Click Here to visit Embedded Automation - mControl
Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares? - Chris Lanier's Blog

Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

Windows Media Center Available via Retail Channel | Charlie Owen points out that with the official Windows Vista Product Lineup that you will finally be able to buy Media Center in a retail market.  Charlie says “Windows Media Center is coming to a store shelf near you”, but will it even matter?

Jim Allchin says that PC’s using CableCARD will have to be submitted and tested through CableLabs.  So, a retail version of Media Center doesn’t get you CableCARD if Jim is correct.  ATI and AnandTech have pointed the other way, saying “The PC is not certified by CableLabs in any way, instead MS publishes a minimum system configuration and the system has to meet these specs in order to be sold with the OCUR device.”  Details on the DirecTV deal have yet to be seen.

I already covered HD DVD/Blu-ray hardware, and today I’ll add some information about why PCI Express with  PVP-UAB in Vista will most likely be needed.   AACS says “Within a Licensed Product, the video portion of Decrypted AACS Content shall not be present on any User-Accessible Bus in analog or unencrypted, compressed form.”  That sure sounds like PVP-UAB will need to be ready.  I would expect CableCARD and DirecTV to also make use of it, as it is easy to get anything off of the current PCI bus.

It would be very nice if Microsoft would release the details of what’s really needed for CableCARD PC’s.  Will I be able to build one or not?  Does Media Center via retail matter any more?

Published Tuesday, February 28, 2006 10:58 AM by chrisl
Filed under: , , , ,

Comments

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

I second that. So, please release some information so we know where we stand.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 11:54 AM by 2parts

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

Since you can avoid implementing the complex and costly PVP-UAB requirement by integrating the video hardware in the system. And while today's on-board graphics chipsets aren't up to the task of rendering 1080i video well enough to please anyone, by the Vista release they may well be. That would allow "Vista MCE-ready" mainboards to be marketed along with the retail version of Vista MCE. Pick up an HD-DVD drive (and maybe one of those ATI CableCard unit's if they ever come to market) and you're all set.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 6:40 PM by MikeA

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

PVP-UAB really just means PCI Express, which 99% of cards that can decode new formats like HD DVD and Blu-ray will be. However, according to public information out from WinHEC in 2005 it's not set to ship with Vista. Did that change?

On-board graphics have a VERY long way to go to be able to decode some of the upcoming video that will have peaks over 30Mbps in VC-1 and H.264. Sure, it very well could happen by Vista, but most will want a dedicated solution

It would be great if you could pickup "one of those ATI CableCard unit's" but from all reports so far the _whole PC_ will have to get certified by CableLabs. This means you will not be able to "go buy one". Links aboe cover it in full.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006 8:25 PM by chrisl

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

Nothing like putting myself in more debt just to watch TV.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 11:06 AM by Brian Zellinger

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

If it turns out to be true that only certified Media Center PC's can be equipped with the CableCard interface, won't it be relatively easy to purchase such a PC online from Dell or HP or even in retail stores like CompUSA and Best Buy? I doubt that these companies would squander an opportunity to sell a device like this, that will blur the PC/CE line, by not having many quantity and choice available to the public. So you will still be able to "go buy one" of these Vista Media Center PC's, and it will do everything the HTPC crowd has been asking for. What's the issue?

Wednesday, March 01, 2006 7:55 PM by MikeA

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

The issue is that I have a few thousand+ in computers (hardware) and that I would have to buy an OEM PC.

If only I could get an HD DVD player and cablecard interface; that's all I need.

Thursday, March 02, 2006 11:48 AM by Brian Zellinger

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

How will HDTV/cablecard be enabled in Vista outside the US? HDTV is rolled out in Europe too, but likely not compatible with the US.

In the Netherlandse my cable operator requires the Euro-DOCSIS standard, but I can receive HDTV signals only through their controlled settop-box.

On top of that, most consumers don't buy a-brand PC's over here, but rather go to local computershops to buy PC's there.

So I am guessing that building your own VISTA MCE (Vista Home Pro or Vista Ultimate) as your HDTV VCR will be out of the question for some years.

Saturday, March 04, 2006 2:42 AM by EdwinD

# re: Media Center Available via Retail Channel! Who Cares?

Two-way cablecard is going to matter very much once Time Warner and others start rolling out switched video distribution. To save bandwidth, the idea is they will only broadcast channels to a particular area (say one street or one apartment complex) that are actually being watched. If you're using a 2-way device, it tells the cable co. what channel you want to watch, and the cable co. responds by sending that channel on the next available free frequency band and telling your device where to find it. Without 2-way support, you can't get all the channels because you can't request any.

Monday, April 24, 2006 4:36 PM by pmiranda