[mythtv-users] My MythTV experience

[Ken Bass]

I've put together a mythtv box with a small form factor PC (ASUS Pundit).
2.4GHz 533GSB P4, 512MB RAM, 160GB HD.

I've tried both a bt848 based card which does the encoding in software and a
PVR-250 MPEG2 hardware encoder. I'm interfacing with analog cable TV.

My goal was to use this connected to my TV.

I find the picture quality to be unacceptable. I don't own one of those
commerical PVR's so I do not have a comparision. My expectations are high,
I'm looking for good quality (close to the original broadcast).

Using the RTJPEG or the MPEG4 codecs yield poor results. MPEG4 with 'FMV'
options turned on is not that great. The quality looks poor when things move
fast.
The PVR-250 is much better quality (at 4GB/hr its a bit of a hog). However,
even the PVR-250 is not what I consider acceptable for everyday use (ie;
always use live tv through the box).

  The playback of the PVR-250 doesn't look too bad on a computer monitor,
but my goal is not to run this on a computer. It seems the TV-out (S-Video)
is the worst/weakest link in the chain. Just running the monitor next to the
TV-out (both running at the same time) shows major differences. The colors
on the TV are much darker, black objects blend into the background. Peoples
faces are redish/orange. Very white background shows 'interlace' looking
stripes. Video where flash bulbs go off is poor.

 Is this what I should expect on a large (36" TV)? Perhaps this is
acceptable for everyone and I just have high expectations. I'm about to give
up on the project.