[mythtv-users] The Death of MythTV in the US?

[James Orr]

On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 3:52 PM, Eric Mesa <ericsbinaryworld at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I've been doing a lot of reading and research with respect to current
> cable trends in the US as well as reading the MythTV lists daily and some of
> the archives.  First of all, I don't understand the point of QAM cards.
> Everyone on this list seems to always say that all they get are the local
> channels in HD.  Can it be that Hauppauge and all those companies are
> including QAM tuners just for that?  It would seem that, where available, it
> would be much better to just use ATSC.  You're going to get all the local
> channels PLUS subbands and it won't be compressed so the picture quality
> will be better.
>
> Second, there is not and does not seem there will ever be a Cablecard
> implementation for MythTV.  And, forget reverse engineering it because
> according to some people on the MythTV mailing list, it's pretty much
> impossible to crack and can be reset instantaneously if they find out it's
> broken.  Fine....Cablecard seems to be on the way out anyway as the cable
> companies move to DCAS/OCAP solutions.


As I understand it, Hauppauge  will be releasing an HDMI capture card.  This
should allow you to record anything that your TV could display.


>
> I think if we can't get that to work, then there will be a very limited
> usage case for MythTV in the USA.  From what I read on the mailing lists all
> the time, everyone seems to have an incredibly hard time interfacing with
> the STB, which is the only alternative.  Also, I've been wondering, how do
> you record multiple channels?  I imagine this would require multiple STBs.
> Ok, if that's where we end up, I'm ok with that - it's not a perfect
> solution, but what the heck.  So how in the world would I change the
> channels on all these boxes?  With an IR blaster how do I ensure that I only
> change one box and not all of the boxes?  I recently got rid of my Comcast
> STB (after I got my MythTV working) and it doesn't have serial or Firewire
> ports.  So IR blasting would be the only way to go if everything went to
> digital.


I use multiple STBs now and I'm not even on HD yet.  STB is the only way to
get HBO, Showtime , etc.

The box the installer gives you may not have serial/firewire but usually you
can exchange them, even if it means taking a drive to the cable company
offices.  I believe I've heard that they are obligated to provide you with
firewire if you request it (though not necessarily to provide anything in
the clear on it, just to have it).
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