[mythtv-users] HD thin client?

[Scott D. Davilla]

>I think we seriously need to re-evaluate the requirements for HD content
>on Mythtv.
>
>I seen in many many documents that 3 Ghz or higher is needed to play
>back HDTV.  And a year ago, I would definitely agree with that
>statement. 
>
>However, I think the devs have made so many improvements to the code in
>the last 6 months that this is simply no longer the case.
>

I see conflicting performance. With my mythfrontend only 1GHz 
pentium-m, 256MB ram AppleTV running linux, I can do mpeg2 software 
decode of 480p (less than 25 percent cpu) and 720p (60 percent cpu). 
That's great for a less than $250 silent box that includes 40GB hard 
drive, 10/100BaseT ethernet, 802.11 b/g and n wireless IR w/ 
controller, HDMI video, component video, analog and optical audio.

1080i mpeg2 software decode saturates the cpu and I need to do xvmc 
assisted mpeg2 decode. However, ever since the ffmpg sync about six 
months ago, 1080i with xvmc has been creeping up in cpu usage. What 
was once 45-55 percent is now 65-80 percent cpu usage. Have not tried 
svn since before the multi-record sync. From the commits on the dev 
list, the code is still settling down. Maybe in a few weeks, I'll try 
svn again.

There is also a race deadlock using 1080i xvmc that I have not found 
yet. Random, sometimes minutes, sometimes hours before it will 
deadlock and hang the mythfrontend.