[mythtv-users] digital tv card?

[Joe Votour]

--- Timothy Waters <timothy.waters at gmail.com> wrote:

> So, I should just hook my coax cable output on the
> set top box to the input
> of my PVR-250MCE? The only thing is that I will
> probably get another card
> because that one does not have a remote control
> capability. Would you
> recommend a pvr-350 or pvr-500 or anything else?
> TV-out would be nice too
> ;-)
> 
> On 7/10/06, Joe Votour <joevph at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > --- Timothy Waters <timothy.waters at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >

<snip>

> >
> > The best "card" is the set-top box that comes with
> > your digital cable, fed into a PVR-x50 card, being
> > controlled by an IRBlaster (or serial port).
> > Alternatively, the set-top box that comes with
> your
> > digital cable, using Firewire.  (By now, Firewire
> > capture may be better than S-Video in, I'm not
> sure -
> > Firewire is the only way you'll get HD, but I've
> done
> > neither of these methods, so I can't really
> comment on
> > that.)
> >
> > I say this because most of those channels that you
> get
> > will be encrypted, and to decrypt them, you need
> the
> > set-top box/PVR that your cable company gave you. 
> For
> > the unencrypted channels, if they are broadcast on
> QAM
> > as MPEG-2, you can use a QAM-capable card (many of
> the
> > ATSC cards are QAM capable now).
> >
> > -- Joe
> >
> > __________________________________________________
> > Do You Yahoo!?
> > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around
> > http://mail.yahoo.com
> > _______________________________________________
> > mythtv-users mailing list
> > mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> >
>
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> >
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Timothy Waters
> timothy.waters at gmail.com
> http://www.e-Waters.org
> 205-587-9001
> 
> "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than
> to speak out and remove
> all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln
> 
> "It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature
> the evil spirit of
> man." Albert Einstein(1946)
> > _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>
http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
> 

I would avoid a coaxial connection from a set-top box
to a capture card at all costs - coaxial has the
poorest quality.  I would suggest S-Video instead.

That said, you need to determine if you want HD or
not, and whether or not your set-top box mandates 5C
over Firewire.  Some cable operators have been marking
everything as 5C required, and thus you can't get
anything unencrypted over Firewire.  But, using
Firewire is the only way you'll get HD content out of
the box.  (There is a lack of HD capture cards using
component or HDMI inputs at the moment.)

So, once you've decided on Firewire or S-Video, then
you can set things up.

Getting a PVR-350 for the TV-out is pointless at this
point.  Yes, the image quality is noticably better
than a regular TV-out card, but you get SD only, and
many headaches.

-- Joe

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com