[mythtv-users] Mythtv & Roku (was: Yet More Internet TV Choices)

[Greg Oliver]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 8:18 PM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
> On Thursday, October 28, 2010 05:55:55 pm Ajay Sharma wrote:
>> On Wed, Oct 27, 2010 at 12:32 PM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:
>> > Don't know yet, but transcoding everything to h264 seems like a fly in
>> > the ointment. The only h264 material I have online is HD-PVR recordings,
>> > which I do want to see if the Roku can handle, but most of what I have
>> > is mpeg2 SD recordings from PVR-x50s, MPEG2 files from an HDHR, and the
>> > rest are HD-PVR generated h264 HD files.
>>
>> Transcoding everything is going to be a real drag.  But I'm planning
>> on upgrading to an HD-PVR soon and was hoping that I can make all my
>> recordings h264 going forward.
>>
>> > My Myka ($89) can handle any video I have tossed at it (though it has
>> > problems with some DTS audio). It can play files from Myth via UPnP, or
>> > from any NFS or Samba share. I think this is a better "frontend payer"
>> > solution than the Roku, since it doesn't require transcoding anything,
>> > installing anything on anything, and no script required to be installed
>> > on the server.
>>
>> The only real limitation is that you don't get Netflix.  Obviously,
>> not a problem for some.
>
> Nor for me, I get Netflix by using the PlayOn server, I get a LOT of other in that manner as well.
>
>>
>> The Roku code is still a little buggy.  If you telnet to the roku box
>> you can see the mythtv application crash.  And I still haven't been
>> able to play *any* content on the roku box yet.  Something tells me
>> that I'm not transcoding the files correctly...
>
> "h264" is not a single standard, it's a blueprint for total confusion.Saying something can "play h264" is almost
> meaningless without additional information about what *parts* of that standard, at what bitrate etc.

Plus - while it makes nice small(er) recordings, it is by far the most
cpu intensive thing you can have.  Any transcoding you need to do
afterwards will take quite a bit longer than any other format.
Playback is more intensive too (although gpu offloading is quite cheap
nowadays.

> It's right up there with "Supports various audio/video formats", a line I actually saw on a web site for an Android
> tablet.
>
> Try as I might, I am unable to find any "various" codec.
>
> I have no idea if the Roku can plat HD-PVR recordings, they simply have not provided enough information.