[mythtv-users] What HDTV capture card has the most support?

[Rod Smith]

On Saturday 24 February 2007 06:57, Marc Barrett wrote:
> I am considering adding an HDTV capture
> card, to receive over-the-air HDTV signals.  All the local broadcast
> stations broadcast in HDTV, and I live downtown in the middle of a city,
> within spitting distance of several TV stations, so receiving HDTV
> over-the-air should be no problem.
>
> So, what HDTV capture card(s) have the best support under
> MythTV and Linux, and are available at reasonable prices?

I live between Boston and Providence; Providence TV stations are ~14 miles 
from me, and Boston stations are ~25 miles away. Thus, my experience may not 
be directly applicable to you. That said, I have a pcHDTV 3000 card and I'm 
unable to use it for HD reception. I can't get an HD (ATSC) signal from any 
of the local stations, even with a Big Ugly Antenna set up in my attic. (I 
refuse to put that beast on my roof.) I can get a somewhat snowy analog 
picture from a couple of the nearer Providence stations. I can also tune the 
three HD channels carried in the clear in QAM format on my cable system; 
however, they all suffer from digital dropouts. At best (typically 
immediately after turning the computer on), I get a clear picture for a few 
minutes. At worst (typically after the computer's been running for a while), 
I get something that's unviewable, and MythTV reports recording lengths 
several minutes shorter than the program's true length. The QAM issues are 
known problems with the pcHDTV 3000 card, but they aren't universal. (They 
seem to be related to other hardware in the computer.) I'm putting the ATSC 
(over-the-air) problems down to my distance from the transmitting stations 
and/or other general reception issues in my area. (I can do slightly better 
than the pcHDTV 3000's NTSC tuner with a cheap 13-inch TV, but not by much.)

The pcHDTV 3000 has been discontinued; the current model is the pcHDTV 5500. I 
have no idea if it's any better than its predecessor. I expect to eventually 
get another device -- perhaps an AverMedia A180 or an HDHomerun. As I 
currently don't have an HD TV, though, this isn't yet a priority. In the 
meantime, I'm using the pcHDTV for NTSC recording (over its S-Video and 
coaxial inputs at the moment), and if I hear of inexpensive or likely-to-work 
fixes for its QAM problems, I may try them.

The bottom line is that I'd recommend you avoid the pcHDTV 3000 and carefully 
research the 5500 before buying; however, since you're so much closer to 
transmitters than I am and because you didn't mention cable at all, the 
device's problems with weak signals and QAM may not be important to you.

-- 
Rod Smith
http://www.rodsbooks.com