[mythtv-users] MythTV and HDTV future

[Rich West]

Michael Rice wrote:
>> 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... :(

Even with Media Center you would have problems.  I seriously doubt that
it would work with everything.

One thing to consider would be that any set top box capable of
outputting HD must also be able to send its signal over a lower-quality
output such as coax, composite, or s-video.  Hence, you could still get
your content on your MythTV system, but it wouldn't be in HD format.

With that said, I am sure you could come up with a way to get all of the
unencrypted channels as HD, and the encrypted HD channels in non-HD. :)

-Rich