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EFF Reviews HDTV PVR Solution for Mac

Posted by timothy on from the moving-about-pictures dept.

enrico_suave points out this "PVRBlog post about EFF's Review of Elgato's EyeTV 500, an HDTV solution for the Mac. Well, a very speedy dual-processor G5 Mac, apparently. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been doing a lot of important work defending our online and digital rights including opposing the dreaded FCC mandated broadcast flag (cue boos and hisses) Elgato and Plextor also have a Standard Definition homebrew PVR solution with an EyeTV and ConvertX PVR bundle (Wired review)." (See also this earlier review from a Slashdot reader.)

5 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. iTele by ed+'g3' · · Score: 5, Informative

    iTele [for os x] is free, works with generic digital tv tuner cards and supports the high definition picture for those regions where it is available, i.e. everywhere except the uk.

    http://www.defyne.org/dvb/

  2. Dual G5 requirement should be improved by tji · · Score: 4, Informative


    A dual G5 requirement for smooth HDTV playback is a big problem. You should be able to easily do this with a midrange G4 system.

    The problem is that Apple has not opened the API for the MPEG2 acceleration available in most of the video chips in Macs. ( The equivalent of DxVA in Windows, or XvMC in XFree86 ). In the x86 world, this takes the CPU requirement down from ~ 2.4GHz P4 to ~ 800MHz P3.

    Apple's DVD player uses the MPEG2 acceleration, but they don't allow others to use it. So, we're stuck with extremely high CPU requirements of dec oding those hi-res HDTV files.

    1. Re:Dual G5 requirement should be improved by steve_bryan · · Score: 4, Informative

      "Actually, No.. DxVA is what makes the CPU requirements reasonable, even with the software decode products. The 2.4GHz -> 800MHz was specifically addressing DxVA offload of HDTV MPEG2 decode."

      I know they claim that. What I was reporting is that it is a lie. I had a 700 MHz Athlon which was originally claimed to be sufficient for the Fusion I card (using DxVA) and it was not. I upgraded to a 1500 Athlon and finally the 2400+ which is sufficient for software decoding with DvXA assist. Without DxVA you get a more stable picture but it has to throw out every other scan line. I actually prefer that picture generally because it doesn't have the artifacts that you get with DxVA.

      If someone has an older box with a sub 1 GHz processor he will need to get a MyHD card to get good results. I wouldn't recommend Fusion cards to anyone with less than a 2 GHz processor. I am using the computer monitor. Maybe the picture from the DVI port gives better results with less CPU.

      It has been reported elsewhere in the comments that dual 1 GHz G4 Mac will produce good results with EyeTV 500. If that is the case then the results are not so starkly different. I'm sure the software is less finicky because I have and use EyeTV (I just use it with the EyeTV USB but it is the same software). It doesn't restart the Mac just because I commit the mistake of running VLC or some other video program. In fact on the Mac I have the option of having multiple programs running at the same time without causing a crash.

  3. No G5 needed now... by AaronD12 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Elgato Systems updated their software and it only requires a reasonably fast G4 system. My EyeTV 500 works perfectly on my Powerbook G4 1.25GHz laptop at full screen.

    -Aaron-

  4. MythTV on OSX - Soon by GameGod0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'd just like to throw in that over the past few months there have been TONS of patches added to MythTV that add OSX compatibility.
    I'm not sure how close Myth is to working completely on OSX, but I don't doubt that once it's working on OSX, it will be a formidable entry into the world of PVR software for this operating system.