On 9/4/05, Dewey Smolka <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > I never thought about the sounds from the cable box (I'm glad I asked > > questions :), but could I not use the coax out from the top set into > > the MythTV box and then composite from the MythTV box to the TV? > > Yes, no problem. The coax coming in carries audio and video, so > there's no need to patch the audio into the soundcard's in. If it's > the PVR 350 (at least as I understand it), the coax-out will also > carry both audio and video to your TV. If you use the video card's out > for your picture in whatever format, you'll need to get the audio out > of your soundcard out to an amplifier -- the aux ins of any ol' stereo > will do, and lots of TVs have the composite and stereo RCAs built in > for plugging in camcorders. Using these is no problem -- (in fact it's > probably the easiest and cheapest way to do it, using an S-vid to RCA > converter and an 1/8" stereo mini to stereo RCA cable you can get at > Radio Shack for $6 or so. I'd recommend doing it this way, because you > seem to have more flexibility than with the 350s coax-out. Reportedly > the 350 gives you a marginally better picture, but the hassles with X > and the difficulties with MPEG-4 make it somewhat limited. Of course, > with a 350, you would be able tio use either that card's out or the > vid card's out . . . >
OK, thanks for the clarification! <sinp> > > Let me get this straight, the IR Blaster is part of the capture card > > that will change the channel on my top set? Also, you mentioned that > > there will be some delay when changing channel, how long of a delay > > should I be expecting? > > > > There are two components here, and two separtate things are going on. > Assuming we're talking about the Hauppage remote, the IR reciever for > the remote control plugs into the capture card. This controls the > operation of MythTV. But MythTV needs to tell the hardware -- the > capture card and, if necessary, the decoder box, which channel to tune > to. With analog cable, MythTV simply tunes the proper frequency on the > decoder card. With a cable box, it needs to send remote control > signals to the box. This is the second module, IR blaster, an IR > transmitter that mimics your cable companies remote. > > There is always going to be a delay when switching channels because > you are not really watching live TV. When you select a channel, MythTV > begins recording to a ring buffer and then immediately begins a > playback of that recording. There are a lot of steps that have to be > done between you pressing the channel change button and the picture > coming out of the machine. On my P3 700 box, it takes two or three > seconds to switch channels. On a more powerful machine it will > certainly be quicker, but it will never be as fast as controlling the > TV or the cable box directly. OK, that makes sense, and I was expecting a few second delay, but from the first comment I was thinking 20 or above second wait... > > <snip> > > No I think I understand it all now, with the exception of the > > questions above... Also, I read the required specs somewhere and I > > can't seem to find them any more, I'm sure I'm over looking them... > > But a PIII ~500Mhz, too slow for a master MythTV box? > > I'd say it's on the very trailing edge. Live TV will probably be too > stuttery for comfort, though you should be able to record and > playback. With a hardware card, the CPU isn't very taxed while > recording, but playing a decent resolution video signal takes a lot of > juice. Operations like com-flagging and transcoding will take a lot > longer on this kind of machine as well -- I generally do transcoding > on my P4 1.8 desktop rather than the Myth box. > > You can definitely get a system running on this that proves the > concept, teaches you how it works, and really focuses you on what you > need for the next one Ya, in a little while I will be getting all the equipment and setting up a box, mostly just to learn how it all works and such, if it's OK, than I'll keep it. > > Also, what is > > the lowest end video card that I could use before I start seeing > > degradation? > > I first ran a gf2 mmx with S-vid out. You can't find them in shops > anymore, but I've seen them for around $10 on ebay. I've seen gf4s in > shops for $30-$40. I came across my old video card, a GeForce4 MX 440 with S-vid out, so I will just throw that card into the box. Thanks you everyone for all your help! I greatly appreciate it! - Andrew _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
