[mythtv-users] Comcast CableCard Info

[Ronald Frazier]

On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 7:51 AM, Eric Sharkey <eric at lisaneric.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 10:40 PM, john.baab at gmail.com
> <john.baab at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Well the idea is that you don't pair them so you don't get premium
>> (copy protected) channels, but you still get any copy freely content.
>> I was told this by a Silicon Dust employee so I trust it will work.
>
> This seems unlikely.  Copy freely channels still usually require a
> subscription, and I don't think the cable card will have access to
> your account info and know which channels you are supposed to receive
> unless it is paired.
>
> Since, as mythTV users, we won't get copy protected channels under any
> circumstances, if this were true it would mean there's no point in
> ever pairing the card.
>

First, has anybody else been missing emails from this forum? The 2
replies in this thread from the john baab gmail address never came to
my inbox. I wasn't sure what you were replying to, so I went and
looked at gossamer threads website, and there are 2 posts I never
received. I saw the same thing in another thread recently. Anyone else
have this problem? And yes I checked...they aren't in my spam folder.

Second, you are correct in your assessment. Channels come in 4 flavors.
1) no encryption
2) encryption + Copy Freely flag
3) encryption + Copy Once flag
4) encryption + Copy Never flag

Without a cablecard, you get #1. With a cablecard in myth, you get #1
and #2 (but only after the card is paired and receives its
authorization signal). With a cablecard in Windows Media Center only,
you get all 4 flavors (with restrictions on what you can do with #3
and #4, and restrictions on how long #4 will stay before being
auto-deleted)

With my cablecard provider (WOW) I get the following:
Basic cable SD channels and local HD stations are #1.
All non-premium channels (including 70 or so HD channels) are #2.
Premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc) are supposedly #3 (I don't
subscribe to any of them, so I can't verify this)
PPV are supposedly #3, or sometimes #4 for specific events (I never
order PPV, so again I can't verify this)

-- 
Ron Frazier