[wplug] I dream of summer and MythTV

Lance Tost ltost at pobox.com
Thu Feb 5 10:48:37 EST 2004


On Thu, 5 Feb 2004, Vanco, Don wrote:
> > Depending on your spare hardware, you can easily spend as
> > much or more on
> > this as you would a tivo or replaytv but it has some
> > advantages (as well as disadvantages).
> 	Very true - a refurb Series One TiVo (and believe me that's the one
> you want)  and lifetime service will cost you aboot $450 - easily less than
> a decent video card and other required bits if you don't have them laying
> aboot.... (although you will need to spend an additional $60 for a network
> interface)

Well, it really all does depend on what you want.  I spent $100 on two
hardware mpeg tuner cards because I wanted more than what a tivo can do.  
I could have spent $50, but I wanted the ability to watch live tv while
recording or record two shows simultaneously.  I can add a third mpeg card
for more flexibility.  As for a video card, you don't need the latest
256MB model.  Most any supported 32MB card will do.  I picked up a 32MB
NVIDIA MX 400 card for $40 for one of my displays.

With the hardware mpeg cards, you can get away with way less CPU so an 
800MHz or so would probably do for basic stuff (record+playback but 
probably not two record streams + playback).  256MB is plenty (and 
cheap)... so really you could put together a basic system with one tuner 
card and one display for a couple hundred bucks.  Plus you don't even need 
a monitor since you'll be attaching to your TV.

> > Pros:
> >  - you can rip your cds to disk (I haven't tried this under
> > myth yet since
> 	You can rip elsewhere and send to TiVo vie the network...

So Tivo can't actually do this then.

> >  - I can rip my DVDs to disk and have all my movies available on any
> > frontend (assuming I have enough disk space)... a pefect rip is over
> > 5GB... Using DIVX or XVID, that can be cut down to around 650MB
> > keeping pretty good quality
> 	TiVo tools allow you to remove, edit, and re-insert video to your
> TiVo in 4 different qualities of video and you can transcode the audio in
> any of several formats (including AC3).

There is some basic video editing stuff (besides transcoding) in MythTV
from what I hear but I haven't messed with it yet.  You can define your 
own quality profiles choosing RJPEG, MPEG-4 or MPEG-2 (hardware MPEG 
encoding) and set your bitrate anywhere from 0 to several thousands bps.  
You can also select up to 384bps for the audio.  Again, I haven't messed 
with theset oo much so I'm not 100% how it all works.  It comes 
preconfigured with a High Quality and Low Quality profile.

> 	TiVo tools allow for easy "TiVo stream to DVD" (with full, albeit
> rudimentary, DVD menu generation).  While no one will comment on it openly -
> the tools to do this basically allow you to go from .ty (TiVo stream) to
> .vob (DVD format) and vice versa.  The implications should be obvious....

But is this something that it does out of the box?  A big selling point 
for the Tivo is most people that buy it want it to "just work".  If they 
wanted to hack and play around, then I'd suggest looking at Myth.

> >  - I can have limited access via the web to record new shows
> > and manage existing recordings
> 	TiVo has a fairly rich web interface, including the ability to
> "undelete" shows - some as far back as 60 days depending on your TiVo
> usage....

Yes, MythWeb allows you to undelete.  You can also view your MP3s and 
Videos but as of yet cannot play/stream them.  I think that's planned.

> 	The TiVoWeb has full "remote emulation" that can be quite fun when
> someone else has the physical remote.

It does not have this... but I can xrfbviewer into it and control it 
remotely with my keyboard.

> >  - I can record as many stations simultaneously as I have
> > capture cards (currently two)
> 	TiVo will take 2 inputs and record from them.  I cannot see why
> you'd ever need more than two... but I suppose there would be that
> once-a-year time when there's 3 good shows on at once.

Or if I'm recording something, something is being watched upstairs and I 
want to watch something different on another frontend.

> >  - Nobody knows how many times I watched the Janet Jackson
> > boob shot over and over again
> 	It's a button on the TiVo remote to go back 13 seconds...

Where do I start.... nevermind, not worth it.

> >  - If you know C++, you can contribute any features you want to it
> 	Likewise for TiVo hacks to some extent..

Of course, you void any support that you paid for when you hack your Tivo, 
right?

> Other thumbs up for TiVo
> 	- intelligent show recording (start / stop time flexibility, season
> pass management, priority, ability to ignore repeats or record at alternate
> times based on "conflict)

Myth has these except I'm not sure what "season pass management" is.

> 	- search tools (actor, channel, keyword, director, genre,
> combination)

Myth can search on some of these.. not sure about actor or director 
though.

> 	- buffer control (my TiVo always has an hour of something buffered)

Ditto.  you define the buffer size to determine how much you want 
buffered.

> 	- tools for photo management

Ditto.

> 	- tools for backing up your TiVo OS are excellent (there's a web
> module!)  You can essentially recover the OS onto _any_ hard drive (but
> depending on your backup you _may_ lose all content).  An OS only backup
> will easily fit on a single CD

Hrmm... what good is a backup if you lose *all* content?  Obviously, you 
backup Myth anyway you'd backup any other Linux box. 

> 	- you can manage it fully via the Internet if you have the
> connection

Ditto.

> 
> > Cons:
> >  - There are still some glitches -- the occasional hang or
> > choppy video.
> 	People do have issues in TiVos, but rarely.
> 	I have heard of far more synch issues with MythTV (video
> leading/lagging audio)
> 

I don't have any problems with this.  Sometimes people have their hardware 
wired up wrong (feeding audio out of their capture card to audio in on 
their sound card) so they hear sound before they see the video (since it's 
buffered).  The easist solution is to use the btaudio module which 
transfers the audio via the pci bus with the video.  This isn't supported 
by all cards.  The other option is to use the wire but be sure you have 
your mixer settings right (you gotta mute it and enable recording and all 
that crap).

> >  - Takes a fair bit of Linux knowledge to get functioning properly
> 	TiVo hacks can be somewhat ethereal for the noob - but Jeff Keegan's
> book is excellent, and only one portion of the software included needed
> upgrading for my DTiVo (because I bought a cache card)
>

I think it's probably safe to say if you can hack your tivo, you can build 
a myth box and vice versa.
 
> >  - makes you watch too much tv (but so would a tivo)
> 	I'd argue that - I watch less, and I watch _exactly_ what I want.  I
> watch more shows in less time, and I watch them when (and how often) I want
> to...
> 

I would have never stayed up to watch hours of MacGyver or Taxi before... 
now if TVLAND would just start airing The Geatest American Hero....


> >  - Interface can be klunky if you don't have a good remote with the
> > right buttons -- most remotes can be learned by lirc though
> 	Likely one of the biggest benefits of the TiVo - control and
> interface are excellent.

Many people buy Tivo remotes from ebay and use them.  The Myth interface 
isn't klunky... it's only klunky if you have a remote that only has chan 
up/down, vol up/down and some numbers.  You need some directional buttons, 
a menu key, an escape/back key and some vcr/dvd control keys.

-- 
Lance Tost <ltost at pobox.com>




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