# Media Share and MythTV



## kevinwmsn (Aug 19, 2006)

I have MythTV running on a linux box and my hr21 can see the recordings on Mythtv share and it even starts playing them for a few seconds. Then I get an error on the hr21 saying the video bitrate is too high. I was trying to play back 720p and 1080i videos in MPEG2 format. What is the bitrate limit that MediaShare can support?


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Mediashare can't handle bitrates over about 6-7 Mb/s, and nearly any HD in MPEG2 is going to exceed that. Even some DVDs, which are standard def, will exceed that.

The bottom line is that the Media Share on HR2x's is very limited and isn't likely to improve much, as Media Share isn't its primary function. A PS/3 or a dedicated box like Popcorn Hour would be a much better solution.


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## kevinwmsn (Aug 19, 2006)

Thanks for the info, Battlezone. I tried it via PS3 on wireless it was too jumpy too, tried it via hardwired it worked well. The bitrates were ranging from 8-14 mbs. It appears that the ps3 wireless is lacking for real speed with it locked down. I'm going to dig through some documentation on mythtv and re-encode the recordings to mpeg4 with a lower bitrate. Plus I will try out the built in commercial removal on it.


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## bobnielsen (Jun 29, 2006)

MPEG4 might lower the bitrate, but the HR21 won't decode it (PS3 would, of course). 

I'm not into video games so have been thinking of picking up something like the WD TV Live to use for media. 

I didn't know that MythTV would work as a server. I played with it a bit a couple of years ago but hated the interface.


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## racermd (Dec 18, 2006)

I know I'm picking up a snoozing thread, but...

If you're looking for a server solution that your HR2x will play nicely with, a Windows Home Server is a pretty easy thing to set up. There are appliances that are built up for you that just plug into your network. Fill it with media and go. You can also do the whole DIY thing with WHS, but you'll have to do a little more work like sourcing computer parts, and finding an OEM installer for the OS (hint: check out NewEgg).

If you're REALLY into the DIY thing (which, if you're already running MythTV, you likely are), you could try MediaTomb, which runs on top of the Linux distribution of your choice.

Oh - and if you just want some guidelines on how best to encode your videos for playback on the HR2x boxes, search the rest of the forums here for the best MediaTomb transcode options. While the specifics of MediaTomb might not apply to MythTV, there is a great deal of information in those posts on what your HR2x box expects to see.


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## kevinwmsn (Aug 19, 2006)

I think the bitrate being to high for hr2x to decode is the real issue. Its funny that it decode fine for a few seconds till the message pops up. What I should try is record OTA on the hr20 and see if MRV likes that high of a bit rate and see what happens. I do have Mediatomb installed on it, I will continue to search these forums for transcode settings.


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