[olug] MythTV + PVR150 + IR Blaster
Benjamin Watson
bwatson1979 at gmail.com
Tue Oct 16 23:35:00 UTC 2007
Jon,
I applied the configurations as you directed and it worked like a
charm! The video displays nicely on my regular TV via the SVIDEO
ouput on my NVidia card directly to the SVIDEO input on my TV.
Now, the rub. I've noticed that some of the fonts in MythTV are
difficult to read on the TV versus the regular monitor. That being
said, is it possible to have the X display on both the standard CRT
monitor AND the TV at the same time. This would come in handy if ever
the occasion came up where something wouldn't display right on the TV.
Thanks again for your help,
Ben
On 9/25/07, Benjamin Watson <bwatson1979 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Jon, thanks for your input. I see myself tweaking my xorg.conf in the
> not-too-distant future.
>
> On 9/25/07, Jon Larsen <relayer at levania.org> wrote:
> > I don't have a problem watching content on my TV from my Mythbox
> > (including video with subtitles)
> >
> > Here is a quick rundown of my xorg.conf for TV out.
> >
> > In your xorg.conf file, there are a few settings to optimize TV-out.
> >
> > First, we'll look at the monitor section for the TV:
> >
> > Section "Monitor"
> > Identifier "Monitor1"
> > VendorName "Monitor Vendor"
> > ModelName "NTSC TV"
> > DisplaySize 640 480
> > HorizSync 30.0 - 50.0
> > VertRefresh 60.0 - 60.0
> > EndSection
> >
> > Note the Horizontal Sync and Vertical Refresh - US TVs run at 60 Hz (just
> > like AC power). Also, 640x480 is normal TV resolution.
> >
> > The video card settings are specific to your setup. You may need to use
> > TVOutFormat "COMPOSITE" instead of SVIDEO (composite is RCA video),
> > it depends on your TV, plus you'll need the Connected Monitor option
> > set to "TV" and TVStandard set to "NTSC-M". You can see mine here:
> >
> > Section "Device"
> > #Option "NvAGP" "0"
> > Identifier "Videocard1"
> > Driver "nvidia"
> > VendorName "Videocard vendor"
> > BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX (generic)"
> > Option "TVStandard" "NTSC-M"
> > Option "Connected Monitor" "TV"
> > Option "TVOutFormat" "SVIDEO"
> > #Option "TVOutFormat" "COMPOSITE"
> > Option "RenderAccel" "1"
> > Option "NoLogo" "On"
> > #BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
> > EndSection
> >
> >
> > And the Screen section to tie it all together. note I still specify
> > 640x480.
> >
> > Section "Screen"
> > Identifier "Screen1"
> > Device "Videocard1"
> > Monitor "Monitor1"
> > DefaultDepth 24
> > SubSection "Display"
> > Depth 24
> > Modes "640x480"
> > EndSubSection
> > EndSection
> >
> > The Nvidia settings are exlained more in detail in tar.gz that
> > the driver comes packaged. Other xorg.conf items are gleamed from the
> > MythTV Mailing lists. I've used this xorg.conf config for three years
> > now, moving it from box to box when I upgrade.
> >
> > You must cold or warm boot your box connected to the TV to allow the
> > TV-out to initialize itself.
> >
> > I am using the following nvidia card:
> > 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX
> > 4000 AGP 8x] (rev c1)
> > This limits me to version 9731 of the nvidia driver. Later versions
> > higher than 9731 do not support the MX4000 series.
> >
> > My full xorg.conf is available here:
> > http://www.olug.org/~relayer/mythbox.xorg.conf.txt
> >
> >
> > Jon L.
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 24 Sep 2007, Benjamin Watson wrote:
> >
> > > Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 23:30:51 -0500
> > > Wrom: VCJVTLBXFGGMEPYOQKEDOTWFAOBUZXUWLSZLKBR
> > > Reply-To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> > > To: Omaha Linux User Group <olug at olug.org>
> > > Subject: Re: [olug] MythTV + PVR150 + IR Blaster
> > >
> > > Thanks for the tip Rob, I'll definitely look into it.
> > >
> > > I've never attended a Linux install-fest myself, but I think a good
> > > topic of conversation and hands-on project would be setting up an HTPC
> > > using some of the more popular Myth-based distros (e.g. LinuxMCE,
> > > Mythbuntu, Mythdora, KnopMyth, or plain old Ubuntu with Myth meta
> > > package).
> > >
> > > I certainly see the benefits of an HTPC setup over the COX DVR service.
> > >
> > > In the meantime, I'm going to play around with that RF modulator
> > > anyways as I've got to figure out a way to connect a PC to some older
> > > "plain Jane" TVs that only have a coax input.
> > >
> > > Ben
> > >
> > > On 9/24/07, Rob Townley <rob.townley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > 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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> > > > > > OLUG at olug.org
> > > > > > http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug
> > > > > >
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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.
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> >
> > --
> > Jon H. Larsen - relayer -at- levania -dot- org
> > Operations Manager, Omaha Linux Users Group - http://www.olug.org/
> > AnimeSunday.org - http://www.animesunday.org/
> > Website - http://www.levania.org/~relayer/
> > GPG/PGP Pubkey - http://www.levania.org/~relayer/relayerpubkey.txt
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
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