[linux-dvb] Re: Fusion HDTV 3 Gold

[Taylor Jacob <rtjacob@earthlink.net>]

> > I had read that the FusionHDTV3 Gold didn't do QAM very well, and I don't
> > have digital cable (currently).  I really am more interested in finding a
> > QAM card that supports (ITU J83 Annex B FEC (Opencable FEC Scheme))
> Curious: In what way is that different from DVB-Cable?

My understanding is that the biggest differnce is the FEC scheme used.. DVB-C
uses either Annex A or Annex C, and so do all the DVB-C frontends, otherwise I
would have already imported one from abroad and tried to get it to work.. After
you get past the different QAM FEC scheme my understanding is that OpenCable is
just ATSC.. They of course use a CVCT instead of a TVCT for a service table,
and other slight differences but these are documented on atsc.org.. I cannot
verify anything since I don't have such a card yet, but from what small
ammounts I have found on the internet, and talked to some folks thats what it
looks to be, and all documentation at cablelabs backs this up as well..

> > and has a CI interface to work with the "CableCard" which looks like a
> > (Just like ATSC slightly different from DVB) CAM..
> >From what I have heard, CableCard hardware is _not_ yet available for PCs.
> However, now that Microsoft is in the "Media Center" market, there is a
> growing demand for such hardware, and according to some discussion in the
> public Microsoft mediacenter newsgroup, such hardware could become
> available some time next year... However, due to the sensitivity of
> encryption and DRM, it might well be possible that specs for such hardware,
> and thus Linux drivers, might not be easy to obtain, if at all...

Just because they say its not supported doesn't mean that its not possible, and
since America for some reason is scared of people making their own pvrs and
recording digitally that may just be what they want you to believe..  I could
be wasting my time using the EN50221 specs as a reference to make one work down
the road, but since its from the same guys who had to be different and alter DVB
into ATSC I suspect that based on what information is available on cablelabs.com
and using EN50221 as a source for ideas that it might be made to work.. First
thing you will notice in the specs is electrically they are identical, and then
you will see that the PMT send to the CAM is SLIGHTLY different.. Thats enough
to make DVB CI not work.. That could be all it is.. Lets hope I am right..

Taylor