The Cable Chronicles: CableCARDs for the Masses at Last
by Ryan Smith on September 15, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Ryan's Ramblings
From: An End To Unencrypted Digital Cable TV and the HTPC?
On a final note, the loss of ClearQAM access is likely going to be followed by the loss of some fraction of the HTPC market, where users will not find as much value in a device that can no longer watch or record live TV from their cable company. Because of this potential nosedive in the HTPC market, I would be very surprised if Microsoft stayed entirely mum on the issue. They've put a lot of effort into Windows Media Center as a TV viewing platform and HTPC suite over the years, and this drives a stake right through that given the low adoption of CableCARD systems.As it turns out Microsoft has not stayed mum on the issue. At CEDIA 2009 they gave us our answer: CableCARD is going to come to the masses.
More specifically, CableLabs - the notoriously paranoid R&D and certification arm of the cable TV industry - is finally going to drop its requirement that CableCARD tuners are only used with computers they approve. What’s replacing this is a more nebulous requirement that we’ll get to in a moment, but the ultimate result is that it will finally be possible to buy a CableCARD tuner off of the shelf and use it with most computers, not unlike (and not completely like) you can do today with analog and ClearQAM tuners. Furthermore there will be no additional access restrictions – anything a CableCARD is authorized to receive, will be allowed to be played by a CableCARD equipped PC. We finally have the whole enchilada, and it’s only 3 years later than Microsoft wanted it and nearly a decade after widescale use of digital cable began.
To be frank, we’re not sure what Microsoft has done to get CableLabs to loosen their grip on matters. Certainly there is a DRM component in the use Microsoft’s fairly new PlayReady DRM system, and it’s very likely that the use of Win7’s new Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture is also part of that solution. Beyond that we don’t know what other concessions or bribes were offered at this point, but whatever it was it was enough for Microsoft to finally get their foot firmly in the door of cable television after so many years of trying.
Much of what Microsoft had to do should become apparent once they release their CableCARD compatibly verification tool. The tool, announced at the same time as the rest of the CableCARD announcement, will check whether a PC can “support the solution” so that PC owners can confirm ahead of time whether they’ll be able to use a CableCARD tuner with their PC. Clearly this is some kind of DRM verification cool, but we’re in the dark in the moment as to what it’s going to be checking for. Given the paranoia over at CableLabs, our best guess is that they’re looking to have CableCARD equipped systems locked down similarly to Blu-Ray – this would entail the use of PBDA to securely deliver the stream, and HDCP as an output requirement, with the verification tool checking for all of this. In this case HDCP is the big question; will it be required for digital displays (probably) and will this extend to blocking analog output?
A timeline was not given, but since this is all related to Windows 7, presumably we’ll see everything on the software side come together near Win7’s public launch on Ocotober 22nd. Hardware is going to be a different matter however. Up until now CableCARD tuners have been a one-company game: ATI and their OCUR tuners. We know that Ceton and Hauppauge will be launching tuners, but it’s sounding like those won’t show up until late this year at the earliest. That would leave ATI’s tuner, and we can’t currently confirm whether that’s going to be openly sold and allowed to be used as part of these newly relaxed requirements. Even if the ATI tuners are allowed, they’re going to be a bit of a stopgap solution – they don’t support the use of multistream cards (M-Cards), which means a tuner and CableCARD is necessary for each stream. This is less preferable than the block of tuners + M-Card approach taken by most current CE devices (e.g. Tivo) and forthcoming products like Ceton’s.
Moving on, a few other bits of news came out of CEDIA. Along with wider CableCARD support, Switched Digital Video (SDV) support will be in Windows 7 Media Center. Since the supported tuners are all unidirectional, this will require additional hardware through the use of a rented Tuning Adapter to send channel requests to the head-end. SDV has seen limited deployment thus far, but as cable companies look for additional ways to conserve limited bandwidth, SDV will be seeing wider deployment.
Finally, once again with the cooperation of CableLabs, existing CableCARD computer setups using the ATI tuners will finally start releasing their grip on some recorded programming. Among the various copy protection flags in use is Copy Freely (which as the name implies, means the broadcaster imposes no restrictions), which CableLabs has never allowed CableCARD equipped computers to actually follow. A firmware update will be coming soon for ATI’s tuners that will allow them to pass on the Copy Freely flag along to Windows, which in turn will get Windows to allow copies to be made. It hasn’t been made clear to us whether “freely” will be completely followed however, or if these copies will have DRM on them that limits further copies and what devices they can be played on.
Ultimately, if there’s a downside to any of this, even the lightest DRM requirements will impose a strict limit on who can take advantage of CableCARD tuners. Right now it’s Windows Media Center-only, and that’s probably not going to change. We would be seriously shocked if Apple got Mac OS X on board any time soon, and Linux users (e.g. MythTV) need not apply due to the lack of DRM. Even other Windows DVR applications like SageTV and BeyondTV would be questionable, again for DRM reasons.
Given the impending lockdown of cable TV systems through Privacy Mode, the loosening of restrictions is certainly a good thing; it ensures that there’s still going to be a place for the HTPC when it comes to watching and recording live TV. However the loss of variety in HTPC software and the costs of renting newly-required hardware (CableCARDs and tuning adapters) mean that it’s certainly not a victory for all HTPC users. As it stands, utilizing the analog hole is still going to be the ultimate bridge between cable TV and the HTPC for those that don’t want to live in Microsoft’s world.
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Fanfoot - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
The tuning adapter is what you need for SDV. It'll be a cable box like thing, hooked up to your computer, and inline on the Coax cable. It'll support as many tuners as you've got. Well, well it isn't crashing. Yes its a horrible kludge. Yes they may charge you a rental fee. For now it can't be built into the computer. Your cable company is again required to make this available to you, though they may tell you otherwise.tru2way is what you need to do VOD/On Demand. It would also allow you to get rid of that ridiculous tuning adapter. Mostly it isn't supported yet. A few TVs support it and a few cable systems support it, but that's all.
shortark - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
I have a 5TB windows home server rig...fully supports storage and sharing of recorded TV programs, an AT&T CE device using Microsoft MediaRoom to tune U-verse, and an Xbox 360...which was shown at the 2007 CES using MS MediaRoom Software to tune IPTV and the supposedly be able to store it on a Home Server.So it would seem to make more sense if MS would simply use the 360's as a TiVO competitor, storing Recordings on the HDD or Server, instead of taking it the HTPC Route. Especially since they stand to gain more from selling a hardware/software solution than a software only solution.
All of that being said, I'm personally tired of having 3 different Microsoft machines plugged into my TV + a server, when they have overlapping capabilities.
Call me crazy, but even though I have a 680i q6600 1.6TB rig with blu-ray asus zonar, and the whole bit running to my 1080p plasma and 7.1 DTS/Dolby-MA Tuner as my HTPC, I think that the ideal way for MS to position itself would be to promote the idea of using the server itself to tune tv, and then stream it in extender fashion to the Xbox 360s. Or at the very least have a single HTPC decked out for TV Reception, storing on the server and accessible to any 360 as an extender.
I guess my real concern, if this new tuner actually pans out is
1: will be able to store my recordings on the server and then access them via 360?
2:will I be able to record 4 or more channels at a time?
If not then this is as much of a turd in the punch bowl as ATI's Occur, and no advantage at all to my current AT&T provided IPTV DVR.
bobbozzo - Thursday, September 17, 2009 - link
"I think that the ideal way for MS to position itself would be to promote the idea of using the server itself to tune tv, and then stream it in extender fashion to the Xbox 360s."Great idea, but since MS Home Server 1.0 was based upon Win2003, it doesn't support drivers for most of the modern tuners, and doesn't have the requisite DRM.
Sites like this speculate that MS Home Server 2.0 (or whatever) might be able to do this, but who knows when.
johnsonx - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
Of course it must be noted that this is a Microsoft Only development. Those of us who prefer 3rd party PVR apps will have no recourse.sbrown23 - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 - link
Blame CableLabs and their stringent requirements and horrendous qualification process for that. They are such paranoid tools. CableCard should have been available to Media Center and other media apps years ago.petersterncan - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
"To be frank, we’re not sure what Microsoft has done to get CableLabs to loosen their grip on matters. "I bet you they made them an offer "they couldn't refuse"... hee hee hee...
jkresh - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
I am definitely looking forward to this, have been using a hauppauge pvr 1212, for a while and it works pretty well but cablecard support would be better (and mean one less component to worry about). Main question I have is on, on demand. Currently ati's occur only works in 1 direction so it can't handle on demand, I would much prefer any cable card option I buy to be able to fully replace the cable (or fios) box. Does anyone know what the situation with on demand would be with the new cablecard tuners?Fanfoot - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link
You can't handle On Demand access with this setup. You need support for the whole tru2way Java machine, which wasn't announced here, to get that. Even Tivo hasn't announced their "Series 4" that will supposedly support that, and in fact the cable industry is way behind in their promised support for this (might mean its dead). We'll see whether Sony/Panasonic et al deliver any TVs with tru2way support this Christmas/next CES. That'll give you a general hint.For now if you want On Demand, you need a STB.
The other way this *might* work is that the whole TV anywhere thing *might* allow you to access the on demand content over the internet if you're a cable TV customer. Sort of a private Hulu sort of thing. Too early to tell.
cbuchach - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
Well, I had long thought that I would eventually have to ditch my HTPC (at least the TV functionality) when i wanted to fully transition over to digital cable. With this annoucement that need not occur and I am actually excited. I have been using a MediaCenter PC for about 4-5 years now and do really like all the functionality and such. If I can by two digital tuners and slap a cable card in, that would be great!SocrPlyr - Tuesday, September 15, 2009 - link
Ryan,You state, "Since the supported tuners are all unidirectional, this will require additional hardware through the use of rented Tuning Resolvers, with one resolver required per tuner."
First off the industry has (about a year ago) stopped using the term resolver and started using adapter so it is "Tuning Adapter." Second, your information seems incorrect as the tuning adapter already support working with at least two tuners (e.g. TivoHD). Now I do not know exactly how they are set up, but maybe they meant per separate tuning card / device.
I do not know how they decided to make the tuning adapters work, but if they do in fact require multiple to be connected to the same PC it is a complete waste. All the adapter does is gets a channel map, requests channels, receives tuning information about requested channels, and reports if channels are still in use. Under those requirements it would have been insanely stupid of them if it can't work with multiple tuners as the functions are all completely independent of the tuners (as they don't need a tuner to do anything, although without a tuner you have no need to request the channels). Now that being said I am sure they came up with some stupid way of making them that there are drawbacks and isn't as simple as I just made it out to be. However, it seems illogical that they would go a step backwards from what the Tivo has already implemented.