[mythtv-users] Advice on adding a second capture card

[John Biundo]

Thanks, great input!

Cheers,
john

Michael T. Dean wrote:
> On 01/23/2006 07:53 PM, John Biundo wrote:
> 
>>I've been wanting to add a second capture card almost since the moment 
>>of deploying my Mythtv box a couple of weeks ago.  I held off because I 
>>wanted to stabilize things, but I'm now anxious to go ahead and shop for 
>>the second card.
>>
>>I'm still having a few problems, but feeling confident in my ability to 
>>work through them.  Since I've been putting this off, I'm going to beg 
>>your indulgence and ask the list for some recommendations on a second 
>>capture card.
>>
>>Currently I have a PVR-150 that mostly works fine (my main complaint is 
>>some motion-blurring in fast-action sports) and an nVidia FX5200 TV-Out 
>>card, for a SD/analog cable setup.  Running Ubuntu with an AMD64 3200+ 
>>CPU and 512MB RAM.
>>
>>I guess I've narrowed my choices to a second PVR-150 or a PVR-350.  My 
>>basic questions are:
>>1. Will I likely be happier with a PVR-350 for watching livetv sports 
>>(and I'd move the 150 into a backup/recording role)?
>>
>>2. If I get a 350, should I use its TV out, or continue using the FX5200 
>>  (i.e., is the 350 likely to give better output for fast-action sports)?
>>
>>3. If I get a 350, do I have to handle sound differently than I do with 
>>the 150 (i.e., do I have to capture audio via line-in on my sound card)? 
>>    Is all of this handled automagically by mythytv if I'm recording 
>>different shows on each card?
> 
> IMHO, there's no reason to go to a PVR-350--and I have a PVR-350 (that I 
> use as a PVR-250 because I wasn't pleased with its TV out capability).
> 
> Note that with a PVR-350, the encoder and decoder are completely 
> independent of one another.  Therefore, whether you do LiveTV with a 
> PVR-350 encoding and a PVR-350 decoding or a PVR-150 encoding and a 
> PVR-350 decoding makes /absolutely/ no difference.  Neither is 
> inherently more efficient than the other approach (remember, that even 
> LiveTV is recorded to disk).
> 
> So, it all boils down to, "Is the PVR-350's TV out worth replacing my 
> FX5200?"  I'll admit that the PVR-350 is generally easier to configure 
> for good quality TV out, but if you properly configure the NVIDIA TV 
> out, your quality should be just as good (basically, the weak link in 
> the chain is the NTSC display, and if you have a better-than-NTSC TV, 
> you shouldn't be using TV out, anyway).
> 
> So, why wasn't I happy with the PVR-350's TV out?
>     - No OpenGL acceleration (for Goom, Games, etc.)
>     - Only outputs NTSC video (480i), so it won't allow you to see the 
> benefits of a new better display (an HDTV) when you get one
>     - No way to control overscan (and you get a *lot* of overscan with a 
> PVR-350--the way NTSC was designed to work)
> 
> So, I suggest you get a PVR-150 and use the money you save to buy more 
> storage (or even a third/fourth PVR-150).  :)
> 
> Mike