[mythtv-users] Frame rate problem when watching live TV

[Mark Smit]

This was my first post to this list, am I posting to the wrong list or 
asking the wrong questions? Any help would be appreciated!

> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 20:18:51 +0100
> From: "Mark Smit" <mark at miracle-online.nl>
> Subject: [mythtv-users] Frame rate problem when watching live TV
> To: <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Message-ID: <001801c84d74$4f0c4b50$6500a8c0 at utrecht.nedgraphics.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> reply-type=original
>
> I am just starting with MythTV, and have set up a system primarily aimed 
> at
> watching and recording TV, including HD. The system consists of:
>
> - GigaByte MA69GM-S2H mainboard with onboard ATI Radeon Express 1250
> - Athlon 64 X2 4200+
> - Kingston ValueRAM 2 GB DDR2-667 Kit
> - Samsung SpinPoint T166 SATA II 500GB harddisk
> - Samsung SH-S203B SATA DVD writer
> - Terratec Cinergy 1200 DVB-C tuner
>
> I have installed MythBuntu, i.e. Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10 with a pre-installed
> stable MythTV version. I am using fglrx 8.42.3.
>
> Now I have the problem that the frame rate is low when watching live TV. I
> can watch recordings however at full frame frame rate. It makes no
> difference if it is an HD or SD channel.
>
> I am aware that my driver does not support XV, which can cause slowdowns.
> For this reason, I have tried the following to no avail:
>
> - Using the latest fglrx driver (7.12) produces a slightly lower frame 
> rate
> (but difficult to tell the difference);
> - Using the standard vesa driver, which produced no image at all.
> - Building and installing an SVN version of the RadionHD driver, which
> seemed to produce a similar frame rate, so didn't solve the problem;
> - Building and installing an SVN version of mythtv-vid, but I was unable 
> to
> find a combination of MPEG decoder and renderer that would solve my 
> problem.
>
> I have the following questions:
> - Given the fact that it is possible for me to view recordings or DVD's 
> with
> no frame rate problems, is the lack of XV support from any currently
> available drivers still a likely cause?
> - How can I monitor the frame rate in MythTV?
> - Since Myth always records live TV, could the problem be caused by a
> possible problem in the Linux support for SATA?
> - Can the above possibility be checked by turning off the recordinfg when
> watching live TV?
> - Is mythtv-vid still a branch? Has there ever been a stable version? I 
> have
> read somewhere in this list that part of the code has been merged to the
> trunk. Would it make sense to try an SVN version of MythTV (trunk)?
>
> Thanks for any help!