Could a tuning resolver provide On Demand

[techieunite]

I currently have the Tivo HD.

In my area, I get all channels in the guide lineup.

However, there is no On Demand.

I've had Tivo in some form or another for the past 3 years. When I got my first HDTV, the Tivo Series 3 just came out a $799.

I got the Comcast HD DVR and used it for the past couple of years, and finally got a Tivo HD for the bedroom.(M-Card)

Occassionally I want to watch something on demand. I'm wondering if Comcast and other cable companies may make the SDV Dongle into a way to provide Tivo Cable card customers with On demand.

They will probably give you another remote to use.

If they could do this, I'd get rid of the comcast cable box and get another Tivo HD.

99% of what I watch is recorded. Sometimes I want to watch a random movie that I haven't already recorded. In this case, on demand is great.

My roomate can't live without it. Survivor, HBO, etc. I don't get it. I tell him to just record his programs and he'd be fine.

Most of the movies on demand are old, and even if you pay for premium channels, the movies on there have been out of theatres for 6-9 months.

I'm not too interested in paying for on demand movies. In my area, it's about $5.99-$6.99 per title. Too much, when I can get new releases from Redbox for a $1.

If cable companies are not going to do this, they should offer another box for a couple of bucks to provide on demand services. I called comcast, and in my area it's another $5.99. Not too interested in that.

[erick0305]

No on demand with the tuning resolver. Tivo is supposed to be working on a truway dvr. That will give you everything a cable box would. I just rent an additional hd box and split my video connection. I kind on enjoy it, because I could record two shows on my Tivo HD and watch a third show on the hd cable box. I have an HDMI switcher that connects four devices. I am loving my set up right now. Once the resolver comes out, I am probably going to add it to my Tivo and still keep the box. I find it a big benefit for the fall season.

[Adam1115]

So the tuning resolver will ONLY provide SDV? No on demand or PPV?

[RonDawg]

Correct. A TiVo fully compatible with SDV/PPV will require something like tru2way.

[CharlesH]

The rational is that PPV/OnDemand are interactive services, and

1) not necessarily free, so there has to be a mechanism to deal with billing, including both interacting with the user and the related network protocol;

2) the cable companies want to present their product in their own user interface (including advertising).

SDV does not have an interactive component from the user's perspective; it is just a back-end protocol that has to be done to select channels that the user has already paid for.

[classicsat]

In theory, a TR could be used for other interactive services, but would take more development on the part of the cable companies and their hardware/middleware developers, and the STB developers.

In reality, no. They don't want to further delay the SDV resolver by having to develop universal VOD/PPV protocols, and making hardware and software (to handle UI and such), all which would be magnitudes more complex than required SDV.

The purpose of the current (and probably last version) TR, is only SDV, and was developed rather fast, to keep the FCC from possibly imposing a worse solution.

[jcaudle]

In theory, a TR could be used for other interactive services, but would take more development on the part of the cable companies and their hardware/middleware developers, and the STB developers.

In reality, no. They don't want to further delay the SDV resolver by having to develop universal VOD/PPV protocols, and making hardware and software (to handle UI and such), all which would be magnitudes more complex than required SDV.

The purpose of the current (and probably last version) TR, is only SDV, and was developed rather fast, to keep the FCC from possibly imposing a worse solution.

Delay the tuning resolver? These idiots at cox in northern va don't even seem to understand what it is, much less when it will be released.

[classicsat]

At least it is there, or will be by the end of the year, for them to know nothing about.