XstreamHD to deliver 1080p to your home {Engadget HD}

Nov 19th 2007 11:23PM "They had me up to "proprietary"..."
Why?

Even though current cable and satellite television uses MPEG2 (or MPEG4), you can't just hook up a 'pure' feed to your television without their 'proprietary' set-top-box.

I strongly support non-proprietary, open formats for internet, file based distribution. Closed systems that distribute directly to the home are different. They offer a service that is targeted to real-time consumption. You can always use a Tivo like device to capture the video (post proprietary decryption) if you want to generate files or time-shift.

Also, this is a great solution. Even though it's technically possible to distribute 1080p through the internet, how long do you think ISPs will provide 'unlimited' bandwidth once a critical mass of people start downloading that volume of material? They're business model is contingent on people not using up anywhere near a maximum bandwidth. The additional ISPs costs will make all the nice open format, cheap/free (or stolen) online content prohibitively expensive to download once enough people jump on the bandwagon.