LG, Funai officially jump on the tru2way bandwagon
Posts with tag cable card
Digeo settles with Gemstar, new Moxi DVR on the way
The continuing saga of Digeo and its now you see it / now you don't DVRs at CES has taken another step, first by the company resolving a lawsuit with Gemstar-TV Guide. Courtesy of a multiyear licensing agreement, any problems with its "too similar" guide software should be in the past; a good thing since Light Reading noticed the Moxi HD DVD 3012, set to debut at next month's Cable Show with dual tuners, increased hard drive and CableCARD support. We'll keep an eye out for more details on the new hardware hidden among all that tru2way equipment.[Via ZatznotFunny]
Okoro intros the CX-series of CableCARD-equipped HTPCs
We'd heard the Okoro was planning shipping entry-level CableCARD HTPCs, and the firm's made good on that promise, unveiling the $1795 OMS-CX100 today. Apart from that all-important ATI TV Wonder DCT breakout box, the CX100 features a 2.3GHz Intel E6550 Core 2 Duo, NVIDIA 8500GT graphics, 2GB of memory and 320GB of storage, and Vista Ultimate. HD DVD and Blu-ray are separate options depending on your format allegiance, but for someone looking to make the HTPC leap in a Cable Labs-approved way, it's not a bad deal at all.[Via eHomeUpgade]
Samsung @ CEDIA - Cable Card 2.0 HDTV receiver -- SMT-H3050
Pics of cable card support after the link
CableCard vs. Cable Box
Cable Cards have all but disappeared from consumer level TVs. There are a few still floating out there but they tend to be in the more pricey models that offer little to no advantage over the normal sets. The New York Times took some time to examine why these little cards are no longer a popular option on todays HDTVs. They come to a two part conclusion.One, the cable companies simply did not encourage them due to the amount of monthly rental fees associated with cable boxes. They make too much money with those boxes to promote an alternative solution. Second: the limitations of the card. Cables boxes cost more to the consumer, but they do offer a lot more features. The current implementation of Cable Cards only offer a one way communication stream and therefore cannot have the same interactive features like the on-screen guide or Video-on-Demand.
We think it is really the second part there. It is the lack of services that killed the Cable Card. Sure, the cable companies didn't help, but it was the downgrading feeling that kicked 'em to the wayside. Do you use a Cable Card in your HDTV?
Where have all the cable cards gone?
Cable
cards. Where have they gone? Have you noticed that they are no longer in many of the new HDTVs. Check this out:
Panasonic's new PX60U
series doesn't have 'em. Samsungs new DLPs and
LCDs
don't. JVC dosn't have the Card on their plasmas. We can keep going
here. HPs plasmas and LGs plasmas. None of these have
Cable Card support.So why is this? Are manufactures waiting till Cable Card 2.0 comes out. Or is that they found out that many people are not using this option. We are sorry 'cause we don't know but we hope that it is the former of the two. Cable Card 2.0 is going to change a lot of things. It will bring all of the benifits and features of a cable box, like on-screen guides and on-demand, to the cable card. The current implimentation gives consumers the same stations as a cable box but not the same features. We want our features!
