On Monday 24 October 2005 15:07, Michael T. Dean wrote: > Michael Bochynski wrote: > >On Mon, 2005-10-24 at 13:41 -0400, Michael T. Dean wrote: > >>Michael Bochynski wrote: > >>>I want to replace one of those components, by my question is whether > >>>it makes more sense to get PVR-350 (I don't need dual tuners of 500, > >>>since I use cable box) or nice NVIDIA graphics card for better > >>>support for linux? > >> > >>IMHO, the PVR-350 is a waste of money (and I wasted money on one) in > >>today's world. It made sense when 720x480 MPEG-2 decoding strained > >>general-purpose CPU's, but any processor that's worth using in a Myth > >>box (1GHz or better) will barely notice the effort. I'm using an NVIDIA > >>card (and not using the TV out on my PVR-350) because it has so many > >>advantages: > >> - OpenGL support > >> - Choice of resolution, overscan, etc. (allows you to choose the > >>best combination of scaling, size, position, etc. for your needs) > >> - Choice of outputs (i.e. built-in TV out, using VGA to a VGA to > >>NTSC/PAL converter, using VGA/DVI to a monitor/digital TV, etc.) > >> - If you get a 5200 or better, ability to support HDTV when you > >>decide to switch > >> - Is not a single-purpose device, so it continues to be useful even > >>if you stop using Myth. (OK, I don't think it's possible for someone to > >>stop using Myth once they've started, but it's the principal of the > >> matter.) > >> > >>And only one disadvantage: > >> - Does not provide the placebo effect for users, so video quality is > >>significantly worse. ;) (Which actually means you must learn how to > >>configure it for good video quality. With a PVR-350, you just need to > >>learn how to configure it and you get good quality--the PVR-350 is an > >>all or nothing configuration because it doesn't give you the options > >>that I mentioned as a benefit above, so you can't configure it for > >>poor-quality output.) > >> > >>OK, so the NVIDIA proprietary drivers are the real disadvantage, but > >>they're much better than the ATI drivers, so if you've got to pick one, > >>NVIDIA's the way to go. > > > >Thanks for suggestions. before spending any money I will play around > >with settings. > > > >However, honestly, the advantages of NVIDIA card you presented are not > >overwhelming. The MythTV box will be used for MythTV only, nothing else, > >hence OpenGL does not matter, am I right? > > OpenGL is currently used by MythMusic (Goom!!!! among other > visualizations), and many games that are played using MythGame. Then, > there's OpenGL vsync for smooth frame delivery. > > Also, MythUI--which will probably show up in 0.20--will use OpenGL as > the painting backend by default and will be the best reason to have > hardware-based OpenGL acceleration support. > > >I don't even have, and don't > >plan to have, a regular monitor/LCD at home which I could use :) Signal > >(MythTV) goes to TV out only. > > > >Right now I output TV to my receiver and then to TV. While HDTV is a > >nice-to-have, i do not expect to have it in the next 6 - 12 month, while > >I will watch TV in the next 6 - 12 months :) Hence having DVI, HDTV and > >so on is not the highest priority. I will probably want to add it, > > Yeah, me too. But then again, plans change. I just bought an > HDTV--something I've been saying I wouldn't do... But, it's your > decision to make--I was just trying to answer your question, "whether it > makes more sense to get PVR-350 (I don't need dual tuners of 500, since > I use cable box) or nice NVIDIA graphics card for better support for > linux?" > > I'm just thinking that if you're truly concerned with the pursuit of > video perfection, you'll eventually find that NTSC/PAL--not your > video/capture card--is the weak link in the chain. :) > > >I am going solely after the picture (TV) quality. I do not mind > >proprietary drivers, since I hope I have my compile-from-source times > >behind me, starting with the (very) early Linux times. I know, however, > >that ATI (proprietary) drivers are worse than NVIDIA ones. BTW, which > >NVIIDA card is worth looking at? I don't want to end up with card which > >is not supported under Linux at all. > > Like I said, the PVR-350 will provide that placebo effect that makes you > believe for sure that you have the best possible picture quality. ;) > > Mike > > Totally OT rant: I've got to admit that having received this message > from you, I'm extremely disappointed with Evolution. I know it's trying > to be the Outlook replacement, but do they really want to make it as > awful as Outlook? It actually puts a one-celled table containing > another one-celled table containing your entire message (and, therefore, > the entire body of the HTML page) in the HTML version of your multipart > message. And, it does the same HTML-obfuscation that MS FrontPage > does--i.e. opening and closing font tags all over (although FrontPage > goes much farther than Evolution with the obfuscation). And, I won't > even mention the deprecated HTML 4.01 instead of xHTML (or even > xHTML-like HTML)... > _______________________________________________ > mythtv-users mailing list > [email protected] > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
KMail. Steve _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
