[vdr] Advice on new motherboard, xineliboutput, vdpau, hdmi video & audio, etc.

[Laz]

On Thursday 26 Aug 2010, Thomas Hilber wrote:
> When I started to setup my VDPAU machines (end of last year) I
> first made sure that the Xserver really is running a 50Hz modeline.
> I mostly play 25/50Hz streams. This way I found an Xserver
> bug/misbehavior. Only if I explicitly set the modeline params manually
> in xorg.conf I get real 50Hz output (instead of 60Hz).
> Please see attached my xorg.conf. Always try:
> 
> DISPLAY=:0 nvidia-settings --query RefreshRate
> 
> to verify. Even the Xorg.0.log lies about the fact that 50Hz are active
> but in reality it uses 60Hz. Maybe nVidia has fixed that in the
> meantime.
> 
> After this tuning to a channel with live ticker gives me perfect
> results. There is not any judder at all.
> 
> The problem with all this juddering is that the symptom 'judder'
> alone gives you no hint at all about the root cause of the problem.

I've been following this thread with interest... I had been happily 
running vdr-1.7.0 with a Matrox G450 video card, softdevice, and a CRT TV.

At first, I was using a home-built VGA-SCART lead (these cards can 
generate composite sync so no need for combining sync signals), and then I 
found a VGA-sVideo cable (came with a similar graphics card at work, 
ahem!).

Then my old TV blew up and I now have a full-HD LCD TV. I've been using 
the same setup with the new TV and it still works pretty well for the SD 
signals I can currently receive.

HD is starting to appear in the UK and it seems like a good time to 
replace my current P4-based vdr box with a smaller, low power unit, and an 
Nvidia ION systems seems to be the current option (although a lack of PCI 
slots is a tad worrying, at least for the small form-factor boards!).

A couple of quick questions...

What is the "best" method for my current SD broadcasts: home-made VGA-
SCART lead or HDMI? (Do any of these boards have sVideo these days?)

Do I run the X server at the SD resolution or at 1920x1080 and let xine 
rescale rather than the TV?

I'm guessing run the X server at 1920x1080 and then both SD and HD work 
easily together (with full HD OSD?).

I toyed with the xine and the xineliboutput plugins a _long_ while back: 
which is the easiest option for getting VDPAU working?

Thanks,

Cheers,

Laz