Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 13:49:38 -0500 (EST) From: Robert Watson <rwatson@freebsd.org> To: Brian Skrab <brian@quynh-and-brian.org> Cc: freebsd-multimedia@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Which FreeBSD Version for Video Capture/Playback? Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.3.96L.1031110134716.59199E-100000@fledge.watson.org> In-Reply-To: <200311071400.38968.brian@quynh-and-brian.org>
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On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, Brian Skrab wrote: > I'm interested in doing a bit of video recording via a brooktree capture > card, and am wondering which FreeBSD version (5.1-CURRENT or 4.9-STABLE) > those in-the-know recommend for this purpose. It seems to me that the > majority multimedia development being done for FreeBSD is finding its > way into the -CURRENT source tree, while similar features are sometimes > available for -STABLE systems in the form of an unofficial patch, if at > all. Assuming that's true, I'm leaning toward using a -CURRENT system, > but I'd like to get the opinion of those on the list who have their own > experience to draw from. > > The video hardware that I plan to use includes: > > Pinnacle PCTV Pro capture card > NVIDIA GeForce 5200FX Ultra w/S-video out <-- Might like to use > this. > > I guess the basic question that I wish to pose is: Which version of > FreeBSD better supports this hardware, and the software to use it? Any > recommendations, anecdotes, opinions, tips, or gotchas will be very much > appreciated. I use the bktr driver with my WinTV cards for video conferencing on -CURRENT, and at work, we also use them with -STABLE quite happily. However, largely do live video, and not much in the way of recording or audio. Currently, -CURRENT sees higher than desirable interrupt latency, an issue that is being actively worked on, but that may be relevant in your choice, especially on slower machines. I saw patches posted recently for Pinnacle PCTV support, but I don't think they've been merged to the main tree into the bktr driver, so you'll probably need to dig up those patches. From a developer perspective, if you have the time, it might be neat to try it on 5.x even if you don't end up using that for your work, as it would help to identify weaknesses in 5.x that we can then correct :-). Robert N M Watson FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD Projects robert@fledge.watson.org Network Associates Laboratories
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