Can you get PayPerView with the Series 3?

[bsjd00]

Tivo's website has this notice posted on the Series 3 page:

"This product requires CableCARD™ technology to access HD Digital Cable programming."

Does this mean that you won't be able to order Pay-Per-View through Series 3!?

Thanks for any feedback...

[A J Ricaud]

Tivo's website has this notice posted on the Series 3 page:

"This product requires CableCARD™ technology to access HD Digital Cable programming."

Does this mean that you won't be able to order Pay-Per-View through Series 3!?

Thanks for any feedback...

CableCard ver. 1 does not support PPV. Maybe newer versions will.

[jeffrypennock]

CableCard ver. 1 does not support PPV. Maybe newer versions will.
But newer versions of CC will not be supported by the S3. There are several LONG threads about this. A quick search will provide further info on this subject, if desired.
Long story made short: You have to choose between S3 and PPV (and VOD also).

[Amnesia]

I know that some cable companies allow you to order PPV over the phone. So, there's a chance that you'll still be able to view PPV programs (just not VOD)...

[bsjd00]

Why would Tivo design the Series 3 this way? Obviously many customers will want PPV or VOD.

Was there no way to design the unit to work with a digital cable box?

[vstone]

Why would Tivo design the Series 3 this way? Obviously many customers will want PPV or VOD.

Was there no way to design the unit to work with a digital cable box?It could have been designed to work with a digital cable box for SD content via a composite or S-video connection, but that feature isn't there. Perhaps because Tivo wanted to prevent the creation of very good SD DVD's from HD or high quality digital SD content to make content providers happy.

[jeffrypennock]

Perhaps because Tivo wanted to prevent the creation of very good SD DVD's from HD or high quality digital SD content to make content providers happy.
Well that, plus I thought HDCP protocols prevented pass-through devices like a recording device which could then down-stream result in copyright infringement. I don't they were developed in order to block a TiVo per-se but they were developed to block inserting something between a cable box/HDDVD/VistaWMC/other and a display that would enable you to capture the content and put it on You Tube or some "file sharing service" (whatever Napster-like program people will be using in a few years from now).

I'm a little vague on this though because I thought certification of hardware, device authorization and not permitting pass-through (combined with REALLY INTENSE ENCRYPTION) was the main pillars of this strategy. But since then, I've seen amps with HDMI switches on them. I can understand why we'd all want one, but if you've got something other than a display device decoding the signal coming out of an HDMI cable, then isn't that non-display HDMI-decoding device a big vulnerability and something you could hook up a computer, DVR, etc. to in order to capture copyrighted material and then duplicate, distribute and engage in other criminal acts with??? I would understand if the amps were truly just switches, passing on the signal without ever decrypting it but there's no way it can extract the sound out of it without decrypting, right?

[vstone]

I didn't use to think that the licensing restrictions affected S-video, but my Windows XP MCE box will not record AMC's "Sunday Morning Shootout" because AMC's restrictions won't allow it to be recorded on a computer.

[ebonovic]

Why would Tivo design the Series 3 this way? Obviously many customers will want PPV or VOD.

Was there no way to design the unit to work with a digital cable box?

It is not that TiVo "designed it that way"... they designed it off the Cable-Card 1.0 specifications....

Cable Card 1.0 is the "factor" that makes it a 1 way communication.

Cable Card 2.0 is not ratifiied and if I am correct, not even close enough that hardward/software could be reasonable worked on yet.

One of the major benefits of the DTivos is the fact that it records the direct digital stream.... Hence why we have had dual tuners for nearly 5 years.

There is no overhead (cost), or performance (encoding) or other factors that come with dual live compressing/encoding of analog signals.

Since most of those digital cable boxes, don't have digital outputs... The "TiVo" box would have to encode 2 different streams at once (if doing digital), and right now unless you are spending $2k+ you wouldn't be able to do that with High Definition signals.

So in this case, you really can't blame TiVo... the technology simply hasn't evolved enough to make such a box, and keep it a price point to make it practical for a large enough consumer base.

Cable-Card 2.0 is the "flicker" of light, but IMHO.... I think it will come too late in the game. and you would have to wait for a TiVo Series 4 or some other product.

[btwyx]

It would be possible for the S3 to record PPV, but you cable provider may not support it.

The could do it like DirecTV does, you can order by phone or on their web site. When you order like that, the send the authorisation code over the satellite stream and your HR10-250 can then view and/or record the PPV. There's no upstream communication needed for that (its done by phone or web).

Now my cable provider (Comcast) say (http://www.comcast.com/customers/faq/FaqDetails.ashx?ID=1821) you can't order on their website, and only say you can order by phone for analog cable. (D* charges extra for phone orders I think, I usually do it on the web.)

If I find I want to order a PPV and can't, I could ring up and point out I want to give them money and they don't want to take it. They might be persuaded to do something about it.

[harley3k]

Just use the standard cable box for VOD since there's little or no HD VOD content now anyway... Same for PPV unless you're a big PPV user, then this could get annoying really quick - going between 2 boxes for different content.

I'm a big DVD watcher, and the PPV selections always seem like crap I would never watch anyway...especially on D* --- so this isn't an issue for me.

-h

[HiDefGator]

Just use the standard cable box for VOD since there's little or no HD VOD content now anyway... Same for PPV unless you're a big PPV user, then this could get annoying really quick - going between 2 boxes for different content.

I'm a big DVD watcher, and the PPV selections always seem like crap I would never watch anyway...especially on D* --- so this isn't an issue for me.

-h

How do I record what's coming out of the standard cable box with my new S3? I thought that wasn't possible.

[A J Ricaud]

How do I record what's coming out of the standard cable box with my new S3? I thought that wasn't possible.

It isn't possible. The standard cable box woululd have to go to another input on the TV.

[gfb107]

If it's truly VOD, then there's no need to time-shift it. This reduces (but admittedly doesn't eliminate) the need for recording it.

[Adam1115]

If your cable company is not innovative enought to allow you to order PPV's by phone or the web, (in the event you are using a cablecard or don't have a cablebox...) then reward them by order your PPV's here:

http://www.netflix.com/

[JBDragon]

I've tried Netflex, but I don't like the monthly free. I like to use as little or as much as I want. Check out peerflix where people ship each other their DVD's. Small postage fee on your own printed out mailers, fold tape mail. Postage and adders already on for you. You get Credits for DVD's you send out, which are used to get DVDs sent to you. A lot cheaper then renting DVD's. The only downside is it can be a long wait on some DVDs, but if you pick out a large list of DVDs your Interested in, you'll always get sent DVDs that are on your list as long as you have the Credits for it. You can just buy Credits, but if you have DVDs just laying around your not going to watch again anyway, you can mail those off to others to get credit. Most DVDs are rated 1 to 3 Credits. Send in a Movie worth 3 credits and you could get 3 DVDs that were worth 1 credit each.

I never use PPV. Watching a Movie on PPV I think is a rip off. Special Events, way over priced. My Cable bill is high enough already. I currently have 10 DVD's though peerflix right now. I can hold them as long as I want and I'm not being charged! As I have time to watch them, I just mail them off again, for some more credit, and some other DVD I picked out will be sent my way from someone.

Check it out! See if it might work for you better then netflix. There also seems to be HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Movies also, though they are a little harder to come by right now.