[mythtv-users] Does MythTV support HD video and media libraries

Igor Chudov igor at chudov.com
Tue Dec 30 21:03:11 UTC 2008


On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 08:19:49PM +0000, Nicolas Will wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-12-30 at 08:19 -0600, Igor Chudov wrote:
> > First let me say that installation of MythTV under Ubuntu 8.10 is not
> > exactly straightforward. I am a sysadmin with years of Linux and MySQL
> > experience, and yet installing that stuff (via apt-get) and then
> > configuring was a big pain. After about an hour of screwing around, I
> > finally realized that it did not set up any database or permissions
> > and was able to just configure MySQL databases by hand by issuing
> > various "create database" and "grant" commands, editing mysql.txt,
> > etc, something that I think the distro should do. Anyhow, this is
> > mostly a complaint about Ubuntu. I think that I got that to work. 
> 
> Your experience is very, very strange with Ubuntu.
> 
> Ubuntu contains all the necessary packages, which create everything
> properly. The Mythbuntu team is active and doing great work.
> 
> http://www.mythbuntu.org/
> 

I prefer to install Ubuntu proper (due to having a lot of machines
that are managed by the same scripts).

> 
> > 
> > Now that I got this off my chest, here's my question. It pertains to
> > use of an "entertainment PC" that I set up next to my big screen LCD
> > TV.
> 
> 
> Like most people here.
> 
> 
> 
> > 
> > 1. Does MythTV support HD video such as satellite video.
> 
> It does support DVB-S for satellite. DVB-S2 is coming soon.

So it seems that Dish Network has better support now, right?

> >  and IR transmitter would you
> > suggest that would "just work out of the box".
> 
> On Ubuntu, I would suggest to get the mythbuntu-control-center package
> and look at the remote control section. All those work out of the box,
> the list is quite extensive.

Very cool, just installed it.

> > I am specifically not interested in anything that will not work out of
> > the box.
> 
> 
> Then I will suggest that MythTV may not be for you. It is a great
> system, with many possibilities. But it requires some time and
> involvement to get the best out of it. Some parts are a bit rough, some
> take time to understand, some need UI love, etc... I still discover new
> capabilities after 1.5 years of using it. But that time put in will
> return a lot.
> 

Not to complain or anything. I spent a week several months ago
screwing with this stuff (Ubuntu 8.04). I was extremely turned
off. The most basic stuff did not work, like some screen menu stuff
was off the screen, etc. But I am persistent and will try again.

> 
> 
> > 
> > 1a. Bonus question is that we happen to have two satellite feeds (Dish
> > Network and DirecTV) and supporting two feeds would be awesome, if
> > possible. 
> 
> You will not have tuners doing those 2 directly. You will need to either
> capture Std Def though a video capture card, or use an HD-PVR capturing
> through Components cabling for High Def.
> 
> HD-PVR support is not out of the box.

What about if I get a non-high-definition Dish Network box? Would it
change anything (besides quality)? Maybe it is easier to get a low
resolution receiver?

> > 2. Does MythTV support having a media library (libraries), that is,
> > file system repositories of videos and music, playlists etc.
> 
> It does, for music, videos, and pictures, out of the box.
> 
> 
> >  I was
> > hoping to find a solution that would let me use MythTV as that main 10
> > foot interface to support all media viewing that I may want to do. 
> 
> It is. But it requires interest, time, and some efforts.
> 
> 
> > 
> > My platform is Ubuntu 8.10.
> 
> Look at Mythbuntu, all their packages are in Universe.
> 
> It is my platform too:
> 
> http://www.youplala.net/linux/home-theater-pc
> 
> Nico

Looks nice.

i


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