Comcast XFINITY TV → Re: Who Killed the Open Set-Top-Box?

The CableCARD has always supported 2-way. It's the devices they plug into which need RF transmitters and the proper software to support 2-way.

The rented boxes have the needed RF transmitters and software to enable the 2-way.

Thanks. So why hasn't any retail device included the transmitters? Lack of interest by the manufacturers or roadblocks by Cablelabs?

Lack of interest by the makers/consumers along with high fees due to Cablelabs testing and software creation/support.

Makers didn't get enough interest in 1-way CableCard gear, so most dropped that years ago and just went with QAM tuners.

A bunch of manufactures signed on to support tru2way (2-way CableCard access) several years ago but after a couple years nothing from the consumer manufacturer side came of it besides 1 Panasonic TV. Then the FCC announced the creation of AllVid, which hasn't gone anywhere.

The following excerpt from an old article on the Open Cable web site explains why.

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From the very early specifications and draft standards, the CableCARD module has been a two-way device. That is, it included the functionality to enable two-way communication on the cable plant. This two-way communication is necessary for a variety of advanced cable services including video on demand (VOD), switched digital video (SDV), interactive services and applications.

The media has frequently reported that first-generation CableCARD 1.0 modules are one-way devices. This is simply not true. CableLabs had always intended to develop the CableCARD module and host receiver standards with two-way capability. However the manufacturers of digital TVs requested that a host standard be developed that only had one-way capability. This one-way cable-ready receiver was defined by the FCC's Plug & Play order and by the Joint Test Suite (JTS). It is the definition of this one-way receiver that lacks the ability for two-way functionality, not the CableCARD module. While the FCC defined the elements of the one-way cable-ready receiver, CableLabs continued to define specifications for two-way receivers.

When a CableCARD 1.0 module is used with a two-way receiver (e.g., Samsung HLR5067C) that card supports all the necessary two-way functionality for VOD, SDV, and other interactive services.

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»www.opencable.com/primer ··· mer.html

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