[mythtv-users] Preparing for HDTV in 2005

[Brian Foddy]

On Sunday 15 August 2004 11:43 am, David George wrote:
> Brian Foddy wrote:

>
> Actually it is my understanding that the broadcast flag rules start in
> July 2005.  So we have an additional 6 months. ;-)
>
Ok, a few more months; thanks for the clarification.

> 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).

Ok, I was using the original "signal" program from the old driver set, using
the new tools, they match.  Most channels 80-88, some in the 70's.

>
> 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.

I'm a bit luckier, with 9 total, and several with subchannels.  My trick
is to get an antenna that will pick them up well; I've made good strides.

> 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.
>

Yes, I occasionally read some good threads, but its kinda tough to 
filter those out from the rest.  In my case, I've built, either new or
old, several machines up for my myth box.  Like you, I have 1
pcHDTV and 3 PVR250s in my current P3-1400 box that performs both
front and backend duties; 4 SCSI drives and 768MB ram.  I know its a
bit under powered, but its what I have at the moment.
Its been very stable with the pvr's alone.
And with only the HD card active, its getting much better, but still
get 2 errors more than I'd like:
a.  The Game Over man error,
b.  Backend stops recording HD, and hangs up on the frontend.

Your web site has some good info, I'm using 2.6.7 also, the 2.6.6 pchdtv
drivers, but with older ivtv drivers (0.1.10pre2 ck33, with a few tweaks
to make it work with Nvidia).