[mythtv-users] HDTV and Cable TV - The Scoop?

[Cory Papenfuss]

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005, Matt Goebel wrote:

> So I'm the market for a digital TV...
>
> I realize there aren't any cards out there for Linux that do QAM HDTV, 
> and that my only options to record directly are the two OTA cards 
> available.

 	??? AIUI, both the pcHDTV-3000 and Air2PC-ATSC will do QAM with 
the DVB drivers.  I have no first-hand experience.

What about HDTV coming directly out of a HDTV cable box via 
> component/firewire/etc...?  Are there video capture cards that can do 
> that?
 	Component capture would still use an A/D.  The cards exist for 
professional markets and cost a few thousand dollars.

 	Firewire is rumored to work for some sources.  It is already 
digitized.  I have no first-hand experience

I have a couple PVR-250 which can handle 720x480 
> (interlaced/progressive?), which from what I've read is what some "HDTV" 
> actually is?

 	HDTV means different things depending on which marketspeak droid 
you talk to. Common definitions are that 1080i and 720p are considered 
HDTV.  480i is SDTV, and 480p has been coined EDTV.  A pvr-250 will 
capture (analog in only) 480i.  The best capture resolution (at least out 
of the card I've got) appears to be somewhere between 480x480-540x480. 
Anything over that is "fake" resolution.

What about cards that can handle 1080i?  Is this even 
> possible yet?
>
 	Professional cards for a few thousand dollars, yes.

-Cory

*************************************************************************
* Cory Papenfuss                                                        *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student               *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University                   *
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