ATI's OCUR: world's first CableCard HDTV tuner for (Vista) PCs

ATI is showing off the world's first and only CableCard HDTV tuner for PCs: the ATI OCUR. The Open Cable Uni-directional Receiver allows Media Center PCs running Microsoft's new Vista OS to receive High Definition premium digital cable content. Sure, the internal and external (USB 2.0) versions of the OCUR on demo at CES are only tech previews of their final shipping product but hey, this has potential to make that (Media Center) PC truly suitable as a TV replacement in the living room, and a hi-def video recorder to boot! Besides, the reference design is done so the product is simply waiting for Vista to ship...er, sometime this year, right folks? Click on for a few more pics of the external OCUR and the product in action.

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

[wow @ Jan 6th 2006 2:27PM]

woooooooooooooooooooooow

[K @ Jan 6th 2006 2:31PM]

which version of CableCARD?

[K @ Jan 6th 2006 2:33PM]

nevermind V1.0...blah



I might as well wait to get my HD Tivo that will support Cable Card v1 and v2.



It's as much vaporware as Windows Vista.

[DJ @ Jan 6th 2006 2:39PM]

Remember when XP was released, PC sales didn't spike up suddenly because there was no real "gotta have it" application or peripheral that had to have XP?



Looks like things may be a little different this time around. Everyone's gonna want a Media Center PC running Vista with a pair of 250G drives, 4G of RAM, and a 30" or better digital display. That's all I want for Christmas next year.....

[Jeff @ Jan 6th 2006 2:45PM]

"this has potential to make that (Media Center) PC truly suitable as a TV replacement"



Er... most HTPC's are not laptops and that'll likely continue to be the case forever. What this *will* allow is for the PC to replace the cable box. There will be a lot more component-sized PC's coming out over the next few years, and eventually the PC will be just another AV component. MS would love nothing more than for this to happen - *this* is the real "hub" idea as far as entertainment goes, and they're sort of sneaking it in there while everybody in the press keeps talking about the Xbox 360 or whatever. (The Xbox 360 is a *client*, not a hub... the hub is a Media Center PC.)



This is one of the final pieces of the puzzle. Of course, the real rubs are the little niggling details that can still be major dealbreakers when it comes to MCE PC's (and also the reason why laptops are pretty unsuited for the task)... especially things like power management and noise. Vista supposedly has a new power mode that sounds to me a lot like S3 Suspend-to-RAM, which has been around forever but almost never works correctly. If they can really get that to work right then the situation will improve, but you'll still have this PC turning itself on with a whole bunch of fans running to record shows at times when you least expect it, which often isn't very nice in a living room situation.



Of course, with a laptop you'll probably be using it for things that will interfere with your TV recording quite a bit anyway (would you really want to miss recording your shows because you've got your laptop with you on a business trip? Isn't that the *point* of having a DVR to begin with?), not to even mention the "always-on" difficulties.



So this is the last must-have puzzle piece but now they've really got to get to work making MCE PC's work exactly the same way as cable DVR's or TiVo machines now. Which means no noise, instant-on, total responsiveness, low power consumption... which is pretty much at cross-purposes to what Vista is supposed to be (it's going to take a lot of horsepower to really get the most out of that OS).



Personally, as an MCE owner, I find the whole concept of it pretty flawed. It should be a stripped-down OS that *only* does media, it shouldn't have *more* functions than the full OS. I love the MCE application but the problem is it is a Windows XP application. That should be the OS. Or at the very least, everything should be stripped out of the OS that MCE doesn't need, which would go a long way towards lowering the power requirements (both literally and figuratively).



This is the way both TiVo and all cable co DVR's work. They all run on really lightweight OS's that only serve the few functions necessary. They're highly specialized. Windows is just way too bloated as it is to be a "Media Center", though maybe that will change with Vista.

[Jim @ Jan 6th 2006 2:45PM]

The joys of high-def: thousands of dollars spent on that plasma/LCD monitor, receiver, gold-plated cables, an HD tuner card for that Vista PC that doesn't exist yet, yet you're still watching Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey...



I can't wait to rip Clash of the Titans in hi-def so I can show all my friends.

[Chuck @ Jan 6th 2006 2:45PM]

I wonder how long it will take to have drivers for it ported to linux. This with a MythTV box would be great.

[mroach @ Jan 6th 2006 2:51PM]

This should make it easier to get HD rips of TV shows online. Hooray

[dpratt @ Jan 6th 2006 2:58PM]

Wake me when somebody puts out a CableCARD HD tuner that actually exists and doesn't require an unreleased OS.



Honestly - CableCARD has been around for a while now. I am amazed that somebody hasn't made a product like this yet.

[The Jeremy @ Jan 6th 2006 3:01PM]

Isn't Microsoft's venture into everyone's living room already entitled *Bill & Steve's Bogus Journey*?



:)

[Riskable @ Jan 6th 2006 3:05PM]

Jeff posted, "What this *will* allow is for the PC to replace the cable box."



Actually, no. What it will do is turn your PC *into* a cable box. You don't actually think Vista's Digital Restriction Management (DRM) will allow you to use your PC as a PC, do you?



In order to protect providers content, Vista will make it so that only Microsoft-certified software can run on the machine (as in, verified digital certificate). This means that if you load up some 3rd party DVD ripping app, Vista will revert to a non-trusted safe mode where your new HDTV tuner will not work anymore.



I commented about this back in November:



http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/16/microsoft-announces-cablecard-for-late-2006/#c562079



-Riskable

http://www.riskable.com

"I have a license to kill -9"

[Patrick @ Jan 6th 2006 3:07PM]

"which version of CableCARD?"



My guess is CableCARD 1.0 since "Uni-directional" is in the title. CC 1.0 is one way only which is why you can't get Video-on-Demand with a CC (much to my disappointment). CC 2.0 is bi-directional, but to my knowlegde, the specs for it aren't finalized yet, so it will be a while before we see CC 2.0 products. Tivo's CC -compliant Series3 is scheduled for late 2006.



-p-

[monmin @ Jan 6th 2006 3:10PM]

Nice post Jeff. I agree with most of it.



One thing to add though, if noisy PC in the living room is a problem then why not keep the PC out of the living room and stream the content in. Besides the 360 (which is a client, but a noisy client) I'm sure some new wireless clients (HD capable) will be available by the time Vista ships (if not already??).



My plan for Vista is to keep the PC in the office (where it belongs imho) and use it as a regular PC only I will keep it always on and plugged into my cable service. Then I will stream the content around the house.



You can pretty much do this today but you have to use OTA for HD. I'm waiting for Vista before I invest in a media center though. I think better clients will be available by that time anyway.

[Mu Doggy @ Jan 6th 2006 3:10PM]

wouldn't HD tivo do the same thing? I mean, it'd be like, "Yes, with my amazing MCE I can check email, download porn and watch HD TV all from the comfort of my couch." Friend, "lets download porn" Me, "NO! Its recording HD content... don't even look at it! no... don't go near it, stop it! stop it! It'll skip!"



So just freaking do one thing, Tivo is probably cheaper anyway.

[mroach @ Jan 6th 2006 3:26PM]

#13 - Comcast has an HD PVR also which is quite excellent. I think we pay less than $5/month extra for it.

[the other steve jobs @ Jan 6th 2006 4:23PM]

please place on inside my new Mac mini DVR. Thanks!

[Michael @ Jan 6th 2006 5:52PM]

I agree with monmin.



I don't think that the future is a full blown PC in the living room. The PC will be in the office/den and always on (or using smart power management that switches PC back on when streaming/recording is required).



The device that is connected to the TV in the living room is merely a client - either an Xbox 360 (which is not loud when it is used as an MCE extender) or another media center extender (very small form factor). I wouldn't be surprised to see HD-DVD players with included media center functionality in the future.



Tivo and cable company DVRs have it the wrong way around. They have the storage in the living room and (at least Tivo) stream the content to the PC. And the user interface of cable DVRs is horrible in most cases....

[Shmoe @ Jan 7th 2006 1:08AM]

Jeff, No. 6, you got it all wrong man. The media center PC doesn't have to be totally silent. It's best in a desktop unit connected over a network to an Xbox 360 in the living room. Keep the media center in the office/bedroom or where ever. And who cares about power management on a MCE. Leave it on 24/7 and let it update itself automatically with TV listings/security updates and the like. I've had my HP M7170n running basically nonstop since June '05 connected to my old xbox in the living room. Will add this card when it comes out and move the old xbox to another room and get a 360 to connect to my big screen.

Can't wait for this card to come out.

[Steve @ Jan 12th 2006 7:11PM]

Ok, so replacing the cable box with MCE and CableCard is exiciting. Let's take it a few steps farther:



- How long before HD-DVD drives are available for PC's? I'm assuming not long. When that happens, we can retire the separate DVD player and have less cables; one less remote, and the need to continually teach our spouses how to change the 'input' on the tv ;)



- How about building an amplifier into the same MCE box? Does any HTPC maker do that currently? That would retire another large, heat making device and remote.



The amplifier is probably the trickiest part and I'm sure a lot of you would always want a high end, separate amp, but I would be perfectly happy with 100-150 clean watts and a few surround sound modes.



I've now got one box doing EVERYTHING. Granted, it would most likely be a big machine with the amp built in, but worth it to only have 1 device. No $300 mess of wires, 1 remote, cd/mp3 music player, HD DVD, HD/digital cable with program guide, and surround sound receiver all in one unit.



Think it will ever happen?