[mythtv-users] DirecTV HTTP Server

Greg Oliver oliver.greg at gmail.com
Mon Nov 29 05:42:14 UTC 2010


On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 10:41 PM, jmk <jmk at foofus.net> wrote:
> On Nov 23, 2010, at 11:08 AM, Greg Oliver wrote:
>>> I'm currently using a D11 (via PVR-250), H21-100 (HD-PVR) and OTA
>>> (HDHomerun) with Myth. The output from the D11 and H21-100 are decent,
>>> but there's really little discernible difference. The H21 output simply
>>> doesn't compare to the OTA content, which is excellent. Is DirecTV HD
>>> really that bad and not much, if any, better than their SD? It seems
>>> silly to be paying for HD content, when it's the same quality as what I
>>> get from the SD D11. I'm curious if others are seeing different results
>>> for DirecTV SD vs DirecTV HD vs OTA HD.
>>
>> Yeah, dtv has very few high bitrate HD channels.  A couple ESPns, CNN, and a couple discovery channels is it.  All others are crap low bitrate upscales..  You're right though - only ESPN and discoveries can even come close to atsc..
>
> Unfortunately, even the ESPNs/CNNs/etc. all appear nearly identical to me from the D11 and H21. My test tonight was the NFL on NBC, which DirecTV's online guide showed should be in HD, (as one would expect). My OTA picture of the game was stunning, but both the D11 (via s-vid -> PVR-250) and H21 (via component -> HD-PVR) were nearly identical SD-quality.

You may want to tweak your hdpvr in recording profiles to use a higher
bitrate.  I know the default is not good enough for my liking for HD
stuff..

> I noticed that my OSD had an icon for "SD" for the program. What does the Myth use to determine if an SD or an HD icon should be shown?

There is a column in the channel table that indicates whether or not
it is an HD channel.  I assume it uses that, but it may also fall back
to resolution.?.?

> Are there any other tests one can do with the H21 to see if it's output what it should be? I emailed DirecTV and they responded that I should make sure the B-Band Converter is in place; it is, but if it was dead, would I only get SD signals?

It all depends on your lineup on Schedules Direct.  I do not include
any channels I can get with HDHRuns since I have enough of those to
never need DTV for OTA channels.  I also do not include the SD
versions of any channel that is available in HD.  This alleviates any
need for me to muck with priorities, etc...  I have enough tuners to
always have a free one, and mythtv does not even know the sd channels
exist..  That is the easiest way IMO, but of course that may not be
applicable to your setup..

> Thanks for any insight...


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