[linux-dvb] A LOT of newbie questions

[Lauri Pesonen <lauri.pesonen@firsthop.com>]

Hi guys,

I've been looking into DVB cards - VDR - ... during the past week. And I 
have gathered a lot of questions related to the subject. I'd be very 
grateful for all answers. Please answer although you don't know the 
answers to all of my questions. You can reply directly to me or to the 
list.

As I said in the subject, I'm a newbie when it comes to DVB stuff. I'm 
planning on getting a DVB-C card, but I have a lot of unanswered 
questions. I've been reading the various sites (linuxtv.org, linuxdvb.tv, 
..), but I haven't been able to get so many answers :(


Oh yeah, I'm interested in DVB-C cards, so when answering take that into 
consideration.

Here we go...

The future in DVB
-----------------

1. As I've understood it, one should not buy the 1st generation
set-top-boxes since they are missing features like MHP support etc. What
about DVB cards? Can I just update my Linux DVB-driver and add some
additional software in the future in order to get MHP support?

2. Are there any other features that set-top-boxes are missing (except 
hard drives) that can be added to a Linux-DVB system?

3. Are there such features that are planned for DVB that cannot be added 
to the Linux-DVB system?


Tuning
------

1. I live in Finland and we have nation wide (not yet complete) DVB-T and 
DVB-C broadcasts. How do I tune the DVB card? There's a channel 
configuration file, but where do I get the frequencies? Is there some 
utility for Linux that scans for channels?


Required software
-----------------

1. What software do I need for watching tv and using VDR?

2. What about texttv and EPG?


Multiple DVB cards
------------------

As I have understood it, I need at least two DVB cards if I want to:

1. do multiple recordings at the same time

2. watch a recording and record at the same time

3. watch tv and record at the same time

4. do timeshifting

5. do timeshifting and record (this requires three cards?)


TchnoTrend card output
----------------------

1. Which outputs does the technotrend card provide? The mailinglist 
archives mentioned a J2 jumper on the board, but as I understand it, that 
was in an earlier revision of the card?

2. The technotrend webpages mention a remote controller:

"An optional remote control, S/PDIF out, and an embedded CA with smart 
card reader, SCART out, are available; these features support an open API 
(application programming interface) for third-party software developers"

What does this mean?


Common interface
----------------

1. The analog satellite scrambling seemed to be easy to bypass with season 
cards etc. What's the situation with digital scrambling and especially 
with the scrambling used in DVB-C broadcasts.


DVB-PC vs. Set-Top-Box
----------------------

1. IMHO the Linux-based DVB-VDR box sounds really cool and I would like to 
build such a system, but are there are situations where a STB would be 
better than a PC?

I think that's all ;) I'm very grateful for all answer!

-- Lauri

P.S. If your a FAQ maintainer and see stuff you want to put into the FAQ, 
feel free to copy'paste.




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