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Comcast to Test Network DVR Service
Trials to Begin Late This Year or Early Next
Following on the heels of Cablevision, Comcast is reportedly set to begin testing a network DVR service, which could eliminate the need for a subscriber-side DVR by storing recorded video content on ISP-hosted servers. After a long but successful legal battle against broadcasters, Cablevision quietly launched their network DVR service (aka the RS-DVR) back in January in portions of The Bronx, charging users $11 a month for 160GB of remote storage. Comcast's trial is set to get underway sometime late this year or early next. "We’ll start to roll it out, see what the response is and go from there," Comcast Chief Technology Officer Tony Werner told attendees of The Cable Show this week in Chicago.
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Ricanlegend
join:2011-05-18
Bronx, NY

Ricanlegend

Member

If its anything like cablevision DVR plus it will fail

Tried it and it sucked

LightS
Premium Member
join:2005-12-17
Greenville, TX

LightS

Premium Member

Re: If its anything like cablevision DVR plus it will fail

What sucked about it? I'm curious!
krommulent
join:2010-04-07

krommulent

Member

Re: If its anything like cablevision DVR plus it will fail

me too. sounded like a decent idea in theory.
clarknova156
join:2011-06-04
Poughkeepsie, NY

clarknova156

Member

Re: If its anything like cablevision DVR plus it will fail

I get the cloud concept but I don't like the idea of paying for it for already expensive TV content and then having to abide by whatever the cable wants in terms of what I can and can not record.

It also sounds like it would strain the shit out of a network already taxed even by DOCSIS 3.0 standards. You really can't complain about bandwidth uses if you are remotely storing 160GB a month as an ISP while dealing with transfers back and forth.

I like having my DVR physically in front of me ..

LightS
Premium Member
join:2005-12-17
Greenville, TX

LightS

Premium Member

Re: If its anything like cablevision DVR plus it will fail

Only way I would like it, is if your recorded shows were available via web browser.

....
Slingbox.

vdiv
Premium Member
join:2002-03-23
Reston, VA

vdiv to clarknova156

Premium Member

to clarknova156
Relax, it is not going to use DOCSIS and you will be able to record and watch everything you can now, but from every settop box in your home. This will allow them to eventually let you watch it on a tablet. It's all about the cloud these days.
dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL

dishrich to LightS

Member

to LightS
said by LightS:

What sucked about it?

Well for starters...

- 160GB is pretty damn TINY, particularly for HD prog
- no 30 sec skipping (deal-breaker for me) as well as other "trick play" disablements
- poor responsiveness of remote control DVR functions; it's why I do NOT like using on-demand stuff
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

NOT ISP

the DVR is NOT hosted on an ISP headend as the HSI side is seprate from the DVR. It's hosted on the Cable plant headend the same as onDemand.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Re: NOT ISP

said by hottboiinnc4:

the DVR is NOT hosted on an ISP headend as the HSI side is seprate from the DVR. It's hosted on the Cable plant headend the same as onDemand.

How inconvenient for the net-neutrality crowd.

OnDemand technology isn't ready for primetime; then again, Netflix' menu is regressing as well. But if Cable will deliver a massive library of current channel content as well as Redbox/Netflix/BB titles, and upgrade the clunky menu, they'll drive a stake in Netflix' heart.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to hottboiinnc4

Member

to hottboiinnc4
and at times they don't even have the bandwidth for all VOD at times.
MADx
join:2005-05-25
Richmond, IN

MADx

Member

Add it to my Cap

I'll take the 160G and Comcast can add it to my 250G cap (free of charge).
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

comcast 4 tuner HDDVR box looks good and they need more HD

comcast 4 tuner HDDVR box looks good and they need more HD

Like BIG TEN HD ALT 1-4

GAME 3-9 HD

TEAM 2-9 HD

VS ALT HD

CLTV HD

Comcast network (chicago) HD
45612019 (banned)
join:2004-02-05
New York, NY

45612019 (banned)

Member

Comcap

More worthless junk from America's worst cable provider.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

The channel guide...

Don't get me started on the crappy channel guide...

Every month I pay my bill, I feel like I'm getting less and less for more money.
Rekrul
join:2007-04-21
Milford, CT

Rekrul

Member

Perfect example...

This is a perfect example of how today's copyright obsessed culture is holding back technology.

The most practical and economical way to provide a remote DVR service would be for the company to simply record a single copy of everything and retain it for a week or even a month. When a subscriber wanted to watch a show they'd missed, it would simply stream the one copy to whoever wanted it. If a subscriber wanted to "keep" a show longer than that, it could be transferred to their personal storage space. This would use less disk space and would be a hell of a lot easier to keep track of.

But of course, they could never do this because that would be seen as video on demand (which it is) and would require ridiculous license fees, not to mention that half the channels would never go for it, no matter what you paid them.

So instead, they have to have each subscriber tag the shows they want, and record them to their personal storage space. If a subscriber forgets to "record" something, the company has to pretend that it no longer exists, even though there's probably a thousand copies of it sitting in other people's directories.

With today's technology, there's no reason that anyone should ever have to miss a show, regardless of whether they remembered to "record" it or not. The only reason we can't stream anything we want at any time (with the appropriate fees of course) is because of copyrights.

I look at the pirate scene, where you can download almost any show the day it airs, and virtually any movie you've ever heard of, and then I see a cable company setting up a remote DVR that they have to handicap well beyond what the service is actually capable and it just boggles my mind how much the entertainment industry has the technology industry by the balls.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678

Member

Re: Perfect example...

so without copyright obsessed rules it can be just VOD with a lot more shows. But that still does not fix the bandwidth needed to pull this off and comcast does not even have SDV. Cablevision does and even then when they had that free VOD PPV day the system overloaded from the use.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Seriously?

Comcast, you keep showing off all this cool technology demonstration stuff, but yet, our recently upgraded cable plant is still missing a LOT of good HD channels like IC, BBCA, Planet Green, Comedy Central, ESPN U, and tons of others. Your cable boxes absolutely suck, and it's almost impossible to get a newer model that's been out for years, your internet isn't that fast, get with the program with current tech before showing off all this cool stuff.

vdiv
Premium Member
join:2002-03-23
Reston, VA

vdiv

Premium Member

Re: Seriously?

Hush! Or the shareholders and Wall St. barons may hear you and get a clue.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Seriously?

The wall street barons are fine as long as Comcast has a pretty strong monopoly on internet connections in many places.