Myth(HD)TV, part 3

Geek said:

One of the most difficult choices in building a MythTV box is choosing an appropriate tuner. Granted there are functions of MythTV that don't require a tuner, but it's hard to be a DVR without one.

There are a lot of options in TV tuners and selecting one that works with Linux/MythTV can be a challenge, especially when you consider all the recording sources. One thing is certain, the Hauppauge brand is popular and is generally supported. I have used the PVR-500 NTSC cards for a long time without any problem. The built-in MPEG2 encoder comes in handy when recording analog sources because it offloads the digital conversion from the processor.

If I were to recommend a tuner right now to somebody I would go with the Hauppauge HVR-2250 and here's why.

• Supported in Linux/MythTV and Windows Media Center if you give up on MythTV
  
• Dual ATSC/ClearQAM/NTSC tuners
• MPEG2 Encoder Chips for NTSC/Analog capture

This particular card should setup easily in Mythbuntu (probably the easiest method to build a Mythbox) and allow for recording two shows (either analog or digital) simultaneously without much CPU usage. This card also has analog inputs for connections from set top boxes for satellite subscribers.

Personally I went with the HDHomeRun from Silicon dust for my digital recording because of the fantastic reviews, but mostly because of the compatibility. All the DVR packages I've looked at are compatible with it from MythTV (Linux and Mac), Windows Media Center, and EyeTV (Mac). That will allow me to evaluate every one of them without disrupting my production Mythbox. Another reason I picked the HDHomeRun was that I already had 3 PVR-500 cards which have 6 analog tuners between them so my ClearQAM tuner didn't need to be a hybrid.

The last thing I can say and probably the most important regarding tuners. Avoid the ATI All-In-Wonder card like the black plague. That particular card looks like the holy grail but will give you nothing but heart ache. It just doesn't work.

Geek out...

Windows 7 Media Center, part 1

Geek Said:

My HTPC has had many faces, most of which are Linux/MythTV as I have discussed in other posts, but seeing as how I'm never satisfied with the technology I'm using I always spend some time playing with other options.

Despite what you might believe, I do not hate Windows, at least not ALL Windows. First there is XP, I really like XP. Vista I do despise to no end, but I am still on the fence with Windows 7, it's just too young to be overly critical of it. Win7 definitely surpasses the nightmare that is Vista, but I still prefer XP. Where this leads me is to giving Windows Media Center a go....but on Windows 7 since it is built-in to Home Premium edition and not a completely different version of the OS (modified Pro as it was with XP). I do have some experience with Vista Media Center and I admit it was simple to setup, even with controlling a set-t0p-box with an IR blaster, but can you say resource hog? OMG.

I recently updated the kids computer from XP Pro to Windows 7 Home Premium. For those of you that consider yourselves Geeks, notice that I said "updated" and not "upgraded"... Anyway since I have the HDHomeRun on the network I decided it would be easy to try out WMC.

Thanks to SiliconDust and their fantastic instructions setup was a breeze. No thanks to Microsoft and their lack of information regarding ClearQAM. WMC fails to find any ClearQAM channels....or does it? Wait a minute, they are all there, just inactive. Say what? Yeah, Windows Media Center finds all the channels that he HDHR can tune in but since the listings source doesn't match up to the channels it disables them and tells you that it didn't find any. That's real intuitive...

Like I said, Thank You, SiliconDust because if it weren't for your directions I would have had no idea where to edit the channel information to enable the ClearQAM channels and assign a listing source to the channel. Once I manually enabled the channel and assigned listings I finally got to watch live TV with WMC. It didn't take long, but are you kidding me? I can see why people aren't gung-ho on building/using HTPCs. I have an internal NTSC/ATSC hybrid card that I had tried previously under Windows 7 and experienced the exact same issue, the difference being that manufacturer had no help what-so-ever to tell me how to enable the hidden channels and I never got it functioning...but that might because I didn't care to invest any time in it either.

I didn't play with it long but I did watch some golf and I have to say the WMC user interface is really intuitive and although it may require a geek-like attitude to set it up to work the use and function is definitely easy enough for everybody.

There is one primary reason I would never consider running Windows Media Center as my HTPC application. WMC embeds DRM into the recordings and limits what you can do with the resulting file. MythTV on the other hand has a bare mpeg2 file (or Nuppel video in some cases) that can be edited or transcoded and moved to any platform your heart desires.

Geek out...

Boxee Beta, part 1

Geek Said:

A while back I started playing with the XBMC derivative called Boxee. I joined the early access beta group and when they jumped from Alpha to Beta I took the plunge and was very pleased. The Alpha was just XBMC in sheep's clothing in my opinion, not much different. The Beta on the other hand shed some skin and introduced a whole new experience. Boxee is on a mission to create one fantastic media center UI.

The primary reason that Boxee caught my eye was it's cross platform nature which had carried over from XBMC. Having the same UI on Mac, Windows, Linux is very important to me and the functionality of an HTPC environment throughout the home. Teaching my family to use multiple systems is definitely not the answer... I keep my family operating system agnostic, they are exposed to Mac, Windows and Linux in hopes that they learn how to complete a task with the tools that are available and not just specific tools. FYI: Microsoft Word is not the only word processor in the world... surprised?

The first thing to remember about Boxee is that it is not a DVR/PVR and has no intentions of becoming one. This is much different than MythTV, Windows Media Center, and EyeTV which is the primary function of all three of those systems. Boxee's purpose is to provide a simple UI to access multiple media sources from local media files to Internet based streaming services like Hulu and major TV network sites. The Beta goes a long ways toward simplifying access to those various streaming providers. It's not perfect but there is hope one day it will be seamless.

The second thing to remember is that it is still in Beta which means there are significant bugs, the advantage is that Boxee is under constant development and new versions are available on a fairly regular basis. Although that can also be a disadvantage because something that was broken may now be fixed and vice versa. I hate the vice versa but it happens.

I have to add, even though Boxee doesn't have DVR functionality that doesn't mean you cannot connect to your DVR media. As a MythTV user I used a couple of scripts that create symlinks (shortcuts) to the mythtv files with names that Boxee can correctly interpret for cataloging the recordings.

This has uncovered two issues with my current environment. My main MythTV backend also serves as a frontend in my family room. Running Boxee, it is incapable of HDTV MPEG2 playback (the MythTV ClearQAM recording format), however those files playback fine in MythFrontend. Most likely that's an issue with VDPAU support within Boxee...I'm sure that will get resolved at some point, but it doesn't work now. The second problem is that my wireless network is definitely not fast enough to stream HD content which is very disappointing to me because I cannot watch recordings in my bedroom where "She said" and I watch the most TV.

At this point I am not sure what part 2 will bring but it will be coming soon.

Geek out...

Myth(HD)TV, part 2.

Geek said:

In part 2 of my Myth(HD)TV series I want to discuss an overview of the hardware and software that goes into building a MythTV based HTPC.

When I first started with MythTV it was in version .15 if my memory serves and it was a #$#!@$@ (for Beetle Bailey Fans) to setup and configure and required nothing short of "uber geek" status to accomplish. The project has matured significantly since then and thanks to the community there are modified Linux Distros dedicated to the project. Mythbuntu for instance makes configuring and setting up MythTV on a new system (or a virtual machine) and absolute cake walk.

When it comes to hardware for a new project I am definitely not one to run out and buy a bunch of new stuff. I scrounge up whatever I can find and build a frankenputer which usually gets referred to as "Sandbox" because in essence that is exactly what the computer is, my big boy sandbox. Once my proof-of-concept is operational then I look into buying new hardware to make it come alive.

Hardware requirements vary greatly based on the wants/needs of the user. My HTPC runs 24/7/365 so I do my best to keep the power consumption down while still having enough horsepower to do things such as transcoding video. If you have no desire to transcode video then an ultra low power CPU like the Intel Atom on an ION platform is perfect. My needs are a little hungrier than that. I use the MythWeb interface to stream back recorded shows online. If you've heard a Slingbox, I have enough of that functionality in MythWeb. It's not as easy to get to and use away from my home network, but it is possible.

The ability to stream video through MythWeb requires the HTPC to transcode the file to a reduced quality that is small enough to transfer over the Internet. That process requires a significant amount of resources and a more powerful CPU.

My current system consists of the following:

CPU: AMD64 X2 5050e (65Watt, 2.6GHz, Dual-Core, 64bit)

RAM: 4GB DDR2-800

HDD: 1x 500GB (System), 1x 1.5TB (User Files), 1x 750GB (MythTV Recordings) all are SATA II

For an operating system I run Ubuntu 64bit, but I've added on the Mythbuntu packages for ease of configuration. My suggestion for a dedicated Mythbox is to use Mythbuntu and if you want to use Boxee or Hulu, stick with 32bit unless you want to hate yourself and start over. Boxee doesn't have an official 64bit version and making the 32bit version work is a headache you don't want. Hulu on the other hand relies on Flash which is also a bit of a nightmare when it comes to 64bit Ubuntu. One thing that is really missing in my HTPC is the ability to stream Netflix, however I solved the problem by purchasing a blu-ray player with built-in support for Netflix streaming. Before that purchase I was considering a move to a Mac or even (God forbid) Windows based HTPC just for Netflix functionality.

TV tuners is where it gets really interesting because you need to know what source you are going to record from. There are so many possibilities.

1. OTA (over-the-air) broadcasts using an Antenna with an ATSC tuner.
2. Analog Cable broadcasts using an NTSC tuner.
3. Unencrypted Digital Cable broadcasts using a ClearQAM tuner.
4. Digital Encrypted Cable broadcasts using analog outputs of a STB (set-top box)
5. Digital Encrypted Cable broadcasts using a firewire enabled STB
6. Digital Encrypted Satellite broadcasts using analog outputs of a STB

Personally, I'm doing 2 and 3. I record analog cable and digital unencrypted cable which as far as I'm concerned are two of the three easiest setups. OTA for someone close enough to pick up the broadcasts with an antenna would be just as easy.

Anytime you involve a STB it will complicate matters and what's the point of recording an analog version of a digital broadcast? To be honest you'd be better off using the satellite service DVR. That's not to say that MythTV and an HTPC wouldn't be useful to you because it is way more than just a DVR which I will get into in future posts. Cable STB's can be a little different, the FCC requires that cable companies provide a STB with a functional firewire port upon request allowing the use of a DVR like MythTV to record the digital programming. Getting the cable company to enable the port on your STB will probably be a bit of a challenge, most are completely unaware of the FCC's requirement.

There are NTSC, ATSC, ATSC/ClearQAM and hybrid NTSC/ATSC/ClearQAM tuners, with single and multiple tuners in various configurations, but if you're using a set top box you want one with S-Video inputs as well. In part three of Myth(HD)TV I will go in depth on my TV tuner selection and why I chose the ones that I did.

Geek out...

She Said:

...she didn't say, but hopefully some day she'll chime back in. Farmville seems to be more important.

Myth(HD)TV, part 1.

Geek said:

Several years ago, around the year 2001 a former coworker of mine was trying out a piece of software and was experiencing some difficulty, he called me and challenged me to figure it out. My life would never be the same. This started my long and storied history with MythTV a Linux based DVR/Media Center application. I can't begin to tell you the number of hours I have put in making it work; accidentally breaking it and fixing it; replacing and upgrading hardware.

In the beginning I begged, borrowed and adopted old, used and unwanted hardware to create my Frankenstein Mythbox. It wasn't pretty but it got the job done. I managed to squeeze everything I could out of the hardware and was able to record two shows simultaneously which was a feat because it required the CPU to encode the analog video to digital on the fly. The quality was cranked down so low it looked worse than a VCR recording, but have you ever seen a VCR record two shows at once? A far cry from what my current system is capable of: 4 digital (HD) and 4 analog simultaneous recordings on a single mythbackend.

This post is the start of a series of HTPC posts centered around MythTV. However because I am a geek (and often times a glutton for punishment) I plan to play with Windows Media Center on Windows 7 as well as EyeTV on the Mac and will share my findings.

Geek out,

Sherm

She said:

A *free DVR (TiVo)? When Kelly first starting playing with the Myth TV (not meth, I've had to clarify that a few times), I didn't understand the benefit. This was when TiVo was either non-existent or just unheard of to most people. Essentially, what Kelly was doing, was using the computer to record tv shows, for later playback.

What made it different from a VCR (closest comparison at that time)? Well, we could record multiple shows at the same time on different channels, while watching live tv. The bigger benefit though was that you set the schedule once, through the web application. So, I named a show I like to watch but never get to see. Kelly would locate it in the schedule through the Myth web interface and click 'record'. No setting times and channels, no tapes to mess with, and it recorded that show every time it came on.

Now, it wasn't always roses. The 'Frankenstein' Kelly mentioned - he was using the old, crappy computer parts that weren't cutting it in other machines. This resulted in a lot of system failures and rebuilding work. Imagine building your house on sand, and you'll understand the difficulty this created.

As the Myth software became more sophisticated, we decided it was worth the investment of better hardware. Over the years, Myth has become an expectation in our home.

Of course - if you know anything about Kelly, you know that he's not satisfied with things working and running smoothly. He's continued to push the envelope with Myth. He set up a commercial skip method, where the system would id the commercial breaks and automatically skip them. This wasn't always perfect, there were times when we would miss some of the show as well. He has worked it to a science now and I haven't watched a commercial (outside of the Super Bowl) in two years.

Where does that bring us now? This year Kelly has been dabbling with other tv offerings, including Boxee and Hulu. For the past several months, we haven't watched tv from a tv - all from the computer to a wide screen computer monitor mounted in our bedroom. We use the apple remote (or iPod Touch) to select the show we want to watch and click play. This set up brings with it all the expected features of a dvr (Digital Video Recorder), with pausing, replaying, etc.

Kelly is now working on building our home theater PC set up (HTPC), and leveraging our dvr recordings as well as web based media such as Netflix streaming, Boxee and Hulu. The newest set up allows us to record up to 4 shows at once, in HD quality. I personally think this goal came from my challenge - "Why do we need a HD TV when everything we watch comes from Myth - which is all compressed video quality**?" Now the video quality is clear enough to project onto our 9' movie screen in the basement, with no pixalation.

To me - the absolute best part of this is the freedom to live our busy life, and watch the TV shows we actually enjoy, on our schedule. As a result, we, and our children, watch a lot less TV (and no commercials, not even to skip through them).

Stay tuned as Kelly continues to change and build this system as I point out opportunities for improvement.

*Free - we don't pay for any services,software or subscriptions, only the hardware of the machine. Plus, the time to tinker. (Geed Edit: We do pay about $20 a year for the TV listings and then there is that pesky monthly cable fee...)

**think of the fuzzy picture from trying to make a small picture into a poster

Wendi (Wifey)