CEDIA-2004: VOOM

[jagouar]

Did you get any hints in the pricing dept? Basically is this thing gonna be impossible to have like the HDtivo? At 1k theres no way Im buying any HD-Dvr and it seems most cable co's are allowing you to rent the dvr for a5-10 bucks over the cost of one stb? If its say 20 bucks to rent I will do that, also any word on pricing on the thin clients? The cat5 networking is news to me as Ive always heard it was a coax networking system they were going to use (and its a good move IMO), but can the thin clients play live tv too? If you could get the thin clients I know my roomates would love to be able to get the thin clients at 5-10 bucks each per month..... just curious about how this whole system is shaping up because i can see its changed since I last read about it.


the cat5 thing is really good because my coax already carries basic cable for me and I need to keep it because I dont get all the channels via OTA (only get pbs, cbs in HD) all others havent converted over yet. Or wireless would be good too.

 

[Sean Mota]

On the same note: (CAT5) TCP/IP Ethernet pass HD feed without degradation? What were they using at the demo?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Sean that a question we can't answer, the main TV was HD but the the two other TV's were SD (And those were the ones hooked up to the UCentric Client boxes.

We should also note that some of the features we were shown may not be imediately available when the DVR is released.

 

[Sean Mota]

The NY City show they were showing HD in the clients but I think it was connected all coax.

 

[jagouar]

I have a video from ces last year (from AVS) showing the coax networking... so im really most intetested in the cat5 and how it works.

For anyone thats interested.... this is old though but is video of the dvr (although it seems things have changed)
http://ht.colossusnetworks.com/old/VOOMhs.wmv

Steve or anybody else who was there can you give an updated list of what this can do cant do? I would love a whole writeup on what new features and such have been added and how the whole system works....

1. What exactly the thin client can do (act as a full voom receiver or just a player of recorded stuff)
2. With the newer 400 gig drives any chance we will see more than 200-250 gig drives in these things?
3. What exactly the PC/DVR can do? Ie how does the pc access the dvr (through propritary software or a windows/samba file share)... and what exactly it can do.

Im sure thers others but I cant remember them right now.

On the tcpip thing I see no reason it shouldnt be able to handle full HD streams... 100mbit network of course (10 mbit isnt enough to carry full HD) but I cna easily stream full recorded HD between computers in real time so I see no reason voom couldnt do it.

I know I am asking alot but the new stuff posted here really has be interested in the new DVR voom is bringing.... esp the thin client interface and how its going to work. Shame we dont know pricing yet. I hope they have things out by january for ces2005 because I will be there and really want to see it in action by then (if its not in my house by then, provided its not too much of a price premium)

 

[Ilya]

On the same note: (CAT5) TCP/IP Ethernet pass HD feed without degradation? What were they using at the demo?

The boxes that they had on display at CEDIA were SD-only. This is not what VOOM is going to use. But in case you are wondering, they were actually using phone cables (RJ-11):

 

[Ilya]

Do you know what happens if you click record series? Does not another screens come up or does it mean that it will record the series from the point you click on record series. What happens when the series ends, does it keep recording the series?

Good questions. I don't know. My impression is that in case of series, the programs are chosen based on their names, not time and day, though I might be mistaken.

 

[Sean Mota]

The software is a combination of Ucentric and OpenTV. I wonder if you heard anything about which OpenTv applications are in the plans?

 

[Ilya]

Perhaps I missed it but did you get a "firm" DVR launch date/time frame out of anyone at the Voom or Ucentric booth ?

No dates or pricing have been announced. I don't believe this can be expected this year. In fact, a standalone DVR should precede the home network solution.

 

[Ilya]

The software is a combination of Ucentric and OpenTV. I wonder if you heard anything about which OpenTv applications are in the plans?

No, they didn't mention OpenTV at all (or PPV for that matter ).

 

[Ilya]

Basically is this thing gonna be impossible to have like the HDtivo? At 1k theres no way Im buying any HD-Dvr and it seems most cable co's are allowing you to rent the dvr for a5-10 bucks over the cost of one stb? If its say 20 bucks to rent I will do that, also any word on pricing on the thin clients?

They wouldn't give any specific price estimates, but my understanding is that a combination of one server and multipple clients, may actually cost less compared to having multible DSR-550's. Just my guess.

The cat5 networking is news to me as Ive always heard it was a coax networking system they were going to use (and its a good move IMO)

From what I was told (and remember, this is coming from sales people, not from engineers!), they were going back and forth on this and currently they are leaning toward Ethernet-like connection, though switching to coax is not a big problem, in their opinion, as it can be done with a small adapter.

but can the thin clients play live tv too?

Sure!

 

[jagouar]

thanks.... just one more question about the clients, when watching live TV I assume the thin clients would use one of the pvr's dedicated tuners? or would i have its "own" where it wouldnt use the pvr tuners?

I can see esp in a home network system with 3 or 4 thin clients that the 2 dedicated sat and 2 dedicated ota tuners could get overloaded, esp when a recording is going and the main unit is watching another program (which is going to be in my room, in the theater) and i was planning on having thin clients in 2 other rooms (my roomates) so we would all be on different channels at times.

 

[squicken]

So no timetable on DVR, DVR pricing, new dish, MPEG 4, or even a timetable on getting a timetable? But you made new contacts who are reluctant now but may later be less reluctant to give a timetable on the timetable?

To satguys: Thanks for going and getting more info on DVR. I'm miffed at Voom, not your intel gathering.

One other thing. Has the demonstation of the DVR changed from CES to CEDIA?

 

[Ilya]

I don't know how the new demonstration differs from the one at CES. Some screens and even title lists look very similar, though some features might have been added.

1. What exactly the thin client can do (act as a full voom receiver or just a player of recorded stuff)

The way I understand it, the thin client doesn't have a tuner in it. It simply decodes whatever the server box sends to it. The server box can send live video from one of its tuners, or it can send recorded video from the hard drive.

2. With the newer 400 gig drives any chance we will see more than 200-250 gig drives in these things?

I've heard 300 GB mentioned, though initial standalone DVRs might have less than that.

3. What exactly the PC/DVR can do?

Again, Ucentric's software offers more options than VOOM may end up using/implementing in their product. It is not clear whether networked PC will be supported by VOOM at all. (Of course, the Linux PC that they had at the Show is not going to be part of real system! That will be replaced with the DVR/Server box, Like Motorolla 580, or something of that sort.) As for possible PC applications, they are currently showing just two: displaying photos stored on the PC on any TV set in the house, and playing audio (MP3) from the of your PC's hard drive. Currently that's all they talk about. No video streaming to or from the PC!

 

[Ilya]

I can see esp in a home network system with 3 or 4 thin clients

They mentioned that you can have as many clients as you want, but the network will handle only up to 4 independent HD streams. In addition, the hard drive can only play/record no more than two simultaneous streams. This means you can watch up to 4 independent programs throughout the house, but only 2 of them can be coming from a single hard drive. However, it might be possible to have more than 4 SD streams.

 

[jagouar]

They mentioned that you can have as many clients as you want, but the network will handle only up to 4 independent HD streams. In addition, the hard drive can only play/record no more than two simultaneous streams. This means you can watch up to 4 independent programs throughout the house, but only 2 of them can be coming from a single hard drive. However, it might be possible to have more than 4 SD streams.

Yeah I understand that part but I was more thinking of it only having 2 tuners and each "thin" client taking one, wouldnt work too well IMO.

Unless there is something I am missing.

 

[Ilya]

Yeah I understand that part but I was more thinking of it only having 2 tuners and each "thin" client taking one, wouldnt work too well IMO.

You can have more than one server on your network if you need.

 

[jagouar]

You can have more than one server on your network if you need.

True but then again your assuming that the thin client would know that there are open tuners on the other PVR if the other PVR's tuners were busy.

 

[HeavyC]

This all sounds great and everything, but I'm really getting frusturated by the lack of any kind of timeframe when we can expect this. We've been hearing about how great it's going to be for months (and I can't debate that), but any kind of date would be re-assuring at this point.

 

[dtsfanohio]

This all sounds great and everything, but I'm really getting frusturated by the lack of any kind of timeframe when we can expect this. We've been hearing about how great it's going to be for months (and I can't debate that), but any kind of date would be re-assuring at this point.

I agree... I was CES 2004 at the Voom booth and I specifically asked it Summer 2004 was realistic for launch of the DVR/Ucentric networking as they were demonstrating. The guy say "yes, it looks very realistic"..so...actions speak louder than words!