MPEG4 HD DVR and Home Media Center news:

[LonghornXP]

I just got the word that DirecTV has their suppliers in place with enough stock on hand for an HD DVR release in the first quarter of 2006. I haven't listened to the earnings call but I've read that some have heard that the HR-20 (HD DVR MPEG4 box) was announced as being out in the first quarter of 2006 which is inline with what I've just been told. I've also heard that the HMC will be out in the second quarter of 2006 as well.

Also sometime before the summer of 2006 all DirecTV customers will no longer require a phone line connection anymore. Any PPV purchases by remote or programming orders will be stored on the access card. DirecTV will have a backend channel that can read this card to allow their billing system to know exactly what each box has ordered. The backend system can also turn off a box if the card is changed beyond what the system thinks is normal. This backend channel will also be on a spot so if your box isn't within that spotbeams coverage area (outside of the market your account says your in) your access card will be cut off from a conus signal being sent out every month.

So if the new SW satellite does have a spotbeam covering the entire eastern US for example you won't be able to pickup other locals or even have the box in another state anymore. Sorry to break this bad news but you should have known this would at some point hit the wall.

 

[cheebs]

Also sometime before the summer of 2006 all DirecTV customers will no longer require a phone line connection anymore. Any PPV purchases by remote or programming orders will be stored on the access card. DirecTV will have a backend channel that can read this card to allow their billing system to know exactly what each box has ordered. The backend system can also turn off a box if the card is changed beyond what the system thinks is normal. This backend channel will also be on a spot so if your box isn't within that spotbeams coverage area (outside of the market your account says your in) your access card will be cut off from a conus signal being sent out every month.

So if the new SW satellite does have a spotbeam covering the entire eastern US for example you won't be able to pickup other locals or even have the box in another state anymore. Sorry to break this bad news but you should have known this would at some point hit the wall.

Ouch... that is indeed bad news for those of us outside the US

I assume, though, that this new reporting system would be in new boxes only? How can any information be exchanged between the ird and D* without a return line? Excuse my ignorance, this is the first time I come across the term "backend channel."

 

[minorthr]

Ok so if you don't have a phone connection. How exactly is this channel going to work. Unless the new dish can transmit back to D* I don't see how this can work.

 

[timmac]

I would say impossible, unless the machine is connecting through your HMC to the internet or the use of a phone line. No way they can get info off card. Sorry for my scepticism.

 

[JustBob]

I've read that some have heard that the HR-20 (HD DVR MPEG4 box) was announced as being out in the first quarter of 2006 which is inline with what I've just been told. I've also heard that the HMC will be out in the second quarter of 2006 as well.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why bother with the HR-20 (HD DVR MPEG4 box) if the HMC is coming out a few months later? It seems like a waste of money and effort on DirecTV's part by developing both. Is there some reason you'd want the HR-20 instead of the HMC? Is the HMC going to cost the customer more (no free upgrade with commitment)? Is there something the HR-20 will be able to do that the HMC won't?

-JustBob

 

[Neutron]

I'd much rather have the HMC, as I'd love to be able to watch a recorded show on any TV I choose.

 

[all4jo]

man this gonna stink for me , since im in haiti. i guess i wont be upgarding to the new r15 and h20 .

 

[vurbano]

Is the HMC going to cost the customer more (no free upgrade with commitment)? -JustBob

You can bet your ass it will.

 

[mikedz4]

so what does this mean for people like me who are "moving" across the state line to get locals since directv won't get off their butts to offer locals to me? Does this mean that since my receiver is in another state they will shut it off or won't it be able to tell the 5 mile difference between where i say i am and where i actually am?
also how much will the hmc cost? I'd rather get the HMC then waste my money on the h20.

 

[slacker9876]

You can bet your ass it will.

Speculation had pointed to a price point of around $200 w/2-yr add on for those of us with the HD TiVo. I am not in a good position to complain as D* has given me quite a few retention credits.

 

[Neutron]

If it's only $200, you can bet I'll upgrade to that. My wife has complained in the past about not being able to watch her shows she records on the HD-DTivo to our bedroom that only has an R10.

 

[vurbano]

If it's only $200, you can bet I'll upgrade to that. My wife has complained in the past about not being able to watch her shows she records on the HD-DTivo to our bedroom that only has an R10.

Not one dime if I cant archive HD off of it.

 

[cr0mag]

I'm just glad to see that there is finally some action going on with the new boxes. But I am also wondering how D* will get your purchase info back off of the box without a phone or internet connection...

BTW, my D* dish survived Katrina...
Cable co. was out for 1.5 months in my neighborhood.

 

[Kentstater72]

LonghornXP said "DirecTV has their suppliers in place with enough stock on hand for an HD DVR release in the first quarter of 2006."

I hope they roll them out by DMA in the same order they have rolled out HD-LIL.

 

[LonghornXP]

To start off I'll explain how they will get the information. Firstly this is something from NDS that requires upgrades in the billing software along with upgrades in how the access cards handle the data.

Firstly when you order say a PPV movie via your remote that purchase information will be stored on the access card. Now this backend channel will tie directly in with the new billing software. So the billing system will be able to directly read this information from the card. This means that nothing is being sent to DirecTV from the box but more along the lines of DirecTV just reading the data from the access card in the same type of way it updates the access card.

Now the spotbeam that is used for your local channels will have a signal sent out of it from another backend channel to simply update your access card. Once your access card is updated their computer system would know what data was sent on that card so they can send a conus data signal to all access cards looking for that data. So all customers covered by say spotbeam A would have the same code put on the access card. Once all access cards have been updated they send out a conus signal to customers looking for that specific code (they would have several conus signals sent out for all the different markets with different codes to look for) and if the access card doesn't have that code the access card is wiped clean and will require the customer to call to get it going again. So that code can only get on that access card by the spotbeam only. Now those spotbeams might overlap into another market and if that is the case they cannot stop that. What they are trying to stop are customers getting service from other countries or other states for example.

So again this doesn't require any two-way ability and it works somewhat like the interactive services such as the lotto and weather but its still quite different.

Also the HMC and HD DVR products are for two different market segments. Either way both the HD DVR and the HMC will be offered as a rental as the primary point of sale and both boxes will support multiroom viewing (the HD DVR box will support this after the HMC is released) and as such they are designed to be used differently.

 

[donyoop]

Ok so if you don't have a phone connection. How exactly is this channel going to work. Unless the new dish can transmit back to D* I don't see how this can work.

I agree. The box software will know what is on the access card. Somehow the box software has to talk to the billing software via phone or internet (which provides feedback to close the loop). Maybe you will just need one phone connection per household and the boxes will talk to each other (HMC?).

Don

 

[all4jo]

will this happen only to new receivers? or all of them?

 

[mikedz4]

so basically since i am close to two markets and my locals would probably be on the same spot beam as pittsburgh's if they ever launch them, then i would be ok?

 

[lou_do]

Also sometime before the summer of 2006 all DirecTV customers will no longer require a phone line connection anymore. Any PPV purchases by remote or programming orders will be stored on the access card. DirecTV will have a backend channel that can read this card to allow their billing system to know exactly what each box has ordered.

Please explain how D* will be able to read the card if the receiver has no two way path or phone connection. What type of technology are they using to get the card information back to D*? Are you saying the new systems can transmit a signal as well as receive?

So again this doesn't require any two-way ability and it works somewhat like the interactive services such as the lotto and weather but its still quite different.

I may be wrong but it is my understanding that the way Lotto & Weather works, is that the information for all areas is sent in a data stream, to all boxes. The information you see depends on the say the zip code you have entered in your box. There is nothing that leaves your receiver, your receiver receives all data and filters out of that data stream what you want to see.

 

[Bear]

To start off I'll explain how they will get the information. Firstly this is something from NDS that requires upgrades in the billing software along with upgrades in how the access cards handle the data.

Firstly when you order say a PPV movie via your remote that purchase information will be stored on the access card. Now this backend channel will tie directly in with the new billing software. So the billing system will be able to directly read this information from the card. This means that nothing is being sent to DirecTV from the box but more along the lines of DirecTV just reading the data from the access card in the same type of way it updates the access card.

LonghornXP - I am concerned that you are being fed mole-bait. This scenario will not work. Since D* does not have physical access to the card, it must get the data somehow. This requires:
1) Having users send cards in periodically (unreliable and expensive)
2) A broadband connection
3) A modem
4) A sat uplink

Since #4 requires them to register each user with the FCC, it is untenably expensive, barring "DirecPC" type hardware. #1 is unreliable, and you are saying that #3 is not included. The only thing that makes sense is requiring a broadband connection.

Later,
Bill