I already posted this to livid-user but that list doesn't seam very active so I decided to repost it here. I would like to start a project and/or work with existing project such home-brewed TiVO system for two main reasons 1) for the fun of it and 2) to make a statement to the RIAA and the MPAA that they are not going to be able to control the flow of information period. This project will be different then some of the other projects I have seen in several key ways: 1) Will focus on producing a deliverable now by gluing together existing software. 2) Will be based on generic hardware, ie it should be able to work with a wide variety of receiver and video cards with TV out and should not relay on hardware encoding cards. 3) For now will focus on recoding and playing back NTSC and PAL tv signals, with digital tv coming latter. I also want this to converge to generic multimedia machine being able to function as a MP3 and VCD player and recorder as well as being able to eventually play DVD. Software wise there are two aspects involved in the project, the user interface and the drivers. I expect the interface to develop as follows: 1) No on screen interface with everything being controlled by a VGA monitor of over the network. 2) Basic on screen interface but still requiring (1) for the more advanced functions 3) Everything on screen requiring a separate interface only for programming the actual software. I plan to only focus on step one as I have my TV and computer right next to each other. Driver wise I expect it to develop as follows: 1) Provide the ability to record and play back video and be able to transfer the videos over the network. 2) Be able to record a video while watching other parts of the video at the same time and be able to pause live TV. 3) Be able to play and record Video CD 4) Be able to play DVDs. Music wise I expect to progress as follows 1) Be able to play CD (A no brainier) 2) Be able to record and play music. Be able to support radio tuner cards. 3) Be able to play and create compressed music CD's. I specifically avoid saying MP3 here as recording MP3 have some patent problems and the system should be fully functional based on the Ogg format. In order to keep out of legal trouble the fully functional system must 1) Be 100% unquestionably legal, ie no AVI files or mplayer unless they can be made functional with out having to link to non-free software. 2) Use Freely available Open Source software as much as possible. 3) Minimize the use of patents. There rules may be broken to be able to play and recorded in formats that can not be supported based on the above rules but the system must be fully functional with out the need for the use of these additional formats. I defiantly think this is possible based on exiting software although it may take some work, especially since most of the software is in alpha and pre alpha states and don't always work correctly. So who else is interested? What suggestions for recommended software and hardware to use? In particular what video cards have good tv-out support in Linux? Should I go go with a normal video card or should I use some sort of video card dedicated to video editing? I would like to keep the cost as low as possible so I would say anything above $200 is out of the question and would like to stay under $100. How well support is the ATI All-in-wonder with Linux? Also is a Intel Celeron fast enough to use or should I stick with Pentium IIIs (IV is two expensive at the moment). In particular how does it compare speed wise with the Pentium III for real time software video encoding and playback? Thanks in advance. -- http://kevin.atkinson.dhs.org
