[mythtv-users] Which HD card?

[Chad]

I've been reading this thread, and my HD5500 (from pchdtv.com) arrived
today.  I'll answer with my initial findings:

> 4.  Can both cards be used as a second NTSC tuner (along with my PVR350)?

The HD5500 can be used as a second NTSC tuner, although the [default]
quality isn't anywhere near a PVR-500's recordings.

> 5.  Will there be driver conflicts between either card and my current
> PVR350?

Depends on how you build your kernel/modules and what distro you use.
I actually haven't had any of the problems others have reported...
I'm also running a PVR-500, 2.6.17 and ivtv-0.7.x

> 6.  It looks like the HD5500 has s-video input, but no stereo input. Is this
> the case?

No.  It has a proprietary connector that is one of those "dongle" type
things with Svideo, Composite, IR and a 1/8" mini stereo plug on it
(yes plug, the rest are inputs, I'm not sure why a plug yet...).  In
addition to this proprietary connector is a mini stereo jack right
next to it.  A note in the product notes that come with it say that
the IR input is not yet supported (I assume that means by them, LIRC
might already support it though).

> 7.  Are there any quality differences in the captured media (resolution, bit
> rate, etc.)?

Extremely unlikely.  You may find one of them tunes *faster* than the
other, but being they both just dump the same stream, quality won't
differ.

> 8.  Are there any differences in signal strength they can receive (i.e. will
> one card receive more stations than the other with the same antenna)?

That's probably a good point to bring up.  Although I don't have an
answer, this too will probably differ between the cards, one card
being more open to the signal (signal noise ratio) than the other.
I've got the A180 on it's way now too, though it'll probably be a good
3-4 days before I get it.

> 9.  Does either card implement the "broadcast flag"?

Heh heh heh, I silently rejoice (temporarily of course) when I read
that.  No, it doesn't exist as has been noted.

> 10.  Are there any differences in difficulty of installation?  Will I need
> to recompile the kernel, update an assembler language driver to match the
> kernel, and cut three traces on my motherboard :-?

Yes all 3 actually.  Well, I actually ended up finding it easier to
develop my own new compiling language, so part b doesn't apply ;]
Difficulty...  Yeah.  The HD3000 worked out of the box for me.  WIth
the HD5500 being so new, the drivers aren't in my kernel (as I'm only
running a bleeding edge 2.6.17 and not the required 2.6.18...) so I
had to do some out-of-kernel work.  No biggie, and it's pretty well
documented at this point since they've been out for a bit of time now.

> I've been everywhere from wiki to the HD5500 forums to this list.  I've
> found bits and pieces of information but no definitive answers to the
> questions.  Any information anyone has would be VERY helpful.
>
> Thanks
> --stan
>
>
> _______________________________________________

When I receive the A180 and have time to actually do a series of tests
(the ones I plan are compatibility with each other, with other PVR
flavors, etc; and comparison between the 2 tests like time-to-tune and
signal reception) I'll post the results on the mailing list to help
people decide which one to get.  I personally went with the HD5500
both to support Open Source and because they are local business (to
me) as well as Small Business, which is nice to support as well.  The
other reason I've seen is that the drivers are built *for* linux by
linux people.  Heck, the card has a stamp of Tux right on it, that's
worth 20 bucks alone!  :D  The extra money paid was totally worth it,
but may not be for everyone.

-Chad

-- 
Prebuilt HDTV capable systems at reasonable prices:
http://www.pauselivetv.com