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Xfinity: The Future Of Confusion (Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Tried To get Along With Comcast)

Eighteen years as a Comcast customer, a spectrum analyzer in the basement, and a working knowledge of cable infrastructure still couldn't save one HDTV veteran from a weeks-long spiral of botched self-installs, phantom charges, and six rounds of tech support. What began as a simple modem upgrade cascaded into crashed TiVos, unrecognized hard drives, Samsung set-top boxes that refused to initialize, and missing channel packages. The full accounting of what went wrong - and why - reveals something worth knowing before your next Xfinity upgrade.

Pete Putman •
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Cable HD HD DVR OTA HD & Antennas

HDTV and Home Theater Podcast - Podcast #415: Switched Digital Video

Switched Digital Video (SDV) is a cable infrastructure technology that uses fiber optic nodes serving up to 2,000 homes, transmitting only actively requested channels over QAM to free up bandwidth for expanded HD, Video on Demand, and network DVR offerings. The system requires two-way communication between the set-top box and the distribution hub, which means CableCARD-based devices like TiVo and HTPC Media Center setups lose the ability to tune SDV channels entirely. With analysts projecting 90 million homes served by SDV by 2012, cord-cutters and third-party DVR users face a significant compatibility gap as cable operators roll out the technology.

The HT Guys •
Podcasts
HD DVR CableCARD Streaming HD

TiVo’s Got A New Box Up Its Sleeve

TiVo unveiled the Premiere DVR atop Rockefeller Center, introducing two models that blend terrestrial, cable, and broadband recording into a slimmer chassis. A new CableCARD slot enables VOD, Adobe Flash powers revamped menus, and a slide-out QWERTY remote finally ends the arrow-key typing nightmare. A partnership with cable MSO RCN marks a critical step toward broader market adoption. A hands-on review is coming this spring, and the results may surprise longtime TiVo loyalists.

Pete Putman •
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CableCARD Home Theater HD Media Centers

Microsoft Enhances the Digital Cable Experience and Names 2009 Windows Media Center Ultimate Install Winner

Windows Media Center in Windows 7 gains native support for QAM and ATSC broadcast standards, switched digital video (SDV) via a tuning adapter, and an increased limit of four simultaneous TV tuners per type, up from two. CableLabs and Microsoft also enabled portability for 'copy freely' (CF)-marked digital cable recordings to other PCs and portable media, while AMD released new ATI TV Wonder firmware adding SDV and CF support for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users. These changes meaningfully expand what a CableCARD-equipped Windows 7 PC can do as a whole-home cable TV hub.

HDTV News •
Bulletins
Cable HD CableCARD HD Receivers

HDTV Almanac - CableCard Deadline

New FCC rules now require cable companies to separate security and channel-selection functions, ending the mandatory lease of proprietary settop boxes and opening the market to consumer-owned hardware. CableCards, expansion cards that slot into compatible HDTVs to handle descrambling, remain limited to one-way communication, blocking interactive features like pay-per-view until the OCAP two-way standard gains wider adoption. Consumers shopping for a new HDTV should consider adding CableCard slot compatibility to their feature checklist to take advantage of this regulatory shift.

Alfred Poor •
Columns
Cable HD CableCARD HD DVR

TV Guide On Screen

TV Guide On Screen is a free universal program guide system that downloads scheduling data via QAM digital cable tuners, typically through PBS broadcast channels, and requires up to 24 hours to update whenever a cable system change forces a new channel map selection. The service supports up to two weeks of scheduling data, though the actual range depends on channel count and how long the product remains powered off, with too many channels potentially limiting coverage to under one week. Users relying on DVRs or DVD recorders for automated recording should understand that TV Guide update cycles can disrupt scheduled recordings, and manual recording remains a reliable fallback for time-sensitive or variable-length programming.

Richard Fisher •
Articles
CableCARD

ATSC Cable QAM Tuners - CableCARD or ATSC Ready

ATSC and QAM tuners, mandated by FCC regulation for all US televisions sold since 2006, allow direct reception of digital cable channels without a cable box, but introduce a non-linear channel numbering system that can require 10-30 minutes to scan and produces hundreds of raw channel numbers that do not match cable company guide listings. CableCARD support resolves the channel mapping problem by providing the cable company's official channel map, though it does not cover VOD or PPV services. Shoppers should also note that some ATSC/QAM-capable displays, such as certain Hitachi CRT rear-projection models, are limited to 480i output despite carrying a compliant tuner.

Richard Fisher •
Articles
Cable HD CableCARD Standards

HDTV Integrated Tuners, and You

The 2003 consumer electronics landscape saw the FCC mandate ATSC terrestrial DTV tuners in all TV sets 13 inches and larger by July 1, 2007, while a parallel cable industry agreement introduced CableCARD-based unidirectional plug-and-play compatibility, with integrated HDTV sets costing $300 to $1,300 more than monitor-only equivalents. HD set-top boxes remained priced between $400 and $900 MSRP, and IEEE-1394 FireWire with DTCP was specified as the required interface for recordable HD streams. Buyers in 2003-2004 needed to weigh whether a cable-integrated HDTV would still require a separate STB for VOD and interactive services, making a monitor-plus-leased-STB approach a practical hedge against rapidly evolving standards.

Rodolfo La Maestra •
Articles
CableCARD DTV Transition HD Media Centers

HDTV Almanac - Microsoft Backs HDTV

Microsoft's agreement with CableLabs enables Media Center PCs to become digital-cable-ready, accepting CableCARDs to connect directly to digital cable service without a separate set-top box. With over 4 million Windows Media Center Edition licenses sold, Microsoft aims to distribute video content across home networks to devices including the Xbox 360. For consumers, this could mean a unified PC-based hub for HDTV and digital TV content, though widespread adoption remains uncertain.

Alfred Poor •
Columns