Post #348,626
10/4/11 6:48:26 AM
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MythTV and iTunes and Winders and Ubuntu and iPods, Oh My!?
Hello,
The MythTV bug is biting again. J has been recording things on our VCR and playing them fairly regularly, and of course they look like crap on our HDTV. We're mostly a Mac household now, but still have some PCs and several Ubuntu boxes. We're mostly interested in timeshifting TV shows at the moment. Before attempting to spend more time on this again, I was wondering if what I'm considering makes any sense.
I understand that MythTV runs on OSX and one can transcode MythTV's standard video format to MP4 so that saved TV shows, etc., can be put in iTunes. From there, Macs and iPods can see them and play them.
The way I think about this is we'd have some sort of channel listing (ideally free), then record stuff to a server box and watch it later on our laptops, iPad, iPods, or on our 42" TV.
There seems to be at least three ways to do this:
1) eyeTV3 with an external tuner box like HDHomeRun (which can record clear QAM-256 shows off cable but not run a cable box) attached to a dual core Intel Mac. Maybe a MacMini with an external FireWire HD attached. Requires 100BT Ethernet or 802.11n or faster networking.
2) MythTV on Linux with a tuner/capture card and potentially an IR Blaster to run a cable box. Would probably have a dedicated digital cable box (to minimize remote switching issues).
3) MythTV on OSX with some yet-to-be-determined capture/interface box, dedicated cable box, etc.
Ideally, of course, I'd like to be able to record everything from our digital cable setup, which would require going through the cable box which makes #1 problematic.
I'm considering #1 as it seems to be a less time-consuming way to get started. But I'm wondering if I'd quickly get frustrated with the limitations (e.g. not being able to record from the sports networks). I don't know how easy it is to get shows recorded with eyeTV3 into iTunes nor its limitations.
What do you folks do these days?
I don't mind the thought of spending ~ $200 for software+capture interface and $1k or so for new hardware and even $100 for 802.11n boxes. I just don't want to spend that much and then find out there are limitations that make it useless, or that it becomes such a time sink to transcode and resync various libraries that it becomes too painful. I don't like the idea of a Tivo, renting a DVR from the cable company, etc., because the content seems to be locked to those devices, but would consider AppleTV or similar if it actually makes this easy (AFAIK, AppleTV and the like are just web interface boxes to already recorded shows on the cloud, not for timeshifting TV shows. True?).
Thanks very much.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #348,632
10/4/11 9:14:32 AM
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haven't done it yet
but I'm planning to get a Mac mini with an HDHomeRun tuner for local channel shows and do everything else via blu-ray, itunes, amazon or other. I figured it would save about $700-800 a year over what I pay DirecTV. Haven't done it yet as it'll entail a new TV as mine won't connect to the mini - the TV predates HDMI by 2 years, and while it has a VGA port it only accepts 640x480 but Macs now want at least 800x600.
On the EyeTV3 page they list
Export TV recordings automatically to iTunes for playback on an iPad, iPhone, iPod or Apple TV
http://www.elgato.co.../product1.en.html
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Post #348,646
10/4/11 2:45:43 PM
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I'm looking for a replacement for NetFlix
Whatever I end up with will probably include a DVR of some kind.
Hulu? YouTube? Other? Time to research plans.
--
Drew
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Post #348,660
10/4/11 9:56:37 PM
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how do you record over-the-air TV shows on a VCR
when the VCR's tuner is analog and today's TV signals are digital? I'd love to know how to do it!
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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Post #348,663
10/4/11 10:15:38 PM
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Use a set-top box?
My parents do that.
I have a box running MythTV on Linux and two DVB-T tuner cards. But I watch what it records on the box itself; not interested in shifting it to other devices. I think my sister was tempted to go this route, too, but it's a considerable step up from the STB+VCR arrangement she already has.
Wade.
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Post #348,665
10/4/11 11:17:06 PM
10/4/11 11:18:19 PM
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Yup.
"Over the air" was shorthand and unclear.
Here the VCR is attached to a cable box that connects to analog TV. The cable TV box isn't HD. It converts the digital cable signals to analog that the VCR and TV understand.
If you want to use an analog VCR to record actual over-the-air digital TV shows, you need a digital TV to analog converter box. You can still get them for $35-$40 or so.
It won't look good, though. Standard VCRs have 240 lines of resolution. AFAIK, most over-the-air HDTV stuff is at least 720p (720 lines of resolution).
Sorry for the confusion. HTH.
[edit:] Thanks Spice. I'll keep looking around. I'll post a follow-up if/when I actually decide to do something. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #348,687
10/5/11 9:08:16 PM
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Re: Yup.
tried the digital-to-analog converter box feeding into the VCR. No go. The analog tuner just wouldn't pick up the signal coming from the d-t-a because it was expecting channel 2 (for example) and was receiving channel 2.1.
"Chicago to my mind was the only place to be. ... I above all liked the city because it was filled with people all a-bustle, and the clatter of hooves and carriages, and with delivery wagons and drays and peddlers and the boom and clank of freight trains. And when those black clouds came sailing in from the west, pouring thunderstorms upon us so that you couldn't hear the cries or curses of humankind, I liked that best of all. Chicago could stand up to the worst God had to offer. I understood why it was built--a place for trade, of course, with railroads and ships and so on, but mostly to give all of us a magnitude of defiance that is not provided by one house on the plains. And the plains is where those storms come from."
-- E.L. Doctorow
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Post #348,688
10/5/11 9:24:21 PM
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Curious.
I haven't tried this myself. But I have a friend who is using an over the air digital to analog converter with an ancient B&W TV and it worked fine.
It's supposed to work with VCRs - http://www.fcc.gov/g...ter-box-setup-vcr
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
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Post #348,693
10/5/11 11:32:56 PM
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Don't use the RF.
Use composite video. All STBs I've seen have a composite out and all VCRs I've seen have had composite in.
Wade.
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Post #348,704
10/6/11 9:06:08 AM
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Might not matter
Run a DVD or VCR into a second VCR to try to copy stuff and it won't work. They encode voltage pulses in the VBI to screw up the picture. http://en.wikipedia....opy_Protection.29 It wouldn't surprise me if digital TV does the same. --
Drew
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Post #348,744
10/6/11 7:00:12 PM
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Never seen it with DVB-T.
But that's here in Australia with boxes also intended for most of the world. The US would be somewhat different on that score, both legally (remember the "broadcast flag"?) and technically (ATSC instead of DVB).
Wade.
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