Hands-on with the Ceton CableCARD tuner
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted September 10th 2009 11:48AM
posted September 10th 2009 11:48AM
posted September 10th 2009 11:48AM
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Well the diags sure look a whole lot nicer than the ATI cards.
+1
wow am i glad i held off on buying a tuner for my media center machine i just bought! Wonder which will hit the market first, this or the dish tuner....
Oh man, can't wait for this bad boy!!!
Seriously, this is sexy. I just can't wait!
Will this allow for VOD from my provider? If not, what's the difference between this and the Mcard in my STB? Is this a media center limitation?
I think it's part Mediacenter and part CableCARD. I'm fairly sure each cable provider uses some proprietary protocol to transmit requests for content back and forth. MCE is probalby not geared to handling this.
Additionally, CableCARD is not set up for 2-way communication while a provider STB can. So you can get channel and tuning information coming in, but you can't send a request back for specific content.
Low Profile card. Perfect!!
With this I can turn my old Acer 3200 into a perfect HTPC Media Center.
I'd like to know how it will interact with the ATI tuners. I assume they will play well, but I'd love to invest in 1 of these Centons, and keep my two ATI DCTs
Looks great - I hope it puts off less heat than the ATI tuners.
regarding whether you will be able to use on demand, or the guide, CETON claims this card uses:
"the new multi-stream BI-DIRECTIONAL CableCARD, the M-CARD."
Is this just smoke and mirrors?
All CableCARDs are bi-directional, it is the host device that is one way because there is no two-way approved CableLabs spec. Tru2way is the closest we've got and it requires you run the Cable co's UI and is only available to 3rd party devices in three markets.
Wishful thinking as it may be, any reason to think there might be host devices that support 2 way communication in the somewhat near future now that they've loosened DRM and opened cableCARDs to non OEMs?
What is stopping anyone from utilizing the same technology as the service providers (is it ACAP and/or OCAP?) out of curiosity? The service providers being unwilling to allow outside equipment on their networks? I'll admit upfront that I don't really know what I'm talking about :-(
If you don't get the host device approved by CableLabs then the operator doesn't have to support it. And CableLabs won't approve 3rd party host devices that do it.
It says the interface type is PCI/Ethernet.
Anyone know if the tuners can be shared with other MCEs like the HDHomerun tuner?
PCI-E means PCI Express. Same as used by graphics cards, but the Ceton looks like it's single lane only. I doubt you can just share it easily ala-HDHomeRun since there's DRM involved. So far, it's only been mentioned to work with media center extenders.
We don't even know if you can share encrypted recordings with other computers in your home network.
Scratch that. I browsed through the gallery and noticed what you were referring to. If Ceton releases an external version that connects via ethernet, we might. That, of course, depends on how the CableCARD activation works, if it's tied down to one computer, etc.
"The card is expected to be available by Q1 2010" This is according to the Ceton website via FAQ. This is what I have been waiting for!!! Time to start saving the pennies!
The reason this card (or any other) can't support VOD or the CableCo program guide is a cable industry issue, not a technical one. CableLabs still hasn't produced the tech spec (BOCUR or bi-directional OCUR), which is what's required for the 2-way comm that is used for VOD and the program guide.
The 2-way Cablecard spec is out, it is called Tru2Way, but the cable companies aren't supporting it everywhere yet. It also requires 2-way hardware that this tuner does not have.
To answer some questions regarding this card over the network with MCEs.
This card WILL enable a media server type enviroment using MCEs as a type of client. One windows 7 computer with this card can broadcast over your LAN (ethernet) protected live or recorded content to an MCE in real time.
So one windows 7 box with this card and three-six MCEs distributed via ethernet to different rooms/different TVs... all in real time. Live or prerecorded.
They also have a commercial solution called UCrypt that will do far more than 6 channels... The 6 channel cap is a windows 7 restriction, not the restriction of the ceton technology.
As far as VOD is concerned Scott is right... it possible and I'm sure its coming, but it will take a partnership of sort with an MSO to make it happen... Basicly custom cards for a given MSO, since each company does VOD differently. Only time will tell and the success of this card will open up features like that in the future.
Has anyone gone to ceton site? http://www.cetoncorp.com/ProductsCTN9100.php
For the 9100, 9110 and 9120, I noticed this little bit: "Windows and Linux Drivers with extensive API documentation."
WTF! Linux!?!
That is an awesome find. I applaud you!
Hopefully someone will grab this up and get us a fully functional tuner driver working with MythTV. I wouldn't complain if it was a commercial closed-source product so long as it works.
Linux CableCard may never happen. It might happen with reverse engineering but CableLabs won't like that. I don't think developers want to pollute their open source apps with DRM.
Will these cards also tune analog channels or do I need separate card for that?
Analog will be completely gone soon to free up bandwidth for the internet. Analog over the air analog over cable... Its a non-issue, it will all be digital soon enough... with that said I'm not sure if it support analog... I doubt it.
I recently had a dream that I could record transformers, gijoes, robocop and the lion king all at the same time. I guess you could say my dream just came true.
Linux CableCard could happen if they spend 100,000 for certification and license a DRM solution. The OCUR spec has been posted on the CableLabs website so it could be possible to make an unauthorized solution but CableLabs wouldn't like it.
I've been told that cablecards didn't work well with one guy's TiVo near here, and it'd be awful to lay in a bunch of hardware then find out that this setup wouldn't perform acceptably either. I sure hope somone takes a shot at it and posts the results so I can tell if it's worth the time and money.
I have a SATA tray that's just for backups right now so turning it into 'DVR' storage wouldn't be a big deal...
The post says that the card has "the ability to record four HD channels at once". The Ceton page (http://www.cetoncorp.com/ProductsWMC.php) says that they are working on a card that will handle SIX HD channels simultaneously, available Q1 2010.
But this card will only be available through OEMs because regular versions of Windows 7 only support 4 tuners; you have to get the Advanced Entertainment Pack (AEP) for Windows to support more than four tuners, and that is STILL only available to OEMs, according to Ceton.