I just purchased a Samsung HLR6178W (1080p 61"). To start, I'm going to probably use the comcast HD DVR. Once my special sign up price ends, I'd love to just use the cable card slot on the TV. My question is, would it be viable to connect output from the tv to a myth tv box to record HD and SD shows? I can use vga cable to play the shows on the tv, but I'm unsure if its possible to do this kind of pass through using a cable card.

Short answer: nope.

The cablecard allows the set to decode the MPEG2 files transmitted by the cable provider. Once they are decoded into a video stream (i.e. component video) they are useful only for displaying on the set. You would need access to the MPEG2 stream _after_ decryption, over a firewire interface. DVI, HDMI, component out are all useless to Myth.

Sorry to say, this is the current (and future) tyranny of cable and satellite tv. You have to buy or rent equipment (or cablecards) to view their content. There are no open source solutions to this problem, and likely never will be. They won't develop a cablecard "driver" for Linux because it'd be hacked apart in about two microseconds, letting everyone watch premium cable shows for free. (At least, that's their fear.)

The external cable boxes for HD must, by law, provide a firewire output. However, it doesn't have to pass UNencrypted data on any premium content. So, theoretically, you can get the same shows you could get with an antenna, but not the shows like DiscoveryHD, HDNet, etc., which are "cable only" channels. Experience shows you have to browbeat your cable provider into providing one of these FCC-mandated cable boxes with firewire output.

This is a sad state of affairs, and not getting better IMHO.

(Nice set, BTW. I looked at one at Fry's last weekend. It's picture is good enough that I'd say it compares favorably to my CRT-based RPTV.)

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Thanks for the info. And I haven't received the set yet, its coming on Monday. Can't wait

Comcast here uses Explorer 8000HD. I'm not sure if that has a firewire port or not, but I'll check.

Most boxes come without. You'll have to request it, and perhaps even go down to their depot and talk to them to get one with firewire. You can search the mythtv-user list at Gossamer to determine if your box has a port or can provide one as an option.

http://gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/

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Actually most of the comcast ones come with it from what I've heard in other areas, and we are now actually past the fcc deadline that all hdtv boxes are required to have both "functional" firewire and dvi/hdmi ports.

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