HD Tivo - Confirmation that I'll be okay later?

[LonghornXP]

I would like to know how all of this will be hooked up.
Will the server box be the only one connected to the dish and then coax or cat cable run to each client box?
Or will each cleint box still be connected to the dish and a seperate coax or cat cable run back to the server box? Maybe wireless networking?

This is what I've heard and it could be wrong or any part of it could change.

The server box will get one single coax cable from the dish itself. I'm hearing that the server box itself will have a built-in multiswitch that would allow 8 seperate feeds like the current 5x8 multiswitch. Think of it this way. This box can record 4 live shows off D* at the sametime thus requiring 4 of the 8 tuners. Now the server gets 1 tuner for live TV while the other three client boxes get one live TV tuner each thus resulting in 4 live TV tuners. That makes a total of 8 tuners. So to put this simple this box will have its built-in multiswitch tie directly into its tuners.

Now the plan is to have all client boxes connect wirelessly without the need for any type of hard wired connection such as coax because each client box would only be getting one single stream and that stream could be a recorded show or a live tv channel.

 

[lurch]

That is so f'n sweet!!!!(the 1 coax thing).That would make us installers jobs so much easier(if the other boxes are wireless),just hope it doesnt pay less per install!!And to be able to record 4 things at once?NICE!!!!NO MORE CONFLICTS!!

 

[LonghornXP]

That is so f'n sweet!!!!(the 1 coax thing).That would make us installers jobs so much easier(if the other boxes are wireless),just hope it doesnt pay less per install!!And to be able to record 4 things at once?NICE!!!!NO MORE CONFLICTS!!

I'm not sure what they will pay but the system is setup for ease of install and cost per install. Also remember that with four total rooms you can record 4 live shows at the sametime while still at the sametime watch a live TV show in all four rooms. Pretty cool sh*t isn't it.

 

[x1hdtv]

With this new HD server, what can we expect the 250 or 300 gig drive to hold in recorded HD hours using mpeg4?

 

[lurch]

longhorn, any info on d* getting rid of the phone lines?I'm so sick of running them to every box!!!

 

[LonghornXP]

longhorn, any info on d* getting rid of the phone lines?I'm so sick of running them to every box!!!

To answer two questions here goes. To start the HD server will have either a 350GB or 400GB hard drive so the poster that said 250GB or 300GB might have mis typed. I'm hearing for customers who have HD LIL via satellite who record only MPEG4 HD channels they can record anywhere between 65-110 hours of HDTV depending on the drive itself and whether the channel broadcasts 1080i or 720p. Remember that file sizes using MPEG 4 will be about 1/4 smaller than the same movie in MPEG2. Now also factor that the same movie in 1080i will have a bigger file size than the same movie in 720p. Hope that gives you an idea of how many hours you will get.

Now here is what I'm hearing on the phone issue and this could all change but here is the latest on it. Customers who want to order PPV movies via remote either have to have a phone line connected or if they buy a wireless card to connect to their own home network they can use their internet connection to order the PPV movie with their remote. Now customers who use their own internet connection via there home network won't need a phone line and will be allowed to order PPV or sports packages with their remote control and schedule the recorder to record a show from the internet. Say your at work and log into Directv.com you will soon have a page to schedule a recording.

Also for customers who don't have a wireless network and want to use a phone line customers will only need one phone line connected to the server so all other client boxes don't need a phone line.

Hope this helps and if you have more questions please ask.

Edit...also because client boxes won't need a cable run they will only work with a server authorized on your account. Also the server will only allow a client box that is authorized on your account. See the server will aquire a secure connection with the client boxes and the client boxes will have some type of ID that D* can tell the server to look for. So if a customer has a client box that they don't pay the mirror fee for than the server won't work with it because the server is only looking for hardware it has been told to work with so that other client box will be ignored and as far as the server is concerned it doesn't exist. See the server will have an access card and that card will hold the client IDs and such.

I didn't say this as well as I could but I hope you all get the idea of how this system is made to work.

 

[lurch]

longhorn,you have been the most ausome source for info on upcoming stuff.On behalf of everyone I thank you very much for posting this stuff.Its very exciting,learning what the future holds for d*.Man,i dont even hear this stuff from my managers at work!!Its nice to be in the know about these things when you do it for a living,not to mention love hdtv+dvr.Ive been wondring for about 5 years when they were goin to use exsisting technology(wireless)to hook up irds.

 

[LonghornXP]

longhorn,you have been the most ausome source for info on upcoming stuff.On behalf of everyone I thank you very much for posting this stuff.Its very exciting,learning what the future holds for d*.Man,i dont even hear this stuff from my managers at work!!Its nice to be in the know about these things when you do it for a living,not to mention love hdtv+dvr.Ive been wondring for about 5 years when they were goin to use exsisting technology(wireless)to hook up irds.

I may have some inside access but I would love to be working with this stuff but running my own company and doing side work for MacDill AFB is what pays the bills. But what I do work with at MacDill happens to be far better than anything D* could ever dream to put out or even test for that matter.

It just so happens that within about 10 minutes I have to go over some data of why a residental area had a sonic boom occur when no jets should have been going over this area to begin with.

Edit...I forgot to say that this sonic boom caused at least 10 shattered windows.

 

[x1hdtv]

I would also like to thank you for what info you are able to give us. This will be awesome if it all works as planned. Are they beta testing any of the components now?
Can you speculate about the new dish size and lnb's?
Thanks again for what info you can pass our way.

 

[LonghornXP]

I would also like to thank you for what info you are able to give us. This will be awesome if it all works as planned. Are they beta testing any of the components now?
Can you speculate about the new dish size and lnb's?
Thanks again for what info you can pass our way.

No beta testing as of now. I'm hearing that the new dish will be a little bigger than the current triple LNB and the new dish will have 5 LNBs on it. If will have the three current LNBs on the triple LNB dish plus two extra KA LNBs.

I continue to answer questions but I might have to leave to take care of this sonic boom mess but for now I'm waiting for the download and knowing the government that will take several hours because they have to create and secure user name and passord and a new card for my card reader all of which will be brought over by someone from the AFB and that means I can kiss goodbye any sleep I had planned tonight. This problem better be damn good to keep me up all night.

If anyone works with the government like I do than you know how much of a pain in the ass they can be sometimes.

 

[dragon002]

The HD DVR will have two D* tuners and two OTA HD tuners but only two can be used at the sametime. Besides that it will just record and playback as your HD Tivo does today.

The home media server will have 4 D* tuners and two OTA HD tuners and only 4 of these 6 can be used at any given time. This setup will consist of one server box and upto three client boxes. At rollout only the server will support an HDTV set which means your server box needs to be directly connected to your HDTV set. Within a few months after rollout they will have HD client boxes which would support 4 total rooms of HDTV sets for the very few that have that many sets. Now client boxes will not have live tv control such as pause, RW and FF but that is planned to be offered via software update. Now any client box can setup and playback anything recorded on the server. This is a multiroom system. It will all be seamless. Client number 3 can schedule the recording while say both client number 1 & 2 can both play it back when they want with full pause, RW and FF controls.

Just to make this clear at its rollout all client boxes can pause, FF and RW recorded shows its only pausing, RW and FF of live TV shows that won't work at first on client boxes but again its planned to be allowed soon after release.

This box will have either a 350 or 400GB hard drive inside it and it will be offered as both a rental and a purchase option. Also if you need more than 4 rooms hooked up you will need a second server with how many extra clients you might need. Say you want six rooms total you would need two servers and 4 client boxes and it would all be seamless which means all your hardware would only see one big server and anything can be played back anywhere. Also if you just want more room you can add an extra server to get twice as much recording and the ability to record 8 live shows at the sametime. Now this system will only support two servers being used within the same system so you can't get anything more than that without having to seperate the third from the first two systems.

question,

i have heard that the hd home media irds require 4 lines from the dish, have also heard conflicting reports that the slave boxes are wired from the master box/ or wireless. which have you heard?

also the subs that are keeping the standard irds d-10 ,HIRD1, gaebo, rca 435-485 series samsung sir300w and only getting mpeg 2 sd will be keeping their irds. this is scaring a lot of older folks who have no intention of buying a hd tv.

the point im making is total hd is still 5 years away, the fcc is backing off the original timetable as we speak

your thoughts????

 

[LonghornXP]

question,

i have heard that the hd home media irds require 4 lines from the dish, have also heard conflicting reports that the slave boxes are wired from the master box/ or wireless. which have you heard?

also the subs that are keeping the standard irds d-10 ,HIRD1, gaebo, rca 435-485 series samsung sir300w and only getting mpeg 2 sd will be keeping their irds. this is scaring a lot of older folks who have no intention of buying a hd tv.

the point im making is total hd is still 5 years away, the fcc is backing off the original timetable as we speak

your thoughts????

I see what your saying. Pretty much if you get the home media server you will not be allowed to use your existing hardware so its an all or nothing thing with it. Now if you have one HDTV set with other D* DVRs and you just want an HD DVR while keeping your existing D* DVR boxes than you can get the basic HD DVR also as a rental option but again you won't have multiroom viewing options on it.

To be honest this new multiroom system is designed with control and quality in mind so by having to support different client boxes it would create more problems and support costs. Also understand this new multiroom system is being built towards new customers and existing customers who don't mind using new hardware and GUI interfaces. This system can work for SDTV only households and when a customer gets an HDTV set they only have to use a different connected and change the mode from SD to HD which shouldn't be too hard for most customers.

I'm also hearing hints that D* wants to use some of the spaceway bandwidth for true VOD so they are thinking about the future here. If this system could work well wirelessly they could save on installation costs. They are also thinking that as more and more people go HD they would have to upgrade those customers dishes and such. So with all that said they are thinking about offering the home media server as part of their base offering and going to an all rental system. Now from what I'm hearing is that with savings in installation costs and avoiding additional upgrade visits when customers get new services and by having this box made in mass amounts that they could get their costs of getting a new sub figure to about the same as it is now.

They are also thinking about upgrading every single customers to this home media server. Also having a DVR lowers churn so they have to look at this. Improving picture quality will help for sure. Again they are looking at the future and what options they have and to be honest if D* upgraded every customer with something better and customers can't do anything about it and yes some customer will leave.

Here are some other things. If they just raised the rates for each package by 5 bucks a month for every customer but they upgraded every customers boxes for free they would be fine. Now if every customer pretty much had a rental box they could get rid of their protection plan and could charge customers 2 dollars per month to get free house calls for service problems.

Now if doing this could allow them to offer true VOD like cable that would lower churn and match cable offerings so that would be worthwhile to them.

 

[jim tressler]

longhorn - good info as always - it sounds like we will see this end of 2005 early 2006? I am assuming that we will need 5 cable runs coming in from the outside? Finally, any word on new national HD - ie.. ESPN2 - TNT?

thanks

jim

 

[LonghornXP]

longhorn - good info as always - it sounds like we will see this end of 2005 early 2006? I am assuming that we will need 5 cable runs coming in from the outside? Finally, any word on new national HD - ie.. ESPN2 - TNT?

thanks

jim

I'm hearing that only one cable will be run from the dish to the server box. That means one cable outside and inside. This means a very easy installation because most customers have a cable jack in each room so all they have todo is use one existing cable jack in the house without running a new one. Most customers don't have more than 4 rooms and of those customers you would be suprised at how many of them need a second run for a D* DVR so if they can avoid that they would save money as well.

Also be aware that D* is looking at offering VOD PPV and SVOD services and it seems that if they do offer it they will need to upgrade existing customers dishes and hardware but for new customers they would get the new dish and hardware from the start. Now also keep in mind that I'm hearing that when they offer PPV VOD they will cut off over half of their PPV channels to entice customers to their new hardware for VOD PPV movies and they would use that freed bandwidth for extra SDTV channels such as SD movie channels.

I know I'm going long here but you must understand that this while be going in many areas for many different services and offerings.

Its very possible that in 2-3 years all D* customers will have the following by a required swapout.

HD LIL channels accross the country & a nice national HD lineup all in MPEG4.
More SD premium channels with all SD channels in MPEG4.
PPV Movies on demand, Premium movie channels on demand and free on demand channels. Many true interactive channels.
Multiroom HD DVR.

D* thinks that they can get away with swapping out customers without losing many of them if they can tell them they will get improved picture quality on all channels, more premium channels, VOD offerings and a multiroom DVR and be HDTV ready.

 

[ocnier]

I tend to agree with you longhorn about the idea that D* can save money on rental with complete swap out. It's kinda what E* has in the mix already for the 2wire/SBC media portal (if it ever comes out) box. I think later this year (probably thanksgiving) things will get very interesting.

 

[TimGoodwin]

One question about the client boxes. Will the client boxes be able to see the OTA channels from the server? Or just the Directv channels?

 

[TimGoodwin]

One more thing, we also are getting this over at the AVS forum about how many cables are needed from the dish to server.

Joe, Yes, I have been told that we will use 4 wires form the new 5 LNB .66 meter elliptical dish.

It comes from Robert from Value Electronics. So I guess it will be just sit back and wait to see what come down the pike?

 

[hongcho]

> One question about the client boxes. Will the client boxes be able to see the OTA channels from the server? Or just the Directv channels?

I'd assume it will see anything that the server sees. Otherwise, what's the purpose? The client may be just telling which channel (or recorded shows) it wants to the server.

Hong.

 

[LonghornXP]

One question about the client boxes. Will the client boxes be able to see the OTA channels from the server? Or just the Directv channels?

Any channel your server can tune can be tuned by your client.

Now on another note I don't think this new system will require 4 cable runs to the server for two reasons.

First customers won't accept four cable runs because most customers I know get upset about two runs. Secondly this system should be easier not harder.

Also as a third note D* will have to start dealing with that wall fish issue. For example I had to pay 65 dollars for one wall fish so say I needed four cable runs that would make my free installation cost me 195 dollars wouldn't it. Most homes have one cable run as it is in every room and my contacts have said they have lost many customers over wall fish charges and they are trying to avoid this as much as they can.

 

[TimGoodwin]

Any channel your server can tune can be tuned by your client.

Now on another note I don't think this new system will require 4 cable runs to the server for two reasons.

First customers won't accept four cable runs because most customers I know get upset about two runs. Secondly this system should be easier not harder.

Also as a third note D* will have to start dealing with that wall fish issue. For example I had to pay 65 dollars for one wall fish so say I needed four cable runs that would make my free installation cost me 195 dollars wouldn't it. Most homes have one cable run as it is in every room and my contacts have said they have lost many customers over wall fish charges and they are trying to avoid this as much as they can.

I hope it is only one cable it would make it easier. I have two to each location now so hope you are right. About the OTA channels, I thought it would be all channels to the clients but wanted to just check.