So apparently
Anyway, it got me thinking. Microsoft probably doesn’t see this “Sony PlayTV
My answer was quite simple, allow the Xbox 360 to function as a DVR using an existing hardware solution such as the ATI (AMD) TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner (OCUR). I know, I know, trust me I know but if you stop laughing for a second you may see the logic in it. The Xbox 360 is a powerful yet fairly secure closed platform or at lest the HDMI versions are. It has provisions for HDD storage which is upgradeable. It has USB support. It also runs a Microsoft OS that receives patches and upgrades. Its really just about perfect this type of task and it isn’t priced to the moon and back.
For those who have the older component version of the Xbox 360 Microsoft could offer (stop laughing) an upgrade program (say for a nominal fee) to the newer HDMI version for users who buy a DCT (stop laughing).
It could work and work quite well. In fact it would probably boost sales of the Xbox360 by quite a large margin but could cannibalize sales of Cablecard Pcs since you get similar functionality at a significantly lower price.
Anyway, Sony PlayTV
I've had the PlayTV on my UK PS3 for a couple of months now (it launched in Aug/Sept last year in the UK). It's OK - but not Media Center. Although it has dual-DVB-T tuners, it only allows one recording at a time. You can record one channel and one watch another live, but can't record two channels at the same time. You can export recordings to other USB connected drives.
It has good Press Red support, good picture quality (the PS3 does a brilliant job of upscaling SD to HD and de-interlaces well) and a fast EPG (it uses the OTA DVB-T EIT EPG - not an internet download).
The PS3 PlayTV is DVB-T only. It will (or should) work in HD in regions that broadcast HD via DVB-T (either in H264 or MPEG2) - NZ, Sweden, France, Australia etc. - and would probably have worked fine with the UK DVB-T trial in London that ran 2006/2007. This means it will work with NZ's DVB-T-based Freeview HD system I guess. It should also work with H264 SD DVB-T - as used in Norway, Ireland, NZ, as well as the more widespread MPEG2 SD etc.
HOWEVER - anyone who thinks it is going to be UK Freeview HD compatible is barking up the wrong tree.
Freeview HD in the UK will now be using DVB-T2 not DVB-T. This is a totally revised modulation scheme, using more carriers (32k vs 2k/8k) and higher QAM (256 QAM vs 16/64 QAM) - but it delivers 36Mbs per mux compared to the 18-24Mbs we've had with DVB-T. It will require new demodulation silicon to demodulate the Freeview HD muxes. This isn't the sort of thing that can be fixed via a software update to the PlayTV - it is a hardware limitation. The Play TV will only have DVB-T demodulation hardware (DVB-T2 silicon wasn't available when it launched...) - any UK Freeview HD adaptor for the PS3 will need to be a new bit of hardware (just as it will for PCs)
Wishful thoughts...
That M$ would make a DVD that I could load into my PS3 and connect to my W7 system like the old Xbox Media Center DVD...
ATI will release an firmware upgrade that will allow you to pull your DCT into a network and use the turners as part of a shared pool via IP...
The CE-10 encoding software is designed to be installed on a PC and allows users the ability to access the power of the PS3® platform as an accelerator to enhance video encoding with the H.264 compliant CodecSys process to achieve professional encoding quality for the prosumer market sector. Additional features of the CE-10 include: * High quality low bit rate compression * Ultra fast HD encoding * Flexible software-based advantages * Professional quality at an affordable “prosumer” price