DirecTV dual tuner USB device for PCs revealed (leaked?) at CES

M

mrcorbo

Foo Fighter
Veteran
Odd that there has been no discussion about this. I think it's a pretty big deal.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/01/08/directvs-pc-tuner-is-real/

It'll be interesting to see if their solution is more end-user friendly than the CableCard solutions. I'll be very interested to see whether they have the same draconian certification requirements as CableLabs or whether they will allow use on any Vista PC. If it's the latter I will very likely switch over to D*TV.
 
Hum, yeah, I'd likely settle for HD Lite over the HD downsampled to SD recordings I currently get with my cablebox to svideo capture setup I have now. Hopefully that will be an option without purchasing a certified prebuilt rig like I'd need for Cable Card support.
 
It is no big deal they yanked the OTA tuners from the new HR21 hd-dvr. This is just a replacement for those like me who value OTA. I am interested if the USB tuners are better than the HR20 because they are not so great.
 
quest55720 said:
This is just a replacement for those like me who value OTA.
Click to expand...
Seems more like a solution for those of us who would like to view encrypted HDTV though Vista Media Center. The other models you mention don't offer anything of the sort, do they?
 
kyleb said:
Seems more like a solution for those of us who would like to view encrypted HDTV though Vista Media Center. The other models you mention don't offer anything of the sort, do they?
Click to expand...

I did not click the link thought it was the simple USB OTA tuners. The device looks very promising I wonder what kind of restrictions (DRM) there will be.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
quest55720 said:
I did not click the link thought it was the simple USB OTA tuners. The device looks very promising I wonder what kind of restrictions (DRM) there will be.
Click to expand...

DRM is pretty much a given. Playback will be allowed on the original machine and extender devices. One cool thing vs. a traditional DVR is that you should be able to back up HD recordings onto optical discs and they will still be playable as if they were on the hard drive. They would need to be inserted into the machine they were originally recorded on, though.
 
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