CableCARD not tied to OEM any more?

I

iBlue

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ATLANTA — Sept. 9, 2009 — Today at CEDIA EXPO 2009, Microsoft Corp. discussed key Windows Media Center features for Windows 7 and announced a series of initiatives that enhance the digital cable experience in Windows Media Center.

With the addition of native support for additional international broadcast TV standards, including QAM and ATSC, there will now be support for switched digital video (SDV), a new tool that will make it possible for end customers to add a digital cable tuner with CableCARD to their PC, and for existing digital cable tuner with CableCARD customers to enjoy more portability for digital cable TV that is marked as “copy freely” (CF). . . .

. . . In conjunction with the Microsoft and CableLabs announcements, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) will be providing a new firmware update that is available to all ATI TV Wonder digital cable tuners being used with Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

This firmware update will allow existing digital cable tuner with CableCARD customers to enjoy more portability for digital cable TV marked as CF. Customers will be able to play CF-marked digital cable recordings, such as those from local channels, on other PCs, devices, and portable media. In addition, the firmware will contain support for SDV.

When installed on a Windows 7-based PC with a digital cable tuner with CableCARD and a tuning adapter from a cable provider, it enables access to switched digital channels in locations where SDV has been deployed. . . .
 
"... End Customers Can Now Add Digital Cable Tuners With CableCARD to Their PCs
Microsoft and CableLabs announced that customers will now be able to add digital cable tuners with CableCARD to a Windows 7-based PC with Windows Media Center. A new tool will be provided by Microsoft that assesses the PC’s ability to support the solution. This tool will analyze the customer’s PC and enable digital cable support if the PC meets requirements, opening digital cable options to Windows Media Center customers across the country. Microsoft also announced that, with Windows 7, it has increased the number of TV tuners that can be connected to the PC from two to four per tuner type, thereby allowing customers to simultaneously record or watch as many as four digital cable TV channels.
“We are excited that digital cable customers will now be able to take advantage of this new opportunity to bring great cable TV programming to the PC,” said So Vang, vice president of OpenCable at CableLabs. “We are dedicated to helping customers get the most from their cable service, and this will be a great win for both the customer and the cable operators.”

Digital Cable Customers Can Now Enjoy More TV Portability in Windows Media Center
Microsoft and CableLabs also announced that they worked together to enable digital cable tuner with CableCARD customers to enjoy more portability for digital cable TV that is marked as “copy freely” (CF). Customers will be able to play CF-marked digital cable recordings, such as those from local channels, on other PCs, devices and portable media. ..."

Mostly that sounds good! I wish they had this in the works 5 years ago but better late than never, I guess.?.
Given how costly the Cable Cards were I don't think this will be a fully mainstream deal unless you can buy the hardware at the $100 + the monthly rental cost from the cable company.

Further, given that there have been some hiccups with the "copy freely" from Microsoft incorrectly marking things as not recordable and Media Center then failing to record =AND= the networks (mainly NBC) marking some of there content as not recordable; this is only REALLY good news if we can (record and) watch everything that we could via our normal cable box.
IE: SD & HD extended cable as well as movie channels, otherwise we are just guinea pigs on a yo-yo that Microsoft or the networks/cable channels
can just yank up anytime they won't. Still if it's priced decently I'd like
to give it a dance.
 
Well I’d say I’m defiantly willing to give it a shot. It would be great if the 6 tuner CableCard units were not restricted to OEM’s only but 2x or 4x tuners will be sufficient. I’d be willing to spend about the current going rate for existing ATI DCT units so about ~$300 USD.

The CableCard rental fee of only ~$1.99 a month (~$24 a yr) is considerably lower then ~$12 a month (~$144 a yr) for a cable box. Since I have two cable boxes I would probably part with one for a multi-tuner DCT initially.

What I don’t like is the DRM on premium media so I’ll keep one box and use my Hauppauge HD PVR.

The minimum CPU is an Intel E5400 if I recall correctly and you need Windows 7 so this still wont be open to everyone.
 
Agustus said:
. . . The CableCard rental fee of only ~$1.99 a month (~$24 a yr) is considerably lower then ~$12 a month (~$144 a yr) for a cable box. . . .
Click to expand...

Currently I don' have cable because I think cable companies are fleecing the customers. I have PVR-1600. I will be willing to switch to cableCARD if the cost is around $2/month.
 
iBlue said:
Currently I don' have cable because I think cable companies are fleecing the customers. I have PVR-1600. I will be willing to switch to cableCARD if the cost is around $2/month.
Click to expand...

The cable companies are fleecing their customers with high rates because they are a poorly regulated monopoly of which often have exclusive deals that lock out competition. However there are a large number of people who are willing to pay especially when you add this functionality.

The rental fee for the CableCards are low at about ~$1.99 a month but that’s only the rental fee for the cable company owned / provided hardware (the CableCard itself). The new 2x, 4x and 6x capable tuner cards that accept the CableCards haven’t been officially priced as far as I know but the current 1x single tuner DCT from ATI goes for about ~$250 to maybe ~$300 USD. Then you have to add the rate for the cable service itself (Basic, Premium or whatever). Its also my understanding that Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate is a perquisite so you cant do this on XP or Vista,….

Lets see what else,….

The installation of the cable card would be handled by the Cable Co so it would require them to roll a truck and there would likely be fees associated with it.

No this wont be cheap,…..
 
Agustus said:
Well I’d say I’m defiantly willing to give it a shot. It would be great if the 6 tuner CableCard units were not restricted to OEM’s only but 2x or 4x tuners will be sufficient. I’d be willing to spend about the current going rate for existing ATI DCT units so about ~$300 USD.

The CableCard rental fee of only ~$1.99 a month (~$24 a yr) is considerably lower then ~$12 a month (~$144 a yr) for a cable box. Since I have two cable boxes I would probably part with one for a multi-tuner DCT initially.

What I don’t like is the DRM on premium media so I’ll keep one box and use my Hauppauge HD PVR.

The minimum CPU is an Intel E5400 if I recall correctly and you need Windows 7 so this still wont be open to everyone.
Click to expand...
Wow, I completely missed or didn't read the right article(s) - the part about 2x, 4x, 6x cable card units.?. And I hadn't thought of it in that way...I mean even if it did cost $200-$300 ?/? just pulling that figure OOMA$$ but anyway; within two years at the reduced cost for the rental of the cards it would already be a money saving choice.

=Do the Cable Cards Tune HD as well as SD?
=Follow up question on the "...DRM on premium media...". With these cable cards, do you have specific information on the limitations?
Examples: Can you watch -AND- record the movie channels (HBO, Cinemax, Showtime)? Do they have any time restrictions (such as allow you to watch for one week then become locked)?
Thank you.
iBlue said:
Currently I don' have cable because I think cable companies are fleecing the customers. I have PVR-1600. I will be willing to switch to cableCARD if the cost is around $2/month.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the only people that don't agree with you own stock or are on the board of the cable companies. ($2.00 is just the rental cost, tack on another $15-20 for basic or and way up from there).
I live way away from the closest city and were lucky to have cable; without cable I wouldn't have high speed internet access (no DSL available & 0-1 cell phone bar).

Agustus said:
Its also my understanding that Windows 7 Home Premium or Ultimate is a perquisite so you cant do this on XP or Vista,….
The installation of the cable card would be handled by the Cable Co so it would require them to roll a truck and there would likely be fees associated with it.
No this wont be cheap,…..
Click to expand...
I pre-bought some Windows 7 Premium copies for $49.99 and if you or someone else has an acceptable (to Microsoft) university/college school (.edu) email account you can get a copy of Windows 7 Premium for $29.99 ~ Professional ?? not sure on the cost for that one but same or similar; that helps a bit.
 
Yes CableCards tune both HD and SD from your cable company on your PC. It can decrypt premium / tier channels and display them in HD and SD. For example I used to get ~140+ Clear QAM channels that I accessed via two HDHomeRun units but my Cable Co encrypted most of them recently in their switch to digital. With CableCard I can now access those channels again.

Unfortunately, if a show is encrypted Media Center will likely see it as protected and restrict it with DRM. Therefore, much of the freedom associated with the new relaxed firmware for CableCard depends on what your Cable Co restricts:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/09/2...-sdv-and-copy-freely-support-in-windows-7-me/

Once the DRM clamps are on you can only view the media from the system that recorded it or using a Microsoft Media Center Extender. If you have to reinstall your OS the media library you amassed may be no longer accessible.

My plan was to keep one cable box to use with my Hauppauge HD PVR which would allow me to record even premium HD channels at up to 1080i without DRM restrictions so I can archive it. Send it to the Windows Home Server and or transcode it to a portable format (Zune HD / iPod Touch) or whatever.

This is with the use of DVBLink for Hauppauge HD PVR which allows for functionality with specific versions of Windows Media Center.

I figure that a 4x CableCard with a single cable box and Hauppauge HD PVR would be an ideal setup. And yes a multi-tuner CableCard would allow you to watch / record multiple shows simultaneously. I believe only one CableCard is necessary in a multi-tuner card so the rent fee doesn’t go up from a single tuner CableCard to a 2x, 4x or 6x.

Also note that it may be possible to liberate encrypted media by sending it to a Media Center Extender with a Component output using the Hauppauge HD PVR.
 
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