Needed features for mvpmcx2/NMT

[HtV]

Due to underwhelming number of replies it's pretty hard to get motivated to respond further, but my bet is that most users in the GB-PVR community don't really want to admit it, but they really want a machine capable of delivering 100% MVP functionality and aren't willing to make any tradeoffs to get HD, but will accept the tradeoffs to turn HD into SD. There is also no doubt a significant WAF at play here too.

Martin

I can only speak for me:
not having a PCH makes it very hard to judge how important certain things are.
e.g. I'm not sure what exactly I would be missing not having an OSD available.
So I certainly would have to have a PCH and I would need to have access to HD-material, to make it possible for me to say anything worthwile, how much I would like to, because it all is very interesting.
I also think that the PCH being new, people have to get used to it before they start wondering if the thing might have more possibillities then the default ones.
When I bought my MVP it took a while until I started looking and found GBPVR.

cya Hans

[nitrogen_widget]

I have a few questions for all GBPVR users before I respond,

Do you really want HD or do you want to avoid it as long as possible? I am amazed at the hoops some people go through just to watch video on their MVP.

Is quality or quantity of video most important?

Do you really think Hauppauge will solve the problem with an HD-MVP?

Is building a $600 GBPVR client (or two) to get an OSD a la gazoo http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=34082 for you?

Martin

I've used Geexbox.org to play back GBPVR recordings on a p2 400 with a radeon 7000 flawlessly over my LAN & from the DVD drive.
Not much of an OSD & no GBPVR integration but that really isn't an issue for me.
The OSD is pretty, but I find them more annoying. the simple text Geexbox puts on the display is more than adequate for me.

However, the picture is underscanned & the interface is just too frustrating for my wife to use.

The MVP works for my wife perfectly, except I prefer converting everything to XVID to save space or playing them off a DVD.
The Client option works also, but I like the live CD aspect of geexbox.

What i'd like to see is a GBPVR client running on a 30 or 40 MB live linux image.

I think it can be done.

whether its done somehow using the remote frame buffer protocol the MVP uses or with a software front end that polls the GBPVR database & tells the server to kick off live TV. (whether it's through directshow or even VLC)

I'm personally not keen on a high powered client because the current server client set-up doesn't do live HD TV so well right now & i'm all about doing as much as possible with as little hardware as possible.

I've been looking at all these options for a client & I personally think the Linux Live image is the best solution.

I also think I need to pick up the pace on teaching myself C so i'll stop here.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

The MediaMVP is a great device, but there are a few things I don't like about it:
- speed;
- plays only mpeg2 and mpeg1;
- picture is too dark.

Those three negative points are all gone with the PCH, and that's just great. Playing HD files is nice too, but not important for recordings, since there aren't many HD channels in the Netherlands.

I actually don't care too much about the OSD, I only use it to see the timeline and that's already present on the PCH. I would like to see the GBPVR interface when I'm listening to music, because it shows the song info since the latest release. I've got a feeling that playing music while showing the GBPVR interface could be easier than OSD on the video's.

For the WAF it needs to have resume and skipping x minutes would be great, although we can already skip 30 seconds back and forward with mono. Speeding up the starting of videos would be nice too. I watch my home videos on the PCH, because the bitrate is too high for my mediamvp. Those files are usually only 1 or two minutes long, and the wait between them can be annoying.


Chris

[mikeh49]

Here's input from someone who has never seen a PCH (I cancelled my order when the 780G MBs came out to see if they would be a better solution.) I use GBPVR on a dedicated box with one HDTV; no client-server contemplated, but a small quiet PCH would justify going to this. We almost exclusively use it for time-shifting and commercial removal with Comskip of commercial broadcasts.

Picture quality and WAF are the two priorities for me. I have struggled to get good SD quality with the new LCD HDTV, albeit with a lower power video card (Geforce 6200). Seems that others are having the same problem, even with high power video cards. If the PCH can provide a quality picture out of the box, that would be a strong selling point with me. I'm tired of decoders/renderers/Nvidia control panel, etc.

Regarding HD, we live in the boondocks and I don't know if OTA HDTV will ever be available. Everybody here has satellite or cable. So, I'm following the Hauppauge component capture card with interest (but $250???). It better have a pass-through! We just got HDTV cable, but there are only 2 locals available (don't know whether to blame Charter or if Spokane is so far behind) and we haven't sprung for the premiums.

The WAF of PVRX2 is good for playing recordings, so if that was maintained, then another strong point.

Comskip is a pretty high priority, and I understand it doesn't work currently, so that's a negative.

I don't think the loss of OSD would be a big deal, as we don't rely on it. No live TV so the mini-guide is not used. I'm not sure what else the OSD comprises, however.

DVD playback would be nice, but not essential. We don't have any ripped DVDs or download movies (at the moment). Also, the server would be in the basement, so would require a trip to insert the disc.

Hope this makes sense. I continue to follow the NMT and 780G "threads".

[jksmurf]

Some good feeback here I think, despite the number of respondents, considering the actual number of GBPVR users WITH a PCH (and even fewer that had an MVP).

I actually don't care too much about the OSD, I only use it to see the timeline and that's already present on the PCH.

I use it like Chris, only to see the timeline ... and the number and width of comskip cuts. With the timeline on the PCH, it's not such a biggie. But comskip is a big thing for us.

For the WAF it needs to have resume and skipping x minutes would be great, although we can already skip 30 seconds back and forward with mono.

Pause, Resume, Skip and Comskip are all high WAF things for me.

Speeding up the starting of videos would be nice too. I watch my home videos on the PCH, because the bitrate is too high for my mediamvp. Those files are usually only 1 or two minutes long, and the wait between them can be annoying.

So far not an issue for me with general shows, but can imagine might be a bit of an issue for short movies.

k.

[mvallevand]

k, I was looking for feedback from non-PCH users so I could answer psycik. Not being a GB-PVR user makes it difficult to weigh the pros and cons.

Martin

[nitrogen_widget]

k, I was looking for feedback from non-PCH users so I could answer psycik. Not being a GB-PVR user makes it difficult to weigh the pros and cons.

Martin

I forgot to mention I don't use PCH either.
I just want the video & a timeline.

[ACTCMS]

I get my TV from UK Freeview so I'm not too concerned with HD TV at the moment.

Most of my recreational use of the TV is through MVP/TVs and that includes watching recordings, listening to music and a lot of the other great stuff that GBPVR does, as well as watching live TV - you get the whole lot through one box/remote - I was going to say "great WAF", but it's great for me too.

I'll eventually need to add HD to my setup, so I'm following HD related threads with interest. I know there will come a time when I need to move from the MVP to something else, perhaps to support HD so I want to keep up to date with PCHs and stuff.

From experience I know that changing platforms means losing old stuff as well as gaining new stuff, but everyone needs to make up their own mind when to change...

Although I'm not ready to take advantage of new developments in this area, I appreciate the work that you guys do in pushing the boundaries - and so keeping alive the idea of a PC based home entertainment system that you actually have control over - unlike a commercial STB

[philly_phenom]

FWIW, OSD is of minimal importance to me. The only time I really use it on the MVP is occasionally to see how far into a recording I am during playback.

I need a device to playback my HD recordings in my family room. My first attempt was to stream them to my PS3, but it can't handle recordings > 4GB.

The ability to have GBPVR functionallity in a STB form would be great. I'd miss comskip, but from what sub has said, the skip buttons work & that would suffice.

I currently am using Comcast's DVR in my family room, unfortunately, it only holds ~20 hours of HD content.

I've signed up to be notified when more PCH's are available and am looking forward to this.

[macgyver]

My comments, most of which have already been made but I do want to show my support:
We current only use MVP with MVPMC, we have 5 of them. Most important for me is quality and WAF/reliability, both of which are fine at present. One thing we use alot is resume, that would be hard to lose. Not sure why people refer to MVP as slow - mine are a speedy as I need, although maybe it's the OSD guide they are refering to - I know that is slow but I don't use it.
We very rarely watch live TV, never use the OSD guide and I have never got comskip to be accurate enough for use here in the UK but once you get to know how long the breaks are (mostly 3 or 4 mins) then a simple skip is all that is required. ML2 gets used alot too.
I have just received my PCH (still in the box at present while I work my way through the numerous forum threads) and will take delivery of an HD 50" soon so HD will become important. Currently we record DVB-T and an SD cable box but I want to add a third tuner and an DVT-S-HD would seem a good choice. Looking forward to showing photos through the PCH on the big tele too.

Anyway, just wants to say keep up the good work and I will report back once I've got my PCH set up.