MythTV

[jarod-ajLrJawYSntWk0Htik3J/w at public.gmane.org (Jarod Wilson)]

On 07/18/2009 02:27 AM, Tom Metro wrote:
> Jarod Wilson wrote:
...
> At the meeting Rich Braun asked about low power front-end hardware.
> Jarod mentioned the Sigma Designs-based boxes, such as:
>
> http://www.networkedmediatank.com/
> http://www.popcornhour.com/
>
> And then there is the MediaMVP-HD, the HD version of the MediaMVP from
> our friends at Hauppauge. It's also a Sigma Designs-based box.
>
> http://www.nabble.com/MediaMVP-HD-tp22354968s24861p22357792.html
>
> One problem with Sigma Designs is that they're not fully open with their
> drivers. Debian runs on some Sigma Designs boxes, and Hauppauge may help
> move things along, but even with the standard definition MVP, Hauppauge
> kept some drivers closed source and some of the hardware interfaces
> proprietary (possibly due to licensing restrictions imposed by IBM).

IBM? I was thinking it was Sigma Designs here keeping things locked 
up... But admittedly, I'm not all that up on the details... Either way, 
I meant to mention the closed nature of the decoder in these boxes if I 
didn't. Definitely a down side for me too.

> The other issue is that any front-end that relies entirely on a hardware
> decoder for everything ends up being rather "brittle" and unable to keep
> up with the rapidly evolving world of digital video. Between the MVP and
> a Divx DVD player, I have two hardware devices that each can play only a
> very specific video format, resulting in a lot of transcoding and
> trial-and-error.

As I understand it, the Sigma chip handles mpeg2, h.264, VC-1, and a 
myriad of other codecs and container combinations, and the firmware is 
upgradeable to handle variations in the future.

> I tend to think the  approach taken with the NVIDIA ION platform, where
> the hardware is used more as an assist to the decoding process (rather
> than a black box that you feed the video bitstream into), is more
> flexible and resilient to future changes. Not to mention that it is
> likely to be deployed far more widely than specialized set-top-box
> hardware, and thus more rapidly supported by common codecs and media
> players.

Yep, I decided I liked this approach better too. I should actually have 
one of the Zotac ION mini-itx motherboards showing up at my house on 
Monday...

> Someone asked whether MythTV can upscale resolution like a DVD player.
> I'm not sure, but I seem to recall some mention of that on the users
> list with regards to the deinterlacing algorithms used. The front-end
> has some settings where you can choose different playback modes and
> deinterlace algorithms, and I think upscaling might be an option there.
> A search on the users list should turn up a more useful answer.

Yes, you can tailor playback mode based on the video's resolution. I 
believe by default, all video is scaled to full-screen resolution, and 
you can play games with assorted stretch modes (stretch 4:3 to 16:9, 
auto-stretch a 4:3 letterboxed signal where the actual video is 16:9 out 
to fill an entire 16:9 screen, etc).

> MythWeb is terrific for setting and managing schedules. I've always used
> it as my primary interface for that. It's also great for reviewing
> upcoming recordings (to check for conflicts, etc.) But it falls short
> when it comes to reviewing stuff that's already been recorded - at least
> if you have a sizable collection of recordings. It provides no means to
> navigate and drill down to a particular recording, in the same way all
> other MythTV clients do. Instead it throws one big list at you, which I
> can't even view these days as rendering it exceeds the amount of memory
> Apache allocates to PHP. (I could boost the setting, but there's no
> point, as the UI still isn't usable.)

Um... You might want to look again. :) You *can* drill down a ways. In 
my house, we have two recording groups, kids and default. As you'd 
assume, the kids' shows go into the kids group, the rest into default. 
You can pick to view only one group or the other within mythweb. Then 
there's a second level, where you can choose to view a specific series 
-- i.e., "show me only 'My Name Is Earl'". With that, you're down to 
only seeing shows in that series. Then you can click on a specific 
episode for more details.

Perhaps an additional level or two of being able to split up the shows 
would be good -- genre, channel, whatever...

>> MythTV's support community is entirely made up of people who provide
>> support out of the goodness of their hearts...
>> I used to be one of them myself, but due to list volume...I more or
>> less completely dropped off the mythtv- users mailing list for the
>> better part of about two years.
>
> That's exactly my point.

Yep, I was just confirming it. :)

>> I've recently started reading and replying on the list again though.
>> I just have to apply fairly strict internal filters -- I try to only
>> reply in threads where I *know* the answer for sure, or if its about
>> something Fedora-related or LIRC-related...
>
> Good that you've figured out a system for making it manageable for
> yourself.

Having an iPhone helps tremendously for keeping up too... :)

> Ideally there should be some sort of a similar filter or
> subdivide strategy for everyone, but I'm not sure what. Breaking the
> list up into regional sublists? (New England MythTV Users?) Topics, like
> tuner hardware, LIRC, scheduling, etc.?

Well, there exist lists specific to tuner hardware 
(linux-media-u79uwXL29TY76Z2rM5mHXA at public.gmane.org) and lirc 
(lirc-list-5NWGOfrQmneRv+LV9MX5uipxlwaOVQ5f at public.gmane.org)... But at least the tuner hardware 
list is more developer-centric than end-user support... Forcing users 
onto *more* lists has its downsides too, I dunno what the right solution 
is, if there is one... :\

>> For the casual follower, Gossamer Threads' searchable indexing of the
>> MythTV mailing lists helps out tremendously:
>>
>> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/
>
> Yes, the list is still quite useful as a data mining target.
>
> At the talk someone asked for the recommend hardware picks for tuners,
> IR blaster, etc, and mining the list is probably the best way to
> accomplish that. It's what I did prior to building my system.

Crud, I still need to publish my own links and product recommendations 
list like I said I would... Now where did I put it?...

I ran out of steam and/or don't really have any meaningful reply to the 
rest of Tom's (very well thought out and extremely relevant) comments at 
the moment. /me heads to bed...

--jarod