[mythtv-users] What is it with analog tv in the US?

Yeechang Lee ylee at pobox.com
Wed Feb 8 21:22:13 UTC 2006


mike choy <mike at acaciaclose.co.uk> says:
> [E]very post I read about from you guys in the us goes something
> like
> 
> 1. I have an analog capture card blah blah blah

Most of the people using analog capture are doing so with Hauppauge or
other non-HDTV card models. Such people are

1. Not using HDTV at all [The vast majority of such cases],
2. Forced to use analog capture cards with the non-HDTV (S-Video,
   composite, or even coax) video outputs from their HDTV settop boxes
   because
a) if cable, the boxes' FireWire connections don't put out unencrypted signals
   for premium movie channels, and
b) if satellite, the boxes don't come with any digital output at all.
3. Occasionally asking if a future analog card can encode the HDTV
   component output from the HDTV boxes. [The answer here is almost
   certainly going to remain "No" for the foreseeable future due to
   various reasons.]

There are the fortunate among us who have full, unencrypted FireWire
output of non-HDTV analog, non-HDTV digital, and HDTV digital channels
from their cable settop boxes, but such are few and far between. (And
let me tell you, it's great! Muahahahahahahaha!!!!1!!11!!ELEVEN!!!!)

> 2. I'm using component connection to my HD display

Note that--contrary to myth--in practice (as opposed to theory) there
is nothing inherently inferior, video qualitywise, to using a
component connection to a HD display versus using DVI or HDMI. It's
entirely possible that, due to the vagarities of different connectors
and chipsets and so forth, that a component output will provide better
quality than using a digital connection. In other words, see for
yourself. (Read
<URL:http://www.axiomaudio.com/archives/dvdi_hdmi.html> for more on
this topic.)

-- 
Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> | +1 650 776 7763 | San Francisco CA US


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