[mythtv-users] Why cant we make a STB?

Yeechang Lee ylee at pobox.com
Thu Feb 5 00:54:26 UTC 2009


Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> says:
> Things like UL and FCC certification require a lot of money and
> time. This is the sort of "invisible" cost to making your own
> hardware device that most people ae totally unaware of.

We should refashion the discussion somewhat. As Mitch acknowledged, he
shouldn't have said "STB," because that does raise the whole question
of encryption and CableCards and such.

As a non-hardware person I'd like to see an inexpensive, prebuilt,
HD-capable frontend. Nothing customized; everything should be
off-the-shelf as much as possible to save costs. Built around a major
manufacturer's reference platform, probably the Nvidia ION-based one
that's been discussed here
(<URL:http://www.pcworld.com/article/158764/handson_with_the_nvidia_ion_platform.html>).
VDPAU-enabled, Atom-powered. DVI and component video jacks; an S/PDIF
audio jack; a gigabit-Ethernet port; an IR sensor; and a couple of USB
jacks. That's it. No wireless (too slow in most peoples' experience
for reliably streaming HD content, except maybe once all of one's
content has shifted to HD-PVR's h.264; 802.11N is a possibility once
it's final), expansion slot, second hard drive, or RAM
slots. Everything should be focused on serving as a self-contained HD
frontend.

As for UL and FCC certification, SiliconDust and Hauppauge are two
obvious possibilities; Jafa at SiliconDust is a poster here.

-- 
Frontend/backend:	P4 3.0GHz, 1.5TB software RAID 5 array
Backend:		Quad-core Xeon 1.6GHz, 6.6TB sw RAID 6
Video inputs:		Four high-definition over FireWire/OTA
Accessories:		47" 1080p LCD, 5.1 digital, and MX-600


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