[mythtv-users] HD Architecture Solution

Greg Woods greg at gregandeva.net
Fri May 9 14:59:02 UTC 2008


On Fri, 2008-05-09 at 09:32 -0500, Bryce Ostenson wrote:

> 
> Problem: QAM from Comcast in 55401 seems isolated to local channels.

This varies by locale, but it is frequently the case that all you can
get unencrypted is what you can get OTA. I use an HDHomerun for these
channels via cable, because I watch a lot of football games that come in
this way, and reception where I live sucks. There are a few extra
channels (e.g. Discovery) that are available in digital but non-HD
unencrypted versions as well, but again, this varies by locale, so
unless you find someone on the same cable system as you, nobody here is
going to be able to tell you exactly what is available to you.

> -- Model 2: Comcast > STB > mythTV > TV
> 
> Advantages: Should be able to capture most anything.  Would that
> include premium channels (HBO)?

Unfortunately, this too varies by locale (see last sentence above). In
my case, there are only a small number of channels that I can get over
Firewire that I cannot get with the HDHomerun, and there are many
channels that I cannot get unencrypted over Firewire. Two of those
channels are ESPN and ESPN2, which will be important to me as we
approach football season in the fall, but for now, I haven't even
bothered to set up a firewire tuner yet.

Also, there are technical issues with Firewire, as you already know if
you've read about it in the archives. It depends on your cable company,
which set top box you have, what kernel version you have, what firewire
card or chip you have, etc. It's a crap shoot. It's even worse than the
HDHomerun because even somebody on the same cable system isn't going to
be able to tell you whether firewire will work for you, unless they have
the identical hardware/software setup. I never could get firewire from
my DCT-6412 STB to work on my setup until I upgraded to Fedora 8 with a
2.6.24 kernel; under FC5 it never worked. Of course, now HD playback is
broken, but that may be a solvable problem eventually (five weeks and
counting... )-:
> 
> Disadvantages: IR Blaster?  

If firewire works, you won't need an IR blaster; you can change channels
over firewire. If firewire doesn't work, you probably won't be able to
get HD out of the STB into Myth anyway.

Another option is the new HD-PVR from Hauppage, which theoretically
would allow capture of the component output from the STB. In that case,
you can record anything that you can show on your TV via the STB. I've
ordered one of these, but they are just now starting to ship them (and
mine is delayed). And, since nobody has one of these, it will likely be
some time before they are supported in Myth, and also, nobody knows how
good the quality will be.


> -- Model 3: OTA HD > mythTV > TV
> 
> Advantages: FREE on an ongoing basis.

That will work well with an HDHomerun, but it does depend on whether the
channels you can get OTA will be worth the cost to you.


> 
> -- Model 4: Comcast DVR or Tivo or non-Myth Box > TV
> 
> Advantages: It just works?  Sort of?  Could stick with a simple HDMI
> cabling scheme.

I use a Comcast DVR in addition to Myth, because there are several HD
channels that I watch a lot that I simply cannot get any other way
(unless and until the new Hauppage device is working, and even then I
will still need some sort of STB). I don't think the Comcast DVR is
really that bad in terms of performance, but it certainly does lack some
features that one becomes addicted to with Myth (such as the ability to
skip commercials with a single button press, time stretch, etc.) and of
course it has almost no disk space so you can't keep anything
permanently. It's useful to time shift programs, but that's about all it
can do. I start watching hockey games about an hour late, and fast
forward through commercials and between-period breaks, and usually just
about catch up to real time by the end of the game.

Good luck. The cable companies are intentionally doing just about
everything they can to make it hard to use homebrew PVR systems.

--Greg




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