[mythtv-users] Okay, slow down, HDTV idiot here...

[Dean Blackburn]

Actually, it's not a big deal for me anyway - hdtv has, as far as I can 
tell, no appreciable goodness for the average viewer (it's not picture 
quality, it's show quality I worry about... The stuff could be 
radioplays for all I care, so long as it's good), given all the 
additional expense. By the time it's the standard, and not an add-on 
service, no doubt all possible encryption, modulation, etc issues will 
be hacked to pieces anyway. ;)

Thanks for the info, though. I'll happily plug along with myth for 
'real' tv.

-deano

Michael T. Dean wrote:

> Dean Blackburn wrote:
> 
>> Excuse me for asking the most blatantly dumb question out there, but 
>> even with all the discussions about broadcast flag and HDTV, there are 
>> no cards out there, at all*, that can do anything other than record 
>> broadcast (not cable) HDTV signals, yes?
> 
> 
> Correct.  The pcHDTV card, which AFAIK is the only existing card with 
> Linux driver support, is only usable for ATSC OTA (Over-The-Air) channels.
> 
>> Are there even any plans for cards that can receive cable HDTV signals?
> 
> 
> Cable ATSC HDTV is modulated using Quadrature Amplitude Modulation 
> (QAM), but OTA ATSC is modulated using Vestigial Side-Band (VSB) 
> modulation (generally 8VSB).  DVICO is working on QAM support for the 
> Fusion HDTV3 ( http://www.dvico.com/products_mul_hd3.html ), the card 
> for which they have offered to provide technical specifications to allow 
> open-source developers to write a Linux driver.
> 
> Even if DVICO gets QAM working reliably with cable signals from multiple 
> providers (currently, they seem to have pretty good support for 256QAM, 
> but 64QAM support has a way to go, and I have no idea about 16QAM, 
> 32QAM, and 128QAM), it will only be usable for _unencrypted_ cable 
> channels.  Since most cable HTDV channels are (or will be) encrypted by 
> the cable provider (generally, cable companies will only provide the 
> local ATSC OTA channels unencrypted), even the Fusion HDTV3 with QAM 
> support would be unable to receive most channels:  it would most likely 
> be limited to the same channels available with an ATSC OTA card.  
> Although it's theoretically possibly to circumvent the encryption, doing 
> so would be in violation of US copyright law (DMCA).
> 
>> Perhaps I missed the announcement or something, but I just can't find 
>> anything like this...
> 
> 
> Nope, you didn't miss the announcement.  The networks, content 
> providers, and service providers are doing their best to make sure that 
> the American public doesn't realize how much of the fair-use provisions 
> to which we've grown accustomed are being taken away with the switch to 
> HDTV--whether from the encrypted content transmitted by our providers or 
> from the broadcast flag.
> 
> But, don't worry.  Your cable or satellite company will surely offer you 
> some specialized (=proprietary) equipment that provides 1/10 the 
> capabilities of Myth for only a "small" monthly fee...  ;)
> 
> Mike
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