[mythtv-users] Advice on a silent PC/Mini ITX for DVI and DVB-T (maybe -S)

Chad masterclc at gmail.com
Mon Mar 31 22:38:28 UTC 2008


>  Does anyone have a recommendation for a Mini ITX motherboard which
>  would have DVI output, is cheap (so slow is OK), but has a supported
>  hardware mpeg2 decoder to make up for the lack of overall CPU power?

If you can find one, the Commell LV-667D makes a nice option in this area.

>  Or might I regret a slower processor, when I find I can't watch Flash
>  based video, mpeg4, etc.?

Flash isn't a problem really (not yet) but mpeg4 is.  As long as your
content is primarily mpeg2 you should generally be ok.  If you have
content that is mpeg4, you can look at transcoding it down, but I
think that somewhat defeats the purpose of piping it to an HDTV.

>  Much thanks for any advice,
>
>   Nick
>  _______________________________________________

If size is not that much of an issue I'd strongly suggest you look at
something MicroATX instead or even look at an Intel-based mini-ITX
system (though that really will kill your above mentioned budget).
The VIA systems, for lack of a nicer term, suck, due to lack of real
help from Via that is actually usable to the vast majority of Linux
users.  I've got an SP13000 and a Commell LV-667T that are fairly
useless for anything HD or mpeg4.  I've done a lot of work to get them
to the usable point they are at right now, and cannot imagine how much
effort would be involved in getting them to actually do the mpeg4
acceleration that VIA claims or fully work with MythTV and HDTV.

Good luck either way!

-Chad


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list