[mythtv-users] Can I test pcHDTV on old hardware?

[Erick Burtness]

Hey All, I want to use Myth to record HDTV, but the only machine I have
handy to play with is an 800 MHz P3. From what I'm reading, that CPU won't
be nearly enough to decode 720p. The video card is a GeForce2 MX - I
haven't checked but I'm not expecting that to give me any help with the
MPEG2 decoding.

So, I'm wondering if I could do the following, purely as a
proof-of-concept:

- Buy a pcHDTV and put it in this P3 800 machine.
- Record a 720p broadcast.
- Transcode it to something like 480p. (let it run all night if needed)
- Play back that lower-res stream.

I'm not sure about the exact format, maybe that CPU can't decode 480p in
real-time either, but if I can play a DVD in software then there must be
some DVD-ish resolution that could be decoded in real-time by that CPU.

The whole point of this is just that I'd really like to prove that I can
receive and record a 720p stream, and play back some version of it, before
I go and spend a good chunk of money for all the hardware I'd need to do
it well.

Will this work? Have I overlooked anything that will be a problem?

Thanks!
Erick