[mythtv-users] Combined Backend/Multiple frontend

[Derek Jennings]

On Monday 22 November 2004 12:04, Bruce Collie wrote:
> I am currently renovating a house and I am looking at potential solutions
> for distributing tv/music/photos etc to any tv, and stumbled across MythTV.
> Being a long time linux fan, I wondered if it were possible to create a
> large backend box with several cpus, that could handle the PVR stuff and
> driver all tvs in the house.
>
> Setup would be
> - Dual Athlon 64
> - 1-2GB RAM
> - Two PVR 250/350 cards
> - Three or more AGP/PCI graphics cards with TV out
> - Multiple IR sender/receiver one for each TV.
>
> Each graphics card would be assigned a different X display and a separate
> instance of MythTV frontend running.
>
> Would this setup be possible?
> Has anybody tried it out?
>
> Thanks
> Bruce P.B Collie

Its more normal to have a separate front end for each TV. If you don't you 
have to worry about how each users remote control is going to be fixed up, 
and you will rapidly run out of PCI slots.

The front ends can be low cost discless and fanless boxes booting from the 
server with PXE. I use an Epia Mini-ITX that way. Most of the processing is 
done in the front end so you do not need a powerful backend, and since you 
are in the UK you could use DVB (freeView) cards which capture directly as 
MPEG2 and can be decoded in hardware in Mini-ITX.

This is interesting
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040930.html

derek
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