[mythtv-users] performance problem on old PC

[Chris Ribe]

I suppose I should include a 5th option:

ample cash and time: HDTV is here, it's real, and it can be recorded.

On 11/2/05, Chris Ribe <chrisribe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I used a 1Ghz PIII w/ a bt878 card for awhile as a backend/frontend
> system. Using a resolution of something like 480x372 and RTJPEG, I was able
> to play/pause live TV without any stuttering.
>
> I ended up using the PIII exclusively as a backend, though, and using a
> PII 450Mhz as a front end. With that setup I was able to record and playback
> 640x480 RTJPEG.
>
> That said, the picture quality with the bt878 card was crap. I recently
> purchased a PVR-150 and was delighted with the picture quality during the 3
> hours that it actually worked. The downside, of course, is that I haven't
> been able to get it to work reliably.
>
> So, my advice, depending on cash/time at hand would be:
>
> ample cash/no time: Get a PVR-350, easily the most supported card in the
> MythTV community.
>
> ample time/short cash: Get a PVR-150 and figure out how to get it working.
>
>
> little time or cash: Find an old sub $100 computer on eBAy or your local
> classifieds to use as a frontend.
>
> just plain broke: Record at 320x240 and pretend you have the world's
> biggest iPod.
>
> On 11/2/05, Michael T. Dean < mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
> >
> > On 11/02/05 18:32, Todd Houle wrote:
> >
> > > I have been raving about MythTV to a friend of mine who finally
> > > decided to try it himself. He had an old PC (1GHz Dell GX150) and 2
> > > old tuner cards (avermedia and hauppauge win-Tv). I don't know the
> > > details of the cards other than they both use the bt878 chips.
> > >
> > > We installed KnoppMyth as that is what he heard about elsewhere.
> > > KnoppMyth detected everything perfectly and ran great. I added the
> > > cards in Myth-setup, but we couldn't use it happily. There was a 1
> > > second pause, for every second of live tv... I guess these cards
> > > don't have hardware MPEG encoders on them and the computer couldn't
> > > handle the load.. I lowered the quality way down, but still couldn't
> > > get a smooth playback..
> > >
> > > I told him to get a better computer, or a TV card that supports
> > > hardware encoding. Was I right? or was there something else I could
> > > have done?
> >
> > Yep. Although you might be able to make something work with RTJPEG (at
> > least for a single tuner), it's not worth the effort and the
> > compromises, IMHO. And make sure he has Xv support for the video card
> > (probably won't be an issue with a newer system, but might be with the
> > old one).
> >
> > Mike
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
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