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A Brief FAQ on CableCards
TechNit writes "Just when I thought my Comcast DVR box was not going to change here comes the CableCard. Fascinating concept but I don't see these being used without the added features of Pay-Per-View, Video on Demand etc. that many consumers (me) have become used to. I see these being used more for authentication/theft prevention devices as apposed to stand-alone service providing devices. What do others know about this?" An earlier CNet column points out the shortcomings of current CableCard implementations.
The upcoming CableCard 2.0 standard will allow for bi-directional operations such as Pay Per View and On Demand. The current iteration isn't capable enough to make much of a splash, IMNSHO.
Some of my fellow TiVo users are disgruntled that TiVo doesn't support CableCard yet. From what I gather, they are waiting for the 2.0 standard (this is only rumor but it makes sense).
Neat technology, but not feature rich enough yet.
Tivo cable card box
To summarize an engineer in the cable industry...
CableCard is somewhat a half-baked implementation right now.
Currently, it's only one way, so there is no support for two way device communication required for PPV, VOD, etc., and there is no guide, because there is no memory or provision for the EPG (Electronic Program Guide).
If the industry evolves the CableCard into a truly two way design, with memory and programmability and support for EPG, then it will be interesting. Additionally, an all digital set top costs providers about $70 in volume, while a CableCard is slightly more and has none of the features of the set top.
Really all CableCard is good for at this juncture is tuning/accessing encrypted digital channels directly with your television or monitor, WITHOUT a separate set top; if that's all you want/need, then it works fine. But what would be really nice is if some third-party PVRs or PCI TV cards for computers supported CableCard: then, you don't really care about the guide or some of the other functionality. You just want to be able to get at, and record, content that you can't otherwise get to without some convoluted IR blaster-type setup with an external set top, or being locked into your provider's choice of PVR, and its features (or lack thereof).
I think a big potential use of CableCards, despite their limited two-way featurs now, is their inclusion in HTPCs- allowing for recording of digital cable without having to do weird things with IR Blaster and such. Sadly, the only implementation I have seen thus far was something Shuttle demoed at CES...
I gave up on "premium" cable TV years ago when I found out that the set-top box that decoded the scrambled channels couldn't be made to work with a programmed VCR.
With all of the other things-you-aren't-allowed-to-do-anymore goodies being loaded on ("broadcast flag," etc.) to TV with the mandated end-of-life for analog TV, the medium is becoming almost totally useless.
I do find I have a lot more time for sunsets, gardens, etc. now though.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
Personally, I think its a waste anyway. The only viable cable HD PVR solutions are part of the cable box anyway, so all a cable-card TV gets you is the ability to view the TV and not record it.
Are you talking about v1 or CableCard in general. The reason why cable card exists is to specifically remove the ability of the cable company to control the PVR market (among other things). I personally have no desire to give that much control to my cable company, and prefer a homebrew solution.
When CC.v2 will be released, Hauppauge or the PCHDTV people will release an HDTV tuner that will finally be able to read HDTV/DTV of the wire in its proper form. No more of that MPEG2 -> ANALOG -> MPEG2 nonsense. That in my opinion is not a waste.
Buying a TV that is not just a monitor OTOH is a waste. There is no reason why a TV should do decoding, and a whole set of other things. Give me a component analog/s-video/DVI/whatever that other raw digital format was, and that is it. Anything else will be absolete long before the TV is. The more separation of components the better. And CC v2 is in part enabling that.
badness 10000
well a hacked cable card would be the same as a pirate digital cable box. i assume they exist? i have heard of pirate analog cable boxes, and ways to trick DSS boxes. if they do not exist now, i am sure they will.
one thing with digital cable boxes/cable cards is that they generally use something like a MAC address and that number is associated with your account. when you don't pay your bill they zotz the box(es), or when you change programming. you are effectively on a cable company private network so if they have the software they could possibly track down rogue devices..... though from the nature of the cable system it might take them a while to zero in on which actual house/apartment is using that device. that i am guessing from the stories of cable modem users' local networks including a printer hooked up to a neighbor's pc.
Isn't firewire written into the HD spec?
Aren't all HD devices supposed to have firewire ports on them?
So all the tv's of the future would have f/w on them, no?
And if my above understanding is incorrect- if you have a cable-card interface (whether is via a pcmcia adaptor, a pci card, a usb adaptor or a firewire adaptor) that's all your MythTV (or other roll-it-yourself PVR) would need. No more set top box needed. Get the cablecard w/ adaptor, plug into MythTV setup and go.
http://slashdot.org/~tf23/journal
I'm still unclear if one cable card per setup will be of any benefit...
If I put a card in my TV, my VCR, which comes before the TV, won't be able to tune the channels, will it?
Maybe picture-in-picture will work, but what about all the other circumstances where you have multiple tuners? Watching one channel while recording another, etc....
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
But, what if I don't want my TV communicating with the cable company?
I really don't care for PPV and on-demand programming. I don't use them with my TiVo now; why would I want to use a CableCard in my TV that bypasses my recorders so I can only watch that content live?
And maybe I don't want them to be able to audit what I'm watching. And no, I don't like that they can do that with my cableboxes now. (Though they do get a skewed look about me based on what my TiVo records as suggestions.)
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
If I could take my CableCard to a friends' house, snap it in, and watch the channels I subscribe to, or bill the PPV to my account -- then it would be something to write home about. I know I'd have to assume that either cable company is the same at my friend's house or has some sort of "roaming" agreement -- but don't I pay for cable -- not my house? And if I'm away from hoome...that cable subscription is basically useless.
Its not in cable's interest to deploy CableCard technology. They'd rather you rent a $10/mo box forever instead of buying a CC-equiped device. Its a lost revenue stream. Even if they charge you $1/mo for the actual card (it still remains their property, you'll NEVER see a CableCard on e-bay since end-users are never allowed to buy one), you're losing a large amount of revenue in equipment rentals.
So what do they do?
As anyone with a CC equiped set know, they provide shitty service and support to cablecard customers. Staff I've talked to dont get informed. They have to search the web to go and find information on what TVs have difficulties and what to do about it to fix them. The software is still buggy, despite the FCC mandate that CableCard be operational on July 1 2004.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
TiVo submitted a letter to the FCC this week suggesting that cable operators are not doing enough to promote the CableCARD and are not inclined to promote it, especially the more advanced cards which allow dual tuners. TiVo argues that it is not in the cable operators economic interest to promote them and that the cable companies are trying to completely control their access, guides and channels to the detriment of competitors like TiVo. http://thomashawk.com/2005/01/tivos-letter-to-fcc- and-will-microsoft.html
OK, It's a CARD, right? A little rectangle that you can pull out of your TV and put in your shirt pocket.
Can I pull my cablecard out of my TV, go to a friends house (who has the Same cable provider, and a cablecard ready TV) and plug in my cable card so I can watch the Channels that *I* paid for?
I bet it wont work that easily, and that I would have to end up calling the cable support line each time. If that's the case, then WHY in gods name is the little bugger so portable? It doesn't need to be.