Linux HTPC better than MediaCenter/Mediaportal?

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dale77

292 posts

Ultimate Geek

#91293 10-Oct-2011 22:27

sultanoswing:
FWIW, I highly recommend going the Linux/MythTV route. Without starting a flamewar here, I found Media Centre to be very restrictive in what you can do with it. MediaPortal is quite nice and a bit more open to user customisation. For full tinkerability however, you can't go past Myth. Once set up (and that is the fiddly bit) it's very, very smooth and 'just works'. Emphasis is on the 'once set up' bit though. If you don't like fiddling with MySQL etc, you may be better to stick with the Windows-based options I've mentioned.

I would like to use Linux but unfortunately it does not support blu-ray :-(

This is what I get with windows/mediaportal:

1. EPG from the DVB-T signal using EPGCollector into XMLTV plugin
2. Record 2+ programs simultaneously on dual tuner
3. One button play 20 random songs from the music collection, up-mixed to 5.1
4. Skip forward/back n seconds/minutes, pause etc
5. blu-ray playback with downsampled hd audio
6. Make full use of graphics HW acceleration of h.264 decode

How does Myth compare? Linux would be nice but the pay-for-view digital media seems not so well supported.

Dale

HTPC: Antec Fusion 430, Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H F7, AMD X2 4850e, Sapphire 4670 1GB, Corsair 4x1Gb, Adata 128Gb SSD, WD10EARS Green, LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray, Hauppauge NOVA TD-500, Logitech z-5500, Logitech Harmony 525, Samsung LA40B530 1080p, Vista Premium-32 SP2, Catalyst 10.12(Facelift preview), Mediaportal 1.2.3+OneButtonMusic, AC3Filter, Cyberlink Powercinema 6 codec, BLU-RAY: Samsung BD-F7500

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#532519 12-Oct-2011 20:42

For me, I think a Linux/MythTV box is better. Yes, it is a bummer that Blu-ray does not support Linux (note the way around I have phrased that) - blame the content-protection lobby for that privilege!

Some of what I've written below is from another thread on this forum, but here goes for the sake of saving on repetition:

I have the Hauppauge HVR-2210. It's a dual HD and analog tuner card and with a bit of fiddling works perfectly under Linux & MythTV. The HVR-2200 should work right out of the box on Linux.

To grab the EPG data (into MythTV), I've written a very, very simple script which'll do the job. Check out the EPG subforum for more details (http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=126&topicid=90470).

Without wishing to start a flamewar, I found Windows Media Centre to be very restrictive in what you can do with it - can't easily move recording directories around, files are proprietary etc. MediaPortal is quite nice and a bit more open to user customisation. For full tinkerability however, you can't go past Myth. Once set up (and that is the fiddly bit) it's very, very smooth and works easily. Files are unencoded (if slightly confusingly named) and recording directories are easily customisable. You can easily set up FFWD and REWIND and SKIP values to pretty easily skip commercial breaks efficiently. There is an automatic commercial detection function, but it is reported to work less well with HD broadcasts.

Myth does HW decoding using Nvidia's VDPAU features. Can record multiple programs, straight from the EPG, do series recordings etc. etc. I personally don't use or like the MythMusic music player... jsut didn't like the interface. Speaking of interface, MythTV doesn't use a mouse-based interface, so you use a keyboard or remote. You can run XBMC as the frontend interface if you want a snazzier mouse-driven interface, but this is at the cost of the PVR functionality (at least until XBMC-PVR and its myth plugin mature further).

The MythTV pictures browser and weather plugins are perfectly adequate.

Myth does also have a built-in arcade / console emulator (have't tried it) - and many people find mythweb to be excellent. Basically, you run a server and can access your medial library and schedule recordings from any internet connection in the world (I haven't tried or needed this feature though).

I do emphasise the 'once set up' bit though. If you don't like fiddling with MySQL etc, you may be better to stick with the Windows-based options.

[EDIT: I just realised you'd quoted me from that other thread!]

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dale77

292 posts

Ultimate Geek

#532544 12-Oct-2011 21:30

sultanoswing: For me, I think a Linux/MythTV box is better. Yes, it is a bummer that Blu-ray does not support Linux (note the way around I have phrased that) - blame the content-protection lobby for that privilege!

[EDIT: I just realised you'd quoted me from that other thread!]

Yeah, I thought shifting your interesting topic to a new thread was the best option. I used to use linux quite a lot a while back, but it was never an option for my HTPC. Unfortunately i have a few blu-rays now, so this is a bit of a show-stopper for me. Also, I have ATI hardware, which may not be supported so well for HW decode in Linux.

If linux supported blu-ray, ATI graphics HW I'd be keen. Dunno what you mean "blu-ray does not support linux". Whoever is to blame, I can't pop a blu into linux and have a software player utilize my HDTV and 5.1 audio to play the disc...

sultanoswing

814 posts

Ultimate Geek

#532550 12-Oct-2011 21:49

Believe me - it's the Blu-ray consortium's fault hence "Blu-ray does not support Linux". It's the closed source, DRM-requirement of Blu-ray which has locked out the open-source implementation.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RestrictedFormats/BluRayAndHDDVD