[mythtv-users] Re: very interested in building my own pvr

[Lane Schwartz]

On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 12:19:20 -0600, Neil
<neil-on-mythtv at restricted.dyndns.org> wrote:
> Hi Nate,
> 
> So for HDTV playback, what card do I need to buy or you recommend?
> Also, what card is actually use to record the HDTV capture, is it the PVR
> 250? If so, where can I find good support HOWTOs for doing the PVR250 and
> pcHDTV-3000 combo setup and configuration?

To record HDTV content in the US, you should buy the pcHDTV-3000.

To record regular TV content, you can use any number of TV tuner
cards. I recommend the PVR-250. The PVR-250 and the PVR-350 both allow
you to record regular TV content directly to MPEG-2.

The PVR-150 is like the PVR-250, but newer and cheaper. Unfortunately,
there is not (yet) Linux support. Developers are currently working on
drivers. My guess is that in a few months, assuming development goes
well, the 150 will be a popular card for use with MythTV.

Also, as has been mentioned, your current hardware will not be
sufficient to play back HDTV content. It should be fine for recording
it, though. HDTV content takes a lot of horsepower to play. Estimates
vary for the required hardware, ranging from 2.4 GHz P4 on the low end
to 3.2 HT GHz P4 on the high end. Many people seem to agree that a 2.8
HT P4 running on an 800 MHz bus would probably be OK.

Hope that helps,
Lane

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