Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Wed, 2012-11-21 at 11:42 +, Full Circle Podcast wrote: > > Aerials are the problem wherever you are with these USB devices; such > low power. The supplied aerials (length of wire with a bit of coat > hanger on the end) mostly useless. A mains powered booster box might > help you standard indoor aerial; I've a 5ft spear aerial and a ring > aerial in the loft, less than that I don't bother. Adam's actually pretty close to Hannington in a good direction so should get pretty reasonable signal even with the bit of bent that's usually supplied. I agree entirely that most of us need a proper aerial. FWIW, though, I personally would always prefer a better aerial to adding an amplifier. If the signal is poor, amplifying it will just give you a 'louder' poor signal, but, as there is no perfect amplifier, it will also risk increasing the interference from other signals. FYI for others here in Basingstoke, although we're a similar distance from Hannington, that mast has a deliberate power notch in our direction, to reduce the risk of it interfering with signals somewhere over Guildford way, so despite being line-of-sight the mast, we still need decent aerials. ATB, Gordon. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
Adam, so good when a plan comes together! You got the HD or standard-def? How's your graphics card coping? I'm considering upgrading the Freecom for an HD. VLC is a bit of a faff with the manual tuning but after that works like a charm. Aerials are the problem wherever you are with these USB devices; such low power. The supplied aerials (length of wire with a bit of coat hanger on the end) mostly useless. A mains powered booster box might help you standard indoor aerial; I've a 5ft spear aerial and a ring aerial in the loft, less than that I don't bother. -- Rgds RC Robin Catling Full Circle Podcast On 20 November 2012 20:53, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > ** > > On Friday 09 Nov 2012, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now > that > > > Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD > > > (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > > > > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently > supported > > > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon > and > > > other online retailers. > > > > To answer my own question I bough one from Amazon. It arrived yesterday. > You get a tiny little USB tuner, a short USB extension cable, a small > remote control, a short cable to a small indoor aerial and a converter plug > for the aerial if you use a standard UHF aerial and cable. > > > > I plugged it in, and once seated in the USB socket a little blue light > came on. My stock Debian 3.2.0 kernel detected it and loaded the drivers > without a problem (it thinks it's Sony device). Kaffeine detected it and > was happy to tune it up, signal strength 60-70% on the supplied aerial. VLC > doesn't work directly you need to install a separate DVB apps pack and then > run a manual tune - once that is done you can use the resultant file in VLC > as a media playlist. > > > > In use with either Kaffeine or VLC on my aged system I was able to get TV > reception okay. There were a few digital artefacts and some picture breakup > but for a tiny internal aerial going through 3 heavy 1930s walls it did > very well. I may install a loft aerial in the room above my office and run > a cable to it if that turns out to be required. > > > > -- > > Adam Trickett > > Overton, HANTS, UK > > > > Despite all its complexity, fuzziness, uncertainty and spooky action- > > at-a-distance, quantum mechanics is probably a Good Thing. However, I > > must also note that QM permits Microsoft Windows to exist. > > -- John Walker > > > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- > -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Friday 09 Nov 2012, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > Hi, > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now that > Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD > (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and > other online retailers. To answer my own question I bough one from Amazon. It arrived yesterday. You get a tiny little USB tuner, a short USB extension cable, a small remote control, a short cable to a small indoor aerial and a converter plug for the aerial if you use a standard UHF aerial and cable. I plugged it in, and once seated in the USB socket a little blue light came on. My stock Debian 3.2.0 kernel detected it and loaded the drivers without a problem (it thinks it's Sony device). Kaffeine detected it and was happy to tune it up, signal strength 60-70% on the supplied aerial. VLC doesn't work directly you need to install a separate DVB apps pack and then run a manual tune - once that is done you can use the resultant file in VLC as a media playlist. In use with either Kaffeine or VLC on my aged system I was able to get TV reception okay. There were a few digital artefacts and some picture breakup but for a tiny internal aerial going through 3 heavy 1930s walls it did very well. I may install a loft aerial in the room above my office and run a cable to it if that turns out to be required. -- Adam Trickett Overton, HANTS, UK Despite all its complexity, fuzziness, uncertainty and spooky action- at-a-distance, quantum mechanics is probably a Good Thing. However, I must also note that QM permits Microsoft Windows to exist. -- John Walker signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners *OT*
On 11/12/2012 08:28 PM, Tony Wood wrote: On 10/11/12 13:20, Mike Dwerryhouse wrote: On Friday 09 November 2012 20:52:54 Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: our TV is still ye olde CRT. I though I was the last person in the country to go digital Although I bought a digital TV several months ago, I still have a 28" widescreen CRT TV waiting for me to take it to the council dump - it weighs 48kg Mike Dwerryhouse Same here. I split our 28" CRT TV into parts to take it to the council recycling depot. Couldn't lift the whole thing into the boot. Now there's an idea I'll try that MikeD -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners *OT*
On 10/11/12 13:20, Mike Dwerryhouse wrote: On Friday 09 November 2012 20:52:54 Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: our TV is still ye olde CRT. I though I was the last person in the country to go digital Although I bought a digital TV several months ago, I still have a 28" widescreen CRT TV waiting for me to take it to the council dump - it weighs 48kg Mike Dwerryhouse Same here. I split our 28" CRT TV into parts to take it to the council recycling depot. Couldn't lift the whole thing into the boot. -- Tony Wood (from Linux PC) -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Saturday 10 Nov 2012, Anton Piatek wrote: > I don't think you need quad core. My dual core Asus at3 ion mobo with cpu > does hd playback (no idea of the codec) but it also has a nvidia gpu > builtin with hardware acceleration. I'm not buying specifically for the video, I was just thinking of buying it for the CPU grunt. The second generation AMD APU are not too bad and they have always had decent graphics, certainly better than Intel anyway. So it just happens to be a quad core - or should I say it will probably be quad core, I may end up getting an Intel, in which case it will be a dual core. > I would always recommend hardware accelerated decoding over more cpy power > (not sure if extra cores really help here) I agree, it's the GPU that makes a difference in this instance and how it's connected to the rest of the system. My old single core AMD64 and AGP graphics was good enough in it's day, but it's now quite sluggish and you can see HD MP4 files from BBC iPlayer struggle on playback - even SD playback isn't perfect. Basically I'm thinking of getting the tuner before Christmas as they are cheap and then sometime in the new year replacing my desktop system. -- Adam Trickett Overton, HANTS, UK My organ doesn't work properly and emits strange burning smells -- seen on Usenet -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
I don't think you need quad core. My dual core Asus at3 ion mobo with cpu does hd playback (no idea of the codec) but it also has a nvidia gpu builtin with hardware acceleration. I would always recommend hardware accelerated decoding over more cpy power (not sure if extra cores really help here) Ymmv. Anton -- Anton Piatek (sent from my phone, please excuse any typos) http://www.strangeparty.com No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message, however, a significant number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. On 10 Nov 2012 14:21, "Dr A. J. Trickett" wrote: > ** > > On Friday 09 Nov 2012, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now > that > > > Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD > > > (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > > > > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently > supported > > > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon > and > > > other online retailers. > > > > Replying to my self here... > > > > Thanks to everyone for their comments. My current PC is getting antiquated > I'll probably get a new quad-core box in the new year, so I wasn't > expecting to watch much HD until I had a new PC anyway. > > > > I'm mostly relieved to hear that they do work - assuming you have good > basic reception. Thanks for the offers of loans but I'll probably just buy > one anyway, they aren't much on Amazon. > > > > -- > > Adam Trickett > > Overton, HANTS, UK > > > > To send one out of office message may be considered > > unfortunate, but to send two looks like cluelessness. > > -- Simon Cozens > > > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- > -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Friday 09 Nov 2012, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > Hi, > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now that > Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD > (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and > other online retailers. Replying to my self here... Thanks to everyone for their comments. My current PC is getting antiquated I'll probably get a new quad-core box in the new year, so I wasn't expecting to watch much HD until I had a new PC anyway. I'm mostly relieved to hear that they do work - assuming you have good basic reception. Thanks for the offers of loans but I'll probably just buy one anyway, they aren't much on Amazon. -- Adam Trickett Overton, HANTS, UK To send one out of office message may be considered unfortunate, but to send two looks like cluelessness. -- Simon Cozens -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Saturday 10 Nov 2012, Mike Dwerryhouse wrote: > On Friday 09 November 2012 20:52:54 Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > > > our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > I though I was the last person in the country to go digital Actually we almost never used the TV in analogue mode at all. We use to live in the valley floor and the analogue TV reception was terrible, so only a few months after buying the TV we got a Sony digital tuner and have been digital ever since. We were probably one of the first people in the village to go digital! > Although I bought a digital TV several months ago, I still have a 28" > widescreen CRT TV waiting for me to take it to the council dump - it > weighs 48kg As we have had a perfectly good digital/CRT combination for years I've not had any impulse to replace it with a flat screen TV. Until very recently I think they still had analogue tuning circuits in them and it's still common to find them without HD DVB tuner/decoders! While I'm not interested in 3D TV, I think I'll eventually buy a HD TV, I don't want one much bigger than our current 71 cm (~28"), but it would be nice to have something a bit thinner so we can save some space. Then all we have to do is freecycle/dump the old TV...! -- Adam Trickett Overton, HANTS, UK Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with Windows. -- anon -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Friday 09 November 2012 20:52:54 Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: our TV is still ye olde CRT. I though I was the last person in the country to go digital Although I bought a digital TV several months ago, I still have a 28" widescreen CRT TV waiting for me to take it to the council dump - it weighs 48kg Mike Dwerryhouse -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
Adam, you can get pretty much all of them to work in the current kernel; I keep resurrecting my ancient standard def Freecom USB stick on various antique machines: http://everythingexpress.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/how-to-freecom-dvb-t-resurrected-again-pt1/ http://everythingexpress.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/how-to-freecom-dvb-t-resurrected-again-pt2/ so long as you get the right firmware: http://everythingexpress.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/how-to-when-the-tv-tuner-firmware-is-wrong/ and VLC works a treat: http://everythingexpress.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/how-to-watch-digital-tv-in-vlc-player-ubuntu/ but as has been pointed out, has no timer-record function. I can see Rowridge transmitter from the end of my road and both portable aerials inside the house get good signal without resort to a signal booster box in all but the worst Solent weather.. If you go with a newer HD device, graphics and processor performance will be an issue (stating the bleedin' obvious). Quad Core required for full HD playback as I discovered when the Dual Core laptop failed to keep up with full HD .mp4. AGP won't cut it unless it's from a gaming rig. -- Rgds RC Robin Catling Full Circle Podcast On 10 November 2012 07:26, Benjie Gillam wrote: > I had a MythTV system set up with 4 tuners for a long time. Unfortunately > I've had to move to cable/TiVo now which means better TV but terrible > interface (in comparison to MythTV). Worked fine in Ringwood, Gosport and > various locations in Soton. > > I still have a couple on Freecom USB sticks - you're welcome to borrow > them (for 6+ months) if you want - they worked under a 2.4 and 2.6 kernel > but I've not tried them for a couple of years. > > No idea if they support HD; there was no Freeview HD when I used them. > > I'm in Maybush, Soton if you want to collect. I'll even lend you an aerial > splitter/booster and some cables if you want :) > > Benjie > > > On 9 Nov 2012, at 20:52, "Dr A. J. Trickett" > wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now > that Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in > HD (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently > supported in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on > Amazon and other online retailers. > > > > Questions: > > > > 1) Do these kind of devices actually work? is the signal strength in > Hampshire strong enough to get a decent picture without a proper external > aerial? We can see the Hannington transmitter clearly from our house and > our set-top DVB tuner has always claimed excellent signal strength. > > > > 2) Other than the kernel module, what other software is required? I see > that both VLC and Kaffeine offer up digital TV as a video source. > > > > 3) What kind of CPU/GPU is required to render HD video? My desktop PC is > a first generation AMD64 and the graphics card is a last generation basic > AGP graphics card, so neither are whizzy by modern standard. They can > playback MP4 files downloaded from the BBC fine but I wouldn't describe the > playback as perfect. > > > > 4) I'm in no way attached the USB device I suggested and would welcome > comments about it and of alternatives. > > > > As ever, thanks in advance. > > > > -- > > Adam Trickett > > Overton, HANTS, UK > > > > A man is known by the books he reads. > > -- Ralph Waldo Emerson > > > > -- > > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > > -- > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- > -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
I had a MythTV system set up with 4 tuners for a long time. Unfortunately I've had to move to cable/TiVo now which means better TV but terrible interface (in comparison to MythTV). Worked fine in Ringwood, Gosport and various locations in Soton. I still have a couple on Freecom USB sticks - you're welcome to borrow them (for 6+ months) if you want - they worked under a 2.4 and 2.6 kernel but I've not tried them for a couple of years. No idea if they support HD; there was no Freeview HD when I used them. I'm in Maybush, Soton if you want to collect. I'll even lend you an aerial splitter/booster and some cables if you want :) Benjie On 9 Nov 2012, at 20:52, "Dr A. J. Trickett" wrote: > Hi, > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now that > Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD (in > theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and > other online retailers. > > Questions: > > 1) Do these kind of devices actually work? is the signal strength in > Hampshire strong enough to get a decent picture without a proper external > aerial? We can see the Hannington transmitter clearly from our house and our > set-top DVB tuner has always claimed excellent signal strength. > > 2) Other than the kernel module, what other software is required? I see that > both VLC and Kaffeine offer up digital TV as a video source. > > 3) What kind of CPU/GPU is required to render HD video? My desktop PC is a > first generation AMD64 and the graphics card is a last generation basic AGP > graphics card, so neither are whizzy by modern standard. They can playback > MP4 files downloaded from the BBC fine but I wouldn't describe the playback > as perfect. > > 4) I'm in no way attached the USB device I suggested and would welcome > comments about it and of alternatives. > > As ever, thanks in advance. > > -- > Adam Trickett > Overton, HANTS, UK > > A man is known by the books he reads. > -- Ralph Waldo Emerson > > -- > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > -- -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Friday 09 November 2012 20:52:54 Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > our TV is still ye olde CRT. Our beloved CRT died a couple of weeks ago. :-( The sound on the replacement is poor. Much worse than on the CRT. I can see that we shall end up connecting speakers. Lisi -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On 09/11/12 21:10, Chris Dennis wrote: Note that BBC HD uses DVB-S2 (rather than DVB-S), which requires different receiving hardware. Clearly I'm talking rubbish here, as you were asking about terrestrial TV (DVB-T), not satellite (DVB-S). Information about HD on DVB-T2 is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVB-T2#UK cheers Chris -- Chris Dennis cgden...@btinternet.com Fordingbridge, Hampshire, UK -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On Fri, Nov 9, 2012, at 08:52 PM, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and > other online retailers. > Questions: > 1) Do these kind of devices actually work? is the signal strength in > Hampshire strong enough to get a decent picture without a proper external > aerial? We can see the Hannington transmitter clearly from our house and our > set-top DVB tuner has always claimed excellent signal strength. I purchased the cheapest no brand one I could find on Ebay. It is a compact matt black device with DVB-T emblazoned on it and no other distinguishing features. I was pleased to find bar locating a firmware file for it (by Googling the output of lsusb), it just works. This one is apparently built around the Afatech af9005 chipset which I understand is somewhat long in the tooth now, but I would expect more modern devices to work with similarly little fuss. The stub aerial it came with it not really sufficient for receiving indoors. I am about 14 miles from Rowridge and I can get only two multiplexes reliably and two more with a bit of careful adjustment of the aerial. A small yagi style aerial (£5 from ASDA I think) works just fine though. > 2) Other than the kernel module, what other software is required? I see that > both VLC and Kaffeine offer up digital TV as a video source. I use VLC as it's simple. It's a little fussy with a weak signal, occasionally hanging but it's not bothered me enough to try anything else. You need the dvb-apps package to do the initial channel scan and create a file for VLC to load. > 3) What kind of CPU/GPU is required to render HD video? My desktop PC is a > first generation AMD64 and the graphics card is a last generation basic AGP > graphics card, so neither are whizzy by modern standard. They can playback > MP4 files downloaded from the BBC fine but I wouldn't describe the playback > as perfect. I don't know, but I would guess if VLC renders an MPEG2 file ok (for example a DVD), it will cope with standard definition DVB too. > 4) I'm in no way attached the USB device I suggested and would welcome > comments about it and of alternatives. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On 9 November 2012 20:52, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: > Hi, > > > > Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now that > Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD (in > theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. > > > > The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported > in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and > other online retailers. > > > > Questions: > > > > 1) Do these kind of devices actually work? is the signal strength in > Hampshire strong enough to get a decent picture without a proper external > aerial? We can see the Hannington transmitter clearly from our house and our > set-top DVB tuner has always claimed excellent signal strength. If your set-top DVB tuner is happy, the DVB card/usb should have just as good reception. In my house, the TV aerial is in the attic, and not up on the roof. The TV signal works fine through the tiles of the roof. It saves me having to climb onto the roof if anything breaks. > > > > 2) Other than the kernel module, what other software is required? I see that > both VLC and Kaffeine offer up digital TV as a video source. If you want it to record programs while you are out, you really need a program like mythtv or VDR. VDR is probably easier to set up if you have everything on one PC. I have a server/client setup, so I use mythtv. I have also submitted patches to mythtv that allow you to use a DVB-S card in the PC, and plug in a sky tv viewing card, and watch sky tv on a PC. Although I don't use it now, because sky tv content is rubbish now days. > > > > 3) What kind of CPU/GPU is required to render HD video? My desktop PC is a > first generation AMD64 and the graphics card is a last generation basic AGP > graphics card, so neither are whizzy by modern standard. They can playback > MP4 files downloaded from the BBC fine but I wouldn't describe the playback > as perfect. For HD, you will need a video card that has VDPAU or similar API. The performance bottleneck is not the CPU or your graphics card, the bottleneck is the PCI/AGP bus. There are just too many pixels to send over the bus with HD video. VDPAU allows you so send the compressed video stream over the PCI/AGP bus to the graphics card, and then expand it to pixels on the graphics card. Your PC should be able to handle SD video though, which should be acceptable. If you really want HD, I would go for a motherboard with PCI-Express, and a VDPAU capable graphics card. Both AMD and NVIDIA cards have VDPAU type features, although I think the AMD/ATI one has a different name. > > > > 4) I'm in no way attached the USB device I suggested and would welcome > comments about it and of alternatives. I use PCI or PCI-Express DVB cards, so I have no experience if the USB version work well or not. I am currently in the process of reverse engineering one PCI-Express card, so that it works in Linux. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
Re: [Hampshire] DVB Tuners
On 09/11/12 20:52, Dr A. J. Trickett wrote: Hi, Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now that Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and other online retailers. Questions: 1) Do these kind of devices actually work? is the signal strength in Hampshire strong enough to get a decent picture without a proper external aerial? We can see the Hannington transmitter clearly from our house and our set-top DVB tuner has always claimed excellent signal strength. I don't know, living in an area with very poor reception. I use a Hauppauge PCI card with input from the amplified roof aerial. 2) Other than the kernel module, what other software is required? I see that both VLC and Kaffeine offer up digital TV as a video source. Those should work for plain old-fashioned viewing. Or you could consider the complicated world of MythTV for recording stuff. 3) What kind of CPU/GPU is required to render HD video? My desktop PC is a first generation AMD64 and the graphics card is a last generation basic AGP graphics card, so neither are whizzy by modern standard. They can playback MP4 files downloaded from the BBC fine but I wouldn't describe the playback as perfect. Now that telly is digital, less processing power is required to display the pictures than when analog video had to be converted. I've got an Acer Revo displaying telly, including ITV and C4 HD. Note that BBC HD uses DVB-S2 (rather than DVB-S), which requires different receiving hardware. 4) I'm in no way attached the USB device I suggested and would welcome comments about it and of alternatives. As ever, thanks in advance. I hope that helps. cheers Chris -- Chris Dennis cgden...@btinternet.com Fordingbridge, Hampshire, UK -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
[Hampshire] DVB Tuners
Hi, Every now and then I think I may get a DVB tuner for my computer. Now that Hannington has been upgraded to HD I could even watch/record stuff in HD (in theory) on my computer - our TV is still ye olde CRT. The Hauppauge PCTV Systems DVB-T2 290e nanoStick HD is apparently supported in Linux on 3.0 Kernel and above. It's also not so expensive on Amazon and other online retailers. Questions: 1) Do these kind of devices actually work? is the signal strength in Hampshire strong enough to get a decent picture without a proper external aerial? We can see the Hannington transmitter clearly from our house and our set-top DVB tuner has always claimed excellent signal strength. 2) Other than the kernel module, what other software is required? I see that both VLC and Kaffeine offer up digital TV as a video source. 3) What kind of CPU/GPU is required to render HD video? My desktop PC is a first generation AMD64 and the graphics card is a last generation basic AGP graphics card, so neither are whizzy by modern standard. They can playback MP4 files downloaded from the BBC fine but I wouldn't describe the playback as perfect. 4) I'm in no way attached the USB device I suggested and would welcome comments about it and of alternatives. As ever, thanks in advance. -- Adam Trickett Overton, HANTS, UK A man is known by the books he reads. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --
