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The difficulty is with the unsettled state of copy protection for HD programming rather than any technical issue. Until now, HD content has been sent out unprotected over cable and satellite systems. With some new Federal Communications Commission rules in place and equipment capable of recording HD video hitting the market, content owners are starting to apply protection -- but the hardware and software needed to allow video recorders to comply with the protection schemes aren't ready.
SHORT-LIVED SOLUTION. Under the FCC's "plug-and-play" cable rules, consumer-electronics makers can equip receivers, recorders, or other gear that handles HD cable with a "cable slot." A "cable card" that fits in the slot performs the functions of the set-top box, communicating with the cable network to see that you get the premium content you've paid for and respect any copying or retransmission restrictions imposed by the content owners. The problem is that these cable cards are not yet commercially available.
The other method would be to use a FireWire (or IEEE 1394) connection to get HD content from an existing digital set-top box to the Media Center PC. One problem with this approach is that not all digital cable boxes are equipped with the required FireWire connection. An even bigger concern is that this method would probably cease to work as more programmers protected their content.
"Ultimately, it's all going to be protected," says Belfiore. "Any work we did to take advantage of unprotected content would necessarily be short-lived."
The difficulty is with the unsettled state of copy protection for HD programming rather than any technical issue. Until now, HD content has been sent out unprotected over cable and satellite systems. With some new Federal Communications Commission rules in place and equipment capable of recording HD video hitting the market, content owners are starting to apply protection -- but the hardware and software needed to allow video recorders to comply with the protection schemes aren't ready.
SHORT-LIVED SOLUTION. Under the FCC's "plug-and-play" cable rules, consumer-electronics makers can equip receivers, recorders, or other gear that handles HD cable with a "cable slot." A "cable card" that fits in the slot performs the functions of the set-top box, communicating with the cable network to see that you get the premium content you've paid for and respect any copying or retransmission restrictions imposed by the content owners. The problem is that these cable cards are not yet commercially available.
The other method would be to use a FireWire (or IEEE 1394) connection to get HD content from an existing digital set-top box to the Media Center PC. One problem with this approach is that not all digital cable boxes are equipped with the required FireWire connection. An even bigger concern is that this method would probably cease to work as more programmers protected their content.
"Ultimately, it's all going to be protected," says Belfiore. "Any work we did to take advantage of unprotected content would necessarily be short-lived."
