What is MythTV?
MythTV is a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) application that runs on the Linux operating system. In fact, there are specially pre-configured MythTV distributions (installation packages) incorporating various versions of Linux, including MythDora, and Mythbuntu that intend to make MythTV easier to use. There are highly optimized versions of a MythTV distributions meant to run from a smaller amount of disk space or a CD-ROM like miniMyth or Live-CD. These special distributions are meant to make it easier to build your own PVR system, perhaps using an older computer and a few new parts. While the main purpose of MythTV is to record television programs for later viewing, a MythTV PVR can actually do much more (we will talk about that later).
Terminology can often be a stumbling block when reading through the maze of information available on MythTV, so let me try to address terms that were new to me when I started my adventure. A MythTV PVR consists of essentially two main components:
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a Back-End that captures and stores your video programs
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a Front-End that plays them back on a computer display or TV
The Back-End part of the system uses a channel guide to know when to record programs. The channel guide information can be gathered periodically through a service provider, or you can manually manage that data. Most would choose the service provider - like Schedules Direct - which for a relatively small fee (compared to your cable or satellite bill) will enable the Back-End to request the correct information for your viewing area programatically so you don't have to fiddle with it.
The Back-End also has components that capture the video and save it to a hard drive, which can be an internal, external, or a network drive (SMB or NFS). Capture devices vary from internal PCI, PCI-X or USB video capture/encoder devices (like Hauppauge products), to external network-able devices (like the HDHomeRun made by a company called Silicon Dust). Internal or USB connected devices are obviously limited to the capability of the system where they are installed, and while it may seem elementary to some people, it was a revelation for me that an external device like the HDHomeRun can service multiple systems - not just a single MythTV PVR.
The Front-End part of the system is the main user interface. It provides the means to browse and manage what has been stored and play it back using traditional "VCR" controls (pause, rewind fast-forward). MythTV offers many more features including burning programs to DVD (DVD burner required in the Back-End), playing DVD's, and also running "plug-in applications". It is a computer after all.
I am not going to kid you - there are a lot of moving parts to this system, and MythTV is NOT an appliance like a TiVO. My personal experience was less than ideal, but I took this on a part science project, part frugality measure because I wanted better quality High-Definition TV (HD) and I wanted to reduce my monthly budget for television services (Cable TV bill). My intention was to get my HD programs off the air, and my Standard Definition (SD) digital programs over Cable. While it is true my cable provider has more HD programs available, the quality is bad because they compress the original signal so much. At the time I am writing this my cable bill is as follows:
| Digital Basic | $ 72.70 |
| HD Set Top Box & DVR Service (2 Devices @ $15.95 each) | $ 31.90 |
| Additional Outlet for my second DVR (which I installed myself) | $ 5.99 |
| Franchise Fees, Taxes, etc | $ 6.07 |
|
TOTAL |
$116.66 |
I intend to eliminate the HD STB and DVR altogether, and the AO fee. I don't know if my cable company will let me take Digital Basic alone without a STB of some type, but if they do, I should save $37.89 plus something less in prorated taxes (about $2). So nearly $40 in savings per month. I might even be able to drop to a cheaper video service, who knows.