[mythtv-users] Getting started questions

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Sat Sep 18 17:46:58 UTC 2010


On Saturday, September 18, 2010 11:35:27 am Ken Cheney wrote:
> This is my first venture into building my own DVR and I have a billion
> questions.  I have worked some of them out by reading through some of the
> archived messages, but I am hoping that if I offer my current state, and
> the desired outcome, someone can tell me what makes the most sense.
> 
> Current state: I have Verizon FIOS with multi-room DVR - HD on one of the
> TVs the other TV is non-HD.
> We are planning to add a third TV that is near the HD TV.
> 
> Desired outcome:
> 1. Have a multi-room DVR that we can record 2 shows while watching
> another.  What is a good, better, best capture card for this?
> 2. Have the third TV be able to operate by only watching what is DVRed so I
> dont have to buy another cable box from Verizon and pay the monthly on
> it.  More or less the 3rd TV would become a monitor to view what is
> already taped. 3. Have all of the TVs be able to watch recorded shows
> 4. Have the non-HD tv be able to watch live shows and watch recorded shows.
> 5. Have the MythTV dvr be operated with a remote control.  (most of what I
> have read I didnt really see anyone talk about a remote control, so I am
> guessing almost anything will work and that it isnt a big deal)


In addition to the list archive, be sure to peruse:

http://www.mythtv.org/docs/

and

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki

You will find a wealth of information.

I can't answer all your questions, but if you want to capture HD, the only way to do it from an STB is to capture the 
component output with an HD-PVR:

http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html

Remote controls are a world unto themselves, but there are many options, and you should be able to get something to work. 
There are FIOS users on this list, when you get to more specific issues they can help.

But you are starting correctly, nailing down precisely what your requirements are, although of course those may be subject 
to change once you begin to understand Myth's capabilities more. For example, many of us have found that we use the 
"LiveTV" function much less than we initially thought we would, it's really not using Myth to best advantage, as any old 
TV set can do that.

Have fun and welcome to the list.




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