Stephen Packard — Mon, 02 May 2005 13:28:35 -0700

I like your list, it contains many ideas I've had myself and a few I hadn't thought of. I actually made my own list of things I want to have changed or added to mythtv. I'm glad to know that there are others who are working to come up with improvements to MythTV. We just need some programmers who are skilled enough to impliment these changes. Can you help me get them done? Issac hasn't answered my e-mails. Here is my website: http://www.geocities.com/accpackard/MythTV.html

Joe Barnhart — Sat, 29 Jan 2005 07:30:46 -0800

Excellent list. My one small nitpick is that you take for granted that "most" HDTV sets are 720p native, thus all shows should be transcoded to that resolution by default. Two issues: First, there are a surprising number of *old* RPTV sets based on CRT technology which actually IS "native" 1080i. Second, although most DLP and LCD sets TODAY are 720p, I put to you that this will not be true in a year or two. The buzz this year at Winter CES was dominated by 1080p native display technologies -- DLP, LCD, and LCOS are all being introduced in sets this year.

Excellent blog, BTW!

Osma — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 23:02:51 -0800

Your wishlist about exactly what I've been thinking of as well, except I'm looking at this from the European DVB-T point of view. It's interesting to learn that the same "tuning to a quiet channel" problem (MythTV freezing) affects HDTV reception as well.

Jack Jackson — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 02:42:28 -0800

Hello,

My name is Donald E Jackson, and I have over 25 years in radio as the morning drive host at various radio stations. On January 1st 2001, I started recording all major speeches by politicians, including those that were often not covered in a big way by the national press. I edited each speech down to single sound bites by topic, day, date, and speaker, most of which run from 30 seconds to 2 minutes but still retaining the entire speech. I also recorded Congressional hearings on important matters and followed the same procedure. I used these sound bites on my morning show each day. After the September 2001 attack on our country, I paid even closer attention and also recorded each press conference and Congressional speech, including those from the Department of Defense. Needless to say I have tens of thousands of audio files archived on my computer system, all searchable by topic, date, and speaker. When the war in Afghanistan was announced I recorded on new videotape MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News 24 hours a day 7 days a week until President Bush appeared on the deck of the USS Lincoln and stated “Mission Accomplished”. Those tapes have never been viewed and, in fact, are still sitting in my videotape library. I have since left radio, and as old habits die hard have slowly, over a period of months stopped collecting, editing and filing all of the major news stories each day. I do continue to keep current with the news and daily happenings around the world. Yesterday I was reading a news story that mentioned (but did not offer a link to) your site. After visiting your site I thought of all the news files and the entire war from 3 different perspectives that I currently have in my library. I say 3 different perspectives because there was an amazing difference in the coverage, not to mention the false reports, bias, and sometimes just blatant attempts to sensationalize our efforts in that campaign. But you would need to hear and compare in order to understand this point and besides that’s not the reason for my letter. It would seem to me the video war tapes, and the thousands of audio speeches and sound bites could comprise a wonderful library that, if given national attention, would draw tens of thousands of listeners and viewers to a web site.

Quite frankly I became almost addicted to the hunt and capture of the best quality most riveting speech or sound bite, and miss it dramatically. I have had one of the best attorneys in the country research the use of these broadcasts on the Internet and as long as they are used as news stories or for research it is completely legal. I want to go back to the hunt and I’m currently looking for a web site with enough bandwidth, money, and a desire to support such a library.

I also think there is a demand (not just a demand but a huge demand) for online information, which should include interviews with current newsmakers. Not just politicians, but people on the cutting edge of the latest technologies and newest innovations in all fields. Imagine being able to go online and search a file for everything John Kerry or George W Bush said by topic. Or for that matter going online and being able to watch one of the world’s great chiefs prepare a gourmet meal being able to stop, pause, or rerun it as you studied the technique the chief was using. I think America and maybe the world are quickly tiring of the networks telling us (to quote Walter Cronkite) “That’s the News”. All of this is possible with today’s streaming video as you so aptly point out on your web site, but it seemed to me you failed to mention the amount of money that various associations and commercial companies might be willing to pay for a chance to share their side of a current story. Here in Springfield, Illinois (the state capitol) as on a national level, the coal industry spends millions to promote clean burning coal, but the general public remains unaware, and in fact has been led to believe that coal is the most dangerous form of power currently in use in this country. No matter which side of this issue you take, certainly it’s obvious that both sides spend millions to offer the world one argument or another. Offering infomercials of this sort would, I think, offset the expense of the straight news and high tech sections? Now as a side note, and with all do respect, I listened to an interview of *Todd Herman on* Microsoft’s* **MSN Broadband Video Portal* when I visited your site.

First, as a past board member of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts and as a 25-plus year veteran of talk radio, the interview did not do the subject or the guest justice. It’s my humble opinion if you’re going to capture the attention of causal browsers, or the average news hound and tech buffs, you need attention grabbing interviews that are going to offer anyone that listens new information grabbing the listener by both shoulders and saying “Hey here is something important that you need to know”. I say this as a constructive criticism and with thousands upon thousands of hours interviewing world leaders over the past 25 years. If any of this interests any of you in any way, please contact me using the below information. I wish you the world’s success in your pursuit of what I strongly believe is the future in both news and public information for the world. If you know of anyone beside yourself they may be interested in my project please pass this letter on to them.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Jackson

1913 Pickett Street * Springfield, Illinois 62703

217.529.8426

HDTV wishlist for MythTV

brad — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 06:25:57 -0800

I have been building an HDTV PVR with MythTV and the pcHDTV tuner
card. It's been a major adventure, not yet ready for prime time, but
it's lead me to have some thoughts about things you want to think about
in a PVR that particularly relate to HDTV.

Suggesting new features is of course a somewhat futile activity. In open
source, the usually and appropriate answer is "why don't you go code up
this feature and add it?" In commercial products, most people feel
even the Tivo is too complex and they are correctly loathe to add
new features that complicate the user interface. So I make a priority
note on all of these.

If you are not familiar with certain linux video issues, some of this
will sound like gibberish.

Brad Ideas - HDTV wishlist for MythTV - Comments

HDTV wishlist for MythTV