[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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