[linux-dvb] A LOT of newbie questions

[<mocm@convergence.de>]

Lauri Pesonen writes:
 > 
 > 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?

MHP support has  nothing to do with the receiver hardware. In STBs it
only means that the processor and the memory requirements are higher.
Since the DVB card is inside the PC that should be no problem. All you
need now is MHP software. The driver has all the requirements for MHP
support and Convergence has already written MHP software using the
driver. I can't say anything about the comercial availability, though.

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

In a PC you have more resources and can do things that the maker of a
STB might not even imagine yet. 

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

I don't think so, unless it requires extra hardware support. For
example, if they would broadcast HDTV then the hardware decoder in the
DVB card could not handle the resolution, but you could still try to
decode the stream in software, if your CPU is fast enough. 

 > 
 > 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?

There are programs that can scan for channels, but usually it is
easier to have a ready channel list. DVB-T support is in its first
stage, but AFAIK there are already people in GB and Finnland using the
driver for DVB-T reception and of course in Berlin.

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

You need the driver for the DVB cards and the VDR package. For
additional packages that are required look at the information in the
sources of the driver and VDR.


 > 2. What about texttv and EPG?
 > 

AFAIK VDR handles that. There are also some other programs that can do
that. The driver provides the ability to use your TVs teletext decoder
for teletext viewing. The signal is encoded into the output signal of
the DVB card.

 > 
 > 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
 > 

True, if they are not from the same transponder.

 > 2. watch a recording and record at the same time
 > 

True.

 > 3. watch tv and record at the same time
 > 

Only true, if you watch something on a different transponder.

 > 4. do timeshifting
 > 

True.

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

True ( if you record something that you are not timeshifting )

 > 
 > 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?
 > 

Yes, but there may be some sources for older models.

 > 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?
 > 

There is a module you can connect to the DVB card to use CA cards. The
API refers to Windoze software.

 > 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?

A PC usually makes more noise at is more expensive than an STB. You
can take measures to silence down the PC and an STB with harddisk is
still more expensive than adding a DVB card to your PC.

Marcus

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Dr. Marcus Metzler                             
mocm@netcologne.de                     http://www.metzlerbros.de
mocm@convergence.de                    http://www.convergence.de

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