Help me decide strategy for myTV?

IronStove · 2005-12-07, 13:41

I have been playing around with MP for a few days now and I like it a lot. Now I want to start using MyTV, so I need a TV-card. My environment is this:

Current TV environment:
Digital Terrestrial TV.
Nokia tv-reciever whith only two out's: Scart and RF-out.
Boxer(Viaccess2) smartcard
CRT 16:9 32' TV with S-Video in/SCART

Computer:
AMD Athlon64 3200
Palit Radeon X300 (DirectX9) with S-video out
Gigabyte K8NF Mobo with S/PDIF out to DD/DTS Reciever

My investigations have led me to conclusion that there are a few alternatives to take into mind when deciding(In no specific order):

* Analogue TV-card connected to the STB's RF-out and have the TV-card(or Media Portal) control the STB.
Pros: I get all channels including (pay-channels), cheap
Cons: Lower image quality, I cannot whatch one channel while recording another.
Probably not a good alternative since I want to be able to record and watch simultanously.

* DVB-T TV-card(without CI) connected directly to RF-antenna after split so the other one goes into STB.
Pros: I get perfect quality recording. I can record with MP and watch another channel via the STB.
Cons: I only get Free To Air channels into MP
Pretty good choice since most of the programs im likely to record are on Free channels.

*DVB-T TV-card with CI connected directly to RF-antenna after split so the other one goes into STB.
Pros: Same as above plus I get ALL channels including pay-channels.
Cons: Expensive and I would have to move the smart card from STB to CAM to be able to watch/record paychannels with MP. Could be fixed with a cardsplitter:http://www.smartwi.net/, even more expensive...

I am leaning towards one of the DVB-T alternatives. Given the stats of my computer do you think i really need a card with hardware-encryption or would it work to let the CPU do the work with software? The difference in price is pretty steep.

Also the differences in price is not so big between DVB-T CI and without CI so maybe its worth the money.

Thankful for some feedback on my thoughts

Best regards

sciutand · 2005-12-07, 14:27

Ironstove,

What do you mean by Hardware-encryption?
Your spec are good to go for anything to be honest. The decryption of PayTV channels doesn't need a lot of power, decoding of MPEG files/streams are easily handled by today's codecs an CPU, so definetly don't worry about that.

AS

IronStove · 2005-12-07, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by sciutand

Ironstove,

What do you mean by Hardware-encryption?
Your spec are good to go for anything to be honest. The decryption of PayTV channels doesn't need a lot of power, decoding of MPEG files/streams are easily handled by today's codecs an CPU, so definetly don't worry about that.

AS

Sorry wrong use of words here.... I mean the process of encoding programs to file which can be done by the TV-card if it has hardware support, otherwise the encoding will be handled by software and increase the load on the CPU.

kamrat · 2005-12-07, 15:48

If you are going to use a DVB-T card encoding is not necessary. The datastream is already in MPEG2. Only analog cards have MPEG2 coders. If you are going to use an analog card I recomend one with an MPEG2-chip. They are not expensive and the MediaPortal support is much better for these cards.
I also live in Sweden and have chosen alternative 2 on your list. A Hauppague DVB-T card without CI. Excellent picture quality on the free channels and anamorphic 16:9 AND 5.1 AC3-audio on SVT1 and SVT2. Almost like watching a DVD!

2005-12-07, 13:41	#1 (permalink)
IronStove Portal Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Help me decide strategy for myTV? I have been playing around with MP for a few days now and I like it a lot. Now I want to start using MyTV, so I need a TV-card. My environment is this: Current TV environment: Digital Terrestrial TV. Nokia tv-reciever whith only two out's: Scart and RF-out. Boxer(Viaccess2) smartcard CRT 16:9 32' TV with S-Video in/SCART Computer: AMD Athlon64 3200 Palit Radeon X300 (DirectX9) with S-video out Gigabyte K8NF Mobo with S/PDIF out to DD/DTS Reciever My investigations have led me to conclusion that there are a few alternatives to take into mind when deciding(In no specific order): * Analogue TV-card connected to the STB's RF-out and have the TV-card(or Media Portal) control the STB. Pros: I get all channels including (pay-channels), cheap Cons: Lower image quality, I cannot whatch one channel while recording another. Probably not a good alternative since I want to be able to record and watch simultanously. * DVB-T TV-card(without CI) connected directly to RF-antenna after split so the other one goes into STB. Pros: I get perfect quality recording. I can record with MP and watch another channel via the STB. Cons: I only get Free To Air channels into MP Pretty good choice since most of the programs im likely to record are on Free channels. *DVB-T TV-card with CI connected directly to RF-antenna after split so the other one goes into STB. Pros: Same as above plus I get ALL channels including pay-channels. Cons: Expensive and I would have to move the smart card from STB to CAM to be able to watch/record paychannels with MP. Could be fixed with a cardsplitter:http://www.smartwi.net/, even more expensive... I am leaning towards one of the DVB-T alternatives. Given the stats of my computer do you think i really need a card with hardware-encryption or would it work to let the CPU do the work with software? The difference in price is pretty steep. Also the differences in price is not so big between DVB-T CI and without CI so maybe its worth the money. Thankful for some feedback on my thoughts Best regards

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2005-12-07, 14:27	#2 (permalink)
sciutand Portal Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 36 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ironstove, What do you mean by Hardware-encryption? Your spec are good to go for anything to be honest. The decryption of PayTV channels doesn't need a lot of power, decoding of MPEG files/streams are easily handled by today's codecs an CPU, so definetly don't worry about that. AS

2005-12-07, 15:48	#4 (permalink)
kamrat Portal Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Stockholm, Sweden Posts: 147 Thanks: 5 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	If you are going to use a DVB-T card encoding is not necessary. The datastream is already in MPEG2. Only analog cards have MPEG2 coders. If you are going to use an analog card I recomend one with an MPEG2-chip. They are not expensive and the MediaPortal support is much better for these cards. I also live in Sweden and have chosen alternative 2 on your list. A Hauppague DVB-T card without CI. Excellent picture quality on the free channels and anamorphic 16:9 AND 5.1 AC3-audio on SVT1 and SVT2. Almost like watching a DVD!