Josh Cady wrote: > Hey, Jim, just out of curiosity, would you mind telling me briefly > about the costs and configuration for your MythTV projection system? > > > On Jan 22, 2010, at 5:53 PM, Jim Beckett wrote: > > >> Rich Shepard wrote: >> >>> On Fri, 22 Jan 2010, drew wymore wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>>> I have actually had good luck in the past with Acer gear. >>>> >>>> >>> I'm currently using an Acer monitor that works just fine. >>> >>> Rich >>> _______________________________________________ >>> PLUG mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug >>> >>> >>> >> I have an Acer DLP projector that does a very nice job with high >> definition video. >> >> I had it ceiling mounted in my last house, and it was connected up >> to my >> MythTV system. >> >> 8 feet wide x 4.5 feet tall - Crystal Clear (except up when >> standing too >> close to the screen - darn pixels). >> >> It felt just like being at the movie theater, and I had some awesome >> Saturday College Football watch parties! >> >> Being able to create your own instant replays was pretty neat when >> there >> was an argument about the runner going out of bounds, or getting >> stopped >> short of the goal line. >> >> -Jim >> _______________________________________________ >> PLUG mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug >> > > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > Josh,
Here ya go: (I really got to rambling here, sorry) Computer: ~$500-600 total at the time (I'm cheap, and wait until things come down in price) Cheapo full-size media center case - Actually looks pretty good, I forget where I got it. AMD 4000+ Dual Core processor / MainBoard combo - I don't remember the model 2 GB Ram NVidia 6200 video card w/256MB Ram - Heatsink only, no cooling fan. DVI out (the cable is DVI on one end, and HDMI on the other) I use the proprietary driver for it. 2- Internal 500GB sata hardisks 1- External 500GB USB 2.0 drive DVD-RW (I don't remember if it is dual-layer, or single - I don't use it much) 10/100/1000 Integrated Ethernet AC97 integrated sound (I didn't bother figuring out the audio stuff, stereo is fine for me, even though I think I'm supposed to be able to do 5.1 channels) 2- Avermedia A180 HD Video Capture cards (as long as the channels are on the same multiplex, I can record multiple channels on each) 1- Hauppauge PVR-150 Analog capture card w/remote (I'm actually only using this for the remote control capability, but I can hook it up to a VCR with a coax cable, or s-video, and archive old media with it if I need to.) Several low-noise fans, and a big heat sink on the CPU - Pretty quiet system, no cooling issues. Makes my regular workstation sound like a garbage disposal.... Projector ~$550 at the time The projector is currently in storage, but it is an ACER PH530. (The replacement bulbs are about $250 - Not cheap, but they last for 2-3000 hours of use.) Old fashioned wall mount/roll-up AV Screen ~$100 (The little black string to tie to the handle was free ;) ) Operating System: $0 MythBuntu 9.10 64-bit (MythTV 0.22-fixes) (I started out on MythBuntu 7.04... I think.) Configuration: The learning curve was (and still is) pretty steep for me. Mostly because I am not an TV/AV guy, the terminology is Greek to me, and I'm still a relative NOOB in GNU/Linux. However, I have set it up several different times, mostly due to Noob Linux user errors, and it isn't so bad, anymore. My thoughts on it: Major Benefits: Automatic commercial skip! Record up to 4 shows at once (more may be possible, but I haven't tried to really push the hardware to see if it can do it.) Pause live tv Rewind live tv Play/Record DVDs Video Archive/player Music Archive/player Automatic Martini Mixer (Don't I wish) Endless possibilities actually. I get HD Programming from a standard antenna, or by plugging into the cable outlet. I prefer to use the cable outlet, because I get terrible broadcast reception here. Using the cable outlet, any of the channels that are encrypted won't come in because there is no cablecard on the tuners to unscramble them. However, I still get the major channels, Discovery, WGN, and Public Access channels on the cable connection. Basically, these are the ones that the cable company are required to broadcast in clear qam. I could use the IR blaster that came with my hauppage card to control channel changing on the cable box, and record all the cable channels I get, but I could only record standard definition off of that, so I don't bother. I can record up to four shows at a time - possibly more, but I am limited to only two at a time if the shows I want to record do not share multiplex ID's. The MythBuntu site (www.mythbuntu.org) has some great documentation and setup guides. The MythTV-Users mailing list, and mailing list archive are invaluable for troubleshooting various issues with either config, or hardware gotchas. The only hardware gotcha on my computer system was a combination of being new to Linux, and not knowing that my HD capture cards needed an extra firmware driver to be downloaded (it is not in the linux distribution), and put into the /lib/firmware directory. I have to say, this setup makes for some great TV/Movie watching, now if they would just come up with something worth watching ;) -Jim _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
