[mythtv-users] HDTV Hardware requirements

[Matt Jordan]

Doe the backend need to be that fast to serve HD?  Could a "low end"
backend still serve HDTV content as long as the front-end has fast AGP
or PCI-X graphics and such?

Thanks!

On 2/18/06, Dylan R. Semler <dsemler at macalester.edu> wrote:
> Richard Shaw wrote:
>
> >I'd like to take a poll and see what kind of hardware people are using
> >to view HDTV. I've been having some problems getting mine to function
> >properly but have been attributing it to some settings or tweaks since I
> >thought I had plenty of horsepower.
> >
> >Here's my stats:
> >
> >Athlon XP 2500+
> >512MB PC3200 Ram
> >Nvidia MX4000 64MB
> >pcHDTV HD-3000
> >Segate 250MB ATA-100 hard drive
> >MythTV 0.19
> >
> >Here's my problem:
> >I had problems with the video slowing down (or pausing) every 1-2
> >second. I enabled xvmc and the other tweaks ont he xvmc wiki. This
> >seemed to improve things but I still get pauses when the OSD pops up.
> >Everything seems to work well when I try using azap and mplayer. Is this
> >just due to the overhead of mythtv and the ring buffer?
> >
> >
> I have a very similar system
> Pentium 4 2.23
> 512MB RD-RAM
> Nvidia 4200 64 MB
> pcHDTV HD-3000
> myth 0.19 via atrpms
> dual display (twinview) 1024x768 and 1280x1024
>
> With this frontend, HD can be relatively smooth (1 prebuffering pause
> every 5-10 secs) but generally itl be 1 prebuffering pause every 1-2
> seconds.  I'm pretty sure I don't have xvmc as i'm running the newest
> nvidia drivers.   The SD channels do play perfectly.  Analog, however,
> is a much different story.  Also, check the nvidia readme, i thought
> that xvmc was only available for 4200 series cards and newer).
>
> HDTV is very smooth on my laptop which is
> Centrino 1.6 Ghz
> 512MB DDR(i think) RAM
> ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 128 MB
> pcHDTV HD-3000
> myth 0.19 via atrpms
> laptop display 1920x1200
>
> where I rarely get a prebuffering pause
>
> Both of these systems are getting fed by a backend that is
> Pentium ~2 GHz
> 256-512 RAM
> Nvidia 2200
> pcHDTV HD-3000
> myth 0.19 via atrpms
> tv display via s-video (640x480)
>
> I rarely do this but when I run a frontend from this computer on the tv,
> it behaves similarly to my other nvidia system (the one with the 4200 card).
>
> I also get perfect playback of HD files with mplayer on any of these
> systems.
>
> >Also, on that note, MythTV seemed to pick up many more channels than
> >atscscan, however, many of them do not work or seem to be transmitting
> >blank/black video. Is this normal?
> >
> Those are probably music channels.  My mythtv and atscscan picked them
> up.  Try running them with azap and mplayer and see if it's just music.,
>
> >I'm supposed to be able to import my channels.conf but I didn't see
> >anything in mythtvsetup to do this.
> >
> >
> mythtv-setup -> input connections -> (choose input) -> scan for
> channels, then change "scan type" to import channels.conf
>
> Hope this helps.
> Dylan
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