VOOM news from CES-2005

Demonstration of a functional VOOM DVR
DVR release target: March 2005!
Small SD-only STB
A smaller version of the HD STB
All components are supposed to be networkable!
Photos, video and audio reports From CES by Scott Greczkowski are coming soon! Stay tuned...

Sure hope they make March.

Any word if the HD-DVR will be leasable?

Any word on any new HD channels?

Yes the VOOM DVR is REAL! I saw it with my own two eyes.

No word on the pricing of the VOOM DVR or if it will be leasable. The are determined to get it out the door in March.

Here are a few pics from TODAY, including a picture of the REAL 580's running the VOOM demo! (The wires coming out of them are for them to upgrade the software on the units, since the software is not on the satellites yet... :D

More photos to come!

Wow that is the best HD display I've seen. Awesome 40 HD monitors showing their channels (All 36 of their channels, 3 showing equator and 2 showing HDNews). I really want that setup in my house!!!

The other thread said that VOOM is not displaying the DVR to the public "for some reason". You would have to wonder how they can possibly get them out in March if they are not even ready to show the public in January. I am extremely disappointed by this. Other carriers are introducing their second generation HD DVRs at the show and VOOM is still displaying the same "550" set top box with no DVR. I think that VOOM demonstrating some functions on a 580 DVR to some reporters with software that is "not fully functional" indicates that they may be no further along then they were last year at this time.

They were really running the demos off of the 580's. I verified this myself.

And while they did not let me hold the remote they were able to show me a few things that I asked that they didn't show in their demo.

The fact is all the advace features work, now the problem is getting the basic functions to work (Autotune is one of them) :)

Scott,
Does the dvr have, or will it have the home media networking included in the march release? (networked photo's, mp3's etc.)

Thanks for the photo's BTW

--Steve

What type of connections are on the back. Does it have a firewire out for archiving? How about an antenna pass-through? Does it have dual OTA tuners? Does the guide have a search function? What is the capacity in hours of HD?
Thanks

I think it's great that they have this thing going, but its not so great they don't have it being shown. What's with the tape over the two DVR boxes? Is the DVR a seperate unit or do you have to tie it into the regular Voom box?

And while they did not let me hold the remote they were able to show me a few things that I asked that they didn't show in their demo.

Interpretation: The box is very easy to lock up. I've given and seen enough demo's to know if they won't give up the remote, there's a lot of things that don't work. And the fact that they aren't being shown to the public seems to indicate that March is a very optimistic schedule.

Scott,
Does the dvr have, or will it have the home media networking included in the march release? (networked photo's, mp3's etc.)
It will not have those features at launch, however they do plan on adding them in the future.

I think it's great that they have this thing going, but its not so great they don't have it being shown. What's with the tape over the two DVR boxes? Is the DVR a seperate unit or do you have to tie it into the regular Voom box?
The tape is there as they had IR Transmitters taped to them (Since the units were ina cabinet then needed to us remote IR transmitters.

I should also note that while they did not let me hold the remote, I never asked to hold the remote. :)

I am told that the hardware is 100% done and ready, the software is 85+% done, again it does the hard things well but has trouble on the simple things.

BTW more VOOM photos coming soon. :D

Scott, could you tell us more about those new (smaller) STBs? HD and SD models? Do you have any pics of those?

Yes start a new thread Ilya and I will post info and pics there. :D

Ok, here is another thread: From CES-2005: Upcoming (smaller) STBs (http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=41693)

DVR release target: March 2005!

Ilya/Scott:
what is the source of this announcement? Is it just coming from the VOOM booth guys?
Open question:
why not a press release?

Can the current STBs be used as part of the solution? Or will we have to switch out all our boxes for the next gen design? Will box owners get this swap-out for free?

They were really running the demos off of the 580's. I verified this myself.

And while they did not let me hold the remote they were able to show me a few things that I asked that they didn't show in their demo.

The fact is all the advace features work, now the problem is getting the basic functions to work (Autotune is one of them) :)Let me get this straight, Ucentric has been working on the VOOM DVR for nearly a year and its buggy and not ready to be put on display for people to fiddle with, yet D* signs a contract with Ucentric in November and their DVR is running through Olympic trials at CES 2 months later??? So the voom booth has lots of monitors, empty boxes, and a DVR whose software isnt working right yet.

WTF??

If VOOM blows the DVR they are toast - it's just that simple! However, if they release an affordable, relatively bug-free, DVR and deliver their promised HD/SD channels in March...then perhaps they might make a go of it. Hey, when are their 4th quarter subscriber numbers going to be posted?

Let me get this straight, Ucentric has been working on the VOOM DVR for nearly a year and its buggy and not ready to be put on display for people to fiddle with, yet D* signs a contract with Ucentric in November and their DVR is running through Olympic trials at CES 2 months later??? So the voom booth has lots of monitors, empty boxes, and a DVR whose software isnt working right yet.

WTF??
I'm hoping that the reason this dvr is taking longer than the others is because the others pale in comparison to the feature set that we will get with the voom dvr. It's harder to make it work on a network and with a voom receiver that is relatively new compared to the other sat receivers. None of the other dvr's from the other sats work on a network to make a whole house solution, right? :confused:

I don't know what this nonsense is about not showing it to the public. They did show it to me and walked through the demo showing what was working or not. Mar was repeated repeatably :) The Ucentric guys were very proud of the state of the unit. The biggest issues now seem to be business issues, ie swapping, concurrent elliptical antenna upgrades etc. This was NOT like the 2 CES delayed kludged Dish 921.

The big feature was that stored video content, 50 hours HD, 300 SD or mix thereof, was added as a new "channel" making the user interface pretty slick. Having a Co commit to Mar is significant, even if there are delays it's comming.

Other HDVR news: There will be a mid-year new version of the DVR which has the MPEG-4 built-in. The current version, shipping in Mar, requires a card, like existing boxes.

Other CODEC news: MPEG-4 is working now, but the rollout is the issue. Several iterations have dramatically improved PQ, in a much more compressed timeframe than MPEG-2 improvements. They are committed NOT to reduce PQ :) :)

Other antenna news. Again being held up by business vs technical decisions.

Other programming news: It appears most of what's on the current sats will stay, at least for HD and premium content. There are 20 negotiations going on for new content, but "little new HD is available" excepting HDnet CEO bickering & InHD only on cable nonsense. ESPN2 looks like a lock but undecided if it will go on the new Sat.

Sorry I missed Scott,
Tim

You know, maybe, just maybe, Rainbow is smarter than we all tend to give them credit for. Perhaps they have held down some of the subscribers on purpose to get the Eliptical dish, DVR, etc. up and running before making a bigger push. At some point, they had to know that the number of subscribers having to be upgraded would be huge dollars.

I am not saying they didn't WANT subscribers, but maybe early on they realized that MPEG4 and all of the other issues would cause an issue and purposely held back on going for a boatload of subscribers (especially in the "no long-term committment days").

Maybe a stupid idea, but better to bleed $XXX per month now than $XXXX per month later. And, this is not like D* doing an upgrade that will affect a small percentage of their subscribers at a time. We're talking ALL.

I think this needs to be added. This a quote from Scott's report fromt this thread: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=41698



After the DirecTV press conference I shot down to the VOOM Booth and was given an impressive demo of VOOM's upcoming DVR product, what makes the VOOM DVR unique is you make your own TV channels. For example if you like Sinefield you can set the unit to record all the Sinefield episodes and all the shows can be seen on their own channel (IE the Sienfield Channel, Channel 901) to me this idea is better then just having all recorded items in one area, and it also is better then having folders. When you want to watch Seinfield you know you can tune to channel 901 for Seinfield. (And its also listed in the guide with all the other channels.)

Last year this board showed the same Ucentric box. They claimed it also 'worked' but then posted photos of the back. It wasn't even plugged in. The box was a front just for show and the actual process was a unix box hidden behind the scenes.

So 3 months from roll out, we get a empty chasis to look at and supposed to be impressed and a buggy 3/4 software done alleged working model. This is theathre done to salvage whatever future is left of voom.

When the software is done it will take a couple months of beta testing. No way it will out in March. Then at March they'll say June and so on.

If this box is only 3/4 done. They how did Voom announce this would be out last Sept?
Then announce it would be out before X-Mass?

Those were flat out lies from the company and this is yet another one. If the box isn't done, they knew damn well it wasn't going out the gates back then and simply issued rumors to string along customers and lower the churn rate. How do we know its even 3/4 done and thats not more lies from Voom/Ucentric to keep their stock from crashing?

Last year this board showed the same Ucentric box. They claimed it also 'worked' but then posted photos of the back. It wasn't even plugged in. The box was a front just for show and the actual process was a unix box hidden behind the scenes.

You are WRONG! The box was not the same. This year they are showing the 580 box. Last year there was a PC running the software. Big difference. There was no hardware last year. This year there is hardware.




So 3 months from roll out, we get a empty chasis to look at and supposed to be impressed and a buggy 3/4 software done alleged working model.

Empty what???? :confused: You are confusing the SD boxes... Please keep the information separate. That's why there are two threads.


This is theathre done to salvage whatever future is left of voom.

Of course, that is you own opinion... :rolleyes:



If this box is only 3/4 done. They how did Voom announce this would be out last Sept?
Then announce it would be out before X-Mass?

Those were flat out lies from the company and this is yet another one.

There was a press release about being out by the summer last year. Everything else was speculation from a lot of us. Go back and pull out the december 2004 press release if you find one.



If the box isn't done, they knew damn well it wasn't going out the gates back then and simply issued rumors to string along customers and lower the churn rate.

No different than anyone does.



How do we know its even 3/4 done and thats not more lies from Voom/Ucentric to keep their stock from crashing?

and how do you know that it is not. :confused:

Actually, their stock price would do nothing if they announced today there would never be a DVR- a (possible) failure of Voom is already priced into their stock.

thank you Lars, there are some people that have no clue but yet feel that they must post their opinion without even checking the facts about their statements.

No Sean, this board posted the DVR and you couldn't explain how it worked even though the wires weren't plugged in.

Wilt, Voom, and installers all said the DVR was supposed to be out 3rd 04. How was that possible for a box that might only be 1/4 done?

They need to hire real programmers and get this out the door. They are so slow by the time the box is realised it will be outdated or Voom gone. I'll bet D has it soon and has the ownage.

thank you Lars, there are some people that have no clue but yet feel that they must post their opinion without even checking the facts about their statements.

Sean that is what a BB is, a bunch of opinions not a scientific lab nor a mouth piece of a company exhanging propaganda for company trinkets.

Or Iam I wrong?

Sean that is what a BB is, a bunch of opinions not a scientific lab nor a mouth piece of a company exhanging propaganda for company trinkets.

Or Iam I wrong?Queefer the voom DVR works but has some software glitches. Greg has reported that. Its the SD boxes that are empty. Your ignorance and lack of research amaze me.:rolleyes:

No Sean, this board posted the DVR and you couldn't explain how it worked even though the wires weren't plugged in.

Wilt, Voom, and installers all said the DVR was supposed to be out 3rd 04. How was that possible for a box that might only be 1/4 done?

They need to hire real programmers and get this out the door. They are so slow by the time the box is realised it will be outdated or Voom gone. I'll bet D has it soon and has the ownage.

Check again... My friend... There was the CES 2004 were Rudolph and Don Landis reported. Then there was the Report I made at HE 2004. That's where I couldnt say for sure where the connections where coming from. Then there was the Report that both Ilya and Scott made from CEDIA 2004 and they've got the correct explanation about the Unix PC running the software. This how the events have folded. Now there is CES 2005 where there is no Unix PC but a real 580.

Wilt, VOOM, and Installers are all opinions. If you take them as Press Releases that is your doing. How many times did Wilt say that software was going to be released in two weeks. It even became a bad joke around here. All these voices can say a whole lot but things are always changing because the work that it is involved behind the scenes that many times takes longer than expected.

Maybe they do need to hire better programmer. I am not in their programming department and I do not know and cannot comment one way or the other. I can only comment on things that hear publicly and sometimes from insiders. Maybe D* will be out with a box first; maybe they won't; The D* box I have not seen the software working. I have seen the software working for the VOOM box and this is where the bulk of the work needs to be done.

You are WRONG! The box was not the same. This year they are showing the 580 box. Last year there was a PC running the software. Big difference. There was no hardware last year. This year there is hardware.



Empty what???? :confused: You are confusing the SD boxes... Please keep the information separate. That's why there are two threads.



Of course, that is you own opinion... :rolleyes:



There was a press release about being out by the summer last year. Everything else was speculation from a lot of us. Go back and pull out the december 2004 press release if you find one.



No different than anyone does.



and how do you know that it is not. :confused:

So you admit Voom and probably this board strings customers along? I wonder what kick backs Sat guys gets from Voom?

Oh, like I'm going to believe the opinion of a Voom CSR or sales person at CES? Trust no one

Sorry to be skeptic but voom has being playing dodgeball with the PVR for a year now. They are long on rumors short on facts.

Queefer the voom DVR works but has some software glitches. Greg has reported that. Its the SD boxes that are empty. Your ignorance and lack of research amaze me.:rolleyes:

You must be bipolar.

One post you slam voom. The next you praise it, then slam it then praise. When somebody has a better point to bring out. You slam them because they thought of something quicker than you.

Jealous?

Sean that is what a BB is, a bunch of opinions not a scientific lab nor a mouth piece of a company exhanging propaganda for company trinkets.

Or Iam I wrong?

CES 2005 is all about progranda my friend. If you know your history of CES, you know that there's a lot of products that never make it to the market for "x" reason. However, I am confident that the VOOM DVR will be out and it won't be one of these products that do not make it. Too many shows I have seen it or read reports of its progress. We are at the end of the tail. So stay put and continue reading.

So you admit Voom and probably this board strings customers along? I wonder what kick backs Sat guys gets from Voom?

You are taking my words out of content. I say no different than any company has done in the past. Do you want this job and would like to know how much profit we get out of this? Maybe you should be like Scott who paid out of his own pocket to go to CES 2005 and bring this informatio to the board free of charge... You are mistaken and you are walking a fine line.



Oh, like I'm going to believe the opinion of a Voom CSR or sales person at CES? Trust no one

WRONG AGAIN!!!! You don't even know who was at the presentation. The guy that was doing the presentation is in charge of the entire DVR development, software engineering, and everything. No it was not Wilt. But I know him and I told Scott to look for him. Again think before you write.



Sorry to be skeptic but voom has being playing dodgeball with the PVR for a year now. They are long on rumors short on facts.

You have a right to be skeptic. You do not have right to print false information or at least check your facts first.

You must be bipolar.

One post you slam voom. The next you praise it, then slam it then praise. When somebody has a better point to bring out. You slam them because they thought of something quicker than you.

Jealous?

I don't think he is jealous or Bipolar . He exhibits behavior like Dori from Finding Nemo. Maybe they are related? :D

I understand the people that want to criticize Voom and they way things have been handled. But in the end, what have we lost by not having a DVR yet? So we've lost the ability to digitally record in HD. From reading posts, it seems that many people subscribe to either E* or D* along with V*. I would also bet that those with dual providers have some sort of DVR with the other provider. Hell, just about everyone has a VCR. Granted, its not HD. But the technology exists to record.

I would rather be patient and get what appears to be a good product. From the demo at the Indy show the Ucentric product looks like it will be great. We may not have all the functionality right away, but so what. Patience people. In 5 years it will all be obselete anyway.

I'm pretty happy with Voom. I am able to watch better quality TV at a cheaper price than I was able to with E*. Thats the bottom line for me.

I agree Sean but isn't it a Ucentric PVR?

Then again isn't the same type of system on D* later in the year? (allegedly)

I understand why D* dumped Tivo. If your a programmer (like me) Tivo really isn't that difficult to clone. Ucentric did it. Why pay Tivo huge kickbacks when you can clone their system inhouse and get rid of them?

Does Scott have pics of the back of the PVR. I saw his video from a few months ago and it looked impressive. I don't see what is taking so long. I'm beginning to think only 1 or 2 programmers are working on a solution for 10 million people..

I agree Sean but isn't it a Ucentric PVR?Then again isn't the same type of system on D* later in the year? (allegedly)

Even though Ucentric is the PVR it does not mean that it will have one solution for D*/V*. Who knows what's going to be on the D* side. I know what's going to be on the V* side of it.



I understand why D* dumped Tivo. If your a programmer (like me) Tivo really isn't that difficult to clone. Ucentric did it. Why pay Tivo huge kickbacks when you can clone their system inhouse and get rid of them?

no comments. I never had a Tivo and I said before the big winner is Ucentric and the big loser is Tivo who now has no leverage in their software.



Does Scott have pics of the back of the PVR. I saw his video from a few months ago and it looked impressive.

Do not know. You have to ask Scott. I am not there.



I don't see what is taking so long. I'm beginning to think only 1 or 2 programmers are working on a solution for 10 million people..

The DVR is not only Ucentric software. It has OpenTv, I wonder why??? NDS and Motorola firmware. All of this needs to be tested. Plus now with the new satellite it also needs to integrate that. There's a bigger picture here.

Does Scott have pics of the back of the PVR. I saw his video from a few months ago and it looked impressive.The only 580's here are the ones running the demo. Because they are in a cabinet and are hooked up I couldn't get pictures of the back of the units.

The Tech Guys told me they would rather have the working DEMO Units on top of the cabinet for all to see, but the VOOM marketing folks wanted them hidden as they wanted a clean looking booth, not a bunch of units with a mass pile of cables showing to all. Another reason why the VOOM tech guys want them out and not in the cabinet is for cooling reasons, when you open up the cabinet the heat that came out was amazing.

The DVR is real and working, again the features not working were the simple features all the hard work is done. I expect VOOM will meet its goal of getting the DVR out the door by the end of March.

Scott,

are we going to get pictures or video of the demo/software functionality of the dvr? I know we have seen it but in every show the software has been added more features.

I yi yi, dang trolls, and what a nice pick for a user name, get a life!!!

Scott,

are we going to get pictures or video of the demo/software functionality of the dvr? I know we have seen it but in every show the software has been added more features.Yes I have video of the VOOM DVR, however I can't post it now because the broadband here in the hotel isn't very broad. :)

Why don't you use that broadband you had around your arm last night :D

I'm excited about the possibility of a DVR.

However, do you think, in the process, we could get an STB that doesn't crash out of the deal?

If the DVR isn't any better than the STB, then they should just give me a box running Windows ME and get it over with.

Queefer the voom DVR works but has some software glitches. Greg has reported that. Its the SD boxes that are empty. Your ignorance and lack of research amaze me. :rolleyes:

Hey look vurb, Voom has hardware... the phantom DVR myth is laid to rest.

You know, I don't have a problem with Voom doing what they are at the moment. I have said before and I'll reiterate that I believe there is a reason all of this seems to be targeted for the spring. It is my belief that Voom will relaunch in a much bigger way at that time. How much of a splash can you make if you basically "relaunch" Voom with the following:

A Networked DVR
New Channels (70 HD, hundreds of SD, etc.)
MPEG 4
New Dish for MultiSats
SD boxes available for cheap for the kids' rooms, kitchen, etc.

If you think about it, why would they launch the DVR before MPEG 4and the new sat ability and have to upgrade, or build in the cost of the upgrade into the box. Doesn't make good sense.

I also believe it is possible Voom's sats will be unloaded and that Rainbow will make the Cinema10 and Voom exclusives available as "compelling HD content" exclusively at first to the purchaser (E*?) and then to everyone else (ala Sundance, AMC, etc.)- this also makes business sense. They could then spin off Rainbow media as just that- a media company.

Can somebody please post the URL where all the Voom facts are?

Can't seem to find it.

Sean, could you ask Scott to find out what additional coaxial wiring will need to be done for both the DVR and the bigger dish?

I don't know what this nonsense is about not showing it to the public. They did show it to me and walked through the demo showing what was working or not.
Tim/Scott:
Can any of you confirm that it is indeed being shown to the public? Maybe when you get a chance, go back to the booth area and observe from the distance if they're showing the DVR to other people that stop by. I think this is important to estalish credibility.

But what if they’re actually press dressed as Joe public and have a secret handshake that identifies them as so?



Geesh I hope that last reply was a joke.

Geesh I hope that last reply was a joke.
Nope. It wasn't a joke. I think that there is some confusion here as to whether or not the DVR is being shown to the Joe6Pack that stops by the booth. Some people have posted that it is not, but both Scott and Tim (rudolpht) have seen the demo.

I hear it will be released in...2 weeks.

I don't know what this nonsense is about not showing it to the public. They did show it to me

They are opening that cabinet and showing those three units with the tape and wires on them to everybody or have they put more units out on display? What connections are in the back of the units? - that is the kind of thing A/V people like to see when a company displays a new product so I am glad they are letting people see the back.


Conspiracy theorists may say that the back of those three units in the cabinet feature only a connection to that same UNIX computer from last years show.

You must be bipolar.

One post you slam voom. The next you praise it, then slam it then praise. When somebody has a better point to bring out. You slam them because they thought of something quicker than you.

Jealous?
You know the really sad part is that this guy doesnt have any HD service at all.:rolleyes:

What is HDMI as it releates to DVI, it is the new output on the Voom DVR. I am scared , will i be able to connect my Mitsubishi 68613 Diamond's DVI port to the DVR. I hear this the the future interface for the new HD DVD coming out in the fall. It is a standard DVI single/dual link interface.

Thanks guys for all the good reporting at CES. I wanted to go see the vcom booth now i can see the reports firsthand. Satellite guys rocks.

What is HDMI as it releates to DVI...
Don't worry. HDMI is compatible with DVI (just a different connector plus audio signals). In fact, my Panny plasma display is HDMI and I currently connect it to the STB DVI output using a simple DVI-to-HDMI cable.

HDMI "it is the new output on the Voom DVR"

where did you see this?

HDMI "it is the new output on the Voom DVR"

where did you see this?i saw HDMI labeled on the back of one of the boxes in the pics.

You know, I don't have a problem with Voom doing what they are at the moment. I have said before and I'll reiterate that I believe there is a reason all of this seems to be targeted for the spring. It is my belief that Voom will relaunch in a much bigger way at that time. How much of a splash can you make if you basically "relaunch" Voom with the following:

A Networked DVR
New Channels (70 HD, hundreds of SD, etc.)
MPEG 4
New Dish for MultiSats
SD boxes available for cheap for the kids' rooms, kitchen, etc.

If you think about it, why would they launch the DVR before MPEG 4and the new sat ability and have to upgrade, or build in the cost of the upgrade into the box. Doesn't make good sense.

I also believe it is possible Voom's sats will be unloaded and that Rainbow will make the Cinema10 and Voom exclusives available as "compelling HD content" exclusively at first to the purchaser (E*?) and then to everyone else (ala Sundance, AMC, etc.)- this also makes business sense. They could then spin off Rainbow media as just that- a media company.

Voom exclusive means they have the name of the channel not the movie or program as exclusive to voom. VOOM does have exclusive channels but the content is owned by various other conglomerates and is for sale to whatever provider wants to air it. as for the upconversion does anyone know if this is being done on an exclusive basis for voom or is their another company doing this and charging voom ? How is that end working ?

Voom exclusive means they have the name of the channel not the movie or program as exclusive to voom. VOOM does have exclusive channels but the content is owned by various other conglomerates and is for sale to whatever provider wants to air it.

That is partially true. Some of the non-movie content is being produced by VOOM and therefore, it is exclusive to VOOM (example some of the Equator HD and Rush-HD series). Also, they have exclusive HD rights for some of the movies.

Well since I was expressing my dissapointment with Voom at CES I might as well add my biggest dissapointment of all that NO ONE has mentioned.

1. What company was the first to announce their intent to go mpeg4? Voom
2. What company claims their reciever is upgradeable to mpeg4? Voom
3. What company displayed the worlds first mpeg4 broadcast at CES????

Directv

WTF?????????????????

Again, IMO, Voom has totally fallen on its face at this one. Im sorry to be so negative lately, I suppose it will wear off. But one of the major reasons I came to voom was their promise to implement mpeg4. And to be upstaged by a behemouth that doesnt give a rats ass about HD PQ or quantity on the mpeg4 issue is pretty embarrassing.

Here is a link that explains what the difference is between DVI and HDMI. Basically you can use an adapter to connect the voom dvr hdmi port to a tv that has a dvi port as long as the dvi tv has hdcp complaince. This means it has copyrite protection built in the dvi interface so that movies cannot be copied. This way with a hdmi to dvi adapter you should see the video feed, but will not be able to use the 8 channel audio interface, unless your tv has hdmi port. It is ok because most poeple use the optical out for dolby and feed it to their amplifier.

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/howto-dvi-hdmi.html

IF combining audio and video into one cable was the main reason for hdmi, then I think it was a gigantic waste. What Home theatre person listens to audio through the fricken TV set?

IF combining audio and video into one cable was the main reason for hdmi, then I think it was a gigantic waste. What Home theatre person listens to audio through the fricken TV set?

I think the idea is for later when you see pre/pros, receivers, dvd players, etc all sporting hdmi for all inputs/outputs, then you have fewer cables behind your rig to get all messed up. Just a guess.

IF combining audio and video into one cable was the main reason for hdmi, then I think it was a gigantic waste. What Home theatre person listens to audio through the fricken TV set?

You don't have to. What about HDMI from STB to HT receiver and then HMDI (or DVI) from the receiver to your TV.

I think HDMI is a waste. Now anyone with a new 2005/6 set has a HDMI input rather than DVI. That means if you have multiple DVI outputs you will need to get adapters for each one go to a HDMI switchbox, and then go to HDMI input on your HD set. Why can't they just stick with DVI/ HDCP. IT has copyrite protection built in. I wish the dvr voom box has dual outputs dvi and HDMI then we don't have to buy expensive adapters and diminish the signal strength.

You don't have to. What about HDMI from STB to HT receiver and then HMDI (or DVI) from the receiver to your TV.O yeah thats what I want. I cant wait to pay Denon $5000.00 bucks for a reciever with HDMI. Seen one with DVI yet? Seen the price for one with 4 component inputs? Its just a stupid idea IMO. The only one it helps is Monster cable.

Back on topic:

NOTHING reported on Voom today? NO press releases? NO news? No info on mpeg4?

Should we stop even wondering if they will show us anything else at CES?

I would still like to know what the procedure will be for the dish upgrade and when. That is the key to the extra channels.

wouldnt a D* 3lnb dish work pointed in the right direct? Its a wide oval. then just replace one of the lnb's with one needed for the new sat?

O yeah thats what I want. I cant wait to pay Denon $5000.00 bucks for a reciever with HDMI. Seen one with DVI yet? Seen the price for one with 4 component inputs? Its just a stupid idea IMO. The only one it helps is Monster cable.


HDMI is going to replace DVI in the future just a better format. Monster cable has nothing to do with it.

HDMI is going to replace DVI in the future just a better format. Monster cable has nothing to do with it.The point is there is no need for it. The only ones making money on it are the equipment and cable manufacturers. There is no real benefit to the consumer. Those tiny optical audio cords are too cumbersome? A Better format? You have to be joking. PROFITS have everything to do with it. Performance has NOTHING to do with it.

O yeah thats what I want. I cant wait to pay Denon $5000.00 bucks for a reciever with HDMI. Seen one with DVI yet? Seen the price for one with 4 component inputs? Its just a stupid idea IMO. The only one it helps is Monster cable.

vurbano, have you looked at the Marantz SR8500 (http://us.marantz.com/shop/_templates/Proddetail.asp?model=25&cat=15)? It has 2 DVI inputs and 4 component inputs... all for $1599 retail. Not bad I think. I will be buying one next week.

I agree... HDMI is a total waste. Why mix audio and video together? Just plain dumb.

Jerry

I agree... HDMI is a total waste. Why mix audio and video together? Just plain dumb. Jerry

I don't know enough about the spec. Does one HDMI connection handle both input and output like firewire? If it does, I would think it would make a BIG difference in the ease of setup in multi component systems. I look at the back of my Anthem AV20 and just marvel at the multitudes of extraneous composite, component video ins/outs and toslink, spdif, analog audio in/outs. Assuming a completely digital sytem, doesn't it make sense to run one cable from every component to the pre/pro or receiver instead of possibly 2, 3 or 4? Is HDMI as robust as firewire? Or is this just another useless attempt at some sort of standardization because people will continue to want to mix and match formats?

wouldnt a D* 3lnb dish work pointed in the right direct? Its a wide oval. then just replace one of the lnb's with one needed for the new sat?


Yep, should work, IMO, DirecTV uses 101/110/119 birds, 9 degree separation between each bird. The separation between 61.5 and 72 (10.5 degree's) so i think they should work just fine. Also DirecTV uses Lagacy style LNB's (no frequency stacking like DishPro type LNB's). So the DirecTV LNB's should also work IMO.

vurbano, have you looked at the Marantz SR8500 (http://us.marantz.com/shop/_templates/Proddetail.asp?model=25&cat=15)? It has 2 DVI inputs and 4 component inputs... all for $1599 retail. Not bad I think. I will be buying one next week.

I agree... HDMI is a total waste. Why mix audio and video together? Just plain dumb.

Jerrysounds like a nice reciever. Too rich for my blood though.

Guys try not to be so narrow-minded re HDMI. The use of HDMI is a great idea that simply expands on the DVI concept. It greatly simplifies the connections in a complex home theater system. It was not meant to enable listening to the audio through the Video monitor speakers althjough, in some applications that is quite possible as well.
Something had to come first and early in 2004 HDMI began to show up in some monitoprs as well as some HD source devices. Finally this year at CES several AVR's have come through with multiple inputs for HDMI plus a couple DVI-D. From here the DD and DTS sound can be split off to power your speakers and the video output to drive your display. With the HDMI inputs added to the AVR's this new interconnect has now reached it's goal for a greatly simplified set of all digital interconnects. Next year we should see this appear in most of the middle and low end AVR's but this year it is just appearing in the highest end of certain brands. Finally, never forget that an adapter cable is all that is needed to come out of a HDMI source and derive DVI feed, or connect a DVI source through a special cable to an HDMI video only input when other audio routing is desired.

Guys try not to be so narrow-minded re HDMI. The use of HDMI is a great idea that simply expands on the DVI concept. It greatly simplifies the connections in a complex home theater system. It was not meant to enable listening to the audio through the Video monitor speakers althjough, in some applications that is quite possible as well.
Something had to come first and early in 2004 HDMI began to show up in some monitoprs as well as some HD source devices. Finally this year at CES several AVR's have come through with multiple inputs for HDMI plus a couple DVI-D. From here the DD and DTS sound can be split off to power your speakers and the video output to drive your display. With the HDMI inputs added to the AVR's this new interconnect has now reached it's goal for a greatly simplified set of all digital interconnects. Next year we should see this appear in most of the middle and low end AVR's but this year it is just appearing in the highest end of certain brands. Finally, never forget that an adapter cable is all that is needed to come out of a HDMI source and derive DVI feed, or connect a DVI source through a special cable to an HDMI video only input when other audio routing is desired.And next year it will be some other useless technology to lure fools to part with more money. ya know you can achieve the same thing with a few 5 cent plastic zip ties around your dvi cable and your audio cable or flexible sleeve or some electrical tape. O look instant declutter. O but the effort required to plug in two cables whatever shall I do? And yes a simple DVI to HDMI cable can be used, another product for sale for you to spend your money on. Of course the manufacturers knew that when they added HDMI. And so did the high end cable makers. What a scam.

At a party I hosted a few years ago, someone saw the huge wiring mess behind my component cabinet and called others to come over and see it. They were somewhat taken aback as to what it takes to connect everything together.

I can see the argument people who want a high end system, but don't because they don't think they can connect all the wires. Its to the home theater industry's advantage to simplify the wiring, therefore removing yet one more objection to buying.

From my perspective, it gets a bit old trying to connect/disconnect a component without pulling something else loose. I welcome simplifying the network of wires.

I actually thought this was a thread about Voom vs the merits of HDMI. HDMI is a single standard replacing multiple DVI variants (I count 5) to a single consumer electronics standard digital video input. It takes a $50 connector to convert DVI to HDMI (that's a high end version of the connector). Some day it will carry audio, but the spec for multichannel audio is still being finalized or recently voted, and no manufacturers to my knowledge are doing audio with the existing chip sets. That said 2 cables, an HDMI and any firewire, coax digital or optical digital can carry sound. I know things are complicated, but most folks can do 2 cables.

Now back to our originally scheduled Voom channel, particularly now that there will be A NEW CHANNEL for every recorded show on our networked DVRs starting in Mar. Cool stuff.

BTW they seem to be leaving the cabinet open for all the joe publics to see the hardware, even the doubting Thomases.

There are 2 advantages to HDMI currently. It has a smaller cable and head connector, and it is spec'd for longer distances than DVI.

-MP

Now back to our originally scheduled Voom channel, particularly now that there will be A NEW CHANNEL for every recorded show on our networked DVRs starting in Mar. Cool stuff.


what new channel?

Ummmmmm, so where is the Demonstration of a Functional DVR??

I saw a couple pictures of empty boxes and the new HD and SD STB's but no DVR demo. Is their another thread somewhere that I missed?

Also, any word about PPV from the CES? Seems to be a forgotten subject.

Ummmmmm, so where is the Demonstration of a Functional DVR??

I saw a couple pictures of empty boxes and the new HD and SD STB's but no DVR demo....

Hop on the next flight to Vegas and you will see it... :)

Ummmmmm, so where is the Demonstration of a Functional DVR??

I saw a couple pictures of empty boxes and the new HD and SD STB's but no DVR demo. Is their another thread somewhere that I missed?



Also, any word about PPV from the CES? Seems to be a forgotten subject.the empty boxes were SD boxes. they had a functioning DVR at CES according to Scott.

OK, I apologize to all who want to remain in the 20th century. You have a right to do that but for all who want the new technology, this is really about you.

Here is a low res video I shot with a digital still camera in the crowd at the VOOM booth. This was not a real demo of how a PVR works but more to explain the VOOM concept of what THEIR system is intended to do. For all who want to make comparisons to TIVO and even the 921, you will indeed have major problems with this concept. A TIVO it is not. Doesn't try to be. It is a way for multi viewers to have access to recorded content from several locations. Add multiple stackable PVR's and you expand the capability and storage capacity. If it's TIVO you want and will settle for nothing else then feel free to move on, This is not for you. For all who are willing to accept a VOOM concept of THEIR system, then check out this:

http://www.TV-Shopper.com/CES/VOOMDVR.wmv

(case sensitive link)

OK, I apologize to all who want to remain in the 20th century. You have a right to do that but for all who want the new technology, this is really about you.

Here is a low res video I shot with a digital still camera in the crowd at the VOOM booth. This was not a real demo of how a PVR works but more to explain the VOOM concept of what THEIR system is intended to do. For all who want to make comparisons to TIVO and even the 921, you will indeed have major problems with this concept. A TIVO it is not. Doesn't try to be. It is a way for multi viewers to have access to recorded content from several locations. Add multiple stackable PVR's and you expand the capability and storage capacity. If it's TIVO you want and will settle for nothing else then feel free to move on, This is not for you. For all who are willing to accept a VOOM concept of THEIR system, then check out this:

http://www.scubatech.com/CES/VOOMPVR.wmv

(case sensitive link)
he says something about upgrading rainbow1 and bringing online the other sat. DOes upgrading mean mpeg4? and does that mean even more than 50 hours on the 250 gig drive???? IS VOOM GOING MPEG4?????????

You have a right to be skeptic. You do not have right to print false information or at least check your facts first.
:haha That's funny Sean. Wasn't it YOUR message board that talked about a PVR by summer? Then by Christmas? And now your saying March. How about a friendly wager? I'll send you $10 via PayPal if ANY Voom customer (excluding SatelliteGuys moderators) is actively using a Voom PVR by the end of March. If not, you send me $10 via PayPal. Sound fair? LOL

:haha That's funny Sean. Wasn't it YOUR message board that talked about a PVR by summer? Then by Christmas? And now your saying March. How about a friendly wager? I'll send you $10 via PayPal if ANY Voom customer (excluding SatelliteGuys moderators) is actively using a Voom PVR by the end of March. If not, you send me $10 via PayPal. Sound fair? LOL


Difference is that in that thread we were all speculating about Christmas... The only press release was made by Voom and it was stated that they may have it by summer. There was no question in no one's mind that we were all speculating. It was never stated as a plain fact that it was going to happen. ChetK, we moderators knew about the DVR by October as I said before and as you or anyone can check not once we ever stated as a "fact" that it was going to be released by December. In fact, there were a few members that contacted me privately and asked me to tell them what was going on with the DVR because they were planning to drop the service. I told everyone that contacted me privately not to put their hope on it and to base their decision on what they thought it was best for them to do.

I could have said "oh yeah VOOM will have it in by the end of december" but I never did. Those members that contacted me privately can come and post whether I tried in any way to string them along to keep the service. That is not the person I am. We try to bring the good and the bad information here and whether you keep your current service or go some other place is up to the individual. I myself carried three services just because there is not one that can satisfied my thirst for HD programming.

I am not going to make a wager with you or anyone. I am not in that business. Whether you think I have one now or may have one in the future it is up to you. I, myself, worry very little about it. I am not preocupied with it. I continued living and when there is one to be released be sure to check the site because we will have the first review or try to break the news here. That I can guarantee you that we will do.

While you guys argue amunst yourself here are some shots of the 580 and the rear of the 580. (These taken from the spec sheet... I dont have a scanner here to scan it in)

I should also note that VOOM realized it did not have an actual 580 on display (since the units look identical) VOOM actually had one FLOWN IN late yesterday afternoon so we could get photos, unfortunately I had already left the show by the time it arrived (and if I took the shuttle bus back it would be an hour and a half back to the show because of all the traffic and the show would have probably been closed by the time I arrived)

About the only thing I did not like about the VOOM DVR was the record button instead of being a red circle, on the VOOM remote is a Red Heart. (Whoever designed that has been watching the Devine channel too much... not that theres anything wrong with that) :D

Difference is that in that thread we were all speculating about Christmas... The only press release was made by Voom and it was stated that they may have it by summer. .

Sean:
the press release from VOOM didn't say the DVR "may" be released by Summer. It said it was "expected" as in:

"The latest advancement from Rainbow DBS will be the rollout of its VOOM HD Home Media Network, expected this summer" (VOOM press release from CES 2004)

Many people wouldn't consider VOOM's language to be as ambiguous you want it to have been and you don't do much for SatGuys credibility when you try to revise VOOM's own statements.

Sean:
the press release from VOOM didn't say the DVR "may" be released by Summer. It said it was "expected" as in:

"The latest advancement from Rainbow DBS will be the rollout of its VOOM HD Home Media Network, expected this summer" (VOOM press release from CES 2004)

Many people wouldn't consider VOOM's language to be as ambiguous you want it to have been and you don't do much for SatGuys credibility when you try to revise VOOM's own statements.

Expect, may, might... whatever the language is and how you interpret it... the only thing I am saying is that this is the only known fact that everyone knew... Nothing else nothing more... everything else was speculative language and anyone understood it to be a fact... well, that person did not understand...

Guys, although various interpretations of the word "expected" in the last year's PR might be interesting, can we keep this thread focused on this week's news? Please?!!

While you guys argue amunst yourself here are some shots of the 580 and the rear of the 580. (These taken from the spec sheet... I dont have a scanner here to scan it in)
:D
Oh good, it has four tuners as was rumored (two sat, two ATSC). Guess I'd better think about getting around to running another coax out to the LNB.

Geez so many negative nancys around here...

This weeks news: "DVR expected in March" .... but not the "nine months later" expected...more of a "sooner than nine months later" expected... but probably not an "actual" expected

The movie clip is great!!!

About the "expected"-like terms.....This is a trade show, people. No one, D*, Dish or Voom is giving out MM/DD/YYYY on any new products or services. let's just hope they are close.

The thing that scares me about Voom's PVR objective is......do we expect Installs Inc. to set this up for us. (i.e. how difficult should this be?)