Video Server

[Robert La Ferla]

Peter Kahle wrote:
> I'm curious what problems you're having with the HD-3000? I've got one 
> running with MythTV, and other than bad wiring in my house that makes 
> for spotty signal, it's working great for SD digital content on the 10 
> or so channels I've found in the clear on RCN's cable feed. I'm using 
> kernel 2.6.14, and the DVB drivers that are built in. I've also got a 
> PVR-350 for non-digital content, and it works fine. But once I get my 
> wiring problems worked out, the HD-3000 is definitely going to be my 
> preferred card, as the picture quality is substantially better on my 
> TV. Admittedly, I haven't tried the analog receiver on the HD-3000, 
> but everything I've seen says it's not worth the effort, and my 
> backend is already pretty taxed as it is. Either a digital card or a 
> hardware encoder are the way to go unless you've got a lot of 
> horsepower sitting idle.
>
> P
>
> PS: Yes, the HD-3000 has worked fine for the HD QAM channels I've 
> found, but I have no choice but to go wireless from the backend to 
> frontend, so I'm limited to SD content. And even that went flaky one 
> time when my wife was browsing the net while I was trying to watch. 
> Here's to hoping there's an 802.11n standard soon, and OpenWRT 
> supports it.
My problems with the pcHDTV HD-3000 card are when viewing Comcast analog 
cable tv.  Like I said, I have to run an audio patch cable and digitize 
the audio.  It looks GREAT though using tvtime.  I just can't record 
anything with MythTV.  You mentioned that you are using RCN digital 
cable.  Do you know if I could use Comcast digital cable w/MythTV?  Last 
time I checked, it didn't but it may have changed.  However, I had 
Comcast digital cable and HDTV for a few months a year and half ago.  
The quality was terrible.  It was much worse than analog cable 
(pixelation, drop outs, slow channel changing) and to make things worse 
Comcast put banner ads on each channel.  The HDTV selection consisted of 
4-5 channels with repetitive content that wasn't always HDTV.  And that 
content had similar pixelation and drop out problems.  I didn't think it 
was worth an addition $20-$30/month to alpha test their junk.  I am also 
interested in any success stories with Dish Network and MythTV.