Windows Vista to record DTV without STB

[IKK]

Before I start I think Sage is the best thing since slice bread. Now that being said.

With MS making all these deals with Cable Co. and now DTV. Where will this put Sage. I never owned a Tivo or Replay TV and glad I went to Sage first. The fact that I could upgrade the components on by one as my system went from SD to HD is great. My concern was that I would have to convert to the Whole House HD DVR form direct when it came out so I could record HD paid channels. With Vista Media center that may change.

Sage is a great PVR, not so great media center. With no ability to record Paid HD content without firewire or expensive modified desktop.

Sage seems to be moving in the right directions with it products like the new Linux version. Adding that you wont need to have to by an OS and I am sure it not a memory hog like windows.

But like everything MS does. If I buy windows media and it can produce everything in one package why would anyone buy Sage. As the price of the Xbox drops which it will. I will have a client that can play HD content for a few hundred bucks. And I don’t need multiple STB connected to it.

When will we see Sage making deals with Cable Co. and Sat Co.

[stanger89]

Yeah, I'm watching with interest as well. After the intial "cool factor effect" of CableCard wore off, I realized there's nothing on digital cable I really want, plus I hate cable in general , so CableCard doesn't offer me much. Direct recording of digital satellite is my killer app.

[dbfresh23]

This was easily the best surprise of the day for me! I was getting ready to purchase a 169Time system, no need for that anymore!

I was ready to go back to digital cable just for cablecard - I hate the external boxes, mainly seeing the receiver's osd under the SageTV osd. The slow and sometimes unstable tuning just makes this news that much better! I'm also in one of those lucky areas that DirecTV is offering Local HDs to already so I'm pretty psyched about this news!

Edit -> After doing some reading over at TGB, someone with what would seem to be inside info seems to say that it will still be an STB, just one that will be able to play with windows vista pcs. I'd have to think that it will be firewire or usb. I'd much rather have a PCI-E card, but I'll take anything that's better then my STB to PVR150 setup I have now.

[Jesse]

Hi,

As a long time Directv customer this is very interesting news. What I am wondering, though, is how this will all play out with the broadcast flag. I have to believe that the whole new push for BF by content providers has very little to do with piracy and almost everything to do with the potential revenues they see in "on demand" services. I have to believe that once BF is in place that most content producers will simply flag most everything as "do not copy." What good will a DTV "card" do me then?

I sure hope I am wrong about this. With news like this from MS, and reports that the new DVD formats "should" allow for one backup copy then perhaps there is some hope, but it does not eliminate my concern that soon all pvr/dvr's will become doorstops.

Jesse

[stanger89]

The BF won't have any effect on this, the BF is for OTA (free) content. DTV is a closed system, as such they can do whatever they want with it.

My guess, is that their basic programming (Total Choice, etc) stuff will allow copies (possibly only to AACS/CPRM media) but that PPV/Premium channels probably won't (like HBO/CGMS-A now).

FWIW, nobody really cares if most content is recorded, it's fear of the content being freed from the recorder that has been the primary fear. Think of it this way.
1) You'll still be able to record from the S-Video port just as you can now.
2) If you use a DTivo (ignoring mods for the moment) you can't archive content anyway
3) Those who don't care about archiving to disk (I'd rather pay for the DVD than bother burning a recording) there will be a new way to record, one that will fall somewhere in between a DTivo and a (current) PC pro/con wise

[Naylia]

In my case I am looking forward to CableCard as it would allow me to eliminate my cable box, it will allow me to record from my full lineup in multiple instances (with multiple cable cards ) and hopefully gain me access to recording my non-OTA-HD channels.

However, none of this will eliminate my current recording methods (pending I can cram everything in one case). I have a fusion5 for OTA HD and that's not going anywhere and I have a pvr500 which will still have plenty of analog channels to record from for at least the next few years...seems we've started moving towards simulcasting on those channels, but no real mention of analog going away yet on channels 2 to 125.

[Jesse]

Hi,

The BF won't have any effect on this, the BF is for OTA (free) content. DTV is a closed system, as such they can do whatever they want with it.

Now that is good news.

FWIW, nobody really cares if most content is recorded, it's fear of the content being freed from the recorder that has been the primary fear.

I dont buy it. It wont slow piracy down much, but it will allow them to recycle the content immediately via on demand.

In any case thanks very much for the good news re. BF and DTV.

Jesse

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Jesse

In any case thanks very much for the good news re. BF and DTV.

Not really sure if it's good news, because DTV doesn't need something like the BF to do it themselves.

[blade]

One of the main reasons I've stuck with cable instead of DTV is the fee they charge for additional recievers. It just drives the price up way too much for me. I assume they'll charge the additional fees for the PC tuners as well?

[dbfresh23]

Originally Posted by blade

One of the main reasons I've stuck with cable instead of DTV is the fee they charge for additional recievers. It just drives the price up way too much for me. I assume they'll charge the additional fees for the PC tuners as well?

Yep, half the cost of renting a digital cable box. You think cablecards are going to be free?

[phenixdragon]

I see it like this, there will be DRM no matter what. DRM will be allowed for other media center software, including Sage. MSFT will of course be the first out the door with it but soon enough (maybe in 2007) others will have their software running CableCard and DirecTV. There is no way that MSFT will only allow it for themselves as I even beleive that CableCard with DRM, or something like that, will be for others to develop for. Of course though you will have to have DRM which has been cracked and will be cracked again. But for me, this is awesome to finally be able to get DirecTV recorded directly on the computer. But this is a key factor that Sage needs to address and have setup for Sage to keep Sage on top. No media software will survive without being able to record the streams diretly even if it means having DRM. Main stream won't go to a system that you can't record the streams directly. Thats my reason why TiVo is still #1 to me but won't be for long. If Sage can do this, with full Linux support then there is nothing that could be better!

[phenixdragon]

Originally Posted by blade

One of the main reasons I've stuck with cable instead of DTV is the fee they charge for additional recievers. It just drives the price up way too much for me. I assume they'll charge the additional fees for the PC tuners as well?

I would assume you are just using the cable tuner in the TV if you aren't paying a fee for each TV or you own yoru cable box because (at least with Comcast here) they charge you about $5 or so for each cable box you rent from them.

[blade]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

Yep, half the cost of renting a digital cable box. You think cablecards are going to be free?

Originally Posted by phenixdragon

I would assume you are just using the cable tuner in the TV if you aren't paying a fee for each TV or you own yoru cable box because (at least with Comcast here) they charge you about $5 or so for each cable box you rent from them.

I guess I should have specified that I've stayed with analog cable. Going digital would be a waste because practically everything I watch would still be analog even on digital cable. The improvement DTV would offer for SDTV programming just isn't enough to justify paying a montly fee for 7 receivers and the hassle of using STBs with Sage.

As for HDTV, I'm not really that concerned with it. It does look nice, but I'm not going to increase my bill by 50-100% to get it.

[phenixdragon]

That makes moer sense then, 7 receivers is way too much. But with a media center recording the pure digital stream I would think you wouldn't need to spend that much. Still it would be up a bit mroe then what you pay now, but if you use a max of 4 TVs at once you only need a max of 4 tuners and then have clients on each box. but I guess until we see what DTV will charge for each tuner in a media center we won't know yet. My guess is 1 DTV/tuner or what ever they use to connect it to the computer will be the same as having a DTV box now. So $5 for each extra box.