[Tfug] My next HW/SW integration masterpiece

[John Gruenenfelder]

On Tue, Jul 20, 2004 at 01:42:18PM -0700, ewf wrote:
>
>      I have a 1.7Ghz machine that's just sitting around. I want it to 
>replace several components
>in my entertainment center, namely the TV set and the  DVD. A TV set is 
>actually two componenets
>1) a receiver/decoder of NTSC signal and  2) a display.  The computer 
>can obviously do 2), but
>can it do 1)?  I think the answer is yes, because you can get a PCI 
>component with a TV tuner
>on it to plug into the PC, but what about the SW to support this? Is 
>there S/W that decodes
>NTSC? No, I'm not going to get into digital TV reception since the 
>subscription rates are high
>and I have poor control of content. (Comments anyone?)
>
>       A computer with a DVD R/W is obviously better, (and probably 
>cheaper), than a stand-
>alone DVD component with R/W capability. Adding a 120G drive makes it a 
>TiVo, (without
>the snooping that that company does on its subscribers),  (Comments anyone?)
>
>       Adding a NIC as a final touch allows you the ability to 
>edit/save MPEG data in the
>comfort of your study instead of fiddling with buttons/wires at your 
>entertainment center.
>
>      Maybe this isn't practical. You're talking to a guy that's always 
>found more entertainment
>in the back of a TV set than in front of one :-)

I built essentially the same thing about a month ago using MythTV
(http://www.mythtv.org).  Works like a charm.  I opted for a small Shuttle box
with an Athlon 2800+ CPU.  The CPU is certainly overkill, but prices very so
little...

I put a 160GB HD in it and, like you, I opted for a DVD-RW drive.  Those have
also come down so much in price I couldn't refuse.

The NIC is important.  MythTV needs a NIC if you want your program guide to be
updated automatically.  It also has a nice web interface for scheduling.

As for TV decoder cards, I chose a Hauppauge PVR-250 MCE.  This card has many
inputs of various types and encodes to MPEG realtime.  Very nice.  I went with
the "MCE" version since it has an FM radio tuner which I may use in the
future.  The regular 250 model does not have this, but it does have an IR
remote input ability.  The 350 model can also do MPEG decoding and TV-out, but
the Shuttle box I bought has onboard Sis video and TV-out which works just
fine.

Once you read the docs, MythTV is pretty easy to set up.  The *hard* part is
getting the TV board to work.  When the drivers work, they work well, but they
are immature so there can be certain hardware issues (such as Via boards).
Note that these observations are only mine working with my PVR-250 board.

For the 250, at least, the driver issues aren't really the fault of the
developers.  The MCE model uses a Conexant chip and that company hates all
things good and decent.  They also eat puppies and kick kittens.


-- 
--John Gruenenfelder    Research Assistant, Steward Observatory, U of Arizona
                        johng at as.arizona.edu
Try Weasel Reader for PalmOS  --  http://gutenpalm.sf.net
"This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood
of my enemies!"
        --Sam of Sam & Max