[mythtv-users] Using TV Out on graphics card vs. Hauppauge PVR-350

[Brian Wood]

On Apr 11, 2008, at 10:58 AM, Fred Firestine wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I recently purchased the following as part of my build for a new  
> MythTV system:
>
> MSI NX7300LE-TD128EH GeForce 7300LE 128MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16
> Video Card
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127273
>
> I didn't even realize it had TV out as well as VGA. Honestly, the
> price was right, and I found some posts indicating it was
> Linux-compatible, so it went into the shopping cart. So my question
> is, do I use the TV Out from this card or continue using TV Out from
> my PVR-350? Advantages/disadvantages? My inclination is "If it ain't
> broke don't fix it" because my current MythTV system works fine with
> the PVR-350. With all the mentions of "decreasing support" for PVR-350
> TV Out, is the display card a better option?

First, I agree with you, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

The PVR's TV output uses the hardware MPEG decoding on the card. The  
7300 would require you to either use XvMC or use your CPU to decode  
the MPEG (the CPU still has *some* work to do even with XvMC). This  
means that the "right" answer to your question depends on what your  
CPU power is.

OpenGL will not work with with the PVR's output, if that's important  
to you.

beww