**** BEGIN LOGGING AT Thu Jun 26 02:59:57 2008 Jun 26 15:51:49 hellow Jun 26 15:52:47 i need alittle clarity about the pvr's would this be the best room for that Jun 26 15:54:59 maybe Jun 26 15:55:07 Do you have any specific questions? Jun 26 15:55:53 yes Jun 26 15:56:00 a few Jun 26 15:56:18 i think the trouble is that i've ben doing some reading Jun 26 15:56:22 :P Jun 26 15:56:55 where are you from because i think my question might be regional Jun 26 15:57:03 to the us Jun 26 15:57:06 Australia Jun 26 15:57:37 aaah i see.... i'll ask anyway Jun 26 15:57:46 OK Jun 26 15:58:58 first of all have you heard of cox comunications Jun 26 15:59:01 ?? Jun 26 16:02:22 Cable provider? Jun 26 16:02:31 actually i guess my questions now that i really look at the tittle aren't quota but i'm still wondering if you could point me in the right direction maybe Jun 26 16:02:44 yeah Jun 26 16:03:17 i'm wondering about the hard ware side of the pvr/dvr Jun 26 16:03:23 hardware Jun 26 16:03:36 Just ask the question - most of the time the specifics of individual resellers are not all that important. Jun 26 16:04:02 like mainly tuner cards.... and what i actually need to have Jun 26 16:04:17 Well, I've designed / worked on a few PVRs. Jun 26 16:05:24 The tuner cards fall into several categories, based on the delivery mechanism. In US, the most common would be cable. Jun 26 16:05:45 i'm a tech and i'm just entering it all, and egear to learn............ yeah Jun 26 16:06:28 But a real PVR is very different to a media centre PC. PVRs are consumer electronics type of devices. Jun 26 16:07:02 i think cox uses the ATSC standard Jun 26 16:07:15 So, unless you are designing a PVR, you don't really care what tuner goes inside as long as it connects to the right connector. Jun 26 16:07:45 ATSC is the US and Korean standard Jun 26 16:07:57 The rest of the world (except for Japan) uses DVB. Jun 26 16:08:34 DVB comes in several flavours. DVB-T for terrestrial, DVB-S for satellite and DVB-C for cable. Jun 26 16:08:42 so ntsc is not us??? Jun 26 16:08:58 NTSC is analogue, ATSC is digital Jun 26 16:09:17 Both in use in Nth. America. Jun 26 16:09:36 aaah !! there's some organization goin on in my brain now Jun 26 16:10:03 The plan is to phase out NTSC in favour of ATSC. You may have heard for "analogue switchoff" - this refers to changing all TV from analogue to digital. Jun 26 16:10:23 corrrect Jun 26 16:10:43 so anything offering only ntsc is reall of no use to me Jun 26 16:11:03 That's right. NTSC is obsolete technology. Jun 26 16:12:05 but ... that being said.......is it correct that atsc is the standard that can be encrypted?/ Jun 26 16:12:12 It may come in handy for a couple of years, to stay compatible with the old transmissions, but it'll be completely useless after the analogue switchoff date. Jun 26 16:12:34 Yes, all digital TV can be encrypted. Jun 26 16:13:07 i read that most arent accept the premiums? Jun 26 16:13:20 hbo encore..ect Jun 26 16:13:45 It's a bit like DVDs. They don't have to encrypted. Jun 26 16:13:58 ok Jun 26 16:14:45 And anything that can be encrypted can also be decrypted (so that it can be viewed), which means that given enough incentive, the encryption will be cracked. Jun 26 16:16:17 i subscribe to my premiums......does that change anything?? Jun 26 16:18:55 this, i guess is where my confusion really takes off Jun 26 16:20:26 i've read diffrent things about this.....and as i was reading i forgot to look at the dates of the articles untill i realised i was reading things back from 2006 Jun 26 16:20:45 and also some recent Jun 26 16:21:29 So far, you have not explained what you want to do. Jun 26 16:21:47 ok...sorry Jun 26 16:22:43 i wanted to replace a set top box with a pvr Jun 26 16:23:40 Does your cable provider supply the STB? Jun 26 16:24:54 for a monthly fee, or 50 dollars, i guess i'm willing to pay the 50 dollars if i needed to Jun 26 16:25:33 the fee is low, something like 4 dollars... Jun 26 16:27:00 Normally, cable providers supply the STB/PVR and do not make it easy (or even possible) for consumers to supply their own. This is different to the way it works with Free To Air (FTA) television. Jun 26 16:27:39 In the FTA case, the consumer chooses and purchases their STB/PVR, just like you choose what DVD player to get. Jun 26 16:29:04 yeah, but isn't that just local channels....like 5, or 8 channels Jun 26 16:29:08 ?? Jun 26 16:29:14 The Beyonwiz PVRs and STBs fall into the FTA category. Jun 26 16:31:27 Depends on your locality. Over here, we get about 20-30 services on FTA, but it really only boils down to about 3-4 high-definition services and maybe 5-6 standard definition services worth watching. Jun 26 16:32:17 Cable TV or other subscription models are not popular here in Australia. Jun 26 16:32:58 So, there is a good market for PVRs and STBs, since every household has FTA Jun 26 16:33:52 i see on a site that it looks like there is i guess 3 diffrent kinds??? Jun 26 16:35:37 satelite, freq... vpid ? ....what does that mean Jun 26 16:35:43 It's really just three variations on the same theme. DVD player and wireless network on the high end model, but neither of those options is really worth the extra cost. Jun 26 16:36:27 In what context? Jun 26 16:38:00 what do you mean Jun 26 16:42:45 In what context do you see the terms "satelite, freq... vpid". On their own, they are just words like "ladder, purple, kerosene" Jun 26 16:42:53 so ... what do you think i would be able to tune in with a dvb-c pvr? Jun 26 16:43:05 oooh Jun 26 16:43:24 In USA - probably nothing. Jun 26 16:43:35 they were at this site http://www.gosatellite.net/free_english_tv_1609_ctg.htm Jun 26 16:43:44 a channel list Jun 26 16:43:53 for english Jun 26 16:45:28 Right, those are DVB-S services. You need a satellite dish pointed at the right spot in the sky to receive those. Jun 26 16:46:31 The rest of the numbers are the various tuning parameters you need in order to find the service Jun 26 16:47:20 This may be the right spot for you: http://www.gosatellite.net/satellite_learning_center.htm Jun 26 16:47:51 what you were talking about before was dvb-t?? Jun 26 16:48:08 terestial?? Jun 26 16:50:01 Yes, DVB-T connects to a normal TV antenna that you use for analogue TV. DVB-S connects to a satellite dish. DVB-C connects to a cable. There are also handheld and mobile versions of DVB, that you can use with phones and in cars. They use similar techniques to cell phone networks. Jun 26 16:50:50 Then there is IPTV. Jun 26 16:51:24 Anyway, it's almost 3am here - so I'm off to bed. Jun 26 16:52:03 thx for the help peteru Jun 26 16:53:23 No prob. I hope you can get your head around it :-) **** ENDING LOGGING AT Fri Jun 27 02:59:56 2008