Ceton Corp announces multi-stream CableCARD tuner for Windows Media Center
by Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Jan 9th 2009 at 2:42AM
Watch out ATI, because you're exclusivity on digital cable tuners for Windows Media Center is about to run up. You see Ceton Corp announced that during 2009 their multi-channel digital cable tuner will ship, and for the first time ever a single device will somehow allow you to record up to six channels at once. We're not exactly sure how this is going to work, and we're kinda curious to know if a single PCI card will be able to do this all on its own, but regardless, competition is good. Of course the bad news is that you still can't build your own Windows Media Center and get this to work, but you knew that already didn't you?[Via Chris Lanier]
Filed under: Media PCs
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MI @ Jan 9th 2009 3:09AM
Yea, when I can use one in my SageTV system I'll care.
Garst @ Jan 9th 2009 3:16AM
Hopefully these guys don't sell out to the cable companies and sell this without having to buy a crappy new systems from an OEM.
Peter F @ Jan 11th 2009 8:44PM
Microsoft caved to the restriction of having an OEM built PC. Don't blame ATI or Ceton. But still, screw Cable Labs
jhammer @ Jan 16th 2009 11:49AM
Unfortunately, there is no "Selling Out" to the cable industry. They dictate what they will allow, and you create a product.
I wish companies like Ceton and ATI. Make exactly what we wanted, and the cable industry would conform.
With that said, I think Ceton's Technology has the first chance of being a retail product... However, only time will tell and the industry moves sloooow...
Too many people have to agree, before anything happens...
Erwos @ Jan 9th 2009 6:20AM
It's "Ceton" - not Centon, not Canton.
Jim Mallory @ Jan 9th 2009 7:11AM
Pair this up with Windows 7 or TV Pack 2008 Ultimate and have 4 tuners in a single card (and only one M-card, so no additonal $1.50 per month per tuner). I will be all over this.
ieko @ Jan 9th 2009 8:09AM
Um, yeah, I want one.
Just hope M-Cards are available by the time I can get my hands on this.
Peter F @ Jan 11th 2009 8:45PM
M-Cards are available now. Comcast installed them in both of my ATI CableCard tuners
DanITman @ Jan 9th 2009 8:47AM
You will only be able to buy this through and OEM computer manufacture. Ceton still has to follow the rules just like ATI. It's not Ceton who sets the rules it's the CableLabs that comes up with them. Blame them.
This will never work with Sage until they use a trusted platform where DRM is capable.
Ren @ Jan 9th 2009 1:24PM
Not true. You can buy ati tuners after you bought a media center that works with cable card tuners so I don't see why you could not buy this device and add it to a cable card enabled pc's. 4 in one sounds like an awesome solution. I'd be all over it
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 9th 2009 9:42AM
ummmmmmmm what about Tru2Way???
isnt CableCARD on the way out??? whats the point of this???
darklighter @ Jan 9th 2009 12:24PM
tru2way is the software architecture; CableCARDs are still the hardware used in a tru2way system.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 9th 2009 2:03PM
so a simple firmware update could make this work with Tru2Way???
darklighter @ Jan 9th 2009 3:14PM
No. The host (in this case, the PCI card), has to have hardware to provide the upstream communication used by tru2way. If it doesn't have a transmitter, it's never doing tru2way.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 9th 2009 3:22PM
I gotcha.......
Peter F @ Jan 11th 2009 8:47PM
It still is possible that a software update/dongle could help things. Current ATI CableCard tuner customers like myself still are praying for an SDV adapter. Still not Tru2Way, but I wouldn't rule it out yet.
Nate @ Jan 9th 2009 11:16AM
These guys have been talking up this thing for over a year. I'll believe it when I see it. Read: I don't believe it.
darklighter @ Jan 9th 2009 12:23PM
All M-Cards can handle up to 6 channels at once, and the PCIe bus is more than capable of handling that much bandwidth, so all Ceton really has to do is slap the tuners and MPEG decoders on there. It's really not that hard.
Nate @ Jan 9th 2009 12:47PM
Easily...a typical HD bitstream, at least on Comcast unswitched digital is only 5-10mbit ... about the same as standard def DVD.
palehorse @ Jan 9th 2009 1:29PM
Fuck Cablelabs.
rendezvous65 @ Jan 9th 2009 3:42PM
I hear a tru2way PC is still a year or two away. I do know that Larrabee will have some form of tru2way support. It will probably require an OEM PC which does suck. Other than the 2way communications maybe the tru2way HTPC's will have DCAS support. VueKey is DCAS and that might be interesting. Then these cards would just need the secure processor and can then download the security. It'll happen some day same with SageTV, beyondtv, and maybe someday Mythtv if were lucky.
Nick @ Jan 18th 2009 11:39AM
The whole OEM PC only thing is so frustrating. I really enjoy my Vista MC DVR, and I wouldn't mind the subscription fees for digital cable - but there's no way that I could use them together.
I know that the feds said "hey, you can't force people to use YOUR box" to the cable companies, but it sure doesn't feel that way!
Options:
Buy a TiVo HD - $600 for the version that still has less capacity than my VMC DVR.
Use the cable Co's DVR - $free, but only one tuner and only 20 hours capacity (pathetic)
Either way, I'm stuck with a very nice VMC PC that'd have nothing to do :(
It's driving me completely insane how the media companies (cable labs, blu-ray group) are so paranoid about people stealing their content, that those of us who would like to pay for and legitimately consume their content cannot do so!
Traek @ Mar 15th 2009 3:52AM
Nick said it: it seems there is no end to the way the real hackers out there can circumvent any amount of copy protection, regardless of the platform. All DRM really seems to do is piss off the genuinely honest consumers since they can't do what they want/need to with content we PAY FOR!
I think the trend of online music retailers like iTunes, Amazon Music and Wal-Mart MP3 shows that is the case. Since all the hackers figured out LONG AGO how to circumvent the various DRM methods, they gave up and just sold it to people that were still willing to pay for it.
Someday I hold out hope that CableLabs will pull their heads out of their butts and realize they aren't protecting anyone but OEMs with these rediculous rules... that and making the case for many of us -- who can't affordably get any of our non-local HD stations on cable -- to switch to IPTV or Satellite.