[olug] MythTV + PVR150 + IR Blaster

[Rob Townley]

On 9/24/07, Benjamin Watson <bwatson1979 at gmail.com> wrote:
> With regards to HTPC stuff, how are you guys connecting PC A/V out to
> TVs?  I've dabbled around with LinuxMCE, Myth, Mythbuntu, etc. but my
> problem is actually watching the stuff on a television rather than a
> PC monitor.
>
> Most of the TVs I own are older and do not have HDMI or VGA inputs.
> They typically have coax, S-Video, RCA, or component.  In one trial, I
> connected the S-Video output of my TV-tuner card directly to the
> S-Video input of my TV and the picture was horrible.  I finally dug up
> an old RF modulator I had for the days of connecting old console
> systems to TVs, but have yet to try it.  So, I figured I'd ask what
> you all are doing to get acceptable video quality to show up on your
> television sets.
>
> Ben
>
> On 9/22/07, Jeff Hinrichs - DM&T <jeffh at dundeemt.com> wrote:
> > On 9/19/07, Jon Larsen <relayer at levania.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > I'm using a separate IRBlaster to control my digital cable box.  I
> > > purchased it from irblaster.info for $15.  It hooks into an RS-232 Serial
> > > port.
> > >
> > > I used a lirc how to document which had instructions to configure both
> > > the IR Receiver from my pvr-250 and the serial irblaster.  You may need to
> > > read a couple different howtos' and merge them together.
> > >
> > > I used this as my howto.
> > > http://www.eggshellskull.com/lirc/blaster/index.php
> > >
> > > I am using Fedora Core 6 and the ATRPMs repo for the mythtv files.
> > >
> > > If you have a built-in irblaster function, I assume you'll need to use i2c
> > > to talk to it.
> > >
> > Thanks, I got it figured out.  I followed the directions about getting
> > lirc and blaster set up before installing mythtv
> > https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Install_Lirc_Feisty
> >
> > That worked out fine.  Then the mythtv install went swimmingly.
> >
> > Are you using Mythdora or Fedora w/ MythTV?  I tried a Mythbuntu
> > (alpha based on 7.10) and  MythDora 4 and neither were a satisfactory
> > experience for me.  I ended up sticking with Ubuntu 7.04 and
> > installing the MythTV meta package.  I already had a SchedulesDirect
> > account as I was using GBPVR before MythTV.  I liked GBPVR as an
> > application but using Window$ as a platform was a real Achilles heel.
> > All of the problems I had with the former had to do with deficiencies
> > in the underlying OS.
> >
> > With you myth install are you using xine for previously recorded
> > files?  I think I am going to try using VLC as the external player.
> >
> > -Jeff
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S-Video Out To TV should have better video quality. On my screwy tv,
S-Video input is terrible as well until i power cycle the television,
then it is great.  Since you had it directly connected, that would
rule out a dvd player macrovision scrambling.   You may want to look
to see if there are TV input options that will give you a better
signal from S-Video.