[mythtv-users] TV Quality Recommendations (PVR-350 vs. S-Video vs. VGA->Composite)

Mike Hoover ixarka at gmail.com
Fri Dec 29 18:47:53 UTC 2006


Hello everyone,

I'm putting together my first mythbox, and am doing a bit of research
on what components I'd like to put in the system.  I've read a lot of
posts on both this mailing list and others dealing with the issue of
picture quality on the TV from a mythbox compared to the original
quality of the picture when plugged right into the TV.  What I can't
find, however, are any screenshots or hard evidence of the quality
difference.  All I hear are anectodal descriptions of quality
differences from some,  others who claim that they don't notice any
difference, and still others saying that it was bad until they
downloaded some random patch that fixed everything.

With this issue in mind, I've narrowed my options to the following three:

1.  Purchase a PVR-350 and use it's TV-out.
2.  Purchase an FX5200 and use it's S-Video out.
3.  Purchase a VGA->Composite or similiar adapter and use my current video card.

I have regular old cable, not digital or satellite so the picture
quality isn't fantastic to begin with (but still crystal clear and
vibrant).

Does anyone have any advice on which of these three will result in the
best picture quality and just how much better that quality is than the
other options (ie, will I notice the difference on my 27" TV from 7
feet away)?  And, as always, if this issue has already been discussed
in another thread please point it out, since I couldn't find anything.

The only thing keeping me from purchasing the 350 right off the bat is
the myriad of problems I've read about this card including difficulty
getting X over the TV-out working (this is a MUST for me, since I plan
on watching divx videos as well), problems with the picture freezing
when fast forwarding/rewinding, various audio-out hassles, and a
general lack of support for the 350's TV-out capability since it lacks
OpenGL acceleration, especially in future versions of MythTV.

Any advice is much appreciated.


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