[linux-dvb] FusionHDTV5

[Sigmund Augdal]

On Wed, 2005-08-24 at 20:05 -0400, Michael Krufky wrote:
> Jate wrote:
> > I am thinking about buying a DVICO FusionHDTV5 Lite. I read that DVICO
> > recommends a video card with MPEG2 decoding acceleration to provide hardware
> > assistance with the HDTV stream decoding.
> 
> Just curious, why the Lite model and not the Gold?  I recommend the Gold 
> model over the Lite model, any day.
> 
> > I have also read that Linux video card drivers do not necessarily have
> > support for this hardware assistance. I have also read that binaries from
> > NVidia may have this support. I want to know if I would need to upgrade to a
> > brawnier processor in order to get this working.
> 
> The Gold model is less CPU-intensive than the Lite model.  The Lite 
> model does NOT have the mpeg decoder that you are speaking of on-board, 
> but the Gold model does.  Actually, DViCO recommends ATI video boards 
> for the DxVA acceleration... I like to stay away from NVidia, but that 
> is just me...  Be my guest and taint your kernel with proprietary 
> binaries ;-)
> 
> > If you are a FusionHDTV5 Linux pioneer, can you tell me your performance
> > experience?
> 
> I have tried all three of these models (below) with my Pention 4 3.06 
> GHz HT processor... I have some slower machines here, but I havent 
> bothered sticking any of these cards in there yet.  They all perform 
> very well in my machine under both Linux AND Windows, except that Linux 
> DVB support for the Lite board isnt yet complete.  Mac Michaels, the 
> author of the frontend driver for all of these boards, has a slightly 
> slower machine, and he has mentioned that his machine chokes a bit on 
> the 1080i HDTV streams.  I, on the other hand, can still compile a 
> kernel in less than ten minutes while watching HBO in Hi-Def on the same 
> machine without a hitch.
> 
> FusionHDTV 5 LITE:  I am currently working on the driver for this card. 
>   I have completed analog video support, and it is flawless.  The 
> (analog) driver for this board can be found in video4linux cvs, and 
> probably will not hit the stable linux kernel until 2.6.14  (we missed 
> the 2.6.13 deadline for this one).  DVB support for FusionHDTV5 Lite is 
> a work-in-progress.  It is coming along, although I wouldn't expect full 
> support right away.
> 
> FusionHDTV5 GOLD:  I was able to sneak analog support for this board 
> into 2.6.13, but DVB support requires the newer version of the analog 
> driver, found in video4linux cvs.  Yes, I *did* say that DVB support 
> requires an analog update, not a DVB update.  I'd rather not explain 
> this now -- it's a long story.  Mac Michaels wrote the driver for the 
> LGDT3303 frontend (used in all of these boards), and that driver will be 
> included in 2.6.13, but disabled for FusionHDTV5 Gold.
> 
> FusionHDTV 3 Gold-T: If you want a board that works in linux NOW (as of 
> 2.6.13) then THIS is the board that you want to buy.  Full analog AND 
> dvb support have been implemented, and this code is already present in 
> Linus' 2.6.13 stable tree.
> 
> ---The three boards in my posession are the ones above this line.
> 
> FusionHDTV 3 Gold-Q: Same story as the Gold-T ... Mac has this board. 
> This is a slightly older model... You can probably get this for cheaper 
> than the Gold-T model, and they're pretty much the same thing, although 
> this one is harder to find nowadays.
These seems to be the atsc cards. Do you happen to know anything about
the support for the FusionHDTV DVB-T cards? In particular the
corresponding Lite version?

With regards

Sigmund Augdal

> 
> If you end up getting the FusionHDTV Lite anyway, then just cross your 
> fingers and hope that I figure out this IRQ problem mentioned in an 
> email I wrote last night.  Regardless, it would be nice to have someone 
> else to test my work on the dvb-bt8xx driver (for FusionHDTV5 Lite) 
> besides just me alone. I hope this information is what you were looking 
> for... If you have any other questions, please ask.
>