Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2005 16:55:42 -0500 (EST) From: "Steven S." <steven@403forbidden.net> To: Adam Maloney <adam@whee.org> Cc: freebsd-multimedia@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Hardware recommendations for MythTV/FreeBSD Message-ID: <20050201164641.E64418@atlantis.403forbidden.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.GSO.4.60.0502011233250.20906@titan> References: <Pine.GSO.4.60.0502011233250.20906@titan>
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I use a pvr-250 in a "remote" pvr solution. The pvr box is headless and stores recorded shows to my large array. I tried using Myth but it just would not work well for my needs, plus parts wouldnt compile. I was using a older build and did not try the latest. Instead I switched to Freevo. The web based interface is perfect for scheduling shows and I can do playback on my workstation or xbmc. The biggest downside is I cannot get ffmpeg, mencoder nor transcode to work well enough with the pvr-250 so I wrote a dirty little shell script to cat the cxm device to the filesystem. It works but I wish I could alter the bit rate the pvr card outputs at, 10mbit resolution creates 4gig/hr files at full NTSC size. For the most part the pvr-250 is plug and play. Most of the tuners are supported so you should be okay. I've not fiddled with source selection, from what I gather from reply's here it seems to be hit or miss, oddly. I would guess it would work. Unless it doesnt. On Tue, 1 Feb 2005, Adam Maloney wrote: > I'm considering building a PVR setup at home, and I have some questions... > > Ultimately, I'm after TiVo-like functionality...the ability to > watch/pause/30-second-skip live TV, and record shows. I am leaning towards > using MythTV (but have some questions about that too) > > I apologize if not all of these are 100% freebsd-related, but I'm hoping > others on this list have similar setups. > > First, I'm looking for recommendations on TV capture and TV-out cards. I'm > strongly leaning towards the Hauppage PVR-250, since it appears to be > well-supported, and I may be doing capturing on a lower-end machine that > couldn't handle software encoding. And I will probably run two cards so I > can watch/record simultaneously. > > If I go with the Hauppage - where to buy? And do I need to pay attention to > a particular hardware revision or if I buy the "PVR-250" will it just work? > > How about a source for remotes that will work with FreeBSD and MythTV? > > I have a K6-2/350MHz machine laying around. Is it fast enough, with the > right TV-out card, to be used as the feed for the TV? That is, reading and > decoding the recorded video from the Hauppage? How about with MythTV's > picture-in-picture feature (that is, decoding 2 streams, right?) If not, my > workstation is an AMD Athlon XP 1700+, but I'd have to run coax upstairs...or > buy another machine. > > Does MythTV work well under FreeBSD? I like what I'm reading about it, but > the documentation is very linux-centric. I haven't found a lot of > information on running it under BSD. There was a similar project I was > reading about the other day, but I forgot the name...is Myth the best option? > > I have what I consider 3 "sources" that feed picture into my TV - an Apex DVD > player, analog cable, and a Gamecube. The TV has an RF input for > cable/antenna, and AV (RCA) inputs. With my PVR box in the picture, how > would this all fit together? Can I tell the Apex to output on channel 3, and > the TV-out card to output on channel 4, and then multiplex both signals onto > the RF-in on the TV? (And then the GC on A/V) > > Currently the cable plugs into RF-in (cable-ready TV, no cable box), and I > (well, the wifey) manually switch the AV jacks between the GC and the DVD > player. > > If I connect the Apex into one of the PVR cards, can I feed through that way? > I'm not interested in recording DVD's...I just want this to work. Will the > tuner card not work because of Macrovision? (This isn't one of the "good" > Apexes (Apexi?)) > > I appreciate any pointers! > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-multimedia@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-multimedia > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-multimedia-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > >
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