[mythtv-users] Video quality on 0.28 worse than it was on 0.21

Stephen Worthington stephen_agent at jsw.gen.nz
Sat Aug 25 15:53:38 UTC 2018


On Sat, 25 Aug 2018 08:05:35 -0700, you wrote:

>8.04 needs video updates to work which are likely unsupported at this late
>time per my Digital Video WiKi.
>16.04 will not work with either of my nvidia cards (6200 8600) per this
>post and the two bug reports.
>18.04 will not work with my remote per a previous post.
>
>There are several Nvidia video cards that I am looking at. They have a
>variety of chips
>GT210
>GT710
>GT730
>GT1030
>
>The only one listed in the supported cards wiki
>https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/VDPAU#Supported_Cards is the GT210 which I
>suspect is more a matter of the wiki being out of date as it was last
>modified in 2016. There is an Nvidia VDPAU page but it does not list these
>newer cards either so they are either not supported, or the page is also
>out of date.
>
>I would prefer a more modern card but want to know that it is supported.
>How do I know if the other cards are supported?
>
>Allen

Do not get a GT210 - that does not do proper deinterlacing.  In the
200 series, you need at least a GT220 for everything MythTV needs. And
that is the oldest Nvidia card that fully supports all of MythTV's
current needs.

I am not sure with the 700 series, but I think the 710 does do
everything needed, so there would be no need for a more expensive
GT730.  But for future proofing, the GT1030 is the way to go, as
Nvidia is already scheduling the end of driver support for older
cards.  A fanless 1030 is what I would recommend for anyone buying a
new Nvidia for MythTV today.  But it is overkill - it is a 4K capable
chipset, and MythTV does not yet do 4K, although it may work playing
4K videos.  Not having any 4K screens or a 1030 card, I can not test
that yet.  But I am sure that 4K will be coming in the not too distant
future - here in New Zealand, we have our first test broadcasts of
DVB-T2 4K signals happening in Auckland at the moment.

And the 1030 cards are not particularly cheap either.  The cheapest
one I can find from one of our reliable but lower priced retailers
here in New Zealand is this one:

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/VGAEVG6232/EVGA-GeForce-GT1030-2GB-DDR4-PCI-E-30-Video-card

I always recommend fanless video cards wherever possible.  My fanless
cards are still running happily after over 7 years of 24/7 operation.
Cards with fans die as soon as they get fan trouble as they overheat
and kill themselves very easily.  MythTV does not need cards that
require fans, so unless you also want to use the MythTV box for
something else, get a fanless card.

If you do want to get a cheaper older model Nvidia card, then you also
need to ensure it has 1 Gibyte of RAM.  MythTV can run fine with only
512 Mibytes of RAM, but doing so alongside the rest of the operating
system when it wants to do something 3D causes mythfrontend to run out
of RAM and you have to restart X before it will play videos or
recordings again.  Later Nvidia cards do not come with less than 1
Gibyte.


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