MythTV - Open source - Free - Excellent
Summary: MythTV overview and general information. Links, tips, hardware etc.
"MythTV is a homebrew PVR project that I've been working on in my spare time. It's been under heavy development for almost four years, and is now quite useable and featureful."
I don't claim to be an expert on MythTV, but I have been using it for a while now, I started with the standalone Knoppmyth, it configured fine with a bit of work. I was learning Linux as well, so others more experienced will find it a breeze.
I am currently running MythTV from Mythbuntu Gutsy Gibbon, it's quite a nice interface and will only get better and better.
System Requirements Mythbuntu
Minimum System Requirements:
- 1.0 GHz x86 or x86_64 Processor
- 192 MB of system memory (RAM)
- 2 GB of disk space (Frontend Role)
- 20 GB of disk space (Backend Role)
- Graphics card capable of 1024x768 resolution
- Supported TV Tuner Card (Backend Role)
Recommended System Requirements:
- 2.0 Ghz x86 or x86_64 Processor*
- 1024 MB of system memory (RAM)
- 10 GB disk space (Frontend Role)
- 80 GB+ disk space (Backend Role)**
- nVidia 128MB Graphics Card w/ TV-Out or equivalent***
- Supported TV Tuner Card (Backend Role)
* A 3.0 Ghz processor is recommended for frontend installations using HD video due to the increased load upon decoding. A lower end processor can be used however with multiple functions on a single machine (ie - Frontend/Backend Install) it is not recommended.
** 80 GB of disk space allows approx 70 GB of usable space for media. However with HD Format it is recommended to use 160 GB HDD or larger.
*** Although nVidia is recommended, ATI, VIA, or Intel graphics cards are supported and will work. Currently, nVidia provides a higher level of support. Also the graphics recommendation is based on HDTV capable output processing.
Note: A good estimate for converting hard disk space to hours of recordings are as follows:
- Standard Definition (Analog) 2.2 GB / Hour
- High Definition (HDTV) 7 GB / Hour
My Hardware
CPU: AMD X2 64 5200+
Mobo: ASUS M2NPV-VM- AMD Live!™ Ready
- NVIDIAR GeForce 6150 + nForce 430
- Dual-channel DDR2 800/667/533
- PCI Express architecture
- Integrated GeForce6 GPU
- Dual VGA Ouput: DVI-D & RGB
- HDTV out interface (HDTV/AV/S output module was bundled)
- 2 x 1394a Support
Video: Onboard Nvidia 6150
Audio: Onboard
Case: Old Desktop Box
RAM: A-Data DDR2 800 MHz 2 x 1 Gigabyte sticks