[mythtv-users] Bitrate questions (tuning/quality/standards)

[Scott Traurig]

Hi all,

I'm a new mythtv user, having purchased a setup from MonolithMC. I am
transitioning from a Pioneer DVR appliance that I loved and the teething
pains are pretty severe. I've got 3 serious problems left to solve, not
including verifying stability of the configuration.

Environment: Comcast Moto DCT2224 STB inputting to PVR150 via NTSC
composite, Nvidia outputting to Sony 32" NTSC CRT monitor via composite.
Myth 0.21.

Top of the list is fixing video quality. The quality of set-up is nowhere
near that achieved with the Pioneer unit. Detail is substantially lacking
and motion artifact is severe. I turned off de-interlacing since it has no
meaning in my setup and this helped a little. More importantly I simply
doubled the default live TV bit rate settings from 4.5 avg/6 peak to 9
avg/12 peak (I left the default 720 x 480 resolution alone). This helped a
lot but is things are still not as sharp as the Pioneer and a lot of motion
artifact is still evident on scenes that have a lot of change.

Don't be blaming it on the rest of the setup: I literally plugged the myth
box in where the Pioneer used to be, same video cables and all.

So...

a) I don't care about disk space. What bit rate should I run?
b) Is this bit rate a "standard"? Shouldn't it be?
c) Or am I well and truly screwed, i.e. am I limited by the intrinsic
quality of the available codecs, PVR and Nvidia hardware regardless of what
bit rate I run?

Thanks,

Scott