[mythtv-users] Moving from Cable to Satellite

[Brad DerManouelian]

On Jun 15, 2008, at 2:00 PM, Ma Begaj wrote:

> I just got a UPC Philips HD receiver for cable TV and I am testing at
> the moment PVR-150 for recording.
>
> 1. I connected Scart-Out on the receiver with PVR-150.
> 2. I decided to use PVR's composite-in instead of s-video, because the
> picture has the better quality, at least for me
> 3. sound is ok (stereo only). Dolby Digital (5.1) is lost.
>
> Picture through PVR150 is OK, but the quality is not as near good as
> the direct connection from the receiver to TV through HDMI. colors are
> washed out and picture is not really clear.
>
> It is watchable, but is really a pity that such a great HD quality  
> gets lost.
>
> Q1: HD receiver has S/PDIF out. Could I somehow mix the digital sound
> and analog picture for recording? :-), I know, strange question, but I
> would like to have at least great sound.
>
> Q2: I have IR-Blaster (MCE USB), but I have no idea how to find the
> right codes for lirc. Google gave me no answers.  I should probably
> need some kind of universal IR-Receiver which can get all the remote's
> codes. Is that right?

You should probably start a new thread for your questions. I haven't  
used cable in several years and never with an HD box and your  
situation has little to do with switching from Cable to Satellite. :)  
I'm not sure why your composite in is better than s-video. I've only  
ever heard of s-video being equal or better than composite. The  
picture through the PVR-150 will not be nearly as good as High Def out  
of your box to the TV. However, it will be better than a standard  
definition box to your TV.

I've never used an IR-Blaster for more than a couple of days. DirecTV  
boxes can be controlled with serial connections. However, I think you  
are misunderstanding what a "Universal IR-Receiver" does. You plug it  
into your computer and issue commands to your computer. It has nothing  
to do with your set-top box. In order to send commands to the set-top  
box, you need to issue commands it understands (via IR, Serial,  
Firewire, etc.).

I'm not sure exactly what set-top box you have, but you should  
probably start here: http://lirc.sourceforge.net/remotes/philips/

-Brad