[ale] MythTV/similar hardware recommendations

[Alex Carver]

On 2016-03-30 07:33, Derek Atkins wrote:
> Alex Carver <agcarver+ale at acarver.net> writes:
> 
>> On 2016-03-29 18:47, DJ-Pfulio wrote:
>>> Media sources?  ATSC?  CableCARD?  Something else?  For ATSC, get
>>> SiliconDust HDHR network tuners.  If cableCARD, I didn't think Myth
>>> supports the premium channels without going through an analog hole.
>>> Though that only Microsoft Media Center worked with that DRM.
>>
>> Satellite TV using their box (so S-Video or composite out, I don't
>> subscribe to HD programming).  No ATSC.
> 
> Is this SD or HD?  Either way you'll need a capture card.  It's unlikely
> an rPi will suffice for this unless you find a USB-based capture card
> with onboard MPEG encoder.  For HD you might consider a Hauppauge HD-PVR
> device.

It's just SD.  I don't bother with HD because none of the programs I
watch benefit from HD so it saves me an extra $25/month to not have it.
 I wasn't planning an RPi for the main system, I was asking about the
RPi as a client-only device for later.  this is a request for hardware
suggestions for the primary box.  I suppose the HD-PVR could work but it
appears I'd need to add a computer so that the box was remotely
accessible for downloading and saving the video.  It seems Myth works
with it sort of (model 1 works, model 2 does not).

> 
> More likely you will probably need to build a box.  You can certainly do
> that, and make it silent, but it'll still be around the size of a 2U-4U
> depending on how big a case you get.  You can get silent fans and an
> external DC power supply to reduce heat and sound output.

That was the idea, to build a box. :)  It was mainly advice on the
hardware for the first (and, for a while, only) box of the system.  The
silence requirement simply comes from the fact that this box can't be
stuck away in a closet if the capture device is inside the box because
the satellite receiver can't go with it.  The satellite receiver and TV
have to stay together so the recording box has to be there, too.


> I just record ATSC over-the-air using a pair of HD-HomeRun boxes.  I've
> got 2 backends.  My master backend runs on an intel platform and
> contains the mysql database.  My slave backend is an an ARM (Wandboard)
> with a 2TB HDD and stores my video.  It's just doing I/O, so it's fine.

A HomeRun would be nice if it would record from S-Video or Composite but
it seems they only use ATSC which I'm not using.    But apparently it
doesn't so that's out.

> 
> My frontends are all nVidia-based solutions, I've got a few Zotac boxes
> and one Via.  They all use the nvidia hardware for video decoding and
> playback, and use HDMI to my TV.  They are generally quiet boxes, but
> these days I'd probably swap out the spinning disks for an SSD to make
> it even more quiet.

This is where my RPi question came up, solely as a front-end for extra
TVs.  But the very first box to be built will be a combined
front/backend unless the RPi works as a front-end and then I could
separate the functions.