Does anyone know if you can run a mythtv distro in vmware within xp with any success? I might have to try that...I really hate my ati hdtv wonder software.
I really like how Sage lets you run a service instead of the entire app for recording and such, but I dislike having to get extensions for things like commercial marking and transcoding. Hmm...
Since you need overlay capabilities only it gets a bit dicy. I don't know the specifics, but tryign to play a video in vmware hasn't ended well. (I've only it with linux though..and I think windows 2k)
Beyond TV actually runs as a series of services that control the guide data, the transcoding (showsqueeze is what they call it) and the something else. When you want to watch tv it then opens the app. That said, it does run a webserver, but that probably amounts to minal usage.
IN the end, I can record (I have a hardware mpeg2 encoder) and never have to worry about it. Playing BF2 or whatever at my graphic/CPU/RAM combo's limit isn't affected by it
<---usues his pc for work, school, as a PVR, for gaming, and other stuff....
<---only leaves it transcoding at night.
I'm not sure of the exact memory usage, but I was just bothered by opening Task Manager and seeing like 6 BeyondTV things running, and knowing that I'd have to leave all of those open anytime I wanted to record something.
Considering Sage also has music and photo functionality, I may go with it as long as the "extension" thing works out okay.
Okay, played around with both for a bit.
I decided I definitely don't want to use any such "media center" app for music and photo functionality. I still just find it a lot easier to browse photos in regular folders and to browse music the same way, and play it with Winamp. So now we're considering TV functionality only. I really like how Sage lets you run a service only for controlling all recording tasks, and then you can open and close the regular app as you please, but the ComSkip and compression extensions seem a bit tricky and troublesome to implement. Seems to be substantially easier and more streamlined in BeyondTV, so I think I'm going to just deal with all the services and background apps it launches and go with that.
Anything else to comment on?
I decided I definitely don't want to use any such "media center" app for music and photo functionality. I still just find it a lot easier to browse photos in regular folders and to browse music the same way, and play it with Winamp. So now we're considering TV functionality only. I really like how Sage lets you run a service only for controlling all recording tasks, and then you can open and close the regular app as you please, but the ComSkip and compression extensions seem a bit tricky and troublesome to implement. Seems to be substantially easier and more streamlined in BeyondTV, so I think I'm going to just deal with all the services and background apps it launches and go with that.
Anything else to comment on?
Don't worry too much about the processes. The only major CPU usage that arises is when the programmign guide is loading at that only lasts about 5min every other 4 or 5 weeks
or if you are transcodingIf I set it to transcode "automatically," does that mean it'll do it right after the show is over and done recording?Originally posted by: Goosemaster
Don't worry too much about the processes. The only major CPU usage that arises is when the programmign guide is loading at that only lasts about 5min every other 4 or 5 weeks
So I got my card and was using the trial version of BeyondTV v4.1.0. I recorded about 6 1/2 minutes of video at the "Better" quality and once transcoded to DivX it was about 96 MB, which would work out to around 430 MB per half hour. Is that way too high? What quality setting do you use, Goose?
I really depends on how you use your PVR/ what you expect out of it, and how much sotrage space you have.
I have a LOT of storage space, so I set it to record @ mpeg2 at a pretty high birate of around 6-7Mbps, and then transcode it to divx theater (highest) which is about 1.62 GB/hr.
since most of my shows get watched and deleted frequently it works fine.
That said, if I had limited space, I would deinitely go for about 800MB/hour
It has its ups but it certainly has its downs, as well. The interface leaves a lot to be desired, I think. You can't enter any of the menus while leaving the TV run, most of the settings need to be set via the web interface which is annoying, and it has a terrible lag in video when switching between window and full screen, although I'm not sure if that's my tuner or the software. It also takes a bit of time to startup and shut down.
Yeah, I don't see the lag, so I am guessing it's the tuner in that case. I am using an ATI TV Wonder Elite 550.
As for the interface, I find it very useable, especially since it is fast to pop in and out. Would I like a window with the current channel in it when I am in the full screen guide? I suppose, but if I want to scan that way I use the guide at the bottom of the screen.
I also give high marks to snapstream.net for a free service. Very accurate channel info, and good performance, although I do wish I could schedule the update periods. It seems to kick off whenever I start Oblivion. I suppose they left this out so everyone wouldn't schedule to hit their servers overnight.
As for the interface, I find it very useable, especially since it is fast to pop in and out. Would I like a window with the current channel in it when I am in the full screen guide? I suppose, but if I want to scan that way I use the guide at the bottom of the screen.
I also give high marks to snapstream.net for a free service. Very accurate channel info, and good performance, although I do wish I could schedule the update periods. It seems to kick off whenever I start Oblivion. I suppose they left this out so everyone wouldn't schedule to hit their servers overnight.
Your card uses the Theater 550 Pro chipset! So does mine! What gives??
The video completely stops for a second when I go from window to full screen or change the window size. It's really annoying.
Well, if it's really a second, then I don't think you can get much faster than that. I don't really consider that lag. The OS has to do quite a bit of work to build that viewport.
It's about 2 seconds, but what do people consider playable? Because I know many people do in fact do this and are fine with it.
I use a hauppague[sic] pvr-250MCE and experience none of the problems you speak of. Sorry
*goes back to watchign the season premiere of 'Theif' * :evil:
MediaPortal, this is the official site its pretty great - occasional hiccups but they have daily cvs builds and an active forum to help you sort out bugs. Its needs slightly more setup than BeyondTV but its completly free. PS powercinema 4 is not much better than 3, it takes 2 minutes + just to start watching tv and doesnt even have free tv listings.
I wouldn't use Powercinema to clean my cat's butt.
Archcommus, 2 seconds does sound a little long. I can't say I have payed much attention to this, as I always run the video full-screen.
Archcommus, 2 seconds does sound a little long. I can't say I have payed much attention to this, as I always run the video full-screen.
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