Cable Labs is really putting the screws on OEM users, who like to home-brew their media center PC on the cheap. To view and record HDTV content on a new Vista MCE PC, the following is a list of required components (thanks Chris Lanier):
1) Vista Home Premium or Ultimate
2) HDCP Video Card
3) Special BIOS w/ OCUR bit set
4) OCUR (CableCARD Reader/Digital Cable Tuner)
5) OCUR Product Key (separate from Windows Product Key)
6) Sign MS agreement
7) Sign CableLabs agreement
8) Video drivers that support COPP, PVP-OPM, CGMS-A
9) Sound card to support exact requirements of CableLabs
Thought: The OCUR product key worries me a little, how much does one want to bet that the product key is pre-installed with a new system and not made available to the end consumer – preventing upgrade/re-pave of the system.
So.. essentially you’re looking at a completely new box – no hope of just adding cable card support to your existing MCE hardware. At present, very few vendors are providing Cable Labs certified PCs, and I haven’t seen much in the way of certified bare-bones systems either.
According to Engadget, Vidabox are coming out with an all sing and dancing cable-card, Blue Ray, HD DVD unit in March, but it at $4500 it’s not cheap:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/23/vidabox-rolls-cablecard-into-blu-ray-and-hd-dvd-all-in-one-media/
Conclusion: it is still early days. Vista isn’t yet mainstream, and many vendors have yet to come out of the “Cable Labs” woodwork. I expect to see a change throughout this year as devices come onto the market that support cable card HDTV.
This is complete crap and citizens shouldn’t buy into it.
Requiring consumers to buy complete new systems just to access digital cable is absurd.
Merlin,
I agree that it’s absurd that consumers need to buy new machines to take advantage of digital cable on MCE – I actually went ahead and purchased a new unit recently (see: http://robgarrett.com/cs/blogs/software/archive/2008/03/31/vista-mce-and-hd-at-last.aspx).
Of course, you do not need to buy a new box if you’re happy with the cable company provided set-top-box and integrated DVR. Tivo now also allows you to record HD content from a cable pipe.
R.