[mythtv-users] General Set-Up Question

[Brian Wood]

On Jun 1, 2006, at 4:04 PM, Michael T. Dean wrote:

> On 06/01/06 17:54, Brian Wood wrote:
>
>> Some folks use X-Boxes as a remote front end, and inexpensive ($100 -
>> $200) PCs can work.
>>
>>
>
> for standard definition TV.  HDTV requires a much more powerful (=  
> more
> expensive--the CPU itself is likely to cost $100) frontend.  My
> dedicated HDTV frontend cost 4x as much as my dedicated HDTV backend.

I did say "if you only need SD".

HD, as you point out, is a totally different animal. MPEG encoding of  
HD is incredibly CPU intensive, but fortunately we receive HD already  
encoded, so we have only to deal with decoding it, which is much  
easier than encoding but still much more demanding than SD decoding.

I think this is why there was some interest shown in the new  
generation game consoles which claim to have HD capability. If the  
previous pattern of selling them at subsidized prices in anticipation  
of game revenue continues it may be the cheapest way to get HD playback.