Can someone explain to me what a CableCard Does?

[MrDubbs]

We have a tech coming out Sunday to replace our boxes that have been having trouble with new boxes, that I guess have "cablecards" in them. What exactly is the advantage to this, disadvantage and so on?

Btw we have Comcast if that's relevant

if this is the wrong forum I apologize, wasn't exactly sure where to put it

 

[crunchb3rry]

Cablecards were originally a way to replace cable boxes completely. You popped it right in your TV. Most cable companies are not sticking with them though. It's basically a really cool idea that turned into a bust. They were able to be hacked too, so you could basically enable PPV, porn channels, etc. So providers would rather a customer did not have a Cablecard and instead had a relatively piracyproof digital cable box.

 

[MrDubbs]

So is there an advantage to having an actual cable box that has a Cable Card installed into the box? Will I be able to "hack" the box as you say? Will I get better PQ? Anything worthwhile?

 

[crunchb3rry]

Are you sure the card is in the box? The tech might have been blowing smoke up your ass.

I think the card installed in the TV does have better picture quality. I don't think On-Demand is possible though since there's no modem type decide in the card. It's basically a one-way signal. Only problem is, like I said, Cablecard is basically dead in the water and manufacturers don't bother putting the slots on the TVs anymore.

I wouldn't invest in it. Better to just get a cable box that is built well and has a connection at least better than s-video (component or ideally HDMI).

 

[MrDubbs]

All I did was call to complain that our old black Motorola boxes where having signal issues, and asked if they had a new boxes out.

The tech explained to me about boxes called DCH300 or something like that, that included cable cards in the boxes? I'm just going by what the tech told me, I guess I'll find out Sunday when they come

I think this is the box he was referring to or a similar model that has Type M cards in it

 

[Immortal fWd]

I work for Cox Communications, and yes, they do put cable cards in the new set top boxes.

 

[MrDubbs]

[quote name='Immortal fWd']I work for Cox Communications, and yes, they do put cable cards in the new set top boxes.[/quote]

Can you tell me if there's an advantage to having a card in the box?

 

[crunchb3rry]

I've still got the same raggedy old Motorola box from Charter. I want to see if they can get a new one out here. Maybe one with a DVR and HD compatibility for whenever the TV I got my eye on drops enough to enter a lower protection plan tier.

I would guess the picture quality may or may not matter with it in the box instead of in the TV. On one side, it wouldn't be straight to the TV so you'd have to run a cable and theoretically have quality loss if it's analog. But if it's digital (like HDMI) it wouldn't matter and the quality would be identical.

 

[shrike4242]

Cable cards allow for the decryption of cable channels without the need of a cable box. It was mandated by the FCC back in the later 1990's, so the cable company couldn't keep sticking it to the customers by making them need a cable box for cable.

Some cable boxes do have slots for cable cards, though most of them don't. The main use of cable cards is in Tivo Series 3 and Tivo HD DVR's, so you can get premium cable channels on them without a box.

There's two flavors, S-cards and M-cards. S-cards are single channel cards, and you need one S-card per tuner. M-cards are multi-channel cards, and you need one M-card for each pair of tuners you have to drive.

Cable cards are unidirectional, so if you want PPV, VOD or the like, you can't do that on a device that uses CableCards. They're trying to do bidirectional communication with the Tru2Way initiative, which is something like CableCard 2.0 should be, if it ever takes off.

 

[Immortal fWd]

[quote name='MrDubbs']Can you tell me if there's an advantage to having a card in the box?[/QUOTE]

That I honestly don't know as I don't work on the technical side of things. The HD-DVR I had before did not have a cable card, but the new one I have now does. They functioned both the same, so I'm not sure why it's there, unless they're testing the Tru2way in it. One of these days I'll take off the cover and pull the card out to see what it is.

Edit: I got this from the Scientific Atlanta website. "Additionally, all set-tops are equipped with a Multi-Stream™ CableCARD™ (M-Card™) interface to support separable security initiatives." Looks like it's there to combat piracy.

 

[MrDubbs]

So by Multi-Stream,Type M which Comcast uses, I'll still be able to use my OnDemand and PPV right?