Update 07/30 @ 10:52PM: Ben Drawbaugh has posted a wonderful SDV FAQ over at TiVoCommunity.com.
In a post last week I alluded to some disturbing information that a Time Warner installer told me. According to the installer, TWC has plans to move ALL digital content in my area over to switched digital by the end of the year. I’m not sure whether or not the rep that I spoke with has his facts correct. engadgetHD recently had a post saying that only NEW channels would be implemented using SDV. In my opinion, engadgetHD’s analysis seems to make more sense.
In either case, it has me concerned that switched digital could render my Series 3 useless. Is this concern valid? Can anybody alleviate my concern or is what I’m thinking correct?
SDV is no doubt a concern for every Series3 owner, but there is still hope that the FCC will step in and force CableLabs to come with a work around. Honestly my biggest fear is that they will add a channel via SDV that I actually want to watch before there is a solution.
Based on your knowledge, do you think that it is likely that TWC would/could switch over all digital content in my area to SDV?
Given the FCC is now requiring cable company boxes to use cable cards in their own boxes, it seems SDV will either need to be delayed or some serious progress made with cablecard 2.
Making a statement like “all NEW channels will be SDV” may not be correct as it doesn’t seem to jive with this article:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6454447.html
It looks like they can’t put everything on SDV as the system couldn’t handle it.
It’s clearly not a good situation for TiVo 3 owners though.
There is no way “all digital channels” will be SDV or even all new channels. Less popular channels will be SDV.
SDV only saves you bandwidth if the channel isn’t being watched, if it is, then it uses the same bandwidth as if it was a broadcast digital channel. SDV is not the same as packet switched (IPTV), it still uses a channel like a phone call uses a line.
Think of it like a phone system where there is a wire to everyone’s house, but not enough “circuits” for everyone to use the phone at the same time. But if everyone wanted to join the same party line, they could all use one circuit for that.
Look at the illustration above, but realize there are many more houses than 10 on distribution hub, I’d guess there are more than a 100.
Lets imagine there were 300 homes on a hub, then if all digital channels were SDV and everyone wanted to watch something different, they would need the same complicity as if all 300 channels were sent 100% of the time.
Doug,
That Multi-channel news article does a great job of explaining why all channels won’t be SDV and of course you’r right it’s not fair to say “all new” either. The “all new” explanation only works if they are less popular, which I’d assume they are at first.
Unfortunately, since the CableCard 2.0 standard (which certifies the device, not the card) was certified prior to the July 1, 2007 deadline, cable companies’ SDV WILL be compliant with this standard and thus the law. Needless to say, your Cablecard 1.0 Tivo Series 3 won’t be. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
See Engadget update:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/06/22/cablecard-2-0-is-ready/
Jeremy you are totally wrong.
The Cable boxes that are now required can do SDV and other 2way stuff even with a series 1 cable card because the box is the thing taking care of the 2way communication. The cable cards are only used to authorize it on the cable companies network.
Why can’t TiVo just develop a S3 which is capable of doing 2 way communication? Is there something which prevents TiVo from doing this?
[...] of the $399 lifetime subscription offer mainly because I’m still concerned about the SDV issue. What do you think? Are you planning on taking advantage of this offer? « TiVo HD Vs. [...]
[...] press release is like music to my ears. The SDV issue has had me concerned for some time now. Maybe the most recent lifetime subscription offer isn’t such a bad deal [...]
Time Warner Austin has continued to switch the digital channels to Switched digital. everyday I lost another channel or two.. by the end of the year I don’t think i will get any digital channels except the local over the air ones..
I would not recommend that anyone buy a TivoHD until the cable companies are ready for it.. I love Tivo, but not getting the channels you pay for is unacceptable.
[...] to broadcast Fox in high definition. Obviously, this presents a problem since my Series 3 TiVo is unable to tune SDV content. This will all change once TiVo comes out with a SDV dongle but for now, I’m stuck having to [...]
SDV w/ TWC has an option to go w/ the S3 Tivo’s *possibly not in all areas but I do know in the New England Division they do offer this (*again in limited areas)
It is called a Cable Card Tuning Adapter and it is like a cable mdm that will allow switch dig to work w/ your Tivo S3 to give you the SDV chnls. This will not work w/ non Tivo customers (ex: if you have a tv w/ just a cable card this adapter will not work to give you switch dig)
This device will still not allow for 2 way communications like Ondemand or Pay Per View functionality.