framebuffer borks on anything that isn't plain
old 2D and slow-motion. Oh, and it takes out your console when it
goes, too.

> I also like the IR receiver that's bundled with the PVR-350.  It makes
> things much, much easier.  Saves you whole bit of trouble trying to hack
> together an IR receiver of your own.

Don't the other PVR cards have that same IR receiver?

 - Jeff