[mythtv-users] Preparing for HDTV in 2005

[Michael Hartman]

> So does anyone know of a solution for non-broadcast hdtv?  Granted, in
> seattle we get a number of nice hdtv stations over broadcast, but I
> rarely watch anything on them.  Might be worth paying extra for an HD
> box from Dish if I could record from it.
> 
> -Chris

You can rule out recording from the component/S-video ports. Doing MPEG2
HD encoding real-time in a consumer device is not really feasible at
this time. Besides, even if you could do real time encoding, you would
not really want to since the quality of the re-encoded stream would be
sub-par. 

One solution would be to have the set-top box output the un-modulated
MPEG2 data somehow. How would it do this? Firewire. In fact, the FCC has
mandated that all set-top boxes made after April 2004 include firewire
ports. However, cable and satellite companies are required by content
providers (Viacom, Sony, Paramount, etc) to encrypt the output. They
don't want their premium content in the clear. Instead of doing
something us consumers could use, like transmit non premium
channels/content in the clear, they will do the simple thing and encrypt
it all. 

Mostly hardware companies are just putting firewire ports on their stuff
to make the FCC happy. I would imagine that getting your new HD plasma
TV to work with your HD dish box via the firewire port would be an
exercise in futility. 

BTW - does anyone know if any of the VIA EIPA mini-itx boards can do
real time HD mpeg2 decoding? 

-- 
Michael Hartman <hartmms at yzf600.dns2go.com>