Da-Chief
07-21-2008, 09:41
http://i.dslr.net/urls/7/507.gif (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/CableLabs-Greenlights-SDV-Adapters-96255)
A growing number of cable operators are deploying switched digital video (SDV) technology, which frees up bandwidth on cable systems by delivering fewer channels to the cable-box, keeping the rest waiting at the edge router. In current cable systems, all channels are consistently made available to the set-top box, using up valuable bandwidth even if your TV is off. In early trials, Time Warner Cable announced the bandwidth savings "exceeded 50%," so they've been aggressively deploying the technology.
Third-party DVR competitors such as TiVO were worried the two-way technology would render one-way Cablecards useless. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) announced last year (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/89750) they'd work with TiVO to develop an external adapter by Q2 '08. While they wait, some Time Warner Cable CableCARD users have been forced to use incumbent set tops (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95767) if they still want to watch video in SDV markets.
Good news for those users: Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=159407&site=cdn) notes that CableLabs has awarded qualification to tuning adapters from Cisco and Motorola that will allow CableCARD users to view programming in switched digital video (SDV) markets. Now it's just a matter of the cable operators getting them into customer hands, something there's not huge incentive for, given they want users paying to use their own set top gear. For their part, Cox says they'll be handing out the adapters for free, while Time Warner Cable says it's "too early" to discuss specifics.
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A growing number of cable operators are deploying switched digital video (SDV) technology, which frees up bandwidth on cable systems by delivering fewer channels to the cable-box, keeping the rest waiting at the edge router. In current cable systems, all channels are consistently made available to the set-top box, using up valuable bandwidth even if your TV is off. In early trials, Time Warner Cable announced the bandwidth savings "exceeded 50%," so they've been aggressively deploying the technology.
Third-party DVR competitors such as TiVO were worried the two-way technology would render one-way Cablecards useless. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) announced last year (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/89750) they'd work with TiVO to develop an external adapter by Q2 '08. While they wait, some Time Warner Cable CableCARD users have been forced to use incumbent set tops (http://www.corpsman.com/shownews/95767) if they still want to watch video in SDV markets.
Good news for those users: Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=159407&site=cdn) notes that CableLabs has awarded qualification to tuning adapters from Cisco and Motorola that will allow CableCARD users to view programming in switched digital video (SDV) markets. Now it's just a matter of the cable operators getting them into customer hands, something there's not huge incentive for, given they want users paying to use their own set top gear. For their part, Cox says they'll be handing out the adapters for free, while Time Warner Cable says it's "too early" to discuss specifics.
More...