[mythtv-users] Is the Digital Future bleak?

Cory Papenfuss papenfuss at juneau.me.vt.edu
Sat Jun 2 00:50:55 UTC 2007


> I am also, probably naively, opimistic that either a) cable and
> satellite distributors will realize that there's no point in adding
> complex encryption technology, or b) that eventually there will be a
> system-agnostic cable-card type solution that will work on any
> platform. After all, we're not trying to steal anything -- we already
> pay for it.
>
 	Doubtful.  Cable companies REALLY like all the control that having 
to rent cable boxes grants them.  That's the reason why CableCard was 
crippled so much out of the gate.  Everyone with a financial interest 
wanted to get their grubby paws on it and f*ck it up so they could have a 
little more control.  In the end, it's broken... just like BlueRay/HD-DVD.

>> So, in two years, when we all go digital, I will be forced to place my
>> MythBox (lovingly) into my storage closet and rent a DVR from
>> Time-Warner-Microsoft-Jiffy-Lube.
>
> There's also the possibility that within a few years there are cards
> capable of doing on-the-fly transcoding from unencrypted HD analog to
> MPEG-2. Yes, I know the bandwidth involved and the staggering amount
> of processing required to make this happen, but I also remember a time
> when 100 MB of storage was an exorbitant luxury.
>
 	Yes, but that's why they've been working so hard to "plug the 
analog hole" on BluRay/HD-DVD players.  Once on-the-fly capture and 
compression become feasible at the consumer level, they'll simply flip the 
bit in the stream that says, "down-res all component output to 480p." 
Then, all you get on your HD-component capture MPEG card (and non-HDMI 
HDTV) is 480p.  The cards are not too far off, I might add... they're 
already off-the-shelf, just a bit too expensive for now.

> You won't have to put your Myth box in storage as long as analog sets,
> and therefore set-top-boxes exist. And it will be quite some time
> before those disappear.
>

 	As long as you're willing to live with SD, that's true.  If you 
want HD, the future is indeed bleak for MythTV.

-Cory

-- 

*************************************************************************
* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA                                       *
* Electrical Engineering                                                *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University                   *
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