Questions: Building a dedicated personal video recorder (PVR)

[Ken Moiarty]

Having recently installed PVR hardware and software in in my desktop
computer, I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR use
takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks. So I've decided to
take my PVR hardware and software and install it in a whole separate system,
which will then be dedicated to this one purpose. While I'm at it though, I
want to make sure that I begin on the right foot, selecting a motherboard,
CPU configuration (not just in terms of MHz, but also if/whether to go with
multi-CPU, or settle for multi-core/single core, etc..etc...), and a RAID
controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
growth (with some redundancy, for backup). I do not need a speed demon as
this won't be for gaming. But I will want to eventually pack it with at
least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),
so it will have to be just fast enough (using "Beyond TV" software) to
simultaneously write to disk up to six [hardware encoded] recordings while
engaging the CPU effortlessly in software-decoding duty for concurrent
playback/viewing. [For the sake of illustration, see Snapstream Media's
Medusa PVR kit at http://store.snapstream.com/3xpvr500.html ]


Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, recommendations, experiences or
other helpful feedback related to this,

Ken

 

[Dave]

Having recently installed PVR hardware and software in in my desktop
computer, I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR use
takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks. So I've decided to
take my PVR hardware and software and install it in a whole separate
system,
which will then be dedicated to this one purpose. While I'm at it though,
I
want to make sure that I begin on the right foot, selecting a motherboard,
CPU configuration (not just in terms of MHz, but also if/whether to go
with
multi-CPU, or settle for multi-core/single core, etc..etc...), and a RAID
controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
growth (with some redundancy, for backup). I do not need a speed demon as
this won't be for gaming. But I will want to eventually pack it with at
least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),
so it will have to be just fast enough (using "Beyond TV" software) to
simultaneously write to disk up to six [hardware encoded] recordings while
engaging the CPU effortlessly in software-decoding duty for concurrent
playback/viewing. [For the sake of illustration, see Snapstream Media's
Medusa PVR kit at http://store.snapstream.com/3xpvr500.html ]


Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, recommendations, experiences or
other helpful feedback related to this,

Ken

If you don't -already- own the motherboard, CPU and a few huge hard drives
(at the very minimum), I think your money could be spent better on a
pre-built dedicated box such as the Pioneer DVR633HS. No, it would not be
able to record six programs at the same time. BUT, for what you are looking
at spending in terms of hardware, you could probably buy 3 - 6 dedicated DVR
boxes. The cost of the Medusa kit alone is more expensive than some
hard-drive equipped DVD recorders.

Plus, even assuming that you are willing to fork out thousands in hardware
just to say that you built it yourself, you've got to consider the power
requirements for that beast. You will want something beefier than a typical
~500W power supply. You'd probably need dual power supplies (and a
expensive case to mount them in), or something much greater than 600W, which
will cost hundreds of dollars all by itself. You are looking at a
multi-CPU, multi-tuner, multi-disks spinning at once monster.

But let's assume for a moment that your typical ~500W power supply could
handle it (somewhat unlikely, but I'm just saying we'll assume that for a
moment). Are you going to leave that beast running 24/7??? Each dedicated
DVR box (prebuilt) will use about ~50W, and that's only when it's powered on
and recording. So at WORST, if you had 6 hard-disk equipped DVD recorders,
their maximum power draw (when all 6 are simultaneously on and recording)
would roughly equal the system you plan to build, when the system you are
planning IS IDLE. Yikes.

Plus, don't forget the noise factor. Many hard-disk equipped DVD recorders
are silent, even when recording. If you build a computer for DVR use, it
will need to be liquid cooled, or placed in a room that is not used, and the
door to that room will need to be kept closed. Otherwise, the noise will
drive you bananas.

Your money, of course. -Dave

 

[Bob]

But I will want to eventually pack it with at
least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),

What make and model? Why so many tuners?

How much CPU power is used by these cards?

I have a Celeron-D CPU which is plenty fast for routine Internet use.
It is a helluva lot cheaper than its P4 counterpart. My son's P4 isn't
any faster except for games.

I would add a NIC and connect this unit to your LAN so you can archive
on another machine with removable drive bays. Hard disks are cheap
enough to be the archive media of choice.

Let us know how it all works out. I expect the major makers of DVDRs
to offer something like this, maybe as soon as the next Christmas
season: Multiple tuners, hard disk, DVD and network.

 

[Trevor]

Having recently installed PVR hardware and software in in my desktop
computer, I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR use
takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks. So I've decided to
take my PVR hardware and software and install it in a whole separate
system,
which will then be dedicated to this one purpose. While I'm at it though,
I
want to make sure that I begin on the right foot, selecting a motherboard,
CPU configuration (not just in terms of MHz, but also if/whether to go
with
multi-CPU, or settle for multi-core/single core, etc..etc...), and a RAID
controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
growth (with some redundancy, for backup). I do not need a speed demon as
this won't be for gaming. But I will want to eventually pack it with at
least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),
so it will have to be just fast enough (using "Beyond TV" software) to
simultaneously write to disk up to six [hardware encoded] recordings while
engaging the CPU effortlessly in software-decoding duty for concurrent
playback/viewing. [For the sake of illustration, see Snapstream Media's
Medusa PVR kit at http://store.snapstream.com/3xpvr500.html ]


Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, recommendations, experiences or
other helpful feedback related to this,

Ken

If you don't -already- own the motherboard, CPU and a few huge hard drives
(at the very minimum), I think your money could be spent better on a
pre-built dedicated box such as the Pioneer DVR633HS. No, it would not be
able to record six programs at the same time. BUT, for what you are looking
at spending in terms of hardware, you could probably buy 3 - 6 dedicated DVR
boxes. The cost of the Medusa kit alone is more expensive than some
hard-drive equipped DVD recorders.

Plus, even assuming that you are willing to fork out thousands in hardware
just to say that you built it yourself, you've got to consider the power
requirements for that beast. You will want something beefier than a typical
~500W power supply. You'd probably need dual power supplies (and a
expensive case to mount them in), or something much greater than 600W, which
will cost hundreds of dollars all by itself. You are looking at a
multi-CPU, multi-tuner, multi-disks spinning at once monster.

But let's assume for a moment that your typical ~500W power supply could
handle it (somewhat unlikely, but I'm just saying we'll assume that for a
moment). Are you going to leave that beast running 24/7??? Each dedicated
DVR box (prebuilt) will use about ~50W, and that's only when it's powered on
and recording. So at WORST, if you had 6 hard-disk equipped DVD recorders,
their maximum power draw (when all 6 are simultaneously on and recording)
would roughly equal the system you plan to build, when the system you are
planning IS IDLE. Yikes.

Plus, don't forget the noise factor. Many hard-disk equipped DVD recorders
are silent, even when recording. If you build a computer for DVR use, it
will need to be liquid cooled, or placed in a room that is not used, and the
door to that room will need to be kept closed. Otherwise, the noise will
drive you bananas.

Your money, of course. -Dave

Dave, I'm not sure where you're getting this crap about huge power
supplies, or even dual supplies, as well as huge hard drives, but you
might want to look at the BeyondTV Medusa project, a proof of concept
that shows that a standard PC, with a standard P/S, and a single 40 GB
5400 RPM HD was able to keep up with 6 simultaneous recordings.
Details at
<http://www.snapstream.com/community/Articles/medusa/default.asp?a=98>

The only thing you were right about is the cost. The Medusa costs
about $1200 if you're starting from scratch, but that cost is from
02/05, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's well under a grand now.
Still expensive compared to a HDD-based DVR, but then again I've never
seen a 6-tuner DVR, for any price.

 

[Ken Moiarty]

[...] If you don't -already- own the motherboard, CPU and a few huge hard
drives (at the very minimum), I think your money could be spent better on
a pre-built dedicated box such as the Pioneer DVR633HS. No, it would not
be able to record six programs at the same time. BUT, for what you are
looking at spending in terms of hardware, you could probably buy 3 - 6
dedicated DVR boxes. The cost of the Medusa kit alone is more expensive
than some hard-drive equipped DVD recorders.

I appreciate your offering me your feedback. But I can already tell you're
not somebody with much experience on the subject of PVRs (let alone home
built ones). For example, the Pioneer DVR633HS you mention is not a PVR!.
Aside from that it digitally records video to hard disk, it doesn't come
close to offering the functions of a PVR.

Plus, even assuming that you are willing to fork out thousands in hardware
just to say that you built it yourself,

Actually, I'm initially expecting to spend hundreds, not thousands. As I
choose to gradually add storage space over the years, I will be taking
advantage of the continually falling cost-per-gigabyte in hard drives. And
it's not just so I can say that "I built it myself". It's so I can say to
myself, 'got around *Shaw Cable's *DRM obsessed PVR limitations'.

* Shaw Cable - My cable provider (which, I forgot to mention, is in Canada,
where available PVR functionality is far more limited than, for example, in
the U.S.).

* DRM = Digital Rights Management

you've got to consider the power requirements for that beast. You will
want something beefier than a typical ~500W power supply. You'd probably
need dual power supplies (and a expensive case to mount them in), or
something much greater than 600W, which will cost hundreds of dollars all
by itself. You are looking at a multi-CPU, multi-tuner, multi-disks
spinning at once monster.

You call it a monster. Most people I'm familiar with would just as soon
call it a file server.

But let's assume for a moment that your typical ~500W power supply could
handle it (somewhat unlikely, but I'm just saying we'll assume that for a
moment). Are you going to leave that beast running 24/7??? Each
dedicated DVR box (prebuilt) will use about ~50W, and that's only when
it's powered on and recording. So at WORST, if you had 6 hard-disk
equipped DVD recorders, their maximum power draw (when all 6 are
simultaneously on and recording) would roughly equal the system you plan
to build, when the system you are planning IS IDLE. Yikes.

So now you're somehow worried about 'saving the planet'!?

Plus, don't forget the noise factor. Many hard-disk equipped DVD
recorders are silent, even when recording. If you build a computer for
DVR use, it will need to be liquid cooled, or placed in a room that is not
used, and the door to that room will need to be kept closed. Otherwise,
the noise will drive you bananas.

Steady "white noise" from the cooling fans is not something I expect myself
to be bothered by. But even if it were to somehow become an issue, there
are ways and means to reduce unwanted noise. Water cooling is just one
option (though not at all my first choice). Having done some research in
the past surrounding the subject of noise reduction in buildings, I can tell
you there are a wealth of inexpensive noise attenuation techniques and
methodologies that adaptable to this, which your average home PC builder
would not be inclined to think of. However, simply moving the PC to a
separate enclosed-space or room is hardly the onerous prospect you seem to
suggest it would be.

Your money, of course. -Dave

My leisure time, too. : )

Ken

 

[Ken Moiarty]

What make and model?

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500.

Why so many tuners?

Well I don't know that I'll ever really want all that many. I just want to
leave that option as wide open in case I discover in my PVR viewing habits
that something more than two tuners may come in handy for recording "needs"
I may find over time that I frequently come across. For example, in the
short time I've owned my cable provider supplied PVR, which has two tuners
in it, I've come across at least one instance in which I couldn't record a
program because I already had two other programs scheduled to record at that
very same time. And more commonly, there are times when I reach to change
the channel only to be warned that I've got two recordings going on and that
to proceed I'll have to stop one of them. Of course, this hardly justifies
resorting to six tuners, I realize. But the logical step up in number of
tuners from two would be to go to at least four. Leaving open the option
for two tuners above that is, let's say, just extra breathing room.

How much CPU power is used by these cards?

I don't have the specs on that at this time.

I have a Celeron-D CPU which is plenty fast for routine Internet use.
It is a helluva lot cheaper than its P4 counterpart. My son's P4 isn't
any faster except for games.

I wouldn't buy a Celeron CPU if I was paid to. Well, maybe _only if_ I was
paid to. <g> Celeron is just a de-tuned Pentium. In other words, it is
Pentium which is handicapped by an downsized onboard cache. We have
Celerons on our computers at work. While admittedly there may be other
factors involved, I do get tired of waiting for the lightest of programs to
load on those machines.

I would add a NIC and connect this unit to your LAN so you can archive
on another machine with removable drive bays. Hard disks are cheap
enough to be the archive media of choice.

That's why I want a RAID hard disk controller. So I can use multiple hard
disks to record to as though they were one partition. Otherwise the PVR
software will stop at only one disk.

Let us know how it all works out. I expect the major makers of DVDRs
to offer something like this, maybe as soon as the next Christmas
season: Multiple tuners, hard disk, DVD and network.

They may, but they have to contend with members of the original-content
industry who are afraid of allowing consumers such technical control over
what they watch. A big part of this concern has to do with how television
programming is financed: Commercials. PVR's give consumers unprecedented
ease, if not invitation, with which to avoid watching commercials. Making
PVR's that are viewed as "too appealing" and/or "too powerful" meets with a
lot of resistance and pressure from the content providers and such; many of
whom are just a different branch or division of the very companies
responsible for the manufacture of these machines.

Ken

 

[Guest]

* Shaw Cable - My cable provider (which, I forgot to mention, is in
Canada, where available PVR functionality is far more limited than,
for example, in the U.S.).

Are you planning on recording digital TV? Unfortunately I believe BeyondTV
only supports 1 IR blaster of each type, which is a big limitation when it
comes to external cable boxes.

However, there is no limitations on standard analog cable.

 

[Guest]

(e-mail address removed) (Bob) wrote in

What make and model? Why so many tuners?

How much CPU power is used by these cards?

Beyond TV seems to use ~20% - 30% of my CPU per hardware encoder. I have an
Athlon XP 2000+. SageTV on the otherhand uses only 2 - 3%. BeyondTV must be
doing something else besides directly writing the data to disk.

 

[Guest]

That's why I want a RAID hard disk controller. So I can use multiple
hard disks to record to as though they were one partition. Otherwise
the PVR software will stop at only one disk.

If you're looking for a decent RAID controller, take a look at XFX's
Revolution64 Raid 3 controller... or PHY's version of the controller
(they're both based off Netcode's chip/board). It's a 100% hardware based
RAID 3 controller - no need for drivers : )

3 port model is 179.99 from TigerDirect.ca... 5 port version is ~300.00.

 

[Harry Mofo]

Having recently installed PVR hardware and software in in my desktop
computer, I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR use
takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks. So I've decided to
take my PVR hardware and software and install it in a whole separate system,
which will then be dedicated to this one purpose. While I'm at it though, I
want to make sure that I begin on the right foot, selecting a motherboard,
CPU configuration (not just in terms of MHz, but also if/whether to go with
multi-CPU, or settle for multi-core/single core, etc..etc...), and a RAID
controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
growth (with some redundancy, for backup). I do not need a speed demon as
this won't be for gaming. But I will want to eventually pack it with at
least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six tuners),
so it will have to be just fast enough (using "Beyond TV" software) to
simultaneously write to disk up to six [hardware encoded] recordings while
engaging the CPU effortlessly in software-decoding duty for concurrent
playback/viewing. [For the sake of illustration, see Snapstream Media's
Medusa PVR kit at http://store.snapstream.com/3xpvr500.html ]

I have a P3-450 with 256MB RAM running GNU/Linux with MythTV
(http://www.mythtv.org/) and one each Hauppauge 250 and 350.

It can record two shows while watching one of them or a third recording.
All encoding/decoding is done in hardware and I've never seen the CPU
utilization top 15%, nor are there any stutters due to HD activity even
though I'm using a single drive connected via an ATA66 (I think)
interface.

If you do all encoding/decoding in hardware the CPU shouldn't matter
much, even with 6 tuners, although that might depend on the
OS/drivers/app combination. Hard drive IO could be a concern as the bus
will saturate at some point.

 

[J. Clarke]

[...] If you don't -already- own the motherboard, CPU and a few huge hard
drives (at the very minimum), I think your money could be spent better on
a pre-built dedicated box such as the Pioneer DVR633HS. No, it would not
be able to record six programs at the same time. BUT, for what you are
looking at spending in terms of hardware, you could probably buy 3 - 6
dedicated DVR boxes. The cost of the Medusa kit alone is more expensive
than some hard-drive equipped DVD recorders.

I appreciate your offering me your feedback. But I can already tell
you're not somebody with much experience on the subject of PVRs (let alone
home
built ones). For example, the Pioneer DVR633HS you mention is not a PVR!.
Aside from that it digitally records video to hard disk, it doesn't come
close to offering the functions of a PVR.

Plus, even assuming that you are willing to fork out thousands in
hardware just to say that you built it yourself,

Actually, I'm initially expecting to spend hundreds, not thousands. As I
choose to gradually add storage space over the years, I will be taking
advantage of the continually falling cost-per-gigabyte in hard drives.

If you are going to do this with a RAID you are either going to have to back
up and restore every time you increase capacity or get a relatively
expensive and sophisticated RAID controller that allows the RAID capacity
to be expanded while in service.

And
it's not just so I can say that "I built it myself". It's so I can say to
myself, 'got around *Shaw Cable's *DRM obsessed PVR limitations'.

* Shaw Cable - My cable provider (which, I forgot to mention, is in
Canada, where available PVR functionality is far more limited than, for
example, in the U.S.).

* DRM = Digital Rights Management



You call it a monster. Most people I'm familiar with would just as soon
call it a file server.



So now you're somehow worried about 'saving the planet'!?

Besides which, he doesn't seem to understand that PC with a 500 watt power
supply doesn't draw 500 watts unless everything is running maxed out at the
same time. In other words it's not going to draw any more than that stack
of Tivos.

Steady "white noise" from the cooling fans is not something I expect
myself
to be bothered by. But even if it were to somehow become an issue, there
are ways and means to reduce unwanted noise. Water cooling is just one
option (though not at all my first choice). Having done some research in
the past surrounding the subject of noise reduction in buildings, I can
tell you there are a wealth of inexpensive noise attenuation techniques
and methodologies that adaptable to this, which your average home PC
builder
would not be inclined to think of. However, simply moving the PC to a
separate enclosed-space or room is hardly the onerous prospect you seem to
suggest it would be.

Something to consider is putting the storage server in a different location
from the record/playback server--gigabit Ethernet has plenty of bandwidth
to handle 6 compressed video streams.

 

[J. Clarke]

Having recently installed PVR hardware and software in in my desktop
computer, I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR
use
takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks. So I've decided to
take my PVR hardware and software and install it in a whole separate
system,
which will then be dedicated to this one purpose. While I'm at it
though, I
want to make sure that I begin on the right foot, selecting a
motherboard, CPU configuration (not just in terms of MHz, but also
if/whether to go with
multi-CPU, or settle for multi-core/single core, etc..etc...), and a RAID
controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
growth (with some redundancy, for backup). I do not need a speed demon
as
this won't be for gaming. But I will want to eventually pack it with at
least three encoder-capture cards (which would allow it up to six
tuners), so it will have to be just fast enough (using "Beyond TV"
software) to simultaneously write to disk up to six [hardware encoded]
recordings while engaging the CPU effortlessly in software-decoding duty
for concurrent
playback/viewing. [For the sake of illustration, see Snapstream Media's
Medusa PVR kit at http://store.snapstream.com/3xpvr500.html ]


Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, recommendations, experiences or
other helpful feedback related to this,

Ken

If you don't -already- own the motherboard, CPU and a few huge hard drives
(at the very minimum), I think your money could be spent better on a
pre-built dedicated box such as the Pioneer DVR633HS. No, it would not be
able to record six programs at the same time. BUT, for what you are
looking at spending in terms of hardware, you could probably buy 3 - 6
dedicated DVR
boxes. The cost of the Medusa kit alone is more expensive than some
hard-drive equipped DVD recorders.

6 of those Pioneers from a source that actually has them in stock will cost
more than one dedicated video server with the same amount of storage.

Then there's the little problem of remote-control Hell. Can you control 6
of those independently?

Plus, even assuming that you are willing to fork out thousands in hardware
just to say that you built it yourself, you've got to consider the power
requirements for that beast. You will want something beefier than a
typical
~500W power supply.

Why would he want that?

You'd probably need dual power supplies (and a
expensive case to mount them in), or something much greater than 600W,
which
will cost hundreds of dollars all by itself. You are looking at a
multi-CPU, multi-tuner, multi-disks spinning at once monster.

Why would he need multiple CPUs? As for multi-disks-spinning-at-once, what
of it? My Tivo has multi-disks-spinning-at-once on a 60 watt supply. And
there's nothing special about the disks, they're Samsungs that I obtained
from Newegg. He's describing a fairly small server with 3 tuner boards
added. Nothing particularly special about it.

But let's assume for a moment that your typical ~500W power supply could
handle it (somewhat unlikely, but I'm just saying we'll assume that for a
moment).

Why do you consider this to be unlikely? Many dedicated servers with 15K
RPM SCSI RAIDs, dual processors, maxed out RAM and the like do fine on 500
watts or less. You seem to be confusing a dedicated media server with a
maxed out gamer box.

Are you going to leave that beast running 24/7??? Each
dedicated DVR box (prebuilt) will use about ~50W, and that's only when
it's powered on
and recording.

Sounds like he's going to be doing a lot of recording so that's not an
issue.

So at WORST, if you had 6 hard-disk equipped DVD
recorders, their maximum power draw (when all 6 are simultaneously on and
recording) would roughly equal the system you plan to build, when the
system you are
planning IS IDLE. Yikes.

If you think that that is cause for saying "Yikes" you do _not_ want to look
in my basement.

In any case, you seem to have a misconception concerning PC power
consumption. At idle a PC can be configured to consume very little power,
under 10 watts, if you set it to spin down the drives and go into standby.

Plus, don't forget the noise factor. Many hard-disk equipped DVD
recorders
are silent, even when recording.

For certain values of "silent".

If you build a computer for DVR use, it
will need to be liquid cooled, or placed in a room that is not used, and
the
door to that room will need to be kept closed. Otherwise, the noise will
drive you bananas.

Actualy, I don't find that the noise from mine "drives me bananas". By
careful choice of fans I've got the noise level of the computer
considerably below the noise level of the projector. And I haven't really
gone off the deep end on noise reduction--I could make it considerably
quieter if I wanted to.

Your money, of course. -Dave

Sounds to me like with no information at all you've decided that the media
center PC is a Bad Idea.

 

[Lordy]

I've quickly come to the realization that using a PC for PVR use
takes a lot of computing power away from other tasks.

Nope. If you are recording from DVB PCI card or have hardware MPEG encoder
there is little CPU hit.
I get about 5% CPU hit on an XP 3000 per consecutive recording, direct
from Digital TV card.

and a RAID
controller and case that will give me maximum room for hard drive storage
growth (with some redundancy, for backup)

You can expand via external firewire if necessary. Not pretty though!

Lordy

 

[me]

BeyondTV Medusa project, a proof of concept
that shows that a standard PC, with a standard P/S, and a single 40 GB
5400 RPM HD was able to keep up with 6 simultaneous recordings.

Very cool hardware and capabilities

But I cant think of anything on TV that is worth
recording 6 channels on! Ha!

Plus I barely have time to watch what my VCR captures

So question...... why would you want to capture that
many video streams? Maybe have ISP based security
cameras on some streams as well as TV?

 

[Bob]

Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-500.

That model has one tuner for recording and one for viewing. I do not
see how it can record three separate TV programs at one time.

I wouldn't buy a Celeron CPU if I was paid to. Well, maybe _only if_ I was
paid to. <g> Celeron is just a de-tuned Pentium. In other words, it is
Pentium which is handicapped by an downsized onboard cache. We have
Celerons on our computers at work. While admittedly there may be other
factors involved, I do get tired of waiting for the lightest of programs to
load on those machines.

I can tell you that my 2.6 Celeron D can run most applications just as
fast as my son's 3.2 P4. I am talking about DVD Shrink which is a CPU
hog.

--

"Our country's a place of limitless hopes and
possibilities, and nowhere is that spirit more
alive than in the great nation of Texas."
--GW Bush, U.S. President from Texas

"One thing that makes George Bush such a great
president is that he does not govern according
to public opinion polls."
--John Cornyn, U.S. Senator from Texas

 

[Guest]

I have a P3-450 with 256MB RAM running GNU/Linux with MythTV
(http://www.mythtv.org/) and one each Hauppauge 250 and 350.

Do you know if MythTV has placeshifting?

Just purchased BeyondTV but it's a CPU hog ...

 

[Ken Moiarty]

That model has one tuner for recording and one for viewing. I do not
see how it can record three separate TV programs at one time.

Who ever claimed it can record three programs at one time!? It has two
tuners. Both tuners can be engaged so as to record two programs at one
time.

I can tell you that my 2.6 Celeron D can run most applications just as
fast as my son's 3.2 P4. I am talking about DVD Shrink which is a CPU
hog.

If you're happy with the 2.6 Celeron powered system, that's fine. But your
dreaming if you think the CPU itself is just as powerful as a 2.6 Pentium
CPU. I can't comment on your son's 3.4 P4. Your subjective impression of
its performance compared to your own system may be flawed or it may be
right, as there can be more to the overall performance of a particular
system than its CPU capacity alone. A "faster" CPU can effectively be
rendered "slower" in terms of overall system performance due to hardware
bottlenecks elsewhere in the system. However, when all other factors are
equal, you can't get around the fact that a Celeron does painfully less
processing per clock cycle than does an uncompromised Pentium.

Ken

 

[Ken Moiarty]

Nope. If you are recording from DVB PCI card or have hardware MPEG encoder
there is little CPU hit.
I get about 5% CPU hit on an XP 3000 per consecutive recording, direct
from Digital TV card.

What PVR software are you using? I'm finding Beyond TV to be using a
noticeable chunk of my processing power. Already running Norton Personal
Firewall and Antivirus (plus a few other very small 'memory resident' apps)
running the PVR in addition to all that has slowed things down a lot. (I
never meant to convey that it was the processing of the video stream itself
that was responsible for this. I'm well aware of the encoding work being
done on board the capture card itself, rather than the CPU, thank you.)

You can expand via external firewire if necessary. Not pretty though!

You mean via "daisy chaining"?

Ken

 

[Ken Moiarty]

Very cool hardware and capabilities

But I cant think of anything on TV that is worth
recording 6 channels on! Ha!

This is just it! What little there is worth watching on TV is scheduled
such as to force viewers to have to choose, from among two to several,
high-demand programs running simultaneously on competing channels. It's
commonly what is referred to as, "Prime Time"...

Plus I barely have time to watch what my VCR captures

So question...... why would you want to capture that
many video streams?

Your question doesn't make logical sense. First you state that _you_
barely have time to watch your VCR. Then you proceed to query, therefore
why would _I _ want to capture that many video streams?

Well, "you" and "I" are two different people, my friend, with independent
leisure interests and schedules.

Maybe have ISP based security cameras on some streams as well as TV?

Interesting you should make this comment.... I was mystified when I first
noticed my ISP guide shows a channel labeled, "security camera". You sound
like you might be able to fill me in on what this is supposed to be about?


Ken

 

[Bob]

Who ever claimed it can record three programs at one time!? It has two
tuners.

I thought the OP said it had three tuners per card.

Both tuners can be engaged so as to record two programs at one time.

Cool! I need to look at this offering closer.

I assume that the software allows you to split the TV signal so you
can watch a program you are not recording, or watch a program you have
previously recorded - like with a conventional DVDR. You would not
need a tuner for that because the TV would tune it.

If you're happy with the 2.6 Celeron powered system, that's fine. But your
dreaming if you think the CPU itself is just as powerful as a 2.6 Pentium
CPU.

I never said that.

I can't comment on your son's 3.4 P4. Your subjective impression of
its performance compared to your own system may be flawed or it may be
right,

It is right - we conducted the tests properly.

However, when all other factors are
equal, you can't get around the fact that a Celeron does painfully less
processing per clock cycle than does an uncompromised Pentium.

The test we relied on to benchmark this was DVD Shrink converting an
on-disk ISO to DVD format with about 50% compression. It took
essentially the same time.

Maybe that's because the process is calculation-intensive and
disk-intensive.


--

"Our country's a place of limitless hopes and
possibilities, and nowhere is that spirit more
alive than in the great nation of Texas."
--GW Bush, U.S. President from Texas

"One thing that makes George Bush such a great
president is that he does not govern according
to public opinion polls."
--John Cornyn, U.S. Senator from Texas