PVR Recording and Digital TV - USA

[UncleJohnsBand]

I am just wondering where home-built PVR's are going in the USA as cable companies move from analog brodcasts to all digital......and you have to use a cable compnay set top box to view the digital channel.

I regularly schedule 3 shows at a time to record on my PVR 150 and 500 card....

If I need a setup box to decode the digital where does that leave the PVR?

Anyone here already dealing with this?

Just looking for some discussion.

[sub]

The US solution for this seems to be taking a long time to arrive, but hopefully should be fully resolved in the next year.

I hate to say it, but you US guys have had it easy with your unencypted analog cable up until now. Its about to get very messy for you - most likely worse than the rest of the world.

Soon the solution to your question will arrive in the form of digital capture devices with a CableCard slot. Into this you'll plug in a CableCard unit rented from your cable company. This is a device approximately the same size as a laptop PCMCIA adapter. It has a slot at one end were you'll plug in a smartcard, which was also rented from the cable company. So adding an addition tuner will soon be closely tied to giving your cable company more money each month.

Microsoft has indicated that support for these cable card devices will be added soon, though you can expect you'll only be able to record to DRM encrypted DVR-MS files.

[Brian_W]

Until they allow the full cablecard PVR cards, the only thing you can do is run it through an STB. I have heard rumors that the cablecard setups won't even be available retail. You will need to buy it with a new computer. The FCC has really lit a fire under the butts of the cable companies lately to get the cablecard standard fully implemented. I have Time Warner digital cable, along with my pvr 150 and 500, so I am in the same boat as you.

Brian

[Brian_W]

The US solution for this seems to be taking a long time to arrive, but hopefully should be fully resolved in the next year.

I hate to say it, but you US guys have had it easy with your unencypted analog cable up until now. Its about to get very messy for you - most likely worse than the rest of the world.

Please don't remind me hehe. Media companies here in the US only know one thing, $$$$$$. They are going to make PVR's very difficult to build, if not impossible without renting the cable company provided one.

Brian

[kaffeen]

Digital cable is already the norm in most cities throughout the US. There is generally an analogue signal available with basic cable, but most anything worth watching is on digital and requires a STB. I have an STB for each TV in my home and there is a rental fee attached. My cable company (COX) offers DVR STB's, however, there are additional fees attached to that (service and equipment).

As for the future, Cox Cable has recently entered an agreement with Tivo. To what extent that partnership will be realized is yet to be seen.

CableCard functionality is already available, but it is not widely used and in some cases is not supported. The current CableCard versions do not support multiple streams, however, it has been reported that future versions will support multiple streams (i.e. so you could record one show while watching another, watch multiple shows on one screen, or record multiple shows with one card).

The future enhancement to CableCards are the reason many high end television manufacturers are not installing that capability at the moment (because it will be outdated in the next year). I have been researching Plasma Television and expect to make a purchase when the new CableCard enhancements are available.

In the end, the CableCard will be a better solution than the current STB one (cheaper too, which is one reason the cable companies have been reluctant to support them to date). The fact that any device (even a computer) will be able to control the channels will make IR blasters a thing of the past (thank goodness).

I expect that pretty soon the consumer demand for recording television in a digital format will become too great to be ignored by most manufacturers. Tivo has had great success in a small niche market, but now they will either have to change their business rules or become obsolete (this is one reason they are reaching out to cable companies like mine). Most consumers, especially given the subscription cost of their local monopolized cable company, are turned off by Tivo subscription fee's but are very much intrigued by the concept that Tivo introduced. As the copyright issues become clearer and any legal questions resolved, they will jump on this emerging market. To some extent, the copyright legal answers and momentum have already favored the consumer (i.e. no "black flag").

I expect a one box solution (UI, hard drive, intranet/internet connectivity, and wifi) to become the norm in the coming years (with their own specialized and unique decoders/encoders). Gizmodo recently had a blog post about one such device. The DIY PVR will become a thing of the past.

[daphatty]

The DIY PVR will become a thing of the past.

As much as I hate to admit this, I agree with this statement.

The corporate entities are starting to get smart about their business models and are making it much more difficult for the DIY to exist. Microsoft already dealt us a huge blow by saying Vista won't support CableCard devices unless they are OEM built. While I am hoping that this decision falls by the wayside (just like it did when they tried limiting MCE's availability) I have a feeling that this time around, Microsoft's policy may stick.

I dread the coming changes but hey, it was fun while it lasted right?

[UncleJohnsBand]

The US solution for this seems to be taking a long time to arrive, but hopefully should be fully resolved in the next year.

I hate to say it, but you US guys have had it easy with your unencypted analog cable up until now. Its about to get very messy for you - most likely worse than the rest of the world.

Soon the solution to your question will arrive in the form of digital capture devices with a CableCard slot. Into this you'll plug in a CableCard unit rented from your cable company. This is a device approximately the same size as a laptop PCMCIA adapter. It has a slot at one end were you'll plug in a smartcard, which was also rented from the cable company. So adding an addition tuner will soon be closely tied to giving your cable company more money each month.

Microsoft has indicated that support for these cable card devices will be added soon, though you can expect you'll only be able to record to DRM encrypted DVR-MS files.

Digital cable is already the norm in most cities throughout the US. There is generally an analogue signal available with basic cable, but most anything worth watching is on digital and requires a STB. I have an STB for each TV in my home and there is a rental fee attached. My cable company (COX) offers DVR STB's, however, there are additional fees attached to that (service and equipment).

As for the future, Cox Cable has recently entered an agreement with Tivo. To what extent that partnership will be realized is yet to be seen.

CableCard functionality is already available, but it is not widely used and in some cases is not supported. The current CableCard versions do not support multiple streams, however, it has been reported that future versions will support multiple streams (i.e. so you could record one show while watching another, watch multiple shows on one screen, or record multiple shows with one card).

The future enhancement to CableCards are the reason many high end television manufacturers are not installing that capability at the moment (because it will be outdated in the next year). I have been researching Plasma Television and expect to make a purchase when the new CableCard enhancements are available.

In the end, the CableCard will be a better solution than the current STB one (cheaper too, which is one reason the cable companies have been reluctant to support them to date). The fact that any device (even a computer) will be able to control the channels will make IR blasters a thing of the past (thank goodness).

I expect that pretty soon the consumer demand for recording television in a digital format will become too great to be ignored by most manufacturers. Tivo has had great success in a small niche market, but now they will either have to change their business rules or become obsolete (this is one reason they are reaching out to cable companies like mine). Most consumers, especially given the subscription cost of their local monopolized cable company, are turned off by Tivo subscription fee's but are very much intrigued by the concept that Tivo introduced. As the copyright issues become clearer and any legal questions resolved, they will jump on this emerging market. To some extent, the copyright legal answers and momentum have already favored the consumer (i.e. no "black flag").

I expect a one box solution (UI, hard drive, intranet/internet connectivity, and wifi) to become the norm in the coming years (with their own specialized and unique decoders/encoders). Gizmodo recently had a blog post about one such device. The DIY PVR will become a thing of the past.

Thanks.....this is good information....I am glad I started this thread.

[UncleJohnsBand]

As much as I hate to admit this, I agree with this statement.

The corporate entities are starting to get smart about their business models and are making it much more difficult for the DIY to exist. Microsoft already dealt us a huge blow by saying Vista won't support CableCard devices unless they are OEM built. While I am hoping that this decision falls by the wayside (just like it did when they tried limiting MCE's availability) I have a feeling that this time around, Microsoft's policy may stick.

I dread the coming changes but hey, it was fun while it lasted right?

I would not mind (too much) paying for a monthly cablecard that allowed me to record shows as I do today on my PC. Being able to skip commercials and manipulate the recorded show the way I want outweighs the cost of the cablecard (or at least I would hope).

I think the industry needs to realize that the consumer model is moving to an on-demand model where on-demand does not necessarily mean viewing your recordings at your place of residence. GBPVR users are streaming their shows over the internet and we are working on getting them to stream to handheld devices as well.

Charge me for the service of delivering content to me.....but let me decide what I am going to do with it and when.......

[nitrogen_widget]

I will most likely stick with my current SDTV directv setup until HDTV becomes as affordable as what I have now.

[Jim_]

I hate to say it, but you US guys have had it easy with your unencypted analog cable up until now. Its about to get very messy for you - most likely worse than the rest of the world.

Are you saying the FCC going to force cable (non-broadcast) companies to stop delivering analog TV next year? :confused:
My cable provider said they have no plans to stop their as-is analog delivery, but they also provide a digital service.