The Future Of Cable TV
Following my recent post on Cablevision’s plans to introduce Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) to Bermuda, I was invited to help test their new PVR and HDTV-capable set-top boxes that will be launched later this year. Being something of a technology geek, and the owner of an under-utilised AV amplifier, I was delighted to get involved.
A Personal Video Recorder - also known as a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) - is a replacement for the traditional VCR. It records programmes on a hard disc (like the one inside your computer) rather than a cassette tape.
HDTV is a new television display standard with approximately four times the resolution of a standard television picture. It also increases the screen aspect ratio from 12:9 (or 4:3) to 16:9, creating a "widescreen" picture shaped like a movie screen.
Together, these technologies are set to revolutionise the way we watch and record television. My initial experiences with Cablevision's upcoming offerings are described below.
Personal Video Recorder
The PVR I’ve been testing is Scientific Atlanta’s Explorer 8000 Home Entertainment Server. It soon became clear that I was participating in a programme that was still experimental. After working well for a couple of days, effortlessly recording a couple of episodes of Six Feet Under and three movies, the PVR suddenly presented me with a “Not Authorised” message. Although I could still receive the cable channels, all the PVR functionality, including the ability to watch the programmes I had recorded, was disabled.
It took a week of phone calls between myself and Cablevision general manager Jeremy Elmas before we managed to resolve the problem. When the PVR functions finally started working again, the box had somehow been fooled into thinking it was always recording the current programme on HBO, even though it wasn’t. A little experimentation revealed that could be fixed by unplugging the box, waiting for a minute, and then plugging it back in.
Since then it’s been smooth sailing. The PVR is just as wonderful as I thought it would be, and has already led to a marked increase in the amount of TV we watch. The crux of its appeal is just how easy it makes it to record a programme. Gone is the need to manually set the VCR whilst separately ensuring the cable box will also be on the correct channel at the appropriate time. Instead, if you see something that appeals to you as you browse the programme guide, recording it is as simple as pushing the SELECT button twice. A few more button presses and you can have the unit record at the same time every week, easily ensuring you never miss an episode of your favourite series again (unless the transmission time changes).
The other great feature of the PVR is that is has two tuners. This enables you to record something on one channel while watching another at the same time. Even better, you can record two different channels at the same time, even watching a programme you have already recorded while it’s doing so.
Changing channels is slightly slower on the PVR than on the regular digital cable box. This is because the PVR automatically records the current channel, temporarily storing up to sixty minutes of playback. This enables you to pause live TV (the PVR starts playing back the recording when you resume, whilst continuing to record the live broadcast) or even rewind it. By setting a programme to record, then starting to watch it ten or fifteen minutes after it starts, it’s also possible to fast-forward through any ads when you reach them, reaching the end of the recording at around the same time as the live broadcast finishes.
According to Scientific Atlanta, the manufacturer of the PVR that Cablevision will be using, the unit can store up to 50 hours of programming. Unlike some other PVRs, the device doesn’t appear to allow you to choose the compression at which it records. However, if 50 hours is an accurate assessment, that ought to be more than enough space for even the most avid film buff, provided you’re careful to erase programmes after you’ve watched them. However there’s no obvious way to see how much space you’ve used and how much remains free, which is disappointing.
Cablevision are not yet rolling out the PVRs to their existing digital customers because not all channels available on the regular digital cable box have been fully digitised. Because the PVR can only record digitised channels, and because every channel is automatically recorded when played back, switching to one of these channels on the PVR box (currently 14 – 56) currently just displays a black screen. Cablevision are in the process of converting these channels; they currently expect to have completed this and be able to offer the PVRs to everyone by the end of June.
The price of the PVR is expected to be somewhere in the region of $800; Cablevision are still considering how customers will pay for this. According to Mr. Elmas, Cablevision will probably ask customers to either pay a deposit or a monthly rental fee, and is seeking feedback about what method prospective customers would prefer.
High Definition TV
Bermuda currently has only one high-definition (HD) channel – channel 460 in Cablevision’s digital line-up, a HD version of the regular Showtime movie channel 320. Unfortunately because the standard digital cable box cannot receive it, Bermuda’s HDTV owners will have to wait until the HD version of the box, the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 3250HD, becomes available. There are currently only a small number of these on the Island but Cablevision intend to make them available to their digital subscribers at the same time as the PVRs, around the end of June.
The HD box is slightly awkward to use if, like me, you have a 4:3 HDTV. Because a HD signal is only transmitted by the component video output of the HD box, you must connect the cable box to your TV using this connection. However on non-HD channels this connection still sends a HD signal to your TV. Because HD is a widescreen format, the cable box converts standard-definition (SD), 4:3 format programmes to widescreen by the addition of black bars at the left and right. As the TV still thinks it’s getting a widescreen picture, the result is a 4:3 picture that appears centred in the screen, with black bars around all four sides.
Unless your TV has the ability to adjust the picture to zoom in on this image (mine doesn’t), the solution is to make a second video connection from the cable box to the TV using the composite video or S-video connections. Because these connections transmit a SD image, the TV is able to display it so that the picture fills the screen. Unfortunately, this means you need to switch your TV from one input to another as you flick between HD and non-HD channels; those of us who route the video signals through an AV amplifier need to switch the amplifier source too.
I’ve noticed strange behaviour with the SD signal on some channels (notably HBO), which the box has stretched to create a widescreen image. It’s not yet clear to me whether that’s a problem with the signal from HBO or something in the cable box.
As far as the quality of HDTV goes, so far I’m disappointed. I spent half-an-hour the other night flicking between the HD and SD versions of “Swimming With Sharks”, and I couldn’t notice any perceptible difference. Not that the picture was bad – it was excellent. But it wasn’t noticeably more excellent than the SD picture. Not everything transmitted on channel 460 is in HD format, but as the image was a proper widescreen one I’m inclined to think this movie was. I have to say, I expected more, although it is nice to be able to watch a movie in its original aspect ratio.
Conclusion
Operating both a PVR and HD cable box (and our regular cable box for channels 14 -56) simultaneously is awkward as it requires changing the amplifier and (sometimes) TV inputs to switch between the two. It’s been necessary because the Explorer 8000 PVR can’t display HD channels and the HD box doesn’t have any PVR functionality. Once launched, however, most customers will probably be happy to choose one or the other. For those of us who want both, Scientific Atlanta do offer an HD PVR, the Explorer 8000HD, although it is more expensive. Cablevision intend to offer it if there’s demand, but its cost means it may be a special-order item, potentially with a 4 to 6 week lead time.
The arrival of the PVR will herald a big change in the way people watch TV, making it much easier to record programmes and movies for later consumption. HDTV will also be a boon for movie fans with widescreen TVs who want to be able to watch in a cinematic aspect ratio, although I’m yet to be convinced of any noticeable improvement in visual fidelity over a regular digital signal.
Bermuda’s telly addicts have much to look forward to in the months to come.
Correction: In the above review I stated that the PVR's ability to automatically record whole series of programmes was dependent on the programme being transmitted at the same time every week. It seems it's actually cleverer than this. On going to record the season finale of Survivor, showing this Sunday instead of its regular time of Thursday evening, I discovered the PVR had already marked it for recording. Bloody brilliant.
Archives By Date
Kill your TV! The Bermuda End-to-End is on Saturday with walkers going from both St. George's and Hamilton to Dockyard.
Shall we stop by and pick you up on the way by?
Now that would be something to blog about :)
Posted by Walker on 28.04.04 at 08:40
I suspect you couldn't notice the difference with the HD channel because you don't have an HD television...try it with a TV that can display 1080 lines.
Posted by Fraz on 28.04.04 at 22:22
Frazer! I thought you knew me well enough to know I'm not quite that dumb. Of course I have a HD television. AFAIK, regular TVs aren't capable of displaying a HD signal anyway, so I wouldn't see a sub-standard picture, I'd see no picture at all.
Posted by The Limey on 28.04.04 at 22:30
Now, if we can just get cablevision to give us a speedtv feed that doesn't have all Formula 1 races blacked-out, I might just be happy......
Posted by loki on 28.04.04 at 23:16
Phil: no I didn't think you were that dumb. The line in your post "Unless your TV [...] (mine doesn’t), the solution is [...] composite video or S-video connections" made me think you didn't have an HDTV. This could still be a part of the problem - I thought most HDTV signals required component/digital inputs (but I don't have one, so I could be blowing smoke)
Posted by Fraz on 30.04.04 at 10:17
HDTV signals are indeed only transmitted down the component video output, as I stated in the second paragraph of the HDTV section. However the composite or S-video connection is required to display the SD signal on non-HD channels using the whole of the screen. Thus you need two inputs connected to the TV - one component (for HD) and one composite (for SD). However if you try to watch a HD channel on the composite input the TV will just display a blank screen. Thus this cannot account for an HD picture that looks little better than the SD one.
I think the problem is more to do with my eyes.
Posted by The Limey on 30.04.04 at 17:16