Opinion/Guidance - Moving to Digital?

[Just4Fun20]

I love my Mythbuntu, which is working beautifully. I also love my DirecTivo. I have both Cable and DirecTV. I have been working with MythBuntu as a replacement for the DirecTiVo. My current setup is MythBuntu with a PVR-150 (Analog Cable from Comcast in the NorthEast).

I'd like to retire my DirecTiVo and cancel my DirecTV. The problem is that the quality of my analog cable picture, at least through my PVR-150, is nowhere near as good as my DirecTiVo picture. I've stuck with analog because, frankly, all this talk about DRM and IRBlaster, etc. have me feeling like MythTV with a digital signal is a very difficult proposition.

Assuming I did jump to Digital, how hard is it?

I would actually have two choices, DirectTV or Digital Cable (Comcast).

Digital Cable has the advantage of only needing a set top box per TV and some TV's could still use Analog (over cable, not over the air). This would also require a digital set top box for the MythTV and ideally two (my DirecTiVo has two tuners, which is about the minimum).

DirecTV is somewhat more appealing but would be more difficult. Probably the best way to do that would be a fairly large multi-tuner box that "distributed" video to small front end boxes at the TV's. That has the obvious advantage of allowing all TV's to access the MythTV repository of videos. Obviously this would be a more expensive solution since it mandates a MythTV 'infrastructure'.

Any experiences out there to suggest one over the other? Any experiences to suggest if Digital is worth the effort?

Thanks in advance. Sorry for the rather nebulous question and for asking opinions, but I'm interested in real world experiences and wisdom.

[volkswagner]

The problem is that the quality of my analog cable picture, at least through my PVR-150, is nowhere near as good as my DirecTiVo picture.

I am very happy with my PVR150 picture quality. You may need to tweak the settings, or add/remove splitters/amplifiers on your coax feed.


analog because, frankly, all this talk about DRM and IRBlaster, etc. have me feeling like MythTV with a digital signal is a very difficult proposition.

You will still need to capture analog for the protected channels.

Assuming I did jump to Digital, how hard is it

There will be work involved. This also depends on the equipment supplied by your cable company and how well it is supported.

Digital Cable has the advantage of only needing a set top box per TV and some TV's could still use Analog (over cable, not over the air). This would also require a digital set top box for the MythTV and ideally two (my DirecTiVo has two tuners, which is about the minimum)


I personally find this a disadvantage since my cable co. charges ten bucks a month for every box requested (aside from the "free" one included with DTV)

DirecTV is somewhat more appealing but would be more difficult. Probably the best way to do that would be a fairly large multi-tuner box that "distributed" video to small front end boxes at the TV's. That has the obvious advantage of allowing all TV's to access the MythTV repository of videos. Obviously this would be a more expensive solution since it mandates a MythTV 'infrastructure'
.

I think unless you have networked tivos, you will need the infrastructure to distribute recorded TV throughout the home.

Any experiences out there to suggest one over the other? Any experiences to suggest if Digital is worth the effort?


I can't comment on DirectTV. If I did not already have several hundred dollars invested in analog tuners, I would be more inclined to grab three or four digital cable boxes from my cable co. I would recommend this if you can get boxes with working firewire ports. This is the only way to capture direct from the box without a separate tuner. For the long term, if my cable co provides the analog signal for a few more years......I will still be happier with one box and several of my analog Tuners.

Are you interested in HD content? This is where the firewire box will be used, where other hardware will fall short. You should get the most HD channels this way ie: all your local and many basic cable channels.

I hope this did not add confusion.

[Just4Fun20]

Thank you very much.

No plans for HD at the moment.

As you suggested it looks like my best bet is to improve the analog signal. I'll check all cables, remove or minimize the use of splitters and I may get a suitable amplifier.

Thanks again.

[volkswagner]

Look here first to see if you can correct the problem within mythtv. This post helped my picture quality.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=618043&highlight=mythtv+backend+will

[Verbatim9]

Don't forget you also have the option of going with OTA for HD content...you're limited to what's available OTA in your area, but there aren't any fees involved, and no issues dealing with encryption, etc, just the cost of the tuner....I don't have cable or satelite, but my understanding is that you can have tuners for multiple sources without too much pain, so if getting the major broadcast networks in HD is enough, you can supplement your analog cable or satelite channels with an OTA HD tuner to add PBS/CBS/NBC/ABC/FOX/CW (or whatever the mix is in your neck of the woods).

If you decide to go that route, you'll need to pick an antenna...here is a good guide to picking an antenna for OTA HDTV (http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/hdtv-antenna-guide.php). Also don't forget that all VHF frequencies are going away next year (unless you live somewhere extremely rural, and rely on a repeater station for OTA reception), so there's no reason to get an antenna that can handle VHF (channels 14 and below) anymore.

[finlay648]

After Feb 2009 some stations will be broadcasting digital on VHF. You should check the following site to see if any are in your area and bear that in mind when doing antenna selection..

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf

I find that my ChannelMaster 4228 does a good job of picking up upper VHF signals even though its a UHF antenna so I hope that'll work for me then.