[mythtv-users] HD-PVR playback--high CPU usage

[Yeechang Lee]

Zach C <uid000 at gmail.com> says:
> I'm having trouble playing back recordings from my Hauppauge HD-PVR.
> The CPU on my Pentium dual core frontend is pegged and playback is
> unwatchable.

"Pentium dual core" = Not even close to having enough CPU to use
software decoding for HD-PVR h.264 files, which you are doing since
you aren't using VDPAU.

> What is weird is that I can play back 720p h.264 torrented video files
> with no problem.  In that case playback is perfect and cpu is probably
> around 30%-50%.

Irrelevant. As others have stated, such files use very different
bitrates and possibly aren't true 720p (more like, say,
640x400). Also, just because a pirated video file has h.264 in the
file name doesn't mean it's actually encoded in h.264; it could very
well be a lower-resolution Xvid created from a h.264 "master."

Bottom line: Pay $30 for a VDPAU-capable video card and enjoy
excellent playback of your HD-PVR recordings with <5% CPU usage.

-- 
Frontend/backend:	P4 3.0GHz, 1.5TB software RAID 5 array
Backend:		Quad-core Xeon 1.6GHz, 6.6TB sw RAID 6
Video inputs:		Four high-definition over FireWire/OTA
Accessories:		47" 1080p LCD, 5.1 digital, and MX-600