[mythtv-users] MythTV on a VIA Epia

[Paul Bender]

Al Banks wrote:
> For anyone who is running Myth on an Epia - how is the playback
> quality on live tv?

Playback quality is subjective.

I have a VIA EPIA ME6000 based MythTV frontend connected to a CRT 
television using S-Video. It has no trouble playing back NTSC and looks 
good using S-Video. My wife and two boys think that it looks fine.

In addition, I have a VIA EPIA SP8000E based MythTV frontend connect to 
an LCD television using VGA. I tried connecting it using S-Video as well 
and VGA looks better. It has no trouble playing NTSC and looks very good 
    using VGA. Unfortunately, while the hardware support ATSC HDTV, it 
does not support it in combination with MythTV.

> Any recommendations on Epia model for a new deployment?

The answer depends on how you will be using the system.

Will this be a MythTV frontend or a MythTV frontend+backend? What 
type/resolution of television signals do you want to support? Does it 
need to be very quiet? How will you be connecting it to your television?

I use VIA EPIA systems from MythTV frontends by running MiniMyth 
<http://linpvr.org>. I use the fanless versions because they have quiet. 
If want to connect it to your television using something other than VGA 
or DVI (e.g. S-Video), then I suggest you avoid motherboards with the 
VT1625 television encoder as it is not very well supported. Also, I 
suggest that you avoid motherboards with the CN700 as it is crippled, 
resulting in performance that is inferior to the CN400. Essentially, 
this leaves either the VIA EPIA M or VIA EPIA SP series motherboards.