[mythtv-users] Advice on Building a Quiet MythTV Box?

[Paul Gardiner]

Brad DerManouelian wrote:
> On Nov 29, 2008, at 1:10 AM, Paul Gardiner wrote:
> 
>> Brad DerManouelian wrote:
>>> I just wanted to clarify for anyone running across this post that  
>>> MythTV does not have a problem displaying beautiful video  
>>> comparable to what you can get from any other system. You either  
>>> have a hardware or setting problem (since you've made sure your  
>>> settings are all good, I'll go with a hardware problem) if it's not  
>>> as good. MythTV is not the problem.
>> I've tried three systems:
>>
>> 1) J7F2WE1G2E fanless ITX motherboard, using S-Video out.
>>
>> 2) EN12000E fanless ITX motherboard using component out.
>>
>> 3) A8V motherboard, Athlon64 2.2GHz, Radeon 9000, with VGA
>> set up to output PAL timings, and wired to TV's Scart.
> 
> I presume all with the same capture device?
> 
> I don't know anything about PAL or what you're capturing, but my  
> experience with video quality has been extremely satisfactory with my  
> NTSC PVR-350 (not as good with my PVR-150 for whatever reason - I  
> think my power supply was interfering with the signal) and now  
> flawless with my digital capture devices.

For me it's UK freeview via a NOVA 500 T, so as far as I know. I'm
just picking up the same MPEG2 data my DVR picks up. There's no
encoding being done in either MythTV or the DVR.

> Anyway, I wasn't trying to trouble-shoot your problem because again, I  
> know nothing about PAL or your setup. I was just saying that it's a  
> wrong assumption that MythTV has bad video quality and people should  
> look for an alternative of playing it back.

I don't know in general. I can only comment on what I see. My
comparisons are with the same TV and, as far as I know, with exactly
the same content. I do get excellent quality from MythTV, but for
some reason not quite as good as from my DVRs. The difference when
using VGA to Scart is tiny, but that's the case where it's difficult
to explain why there is any difference at all. Also VGA to Scart is
such a hard option to go for now because there's no reliable
information on which graphics card/driver combinations can output
PAL timings.

Other people have praised the PVR-350. Perhaps that's one of the
few really good choices for SD TV. That wouldn't surprise me since
it is at least designed precisely for that job, unlike graphics cards
for which TV out is an add on.

Cheers,
	Paul.