Slashdot Mirror
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.
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 agree with CNET's "Five reasons to not buy a CableCard".
t ml for an NGNA primer). The cable video industry is a bit peculiar to the computer and networking crowd because there is basically only proprietary systems. There are standards-based components and approaches, but by the time a whole system is built, Set Top Boxes are not interoperable across multiple systems. The the kicker: with mostly analog video on cable systems, usually almost all the bandwidth was tied up with programming. That left no available spectrum to introduce a different, competitive system. Once a vendor got into a city, the operator never changed over to a differerent vendor in that city, because the switching cost was too great.
There's a long and sordid history in the Cable Industry behind the CableCard. From the outside it seems like a fine idea, but none of the insiders wanted it, so it happened slowly. Now that it's here, it's obsolete as the version available now only supports 'one-way' video services, i.e., traditional broadcast TV. EPG, VOD, built-in PVR, and more interactive services, all require two-way communication, which is not in this version.
There are specs in CableLabs for the two-way version, but it's not clear if they're finished or even workable. And more likely the existing specs would be trumped by the industry's NGNA -- Next Generation Network Architecture effort (see http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/ngna/ngnaprimer.h
There's a chance this will change, due mostly to digital TV requiring less bandwidth, pent-up demand for new technology (VOD & PVR primarily), and the great success cable has had with DOCSIS-based Internet Access (they make a ton of money on it!) leading to some appreciation for open standards and interoperability. We'll see.