[mythtv-users] channel change delay with PVR350

[Andrew Dodd]

Quoting Malcolm <mythtv at lds.dyndns.org>:

> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Brian Stults" <bstults at crim.ufl.edu>
> To: <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 8:13 AM
> Subject: [mythtv-users] channel change delay with PVR350
> 
> 
> > Hello,
> >
> > When I change channels in mythtv, or if I change the setup and use the
> > cable box to change the channel, I get a pretty serious delay.  I'd say
> > it's about 2 seconds.  This makes flipping through channels impossible.
> >   I'm just wondering if this is normal, or if there might be something I
> > can do to fix this.
> >
> > There was a thread a while back about this and David Engel wrote some
> > patches to help with this, among other things.  That thread ended back
> > in early January, though, so I suspect that the changes are already
> > rolled into 0.14.
> 
> >From what I understand it's normal.  Myth has to encode the signal on a
> capture card, buffer it, decode for your viewing.  The process causes aprox
> 2 to 3 sec delay.  Commercially available PVRs like the Tivo and Replay
> also
> have that delay.
In some cases, the delay is "worse than usual"

Some people had some serious issues with slow channel changes and using XvMC
instead of plain Xv.  (I did, along with frequent "prebuffering pause" issues
during playback.)

With plain Xv and "extra audio buffering" enabled, things are much faster.  Note
that channel changes are still not nearly as fast as with a VCR.  For me, one of
the nice things about a PVR is that the integrated EPG means "channel surfing"
is a thing of the past for me.

Hell, I hardly ever use LiveTV anymore.