FreeBSD video recorder (was: FreeBSD as a HTPC!)

[Dieter]

> I started on this track a while back, but the main problem I've had is
> that FreeBSD doesn't support any digital tuners.  Here in Australia we
> have digital TV with resolutions of up to 720p (1280x720
> non-interlaced) or 1080i (1920x1080 interlaced).  720p is better.

Well... 720p is better in some ways, 1080i is better in others.
But for tuner support what matters is ATSC or DVB-T.

> So what I do is to copy the saved MPEG files to the FreeBSD machine
> and use mplayer, along with a series of scripts, to play it.  I'm
> using a DVICO remote control (the one that came with the tuner), and
> not coincidentally this is one of the few TV remote controls which
> FreeBSD supports.

There is a FreeBSD driver for the DViCO FusionHDTV5 if that's the tuner
you have.  I don't know if it supports DVB-T though...

And Jason has written a driver that supports several cx88 based cards.
And there is the HDHomeRun that just needs Ethernet.

So you can use FreeBSD for recording, if you have the right tuner.
Support for additional tuners would of course be welcome.