[vdr] Re: Hardware planning : VDR + EPIA-M + budget DVB

["Colin Paton" <ac2crp@blueyonder.co.uk>]

Hi,

libsoftmpeg+DirectFB currently works well with an EPIA-M for watching live
TV. I use it with a Hauppauge Nova-T card - and the remote control for this
card works with VDR - I don't use lirc. nvram-wakeup works with this
motherboard too, to wake the machine up for recording. At the moment, I
would say the following:

+ Live TV watching works well, good AV sync, smooth video.
+ The Nova-T remote control works for controlling VDR.
+ The on screen display works, and uses the per-pixel hardware alpha
blending of the CLE266.

- Playback of recordings isn't 100% at the moment - there are sometimes
jumps and pauses in the video, and pause/ff/rew aren't yet implemented.
- TV output isn't 100% yet - the picture isn't quite the correct size, and
interlacing isn't quite working yet. Having said that, it's probably quite
watchable unless you are very fussy and are watching on a high quality TV
set. I believe however that the chip is probably capable of giving good
output, and documentation is hopefully on its way soon from VIA to help
achieve this. Certainly, the vt1622 doesn't have the 'solarisation' effect
of the vt1621. One option that I am considering is building a sync combining
circuit in order to get RGB output from the VGA port, and connect to Scart.
This would give highest output quality.

I've used the SPDIF output OK with a Sony Dolby Digital amplifier with xine.

As far as your other requirements:

> * burn recorded DVB shows as DivX on DVD-R

The EPIA-M might take a while to transcode things to DivX (but again, this
is probably no problem if - say - you can leave it going overnight or
something.)

> * view photos
> * surf on the web (house's intranet, a few selected sites)

At the moment, libsoftmpeg works only with DirectFB, which might preclude
you running mozilla, or something which requires X. (Although DirectFB does
have an X server - but it's not really an area that I could advise on).

> * a remote

Nova-T remote works OK for me.

> * a lot of hardware work, including an LCD display that suit the case
> * something to connect the keys on the front of the case to the
motherboard

Nice :-) The EPIA-M motherboard has internal PS/2 and serial ports as
headers on the board... this would save you plugging things into the
connectors on the back, and would be a bit neater.

I hope this information helps you! In terms of choosing a card; I have
noticed no problems with the Nova-T card - however others may be able to
advise you more on that!

Colin




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