[mythtv-users] Preparing for HDTV in 2005

[David George]

Brian Foddy wrote:

>Since 2005 is only a bit over 4 months away, the the looming 
>broadcast flag rules are set to take effect (in the US), I've been making a 
>concerted effort to brush off my pcHDTV card and shake out
>some of the remaining issues with using this card in mythtv.
>
Actually it is my understanding that the broadcast flag rules start in 
July 2005.  So we have an additional 6 months. ;-)

>I've had the card for about 9 months, and while I could always get
>it working, it never worked well enough to fully trust.  So I just
>got done upgrading my antenna and cabling, and my reception 
>reliability has improved considerably.  My Zenith HD-STB now shows
>nearly full scale signals on most channels, and the pcHDTV signal
>program shows most channels in the 89-92 range.  The stdout from
>the backend shows lower numbers (75-86%).  Are they measuring
>different things?
>  
>
I have also had my card for a long time (I think 11 months) and only 
recently started seriously messing with it.  Are you using kernel 2.6.6 
(or higher) with the pcHDTV 2.6.6 drivers?  If so, the dtvsignal program 
and the mythbackend should match.  Of course on my system the signal 
level jumps around a bit, but they are both in the same range.  I am not 
sure if MythTV uses the same method as the 2.4 drivers (never used the 
pcHDTV 2.4 drivers).

>These improvements have increased the reliability of my HD mythtv,
>but still not enough really make it hands-off and ready to run for weeks.
>I still get a lot of 15 second (game over) errors, after which I have to 
>restart the backend, or other similar hangs.  Some of these may be caused
>by interruptions in the broadcast itself.  Just last night while watching the
>Olympics in HD, my NBC signal dropped twice for 45 minutes or more
>(just after the Future of TV commercial :); don't know if it the outage was
>local (MSP area) or national.
>  
>
It may be signal level.  I only really have two stations here that 
reliably has a strong signal.  And only one of them happens to be 
broadcasting any HD material that I may watch.  In my case the one 
station is working great.  I never get the "game over" messages (well, 
that I have noticed in the three programs a week that I record anyway).  
If you are interested at all in what I have done with 2.6.7 you can look 
at http://thegeorges.us/mythtv/  .  I also have some notes about using 
it in the same system as multiple PVR-250 and also using an RCA Directv 
receiver with serial port channel changing.

>Point is, I'd like to see some more discussion of the state of the
>pcHDTV card in Mythtv; the good and the not-so-good.
>  
>
In my case, it is good.  I have to admit I haven't fully built out my 
system yet.  There are a few people working on improving the HDTV 
support, so any shortcomings you may currently have should be able to be 
resolved.  I know I will also be working on this as things come up, but 
the current CVS seems really good with HDTV.  Many thanks to Daniel Thor 
Kristjansson for his patches.  I know there are others who have 
submitted HDTV patches, but their names escape me right now.  I think 
Doug Larrick has also done work on the HDTV part.

You can also search the dev archives for "hdtv patches", "hdtv signal".  
Or just search on HDTV or ATSC.

Users list: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/
Dev list: http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/dev/

>As 2005 get closer, I will likely consider purchasing several more cards to 
>future-proof HDTV in Myth as much as I can.  It would just give
>me a warmer feeling if I really knew how many others are really
>getting along in real-world usage.
>
>And are there any plans or thoughts on how Mythtv and the pcHDTV
>might change after 2005?
>  
>
Any ATSC receiver manufactured (or is it sold?) before July 2005 is 
exempt from the broadcast flag.  There have been a lot of message about 
this on the users list: 
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/engine?list=mythtv;do=search_results;search_forum=forum_1;search_string=broadcast%20flag;search_type=AND&sb=post_time

>Might I make a related suggestion?  How about a Mythtv HD only
>mail list?  The main users list with 100+ messages can make it
>difficult to really concentrate on HD only issues.
>  
>
--
David