[mythtv] MythTV PC - Any warnings?

[Grant Taylor]

>>>>> mythtv-dev@snowman.net writes:

> Geforce4-mx440 w/ tv out (for tv out to big screen)
>   TV-out from the geforce 4 card going to work well?

It will work, but I'm not sure I'd call it "well".

I have one of these, and I finally removed it.  It had some issues:

 - It seems you have to use the nvidia drivers for mx440 tv-out (and
   possibly for xv?).  Other nv cards have free tv out support in the
   "nv-tv-out" program.

 - The nvidia drivers weren't exactly rock-solid for me.  My system
   would hang about once a week.  The drivers also hung the entire
   system for several seconds when they loaded; my clock started to
   drift!

 - Nvidia provides no linux tuning software for the tv-out.  It's
   basically on or off; you can't adjust image size or placement.
   There is no overscan adjustment.

On the plus side, the video quality was better than from the $69
webtv+ device (see archives) I now use.  With this, there's a faintly
visible flickering atop the image, and the device appears to use too
few bits or something - bright areas tend to become all-white and
overexposed-looking.  It's servicable for couch-potato TV, but I'm
still looking for a better solution.  I think my better solution will
be a composite-input hdtv and rgbhv->yuv converter box.  This is known
to work very well.

Also, steer clear of VIA KT266[a] motherboards.  The PCI is broken;
see the archives.

--
Grant Taylor - gtaylor<at>picante.com - http://www.picante.com/~gtaylor/
    Linux Printing Website and HOWTO:  http://www.linuxprinting.org/