Thanks, great input! Cheers, john
Michael T. Dean wrote: > On 01/23/2006 07:53 PM, John Biundo wrote: > >>I've been wanting to add a second capture card almost since the moment >>of deploying my Mythtv box a couple of weeks ago. I held off because I >>wanted to stabilize things, but I'm now anxious to go ahead and shop for >>the second card. >> >>I'm still having a few problems, but feeling confident in my ability to >>work through them. Since I've been putting this off, I'm going to beg >>your indulgence and ask the list for some recommendations on a second >>capture card. >> >>Currently I have a PVR-150 that mostly works fine (my main complaint is >>some motion-blurring in fast-action sports) and an nVidia FX5200 TV-Out >>card, for a SD/analog cable setup. Running Ubuntu with an AMD64 3200+ >>CPU and 512MB RAM. >> >>I guess I've narrowed my choices to a second PVR-150 or a PVR-350. My >>basic questions are: >>1. Will I likely be happier with a PVR-350 for watching livetv sports >>(and I'd move the 150 into a backup/recording role)? >> >>2. If I get a 350, should I use its TV out, or continue using the FX5200 >> (i.e., is the 350 likely to give better output for fast-action sports)? >> >>3. If I get a 350, do I have to handle sound differently than I do with >>the 150 (i.e., do I have to capture audio via line-in on my sound card)? >> Is all of this handled automagically by mythytv if I'm recording >>different shows on each card? > > IMHO, there's no reason to go to a PVR-350--and I have a PVR-350 (that I > use as a PVR-250 because I wasn't pleased with its TV out capability). > > Note that with a PVR-350, the encoder and decoder are completely > independent of one another. Therefore, whether you do LiveTV with a > PVR-350 encoding and a PVR-350 decoding or a PVR-150 encoding and a > PVR-350 decoding makes /absolutely/ no difference. Neither is > inherently more efficient than the other approach (remember, that even > LiveTV is recorded to disk). > > So, it all boils down to, "Is the PVR-350's TV out worth replacing my > FX5200?" I'll admit that the PVR-350 is generally easier to configure > for good quality TV out, but if you properly configure the NVIDIA TV > out, your quality should be just as good (basically, the weak link in > the chain is the NTSC display, and if you have a better-than-NTSC TV, > you shouldn't be using TV out, anyway). > > So, why wasn't I happy with the PVR-350's TV out? > - No OpenGL acceleration (for Goom, Games, etc.) > - Only outputs NTSC video (480i), so it won't allow you to see the > benefits of a new better display (an HDTV) when you get one > - No way to control overscan (and you get a *lot* of overscan with a > PVR-350--the way NTSC was designed to work) > > So, I suggest you get a PVR-150 and use the money you save to buy more > storage (or even a third/fourth PVR-150). :) > > Mike _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
