Building a Linux PVR, Part 2: Microsoft's MCE 2004
by Purav Sanghani on September 16, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Linux
Playing Video
Unfortunately, MythTV took its first real stumble at DVD playback. Using the machine that we installed from scratch in Part I of the analysis, we had zero issues playing DVDs. Under KnoppMyth, the DVD completely refused to play. We would hear the DVD start up, spin and then just hang. Part of this may have to do with copy-protection, part of it may have to do with poorly constructed code. In either case, we can't watch "Nip Tuck" on the KnoppMyth machine without some serious changes to the install. The ability to make changes to KnoppMyth after it has already been installed is one quality that it severely lacks.
Sample DVD playback under MythTV from Scratch machine
Click to enlarge.
Both machines utilize all the features that you would expect from TiVo. We can pause, rewind and replay live TV. Below, you can see us pause during a commercial while the program continues to record.
Click to enlarge.
Of course, on the MythTV machine, we are actually able to skip the commercials entirely. MythTV surpasses MCE completely in this respect. During our tests, 9 out of 10 commercial breaks were skipped flawlessly. ReplayTV's accuracy may be slightly higher than this, but for a free solution, Myth does an excellent job.
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KristopherKubicki - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
Id consider it more functional except the feature of on-demand content, which is pretty neat in my opinion.Kristopher
dvinnen - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
MythTV wins because it is free, cheeper to build a machine with, supports more hardware, and almost as functional as the Windows version.mab0270 - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
That's the beauty of MythTV: It's free, so you don't have to "buy it for some future upgrade".I'd have to say Myth works pretty well straight out of the box, providing you know how to follow instructions on how to set it up. As mentioned in the article, KnoppMyth makes it pretty easy to get a functional Myth system in about 20 minutes.
As for wondering whether those future upgrades will happen, it's being actively developed, and its popularity is growing every day. If you want a feaature, and you have any programming experience, you can even look into implementing it yourself!
Questar - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
So MythTV wins due to a potential to get better in the future??Yeah, I always buy products for some future upgrade that may or may not happen, verses how well they work on the day I spend my money.
Price2Rise - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
It would be great to see how a review of MythTV and MediaPortal would look. MediaPortal is open source as well and runs on Windows instead. It is a young project, but it is looking good already -> http://mediaportal.sf.netPrice2Rise - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
mcveigh - Thursday, September 16, 2004 - link
mce 2005 is cominghttp://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&a...
10/12 acording to that thread.