The Slow But Inevitable Convergence of Computers and TV

It's been a long time coming, and it still may not be quite ready for prime time in the majority of households, but the convergence of television with computers and the Internet is finally beginning to pick up steam. Back in the November 6 issue of this newsletter, I addressed one small aspect of the convergence issue: whether the Internet will kill cable and satellite TV. Maybe it will and maybe it won't, but even if the current TV providers survive, I think it's likely that over the next couple of years, more and more people will be using them as just one of several ways to get programming content.

This convergence thing still has a long way to go, though. The biggest obstacle for the average consumer is the complexity and difficulty of getting things set up, especially if you want high quality content. We were satisfied for quite some time with a dual tuner Media Center PC to record shows from basic analog cable. That's a relatively simple configuration: you simply split the cable feed coming from the wall and connect two pieces of coax cable from the splitter to the RF connectors on the tuners, and (if desired) run a cable from the computer's sound card to your home theater system.

With a set-top box, it gets a little more complicated. For dual tuner capabilities (i.e., to record two programs at the same time or watch live TV while recording a different program), you need two set-top boxes and two infrared sensors that run from the computer to the boxes. This is necessary for Media Center to be able to change the channel when needed.

It can really get dicey if you want to be able to record high definition programming. And what's the point of paying thousands of dollars for a top of the line HD set if you can't record your content in HD? If you happen to be in an area where you can pick up OTA (over the air) HD broadcasts, no problem (as long as your tuner cards support ATSC digital signals. There will be a second RF type connector on the tuner labeled for ATSC, and you run a coax cable from your antenna to that connector). Depending on your location, you might be able to use an indoor HD antenna, or you may need an outdoor roof-mounted one to get the signal.

Or, like me, you may live in an area where you can pick up few or no OTA stations because of distance or obstacles between your house and the broadcast towers. In that case, you can still watch and record what are called "clear QAM" channels, which are unencrypted digital channels provided by the cable company (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox). However, if you want to record and play back encrypted HD content with Vista Media Center, you need a CableCARD tuner (XP Media Center doesn't support recording of HD cable channels at all).

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as going out and buying a new tuner, since they're only available to OEMs. That means you have to buy a CableCARD-enabled computer from Dell, HP or some other vendor. Then you rent the CableCARD itself (a credit card sized device that plugs into the tuner) from your cable company. The rental fee is usually relatively small; with Time Warner in my area, it's $2.99 per month, per card). For dual tuner capability, of course, you need two CableCARD tuners installed in the computer and you need to rent two CableCARDs. The CableCARD replaces the need for a set-top box. CableCARD technology hasn't exactly taken off; read more about that here:
Is CableCARD a dud? Only 2,000 requested over summer

One big reason for the lack of enthusiasm about CableCARD is the Digital Rights Management (DRM) that's an integral part of the technology. For instance, encrypted HD programs recorded with Vista Media Center can't be transferred to a Zune or other devices (you can copy recorded OTA HD programs to other devices). For an idea of how restrictive the DRM is, see this interesting rant:
Ghostlobster's Blog : It's Time for my Quarterly CableCARD/DRM Rant

Then there's the problem with DirecTV satellite services. Recording DirecTV HD programming requires support for the H.264 standard, which is missing from Vista Media Center (but expected to be included in Windows 7).

Vista Media Center is a great application, but the obstacles to using it with high quality content are so costly and frustrating that it's no wonder so many people just take the easy way out: rent an HD DVR (digital video recorder) from the cable company. I'm sorry to say that's what we ended up doing. We just couldn't justify spending another $1500-2000 for a CableCARD-enabled computer and the dual-tuner DVR service is only $9.99 per month, just a few dollars more than we'd have had to pay anyway to rent the CableCARDs.

It's not the solution I would have preferred, and I hope it's only a temporary one. The Windows 7 Media Center is expected to include features from the TV Pack 2008 for Vista Media Center that was only given to OEMs. I hope that means better, easier support for cable HD. You can see some screenshots and read about the Media Center application in the Win7 beta at
Charlie Owen - Windows Media Center in the PDC Build of Windows 7

Meanwhile, Windows Media Center is by no means the only player in the TV/computer convergence game. There are alternative PVR applications such as Sage TV Media Center, which has versions for both Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The price is reasonable ($79.95) and as with Windows Media Center (and unlike TiVO), there is no subscription fee when you use it in the U.S. and Canada (apparently things are different in Europe, where you must subscribe to a service called tvtv). Sage records in standard MPEG2 format so you can transfer recordings to other computers and devices. According to its fans, Sage can record HD programming without DRM restrictions, so it's looking like an attractive alternative to Media Center. This web site contains a lot of information about Sage, including a guide for switching from Windows Media Center:
GeekTonic: SageTV Ultimate Guide

Other Media Center applications for Windows include MediaPortal and GB-PVR. Both are free open source downloads and you can find out more information about them at the following sites:
MEDIAPORTAL - free media center - Home

GB-PVR mediacentre. TV, Music, Video, Pictures, DVD

Hauppauge, which makes TV tuner cards, provides a software application called Win-TV with their cards. It's a little rudimentary and doesn't have the nice interface of Media Center and some of the other programs, but it provides a way to watch and record analog cable, ATSC and clear QAM channels on a Windows computer that doesn't have Media Center. Find out more here:
Frequently asked questions about the WinTV v6 application

In summary, there are quite a few options out there for using your Internet- connected computer to watch, record and play back TV. Unfortunately, getting it all to work the way you want it to (i.e., with high quality HD content from a cable or satellite provider) is still not nearly as easy as it ought to be.