[mythtv] New QAM compatible HDTV card

[Kyle Rose]

> I think a better use of time would be to develop FireWire support
> for Myth (for FCC-mandated FireWire-enabled cable boxes), as this is
> likely the only (legal) way we'll be able to get digital cable
> content into Myth in the forseeable future (without going through an
> analog step first), and even then it'll only be 480p.
>
> Just my $.02.

I think that opinion is worth way more than $0.02: getting a 480p
signal from a digital cable box would be a noticeable improvement (2x)
over encoding 480i from the same source.  Personally, I can live with
DVD-level quality if my only other choice for time/space-shifting in
the short term is NTSC-level "quality."

[Of course, I'm not at all opposed to someone outside the reach of law
enforcement breaking HDCP once a critical mass of hardware owners have
bought into HDTV: at that point, attempts at deprecating that access
control would incite riots among people who threw $2000 at home
theaters, and would almost certainly get the attention of US
politicians who previously supported this jive.  Take a lesson from
the DeCSS reaction: the content industry not only didn't deprecate the
DVD format, it continued to expand the market at an exponential pace.]

Cheers,
Kyle