First... sorry for breaking this thread so badly.. but... I guess it's not exactly CentOS related anyway. Then again, it is a 'fantastic' new use for Linux in general, which could have a positive effect for us all! >>> >>> >>> >>I don't understand that, you want to pull in a show faster than it >>plays? >> >> > >Yes, when it is already recorded. The equivalent would be copying a >file from one mythtv server to another for later viewing. It >would be better to allow access to arbitrary files, not just >what comes out the video jacks and to do it at full media >speed, not real display time. > > > Fat chance of that. Remember.. "Who shot J.R.?" I don't think they'll ever allow you to see the outcome faster than the rest of the world by having such a device. Commercials will gain from this, as those wanting to know who shot JR at the earliest possible moment will sit through the commercials. Otherwise, advertising on TV could completely go away and the cost of TV programming would have to rise substantially. Likely, this is already being factored in.. first it was VCRs... clunky but effective... but with DVR, whew.. commercial skip is so very easy. > >I think it will last until the voters wake up and realize >that their interests have been sold out by the legislators >mandating this crap. > > > I am on Dish Network. So, I buy my equipment 'each' time. I now have a couple of receivers one a STV Dishplayer. I've purchased a LCD TV and am looking at the HDTV options. I should have said this in my first post. So, looking at Direct and Dish for a best upgrade alternative... I find there really isn't one that's reasonable. Maybe I'm just looking too early and should wait a year... but.. with MythTV, gee, that changes everything. With Dish, I'd need to buy yet another new receiver and to get DVR and HDTV in one receiver it's $799 (which actually contains two receivers.. one HDTV and one STV). I saw on one of the satelite websites, that having a DVR will cost an extra $4.99/month. That rubs me the wrong way. I'm already paying for programming, why do I have to pay more to watch when I want? They didn't charge me the 5 bucks for having a VCR... what's the difference? And, as 'standards' seem to change so quickly, this seems to be an ongoing process of equipment purchases... something I don't want to spend money on for TV.. it's just not that high of a priority. So, Myth looks very very interesting. So, I'm looking now at a MythTV system and possibly a HDTV satelite receiver, however the quantity of programming and the additional HDTV fees... another 11 bucks a month for 4 to 6 channels... just goes beyond what I really want to pay. Network television is doing simulcast. Now realalistically, how long can we expect that to continue? Something like a football game. If I understand this right they have two crews with two sets of cameras shooting the same game at the same time. Or maybe this is bad information now and that might have just been done at the start? But, I am thinking this redundant signal broadcasting will go away as quickly as it can be done without losing viewers. Maybe in the next 5 to 10 years. Yes, the satelite companies both seem to have put up additional satelites, but this was done to "add local stations", with at the same time the forethought that HDTV was coming, so it was included on the new equipment. I guess I'm just fussing because I want HDTV on my local stations, which is not available via antenna in my remote area, nor via satelite yet... and I want it at the price I'm already paying... which is PLENTY! This is supposed to be a 'free TV' signal. I don't get to charge more for clients visiting our webservers on broadband versus those on dialup! So, for about the same equipment cost, I could buy myself a nice fast new computer for my workstation, relagate my 2.4GHtz to the Myth system and if the harddrive dies, something that happened to my first dishplayer just weeks before the one year warrenty ran out (whew!!), I'll be able to easily fix it instead of finding a way to replace a bad drive in a dishplayer at perhaps 13 months and going through the hassles of finding information on how to do it. I like this direction much better! It also has the potential of 'extending' the life of my old computer equipment as I upgrade/replace systems. Thanks for all the links and info.. I'll spend some time figuring out the technobabble in this field and come to a conclusion and direction. To the list, sorry if this went too far off topic.. I'm hoping it will be considered as good general information to all and yet another great reason for using Linux! Best Regards, John Hinton