[mythtv-users] What's the point of MythTV HD?

George Mari george_mythusers at mari1938.org
Tue Dec 4 04:18:56 UTC 2007


David Linville wrote:
> On 12/3/07, Brad DerManouelian <myth at dermanouelian.com> wrote:
>> On Dec 3, 2007, at 11:19 AM, James Gutshall Jr wrote:
>>
>>> "downsampled content via SVideo"
>>>
>>> Doesnt this, by definition change the content to NOT HD?  

Yes, by definition.

>>> I agree that it provides a way to watch the channel, but for some, the the
>>> HD channel is also available in analog, thus the problem isnt
>>> watching that particular program.  the problem is that we want to
>>> record, and watch later, the program in question.... in HD quality.

I would like to record it and watch it in HD quality as well.  But my 
service provider doesn't allow it.  It bothers me, as I feel that if I'm 
paying a monthly fee for an HD receiver, I should be allowed to view 
that content as I wish.

[deleted]
> 
> Wouldn't you end up with black bars on the top and bottom recording that
> way?  If so that would kill quite a bit of extra resolution.
> 

The best resolution you can get this way is wide-screen 480i.  This is 
the same way anamorphic DVD content works.  You  takes a 16:9 content 
stream, send it out your STB S-Video output, it gets squished 
horizontally to record at 720x480 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio) by analog 
tuner/encoder card, and stretched back out horizontally by MythTV to 
it's proper aspect ratio.  The only difference between this and 
anamorphic DVD is that DVD content is usually 480p (progressive) versus 
480i (interlaced).

I just researched all this a few weeks ago when I upgraded from SD 
DirecTV to HD DirecTV.  The High-def DirecTV set top boxes (Dish too, 
probably cable boxes also) let you set the format of the signal being 
sent out any of it's outputs.  You tell it whether you have a 4:3 or 
16:9 TV, and you tell it how it should display programs that don't match 
the aspect ratio of your TV - letter box, pillar box, squished 
horizontally, etc.  You can even cycle through the formats with a button 
on your remote.

I get better results with Widescreen 480i than I did stretching 4:3 
programs to fit my 16:9 TV.  I see fewer artifacts, and just better 
overall quality.  It's not HD, but it's better than 4:3 SD, at least to 
my eyes.  Part of that could be that the DirecTV HD signal is less 
overcompressed than the SD signal was, but whatever.


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