[mythtv-users] Comcast HD & firewire

[Dewey Smolka]

On 11/2/06, Mark Lehrer <mark at knm.org> wrote:
>
> I have had Myth working reasonably well with High Definition over the
> air, so I am thinking about trying Comcast and their firewire
> interface.
>
> Could someone who is already doing this answer a few questions:
>
> 1) Which hi def receiver do I want?  They said I am going to get a
>    Motorola DCT 6400 - will that do the firewire?

The 6400 should be able to handle firewire with the 6200 stuff in /contrib.
>
> 2) How well does MythTV work with the cable content?  For example, I
> heard that the standard definition channels used 12GB per hour - 50%
> more than OTA hi def.

Standard def TV with a PVR card is about 2.2 GB per hour. HD
recordings from firewire are around 6-8GB per hour.

>I am definitely going to want to watch the hi
> def Discovery, ESPN, and HBO channels.

Unfortunately you will probably NOT be able to record any cable HD
channels over firewire as for the most part they're encrypted. There's
a chance you'll be lucky but I wouldn't get my hopes up. You will be
able to get the OTA HD stations through the cable box, as cable
carriers are required to send those stations in the clear.

If you've already got HD working for the OTA stations, then getting a
new box from Comcast won't give you anything you don't already have.
The box itself will cost you an extra $5 per month or so. That will
give you the OTA HD channels you already have but not the cable HD
channels, which are another $5 per month or so.

Right now there's just no way to get the cable HD channels into Myth
while preserving HD if the company has set encryption on them.