Archives For CableCARD

Cablevision’s Educational SDV Initiative

Dave Zatz —  March 17, 2008 — 4 Comments

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How do you educate your customers to the perils of switched digital video (SDV) with the current generation of retail CableCARD products? In Cablevision’s case, they’ve started notifying folks that over 15 channels (including Kung Fu HD!) are unavailable via CableCARD – without actually mentioning why. But, hey, who needs a TiVo when you they’ll loan you a HD DVR – free for the first year.

What’s the point of mandated separable security if only a subset of channels are being made available to retail products? Bah! Fortunately, a tuning resolver is on the way… However, consumer education will continue to be a challenge. And have I mentioned recently that I’m not interested in more boxes?

In CableCARD, Industry
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Panasonic Plans Tru2Way Sets

Dave Zatz —  March 13, 2008 — 7 Comments

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Looks like we’ll really see a resurgence of CableCARD televisions later this year. Unlike the first generation of one-way communication and single tuning sets, the new generation will employ OCAP tru2way. According to Home Theater Magazine:

all Panasonic PDP and LCD sets incorporate ATSC tuners and some will soon incorporate OCAP two-way cable cards allowing for on-demand services without a set-top cable box.

Being a minimalist, the clutter-free aspect of TVs like these appeal to me. Though, I’m not sure if I’m willing to forgo DVR functionality for the sake of neatness. But I bet my mom is.

Yet to be addressed: How will these televisions deal with SDV… Built-in switching capabilities or will they also need a tuning resolver accessory?

In CableCARD, HDTV
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Gefen DVR Records HD via HDMI

Dave Zatz —  March 10, 2008 — 18 Comments

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We’ve discussed this unit a few times in the comments, and I finally managed to get my hands on the Gefen HD PVR ($999). It was announced last summer, and Gefen intended to ship prior to the end of 2007. I’m not actually sure if they made their target, but they’re definitely shipping now in 2008.

The first things you need to know are that Gefen doesn’t provide an EPG (that I could find) and there’s no network connectivity. Recording is initiated while viewing live content or via scheduling. No pausing of live television either. Really, this is nothing more than a glorified VCR. But where things get interesting is the advertised ability to record high definition content via HDMI. To the best of my knowledge, HDMI and HDCP licensing specifically prohibits recording… Which is why we haven’t seen any other devices like this.

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HTPC guru “AVeNVy” and I confirmed the Gefen DVR records (HBO via CableCARD!) from a Motorola HDCP set-top box over HDMI in 720p and 1080i. The unit has both an internal hard drive and a SD card reader. Until we dropped STB output to 480i, we couldn’t record onto my SD card. Therefore, it appears HD content is restricted to the unit’s hard drive. However, we removed four screws and voided the warranty to determine that recordings (H.264 MPEG-4) are unprotected on the DVR’s 2.5″ drive (and play fine in Windows).

What’s going on here… Licensing loophole, software bug, ignorance, arrogance, my own limited understanding? Hm.

Click on thumbnails for a larger view:

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In CableCARD, DVR, HDTV, Industry
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Dave Dumps Vonage, Acquires M-Card

Dave Zatz —  February 5, 2008 — 18 Comments

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I had assumed the lawsuits would ultimately kill Vonage… And while they still might, as part of our moving prep, I made the decision to proactively kill service. My 2.5 years with them has been somewhat rocky, including poor customer service and call quality issues. Complaints from folks on the other end of the line is what finally led me to this decision.

In Vonage’s defense, I’ve really appreciated the voicemail->email feature and their pricing was extremely competitive. However, our multiple cell phones and SkypeOut should be sufficient going forward. If not, for the first time in years, we’ll consider going back to a reliable Verizon landline. Continue Reading…

In CableCARD, Home, TiVo, VoIP
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Scientific Atlanta Exceeds 7 Million SDV Homes

Dave Zatz —  November 21, 2007 — 1 Comment

In a press release, which could be a mixed bag, Cisco reports:

Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company, today announced that commitments for its Switched Digital Video (SDV) platform in the U.S. have exceeded 7 million homes passed. By extending and distributing the management of the video and data network control plane all the way to the “edge” of the network (generally speaking, at the optical node), operators can maximize their network investment by sharing quadrature amplitude modulators (QAMs) across both video-on-demand (VoD) and switched digital video traffic.

While SDV currently poses a problem for retail CableCARD devices (think TiVo) unable to resolve switched programming, these 7 million homes may not all receive SDV channels. Yet. And of those that do, we’re probably only talking a few stations. For now. 7 million represents greater than 10% of US cable subscribers, and Time Warner has indicated they intend to deploy SDV to 50% of customer homes this year.

SDV allows the providers to more efficiently utilize their bandwidth, a consideration with digital and HD content proliferation, but as a TiVo owner I’m somewhat concerned. Sounds like the various stakeholders are working on a technical solution, but when will it be released and who pays for it? And I assume I’ll have to give up yet another spot on my surge protector.

Continue Reading…

In CableCARD, Industry, TiVo
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