http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Decoder

And its so easy to just set the value PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID to {A753A1EC-973E-4718-AF8E-A3F554D45C44}.

I mean, isn't it obvious? My grandma can do this, if only Apple would make it so simple...]]>Sep 9th 2009 8:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
This is a good 1st step though.]]>Sep 9th 2009 7:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Jan 7th 2010 4:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 11th 2009 11:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
Screw health care reform, give the FCC guns.]]>Sep 10th 2009 8:37AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 11th 2009 9:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 7:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
It's about damn time!]]>Sep 9th 2009 8:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 8:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 8:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
Oh, and the SDV support is nice too.

I can just wait to hear how you get support for this though. Velocity Micro did a good job working with Comcast when I first got mine.



]]>Sep 9th 2009 8:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
You need the special BIOS to get the OCUR (CableCard receiver) to actually function, but then you need the special Vista/Win7 license to get Windows to recognize the CableCARD tuner. Microsoft dropping its OEM requirement doesn't matter much if you still need that special CableLabs-approved BIOS from an OEM.]]>Sep 9th 2009 8:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/12/microsoft-announces-another-new-drm-playready/]]>Sep 9th 2009 8:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
So I'm happy.]]>Sep 9th 2009 11:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/05/12/how-to-install-a-cablecard-tuner-in-your-diy-media-center/

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/TV_Tuners_Remote_Viewing/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=NAHB&sku=A2438651

or

http://www.cannonpc.com/
(there on sale bottom right)

as of an 1 hr ago you can ignore the warnings on the latter one (sweet!)]]>Sep 9th 2009 8:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 11th 2009 10:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 8:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
Improved video quality, since the PC can simply record the incoming signal directly without it having to be decoded by the STB and recoded by the Hauppauge. I'm not sure how huge this is myself. It seems like it could be a significant quality issue, but I know that there are numerous decode/recode steps in the system already...]]>Sep 10th 2009 1:47AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 9:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 10:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 9:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 10:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
"A technology preview of the new Multi-Channel Cable TV Card from Ceton Corp., which enables PCs with Windows Media Center to play or record multiple live channels of premium HDTV at once, and stream live HD channels or recordings to multiple TV sets throughout the home, all with a single CableCARD."

]]>Sep 9th 2009 11:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 9th 2009 11:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
PS I have Comcast >.<

Thanks]]>Sep 9th 2009 11:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
(You can also watch and record anything in analog on your cable, as it's not encoded...but that's not the point)

What this CableCard support allows you to do is watch and/or record any cable channel, including premiums in the exact same way.]]>Sep 10th 2009 12:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
@CiZiN: Yes this will let you do what you want. You'll have to rent a cable card from Comcast, probably for $2 - $3/month. YMMV. And endure the initial setup/install of it in your system by a technician who may never have done a cable card install before, so plan to be home for several really boring hours. But when he's done you'll be able to record multiple channels simultaneously from anything offered by the cableco.

Comcast in particular is using the digital switchover to somewhat sneakily kill off most analog channels. And many of the digital channels that are replacing them, other than the must carry locals, are encrypted, so without something like this, there won't be much to record off the cable into your house. And of course, only SD channels are available either in the clear or in analog, none of the HD channels.
]]>Sep 10th 2009 1:54AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
Basically, if you can pop one of these into your PC and get it activated, you won't ever regret it. Not a chance.]]>Sep 10th 2009 12:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 10th 2009 7:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 10th 2009 9:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
This is great news. Ceton Corp will be releasing (hopefully soon) a PCI card with 4 tuners controlled by a single M-Card. They could put more tuners on it but 7MC supports just 4 tuners per tuner type. So 4 is the limit, for now at least. But 4 is good for the average household I would think. I can now build a relatively inexpensive Media Center PC and replace all of my cable boxes with Media Center Extenders. With 4 tuners I can record 2 shows at once while watching 2 more shows on 2 separate TVs.]]>Sep 9th 2009 11:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
And until the new remote viewing standard (RVU) stuff gets rolled out (a ways off) I wouldn't expect any new boxes either...

I think the XBox is sort of it for the moment. And its (a) expensive, (b) noisy.]]>Sep 10th 2009 1:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
Sure there are plenty of reasons why extenders have not taken hold like was expected. One big reason is that getting HD cable signals into an HTPC has been a costly and cumbersome process. A lot of people who are into this kind of thing hate the fact that you had to buy OEM equipment to make it work and simply chose not to do it. If Ceton, and hopefully others, deliver on multi stream tuners at a price point that's attractive, that's a plus for WMC. The announcement that there is no more OEM restriction is another huge plus. With 7MC we finally have
- 4 tuner support ( I know Vista TV Pack had this too)
- DIY HTPC with CableCard
- multi-stream PCI tuner card(s) with M-Card support (6 stream decoding)

Those three things combined finally make it possible to build a relatively inexpensive HTPC that even my dad would be interested in. Just as importantly, this makes a WMC setup with extenders not only a viable but an almost ideal whole house DVR system. If the multi-stream cards don't pan out then that's a big problem. Otherwise I see no reason why the MCX will not be revitalized.

For me at least, everything hinges on the multi-stream tuner card. If that comes out soon and does not cost a fortune, I have no problem buying another used HP X280N to use for another year or two. Hopefully by then new extenders will be available in one form or another. If something doesn't happen by then, then I'll concede that extenders are dead and that there is no hope for WMC as a whole house DVR solution.]]>Sep 10th 2009 11:46AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
And for MS, it will probably sell another Xbox for extender use.]]>Sep 10th 2009 12:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 10th 2009 12:26AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 10th 2009 12:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 10th 2009 1:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/Sep 10th 2009 2:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/09/media-center-cablecards-freed-from-oem-requirement/
Too bad that the only cards available right now are in the $250 range.

Ceton says theirs won't be available until 1Q 2010 ... http://www.cetoncorp.com/ProductsWMCFAQ.php If they don't push it back more...

And there is no telling on the cost of that either.

Seems to me that they are killing themselves here.

Rental of a STB DVR is $10 ~ $20 a month and there is no upkeep...

And last I heard rental rates and availability of a cable card was up to the cable company.

Theoretically, they can charge you more to rent the cable card than it would cost to rent their DVR.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great announcement but there are still a lot of things that need to come together before Media Center can be a more desirable option.]]>Sep 10th 2009 3:55AM