Super DVR?

[Lord_Vader]

I wonder why DISH doesn't make a chasis that would accept tuner cards and a monster hard drive? You could set it up in your basement and load 4 tuners in it and share DVR programs on all tvs. The 'upgrades' could be swapping cards instead of the whole thing.

Just wondering...

 

[Pepper]

Time to resurrect this again and wonder whatever became of it.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/29911-first-look-dish-whole-house-hd-sd-solution.html

 

[harshness]

I wonder why DISH doesn't make a chasis that would accept tuner cards and a monster hard drive? You could set it up in your basement and load 4 tuners in it and share DVR programs on all tvs. The 'upgrades' could be swapping cards instead of the whole thing.

They tried this with the 921. Modular is very expensive to build and when something comes along that exceeds the basic design framework, you pretty much throw the baby out with the bath water. Going modular must solve more problems than it creates or it isn't worth it.

Figuring out a distribution method for sending multiple HD feeds out of a single machine is a daunting task. Just sending digital audio is a pain without resorting to Ethernet or fiber.

Finally, the current crop of receiver processors isn't designed to handle more than a handful of tuners at once so someone would have to deal with getting the special purpose processors to work together cooperatively.

 

[navychop]

Might want more than 4 tuners. RF remotes might not be strong enough in many places. I wonder how they would distribute it today? NTSC coax? I'm sure TVs will be built with analog tuners for many years to come, but what about the folks with monitors? Wireless? And audio to receivers?

 

[Lord_Vader]

Go ethernet. Dish could supply small boxes that have audio / video hook ups and they could lock down the MAC or even encrypt the traffic. Make a basic chasis with GPU type cards something like a TV tuner card?

Just thinking outloud.

 

[harshness]

Go ethernet. Dish could supply small boxes that have audio / video hook ups and they could lock down the MAC or even encrypt the traffic. Make a basic chasis with GPU type cards something like a TV tuner card?

I hear what you're saying, but this machine has to work reliably and be highly resistant to compromise by hackers.

Transmitting content via TCP/IP is not an option as some will doubtless scream bloody murder when someone picks up a telephone or grabs a big file across their wireless network and brings the whole system down. QoS can only go so far when everything pretty much looks the same. Practically speaking Ethernet can only be used as a dedicated medium for transmitting a single program and the range may be longer or shorter than desired in many cases.

Imagine having a "professional installer" tinkering around with your router configuration and security settings.

The tuner card hardware has already been done and awaits some sort of software support that insures that the content CANNOT get loose. I'm among those who believes that such a solution may never be realized.

 

[Lord_Vader]

You could run the Ethernet over the coax (arcnet), so no wireless problems. I would even set it up so it only goes one hop (to avoid going over routers, ...etc) ,and that limits you from hooking up the entire neighborhood.

As for the hackers, I see threads where people break into the existing boxes already.

 

[heywire]

Imagine having a "professional installer" tinkering around with your router configuration and security settings.

Ha ha, no No way... I didn't even let the cable company guy touch my setup when they installed my roadrunner... He was wanting me to plug the modem straight into my PC. When he saw it was running Linux, he just kind of looked at me with this dumbfounded look and asked if it was a Mac

 

[Stargazer]

For a good while now I have been saying that they should have upgradable receivers to where you can add memory, hard drive, tuners, etc.

 

[harshness]

For a good while now I have been saying that they should have upgradable receivers to where you can add memory, hard drive, tuners, etc.

When the cost of a card or the card cage costs as much or more than a receiver, there's little point.

 

[DishSubLA]

The real killer to such wonderful whole home solutions is the same paranoid, greedy monster: the content providers (the big networks, primarily, along with a few of the other channels). They do not want their signals re-transmitted--certainly by no means digital--in full resolution, and the content providers are particularly heavy-handed with Dish and Direct. Have we forgotten about some of the lame limitations put in place for the new external HDD feature? They are all do to the paranoid content providers. Every innovation has been either severely limited or completely killed because the content providers restrictions aren't making it worth the while of cable or satellite. Oh, and yes, your recordings of HD content to your external stand alone recording device (excluding the new external HDD feature) will be downconverted because that's the way the paranoid content providers want it. These days, it seems technology is the easiest hurdle to overcome.

 

[Tyralak]

The real killer to such wonderful whole home solutions is the same paranoid, greedy monster: the content providers (the big networks, primarily, along with a few of the other channels). They do not want their signals re-transmitted--certainly by no means digital--in full resolution, and the content providers are particularly heavy-handed with Dish and Direct. Have we forgotten about some of the lame limitations put in place for the new external HDD feature? They are all do to the paranoid content providers. Every innovation has been either severely limited or completely killed because the content providers restrictions aren't making it worth the while of cable or satellite. Oh, and yes, your recordings of HD content to your external stand alone recording device (excluding the new external HDD feature) will be downconverted because that's the way the paranoid content providers want it. These days, it seems technology is the easiest hurdle to overcome.

OMG, don't get me started on this. A pox on Congress and Clinton for foisting that atrocious DMCA on us, and allowing paranoid content providers to sodomize every new technological innovation that is developed.

 

[8bitbytes]

I wonder why DISH doesn't make a chasis that would accept tuner cards and a monster hard drive? You could set it up in your basement and load 4 tuners in it and share DVR programs on all tvs. The 'upgrades' could be swapping cards instead of the whole thing.

Just wondering...

99.5% of the customer base would have no interest in it. Customer support issues would be MUCH higher and risk to company equipment would be much higher so Dish would not see it as a wise move.

The provider primary goal is not in providing libraries of content for you to store and view later but to deliver content you are willing to pay to see and if you can save it for a little while, it might be more worth while paying the costs involved.

 

[8bitbytes]

OMG, don't get me started on this. A pox on Congress and Clinton for foisting that atrocious DMCA on us, and allowing paranoid content providers to sodomize every new technological innovation that is developed.

$10,000 Reward for the return of Schrödinger's cat. Wanted dead and alive.

Can you prove the cat is even in the box?

 

[Tyralak]

Can you prove the cat is even in the box?

Not without an observer. Which then makes for a very unhappy cat. :devil:

 

[AJF]

I don't think they even need to make another chasis. Now that the VIP receivers have Ethernet and USB, why not connect several receivers together to act as one mega-dvr?

 

[DishSubLA]

OMG, don't get me started on this. A pox on Congress and Clinton for foisting that atrocious DMCA on us, and allowing paranoid content providers to sodomize every new technological innovation that is developed.

Agreed! While overall, I liked Clinton (I mention that just to highlight how much I disagree with his decision on DMCA), the DMCA is the one thing he has never been challenged on any interview program and the one thing (forget Monica) for which he should greatly apologize for as it was a complete sell out. What nonsense is a law that allows for individuals to make a copy of copyrighted content, such as a movie on DVD, for "personal use, " but--in a real world sense--forbid the availability of any software to accomplish this Congress given right?

NOTE: I believe there was a decision a few months ago that will allow educational institutions to "crack" digital code, such as an encrypted DVD, and make copies of copyrighted material, for educational use, of course. I was sent an update from a national organization involved with rights for the disabled announcing this change. A review board approved and so ordered this change. I wish I had saved the email.

'Nuff said. I shall not speak of it in this thread again. Thanks.