[mythtv-users] MythTV and HDTV future

[Henry A Harper III]

> >From: "Kevin Ould" <crippler75 at gmail.com>
> >>Why must they make it so hard to use HD content on out Myth Boxes.
> >:-(
>
> From what I've been reading it seems unlikely that encrypted
> content from a
> cable box will be usable on Linux due to the commercial nature of
> the copy
> protection.  If that is the case I will have to say goodbye to
> MythTV when I
> want to go with HDTV.  I might want to keep MythTV for
> unencrypted content
> but have two DVR solutions probably won't help in WAF.
>
> So what are my options?
>
> I used Tivo for years before MythTV and while it was a lot better than no
> DVR it has problems... I had three go bad from (apparent) disk failure...
> but having only 40GB and one tuner is the biggest problem.
>
> Renting a DVR from the cable/satellite company might be better in that I
> could upgrade easier... but I currently use four tuners... I
> don't want to
> rent 4 DVRs...  Maybe there are dual tuner models but that is 2 DVRs
> anyway... and I wonder if they could correctly work together on
> scheduling...
>
> I don't have Vista or Windows Media Center but I assume Microsoft
> would be
> able to provide this... at least at some point... but going from
> MythTV to
> Microsoft isn't real appealing.
>
> Anyway this is very depressing... :(

You are correct about the non-Linux-friendly nature of encroaching
encryption, unfortunately.

On the other hand, I have almost too much HDTV to watch from 3 ATSC tuners
in my mythbox and just my local broadcast stations (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC - I
rarely record PBS or CW). I do keep around a HD-DirecTivo for
"digital-tier"/HD-package channels - it's dual tuner and any HD-capable Tivo
will almost certainly be dual-tuner as well (the series 3 is dual-tuner
w/CableCard).

Cable DVRs can be had with two tuners but from what I have read they won't
cooperate on scheduling and still have comparatively small storage
capacities, not to mention poor user interfaces.

You won't be able to build your own CableCard Vista box because of
(anti-piracy) certification requirements and of the few certified models
announced so far I think all are single-tuner and pretty expen$ive to boot.

There was talk last year about a "media server" DirecTV DVR with 4 tuners
but I think it's now a dead project or starting over.

My advice: if you can, put up an antenna and enjoy free ATSC! Get the
"premium" HD content from Netflix when it comes out on HD-DVD/BR.

Henry