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Compact MythTV Frontend

Compact MythTV Frontend. Advisor: Professor Wilsey. David Kesler. Dustin Grimmeissen. Richard Anderson. MythTV. Open source software intended to replace TIVO and other proprietary DVR systems Runs on a Linux machine storing video and other media to the hard drive

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Compact MythTV Frontend

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  1. Compact MythTV Frontend Advisor: Professor Wilsey David Kesler Dustin Grimmeissen Richard Anderson

  2. MythTV • Open source software intended to replace TIVO and other proprietary DVR systems • Runs on a Linux machine storing video and other media to the hard drive • Media can be played back from hard drive • Can have multiple frontends serving media off a dedicated backend

  3. MythTV Problem • Users may not want to purchase a PC to sit next to their TVs • PC’s are large and often unsightly • Separate frontend/backend allows for a small, low power computer by the TV • Small general purpose computer are expensive

  4. Desired Features • MythTV communicating and playing video from a backend • NTSC output on an S-Video cable to a television • Finished product size of approximately 50 cubic inches

  5. Accomplishments • Software: • An x86 Gentoo image less than 64 mb • With MythTV Frontend Compiled • A compiled Gumstix image with: • Framebuffer and core system drivers < 10 mb • X-Windows server • DirectFB Graphics Library • SDL Graphics Library • Sample Framebuffer Graphics Applications

  6. Accomplishments • Hardware: • Board capable of converting digital RGB signals to drive a VGA monitor • Successfully connected the board to the Gumstix, displaying the contents of the framebuffer on a VGA monitor • Hardware meets space requirements

  7. Design Process • Base system: • Used Gumsitx as the base system • Features: • 400 MHz ARM Processor • 64 MB of RAM • 16 MB of internal storage • MMC/SD Slot for high capacity permanent storage • Built in Ethernet and audio capability • Why: • Extremely small form factor • Low power, heat, and noise • Several features built in

  8. Design Process • Software: • Compiled Linux image using Gentoo for x86 architecture, with MythTV frontend included. • Attempted building Gentoo image for ARM processor, but found MythTV to be infeasible. • Created Gumstix image from scratch, manually building framebuffer drivers and core system programs. • Compiled and installed framebuffer testing applications to Gumstix. • Compiled and installed DirectFB and SDL graphics libraries for future development.

  9. Design Process • Hardware: • Initial design planned on utilizing Sigma Designs EM8620L or similar graphical processing unit • Second plan involved converting the Gumstix LCD controller output to S-Video • Created circuit board utilizing Analog Devices ADV7120 and AD723 • Intended to interface with Gumstix through a CPLD downsampler / interleaver

  10. Hardware Design • Initial Test: Display colored bars using signals generated from a CPLD • Could not generate proper NTSC signal • Discovered output of ADV7120 can directly drive a VGA monitor • Successfully interfaced ADV7120 with Gumstix and VGA monitor

  11. Conclusion • With further work it may still be possible to convert the Gumstix LCD controller signals to an NTSC signal • Due to the limitations of 16-bit color running MythTV or a movie player may not result in acceptable video quality • Due to cross-compilation difficulties, getting MythTV to run on an ARM processor may be unfeasible anyway • Compiled graphics libraries may allow for other media players to be compiled and executed in place of MythTV

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