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

[Mike Hoover]

On 12/29/06, devsk <funtoos at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> I have one very silly (even idiotic maybe) question. The three options
> accomplish different things. How do you hook up your cable TV to your PC
> with options 2 and 3? You say you are building first mythbox, and if you go
> with 2 or 3, I don't see you having a tuner in the picture to actually
> record or play any tv thru myth? then you talk about cable tv being analog
> only and its quality, which would mean you are routing cable thru your PC,
> which will require either a tuner or VIVO card. does fx5200 have VIVO?
>

Sorry...the implicity assumption I made with options 2 and 3 is that
I'd buy a PVR-150 to act as a tuner card.  So, my question only
concerns the output from the PC to the TV.  Obviously, if I bought the
350, I wouldn't need the 5200, but the cost of a 5200+PVR-150 is close
enough to that of the 350 that money isn't really a concern for me
here.

And while I'm correcting stuff, that original e-mail should have said
VGA to COMPONENT video, not composite.  But I get the impression that
there's little difference in quality between S-video and component,
especially given my setup.  In that case, I think I'm better off
getting a new video card with built-in S-video out rather than using
my current one (which is kind of old) and converting.

> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Mike Hoover <ixarka at gmail.com>
> To: mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 10:47:53 AM
> Subject: [mythtv-users] TV Quality Recommendations (PVR-350 vs. S-Video vs.
> VGA->Composite)
>
> 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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