MythTV/Comcast going all digital TV in Cambridge [OT]

[Tom Metro]

Jerry Feldman wrote:
> Most other cable companies have done the exact same thing. The issue for
> them is that they currently must send analog, digital, and HD signals on
> the same wire. As more channels go HD that may be a technical problem.
> The cost on their side is to provide free settop boxes.

True that the conversion to digital does expand the channel capacity 
(especially given the way cable companies apparently over compress the 
signal), but that's no argument for using encrypted QAM.

The decision to use head-end encryption with decryption occurring at the 
set-top-box is one of choice, and not a technical requirement. Consider, 
for example, fiber-based services, like FIOS, which use a device mounted 
on the customer premises (an ONT - optical network terminal[1]) to 
convert the signals multiplexed on the fiber to traditional electrical 
signals over a coax cable. This box could incorporate an addressable 
filter that blocks all video, or just extended basic, perhaps leaving 
premium channels as the only ones requiring decryption at the end-point. 
(Years ago some cable systems used a similar analog system integrated 
into the splitters out on the poles - addressable taps.)

Requiring a set-top-box is advantageous to the cable companies, as it 
gives them a computer that they can control to provide add-on premium 
services, like shopping, on-demand, DVR, and pay-per-view.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_Network_Terminal#ONT


Shankar Viswanathan wrote:
> RCN...switched to all digital (called
> the "analog crush") and encrypted all the non-broadcast channels. I
> requested them to provide the "basic cable" channels as ClearQAM but
> the guy on the phone did not know (or pretended not to know) the
> difference between "digital" and "encrypted digital" and kept saying
> that the FCC mandated this. Arguing with him was futile and a later
> call to a different support person didn't go any better.
> 
> As a result, both my NTSC analog capture card and the QAM tuner in my
> TV are useless.

I actually received some surprisingly intelligent responses from a 
Comcast rep. when I emailed them a similar request, but of course there 
was nothing useful they could do.

I don't recall how involved the FCC was (if at all) with the "cable 
ready" concept, when it was first introduced decades ago, but the 
situation with encrypted QAM is effectively rendering the concept of 
cable ready moot.

I suspect the reason cable companies don't get more complaints when 
consumers find out that they have to dangle a cable box off of the brand 
new flat screen they just mounted on the wall, is because consumers just 
don't know any better. The cable companies have done a good job of 
setting expectations, and so consumers just assume that if they want 
cable, the cable box is a necessary evil.

If you care about this, I'd recommend:

1. Emailing your cable company to complain. In theory, enough noise will 
induce a change, though it may take threats to discontinue service to 
have any impact. Perhaps bypassing customer service and writing to their 
corporate office would work better. (Modern customer service 
organizations excel at isolating companies from customer feedback.)

2. Write to the FCC to complain. I haven't looked into it yet, but I 
wonder if there is an existing movement to lobby the FCC to fix this 
situation. Please post a note if you're aware of anything like this.

3. Do what you can to educate non-technical consumers that almost all 
TVs sold today are perfectly capable of receiving HD digital signals 
from a cable system without using a set-top-box.


As cable companies continue to make it harder to watch and record the 
signals they provide, they will only succeed in driving the more 
technically inclined customers to other video sources. Using over the 
air DTV, and replacing basic cable with BitTorrent is becoming a 
practical choice, even if not a legally sound one. Though legal sources 
of video on the net is steadily growing.

  -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/