[mythtv-users] Question on Backend and frontend functionality

[Andrew Dodd]

Quoting Patrick Reynolds <reynolds at cs.duke.edu>:


> 
> The backend needs capture A/V: one or more TV tuners and a matching number
> of sound cards.  (Some tuners include their own sound cards.)  If you're
> not using a hardware encoder (e.g., Hauppage PVR-x50), you need a lot of
> CPU power in the backend, like 2GHz or more.  The backend needs a big
> disk, about 2GB per hour of video you'll want to record.  The backend
> should also have at least an intermittent connection to the Internet, to
> grab TV listings.
> 
> If your backend and frontend are the same box (mine are), your sound card
> must be full-duplex.  If your backend and frontend are different boxes,
> you need networking, preferably 100 mbps.

Note that all ivtv boards fall into the category of having their own sound
capture (i.e. no sound card needed.)  Same for the pcHDTV HD-2000 ATSC receiver
and (I believe) all DVB cards too, at least when capturing digital channels. 
i.e. no sound card is necessary on a backend-only machine with an ivtv, ATSC, or
DVB board.  (a sound card may or may not be necessary for DVB boards or the
HD-2000 when capturing analog channels.)