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"spare" hardware may be an exercise in frustration and can waste many hours
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of valuable time.
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For more detail about actual configurations that others have used, Mark
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Cooper has setup a hardware database at <url
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url="http://pvrhw.goldfish.org/" name="http://pvrhw.goldfish.org/">. The
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website will let you browse what other users have reported as their hardware
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configuration, and how happy they are with the results.
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If you have specific questions about the suitability of specific hardware
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choices, you can consult the archives of the mythtv-users mailing list at
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<url url="http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/"
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The second mode of operation is where MythTV is paired with a hardware-based
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video encoder, such as a Matrox G200 or a Hauppauge
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WinTV-PVR-150/250/350/500. In this mode, because the video encoding is
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being done by a dedicated video processor, the host CPU requirements are
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quite low. See the <ref id="video_capture_device" name="Video Capture
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Device"> section for details.
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The price differential between a frame grabber and a card that implements
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hardware MPEG-2 encoding, such as the Hauppauge PVR-x50 series, is now less
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than $30 US. Primary development in MythTV has transitioned to supporting
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MPEG-2 capture devices and HDTV, so if given the option, go with the
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hardware MPEG-2 encoder.
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If you have a Via M10000 series or a Hauppauge PVR-350, MythTV can use the
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hardware-based video decoder for playback, which further reduces CPU
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video encoder, in which case MythTV will primarily be I/O bound. There are
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several examples of such devices, like the Hauppauge
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WinTV-PVR-150/250/350/500 series, the Hauppauge HD-PVR, or the Silicon Dust
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HDHomerun. In this mode, because the video encoding is being done by a
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dedicated video processor (the Hauppauges), or the device is simply writing
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the data to disk (the HDHR and other digital devices, such as DVB cards) the
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host CPU requirements are quite low. See the <ref id="video_capture_device"
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name="Video Capture Device"> section for details.
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Primary development in MythTV has transitioned to supporting MPEG-2 capture
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devices and HDTV, so if given the option, go with the hardware MPEG-2
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encoder or ATSC. Because of the transition to digital broadcast in
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the United States, most television stations are now digital-only. There are
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still analog stations in the U.S., but a majority are low-powered. Canada
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still has analog broadcasts.
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Analog encoding or hardware MPEG-2 encoding may still be required if you are
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trying to capture standard definition video sources, such as set-top-boxes.
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<p>A MythTV host that is both a backend and a frontend and using software
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encoding with a single capture card should run adequately in 256MB of RAM.
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Additional RAM above 256MB will not necessarily increase performance, but
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encoding with a single capture card should run adequately in 512MB of RAM.
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Additional RAM above 512MB will not necessarily increase performance, but
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may be useful if you are running multiple encoders.
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<sect2>Hard Disk(s)
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and ReiserFS (versions 3 and 4).
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Because MythTV creates very large files, a filesystem that does well at
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deleting large files is important. Numerous benchmarks show that XFS and
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JFS do very well at this task. You are <em>strongly</em> encouraged to
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consider one of these for your MythTV filesystem. JFS is the absolute best
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at deletion, so you may want to try it if XFS gives you problems. MythTV
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.21 incorporates a "slow delete" feature, which progressively shrinks
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the file rather than attempting to delete it all at once, so if you're more
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deleting them is important. Numerous benchmarks show that XFS and JFS do
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very well at this task. You are <em>strongly</em> encouraged to consider
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one of these for your MythTV filesystem. JFS is the absolute best at
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deletion, so you may want to try it if XFS gives you problems. MythTV
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incorporates a "slow delete" feature, which progressively shrinks the file
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rather than attempting to delete it all at once, so if you're more
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comfortable with a filesystem such as ext3 (whose delete performance for
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large files isn't that good) you may use it rather than one of the
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known-good high-performance file systems. There are other ramifications to
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</verb></tscreen>
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You want to see the <tt>bttv</tt> module listed.
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<sect3>Hardware MPEG-2 encoders.
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<p>While inexpensive video-capture cards simply capture raw frames, leaving
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encoding to software, some higher-end cards incorporate hardware-based
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encoding. Using either a G200 MJPEG encoder card, or a MPEG-2 encoder card
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encoding. Using either a G200 MJPEG encoder card, or a MPEG-2 encoder card
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supported by the IvyTV project <url url="http://ivtvdriver.org/"
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name="http://ivtvdriver.org"> such as the Hauppauge
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PVR-150/250/350/500, Avermedia M179, Hauppauge "Freestyle" or Yuan M600
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cards will allow you to use dedicated hardware encoders rather than your
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CPU. (The PVR-350 can simultaneously be used as an output device.) Using the
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on-board MPEG-2 encoder greatly reduces the CPU requirements for
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name="http://ivtvdriver.org"> such as the Hauppauge PVR-150/250/350/500,
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Avermedia M179, Hauppauge "Freestyle" or Yuan M600 cards will allow you to
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use dedicated hardware encoders rather than your CPU. Using the on-board
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MPEG-2 encoder greatly reduces the CPU requirements for encoding.
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<bf>NOTE</bf>: Motherboards with the Via chipset are notoriously bad with
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DMA and have caused numerous issues with ivtv, including hard locks. See
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<p>There are a number of HDTV cards with Linux drivers which are known to
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operate in the United States; a complete list of cards with DVB drivers can
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be found at <url url="http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_devices"
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name="http://www.linuxtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATSC_devices"> Some cards support
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be found at <url url="http://www.linuxtv.org/"
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name="http://www.linuxtv.org/"> Some cards support
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capture of unencrypted digital cable TV (utilizing QAM256), others will only
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work with Over The Air signals captured with an antenna (with 8VSB).
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Cards that have been reported to work include:
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<item>pcHDTV HD-2000, Air2PC PCI rev 1-3 (8VSB only)
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<item>SiliconDust HDHomeRun (8VSB, QAM256)
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<item>pcHDTV HD-3000/5500 (8VSB, QAM256)
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<item>Air2PC HD-5000 (8VSB, QAM256)
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<item>DViCO Fusion HDTV Lite/Gold 5 (8VSB, QAM256)
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<bf>NOTE</bf>: There are no known consumer-level capture devices which will
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allow you to capture the HDTV output (DVI, HDMI, VGA, YPbPr / Component)
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from a set-top box commonly found with digital cable systems or satellite
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systems. <em>None</em> of the capture devices listed above
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<em>None</em> of the capture devices listed above
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perform any encoding; they merely allow your computer to save a copy of a
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HDTV stream which has already been converted to MPEG-2 at the broadcast
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ATSC mode. The HDHomeRun should be configured as two HDHomeRun cards, one
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To playback HDTV content, plan on a powerful CPU. "How powerful?" depends
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on a number of factors, such as the capture resolution, whether the video is
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progressive or interlaced, and whether your display card has hardware-assist
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<sect3>Hauppauge HD PVR
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<p>Hauppuage makes a device called the HD PVR, which accepts component HDTV
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signals and performs a real-time encode into H.264. See <url
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url="http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html"
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name="http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr.html"> for
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additional information.
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<sect2>Playback of HDTV
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To playback HDTV content, plan on a powerful CPU if your video card does not
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provide support for offloading video decode. (See below for a description of VDPAU)
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"How powerful?" depends on a number of factors, such as the capture
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resolution, whether the video is progressive or interlaced, and whether your
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display card has hardware-assist support for Linux.
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The Simple Answer: Once you are in the 3.2 Ghz P4-class of CPU you should have
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no issues with viewing HDTV.
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