[mythtv-users] PVR-350 output support being dropped!

[Joe Votour]

--- Leigh <lsaunderson at blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

> I've been using my 350 since I first built the
> mythbox about 1.5 - 2 
> years ago now (I think, was on 0.17 at the time I
> think)
> Granted it's annoying that the non mpeg2 stuff is
> sometimes slow (or not 
> supported), but I always found  that the quality
> looked better than the 
> output from my Geforce 5800. I still have the 5800
> in the box and 
> occasionally switch X's setup back to it if I wannt
> play a game or 
> something (I've got Stepmania installed on the same
> machine, great fun 
> on a TV and using a dancemat !).
> I might try the Geforce again this w/end to compare
> quality again, but I 
> for one would like the 350 support to be kept
> alive..
> 
> I assume this is talking about losing 350 output
> support, not encoding 
> as well seeing as that's provided out ivtv  ?
> 
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>
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> 

The only support that is being considered dropped is
that of the MPEG-2 (hardware) decoder on the PVR-350. 
You can still use the actual card itself for TV output
by installing the X driver which gives Xv support. 
The only downsides to this are:
1. It is much more CPU intensive (because Xv is done
by the CPU instead of a video card supporting
acceleration), and
2. There seem to be some bugs relating to capturing
data and playing it back at the same time (which is a
seperate discussion).

If you want to continue to use your PVR-350, you can
with newer versions of MythTV, you just might have to
use the X driver and not the MPEG-2 decoder, that's
all.

Now then, if there is somebody (or multiple people)
who use the PVR-350 hardware decoder, and who wish to
support the code for it in MythTV, then there is no  
problem.  The decoder chip was designed for only a
certain feature set, and I am quite impressed that the
developers have gotten as far as they have with it. 
The code in (at least) a few places has PVR-350
specific sections (for the MPEG-2
decoder/framebuffer), and keeping that the same (in
terms of features) adds a big strain for only one type
of hardware.

Myself, I used to use the PVR-350 with the X driver,
but have since switched to an HDTV that connects to my
GeForce 5200FX through it's VGA port.  The picture
quality takes a bit of a hit (I have to use Bob
deinterlacing, which sometimes has it's own issues),
but I am able to do so much more with the 5200FX
(OpenGL for the new UI and MythMusic, proper screen
size for xmame, etc.).  It's just as more of the core
users and (more importantly) the developers start
moving away from the PVR-350 MPEG-2 decoder, there
will be less support for it.

-- Joe

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