[mythtv-users] Cable Box and PVR-350 Question

[Kevin Kuphal]

Bob wrote:
> Kevin Kuphal wrote:
>   
>> Chris Ribe wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> Only slightly on topic, but is there any good reason apart from saving 
>>> space in your in case, to get a PVR-350? 
>>>
>>> I recently upgraded my frontend to make it HD capable, and I am 
>>> thinking about using the old parts to build a remote FE/SBE.  I 
>>> thought about getting a PVR-350 t oget anouther tuner + tv out on a 
>>> single card, but then I realized a cheap FX5200 w/ S-Video out and a 
>>> PVR-150 cost about $60 less than a PVR-350.  ($36+68 vs. $169).
>>>       
>> Many people report that the TV-out of the PVR-350 is superior to most 
>> cards so for the slightly higher cost, many feel they are getting the 
>> best output and also it does this without using XvMC which an FX5200 may 
>> require depending on the CPU you are using.  Even if you have the CPU, 
>> the PVR-350 then does that superior output with little to no CPU usage.
>>     
>
> But the TV out of the PVR 350 is only designed for outputting MPEG2 SD 
> content, if you have HD content or use another codec it’s not worth it, 
> (I heard rumor it can now output MPEG4 with some new / experimental 
> drivers and fair bit of work from both you and your CPU).
>   
My understanding is that MPEG-2 is MPEG-2.  HD is just higher bitrate 
and resolution than SD.  I don't have a PVR-350 so I'm not sure that it 
can push those resolutions but it wouldn't surprise me that it can.  And 
yes, it used to suffer greatly on non-MPEG-2 content (although if all 
you have are hardware recorders you only have MPEG-2 content probably).  
The newer Xv drivers can do a good job of MPEG-4 playback now.

Kevin