RHFtech Help Desk

Today it is not enough to have standard TV sources like over-the-air (OTA), cable or satellite, to watch video. We need Internet connections as well. That way we can watch video on demand (VOD) from sources such as Amazon VOD, the Apple iTunes store or Netflix. There are many ways to do this. Some are better than others. None are perfect. All have their pluses and minuses.

Many of my clients have purchased HDTVs that have an Ethernet connector that lets them connect the TVs to the Internet. Others have purchased Blu-ray players with similar capabilities. These solutions are limited ones. You are confined to Internet sources that the vendor allows. If they have a deal with Netflix then you can watch that. If they do not, you cannot watch Netflix. These services are subject to change at a moment’s notice. I can easily envision a dispute between SONY and Netflix in the future that plays out the same way that the Cablevision – Food Network dispute played out last month. Cablevision’s subscribers were caught in the middle as the Food Network pulled their programming from Cablevision in a contract dispute.

These devices are simple to connect to your home wired Ethernet network. Plug an Ethernet cable into the device and your router. They are much are harder to connect using WiFi. Most Internet capable HDTVs and Blu-ray players do not have built-in WiFi adapters. Therefore, the homeowner is responsible for purchasing and installing the correct device. You will have to check if the wireless adapter will work with your HDTV or Blu-ray player and know how to setup a wireless connection. You also need to make certain that the wireless network’s signal is strong enough and fast enough to deliver VOD this way. It is best to replace older 802.11g wireless capable routers with newer, faster 802.11n capable ones.

An alternative to the above is to purchase a dedicated Internet capable device. They have names like Apple TV, Popcorn Hour, Roku or TiVo. You have to pay for and install the device. Programming content is additional. They all provide some free content. Amazon VOD, Netflix, or the Apple iTunes store, all require either pay-to-play or subscriptions. TiVo is far superior to the other devices. It provides a great easy-to-use interface. It has one of the best remote control devices and can easily integrate with your cable TV subscription.

You can also use gaming consoles to watch video on an HDTV. The choices for gaming consoles are the Microsoft Xbox, the Nintendo Wii and the SONY PlayStation 3. The latter has a built-in Blu-ray player. As above, your choices for Internet video content are limited by the console’s manufacturer.

Connecting a computer to your HDTV provides unlimited Internet access. It also magnifies the issues of device selection, connecting the computer and controlling it. A computer connected to an HDTV should be unobtrusive and quiet. You do not want to hear the computer’s fans or see bright, flashing LEDs in your bedroom or home theater. You also do not want an ugly computer box marring the decor.

Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows 7 PCs have applications, Front Row and Windows Media Center, respectively, designed for the 10 foot user interface. They work reasonably well and allow you to watch Internet downloaded or streaming media, view your photos on your HDTV, or listen to Internet-provided audio, like podcasts or Pandora, through your home theater’s speakers. Remote controls can be relatively standard ones, such as the Logitech Harmony remotes, wireless keyboard and mouse combos, as sold by Gyration, or devices like the Apple iPod Touch and perhaps the soon-to-be-released Apple iPad.

Click image above to watch video

It is ironic that I am writing about the decline and fall of the written word. The written word had a great run, starting perhaps as many as 6,000 years ago with Sumerian cuneiform. Writing has to compete today with more compelling and natural forms of human communication—audio and video—often served on the Internet.

Many people bemoan the decline of printed material. They equate the rise of the Internet, and inexpensive-to-produce video and audio, coming at the detriment of printed words, as a decline in civilization. You may be someone who holds this opinion.

It is easy to understand the sense of loss and disconnectedness caused by this technological shift. At its core, this attitude is elitist and reminiscent of the Luddites. This attitude ignores the democratic nature of the shift from printed to electronic communication. Time is limited. We elect to use our time in the way that makes the most sense to ourselves. Most people prefer to watch TV, listen to music, audio books or podcasts, or surf the Internet over reading a book, newspaper or magazine.

Writing and the written word is not natural. We must be schooled to read and write. It was the best disciplined, efficient way to communicate or archive information when alternatives were word-of-mouth, painting or smoke signals. The use of the written word exploded over the course of civilization because of this. Johannes Guttenberg’s invention of movable type printing accelerated the use of the printed word in Western culture and eventually worldwide. Public schooling further accelerated this trend.

Public schools, grades K-12, are conservative by nature. They are slow to change. They revel in the written word having had centuries to perfect their skills in teaching and assessing its use. Our teachers are written word experts. They are rarely expert in the creation and use of video and audio. Our children learn this from each other, from Hollywood, YouTube and other sites on the Internet. They have eclipsed the education system in their understanding and use of these newer technologies.

I find that listening to a well-narrated audio book trumps the written word. The narrator, often a professionally trained actor, brings the author’s words to life. The narrators often employ different voices for different characters. Non-fiction is also enhanced by having it spoken versus reading it yourself. Tables, charts and images are the only-missing piece.

I view audio and video is to the written word as oil painting is to drawing with pencil. These activities require training and discipline. The author, artist or director has to tell a story, communicate what is on their mind. The better the story telling, the more likely the audience will appreciate the effort. Mastering oil painting is more difficult than drawing. The painter often begins with a sketch but adds color, stroke, technique and dimension, as well as form and perspective. The same is true of audio and video. One begins with a script and then fills in the detail and enhances that script. Creating a good video requires many more skills than writing the script.

While schools may be slow to adopt technology many librarians understand and are changing. Librarians are evolving their missions from being keepers and lenders of printed material. Our local libraries, Westport and Wilton, Connecticut spring to mind, have become public facilities for all types of human communication. They have public computer terminals, lend audio books and videos, and host movies and seminars. They make online audio book borrowing available via the services of the Online Computer Library Center. If libraries are moving beyond the printed word, shouldn’t we all?

by Philip Bloom

This is wonderful cinema.

Electronic entertainment is changing rapidly. Whole house audio is no longer only for the very wealthy. I recently finished installing a 8 zone, Internet connected audio system that cost less than $30,000 for equipment, including 30+ in-ceiling speakers and multiple audio and video sources. Today video is delivered in many forms, over-the-air broadcast, cable or satellite subscription, optical discs (DVD and Blu-ray), and from the Internet.

There are many ways to configure equipment to view Internet video on your HDTV. My preferred method is to hook up a computer, a home theater PC (HTPC) AKA media center computer, because it offers the most choice and is less likely to be obsoleted by changes in technology. Setting up an HTPC is complex and requires attention to controls that many find daunting. An HTPC can be a high-end Windows PC, a Mac Mini, an inexpensive nettop PC or an older computer that uses a media center application. An old PC can run Windows XP or Linux. There are many other choices for Internet video: a TiVo, an Xbox, a SONY PlayStation PS3, which includes a Blu-ray player, or specialized devices with names like Apple TV, Vudu, the Popcorn Hour or Roku.

Roku sells 3 models, the SD, the HD and HD XR. I installed and tested an HD-XR in my home theater. The device is small, 5x5x1.75″, comes with basic cables for connecting it and a small, simple remote control. It has an Ethernet connector and built-in 802.11n WiFi. It costs $130 at Amazon. I provided my own HDMI cable connecting it to my audio/video receiver. This limited the cabling to one cable for both audio and video signals.

There is much to recommend about the HD-XR. It is easy to install. It took me about 15 minutes to wire and configure. Your time may vary. The remote control has few buttons and is easy to use. The on-screen display (OSD) is simple and easy to navigate. And the price is compelling.

The home page features the Roku channel store where you select which channels you want to make available to view or listen to. It features both free and paid Internet services. Featured paid services are Netflix, Amazon VOD, and MLB.com. Netflix and MLB are subscription services. Amazon VOD is a pay-as-you-go service. Free services include Revision 3, TWiT.tv, Blip.TV and others. The Pandora music service is also available. I do not subscribe to Netflix or care about baseball so I did not test those services. I tested Amazon and was generally pleased with the navigation and speed of delivery. Video and audio qualities were good.

The Roku’s simplicity can be a negative. The Roku provides no way to search for a title. Navigating through Amazon’s large catalog to find something to watch can take a lot of time and effort. The video channels are limited by whatever choices Roku management makes. This is not an Apple device so there is no iTunes store and it does not integrate with your iTunes music and video collection. The remote control adds to remote control clutter. I do not know if there is a way to program a universal remote to control the Roku.

When watching some videos on Blip.tv the device had to pause while the video buffered. I do not know if this was due to Blip.tv or Optimum servers or was a local problem with my WiFi. This did not happen with other services so I think it is Blip’s issue.

I found setting up Pandora a bit frustrating. Pandora would not recognize my account for the first several attempts. Once it did everything worked fine. Issues like setting up Pandora might be off-putting if you are technology-challenged.

I recommend this Roku device if you want a simple, inexpensive method for connecting your HDTV to the Internet. I prefer the HTPC because it does not limit my choices of content where a dedicated, proprietary device like the Roku does.

Companies and industries that do not embrace change often come to regret that decision. This is a story of how American cable TV companies failed with CableCARD. They delayed complying with an FCC mandate, consistent with Section 629 of the 1996 telecommunications law, to "…assure the commercial availability to consumers… of converter boxes… from manufacturers, retailers, and other vendors not affiliated with… [the] programming distributor."

The consequence to cable companies is declining market share as alternative technologies replace the cable TV subscription model.

CableCARD was their response to the 1996 law. CableLabs, an industry group, developed the CableCARD to allow consumers to buy rather than rent set top boxes. Cable companies were slow to deploy them; probably, rightly fearing that they would lose rental fees for boxes and remotes.

The only two devices I know that work with CableCARDs are newer TiVos and Windows computers with OCUR digital cable tuners. Using CableCARDs requires paying for an installer visit and a modest monthly fee. I pay $4/mo. for 2 CableCARDs in my TiVo. Renting a Cablevision DVR would cost me about $20/mo. That DVR is a weak approximation of TiVo.

Computers make wonderful DVRs. Microsoft has offered the Media Center application since 2002. It comes in Vista Home Premium and most versions of Windows 7. Media Center, along with commercial and free open source alternatives, works great as a DVR. It requires one or more CableCARDs to display cable TV encrypted digital feeds and premium channels. The OCUR tuner made this possible.

OCUR was hobbled by CableLabs. They required that they certify the computer if it included an OCUR. I once read that they charge the PC makers $10,000 per model for this "service". Only AMD made OCUR tuners. HP, Dell and some niche computer makers offered these as additions to a few models. Adding to the difficulty, if you didn’t buy the OCUR(s) at the time you bought the PC you could not add them later.

Not surprisingly, OCUR-enabled PCs were a minuscule percent of PC sales. I believe that HP and Dell no longer offer OCUR provisioned PCs and that AMD has exited the business. At the recent CEDIA meeting Microsoft announced that we will be able to buy OCUR tuners to install into our existing PCs sometime in the future. Hauppauge and Ceton announced they will make add-on OCUR tuners for sale next year.

We have many alternatives to cable TV, satellite TV or broadcast TV today. Some are disc-based, most are Internet-based. Netflix, Redbox, and many town libraries make it simple to borrow a DVD at low or no cost. Amazon’s Video On Demand, the iTunes store, Vudu and Roku boxes, websites like Hulu.com, CBS.com and many others compete with traditional cable TV.

I wanted to promote and install PCs with OCUR tuners and CableCARDs for my customers, beginning in 2006, if it had been easy and affordable. I did not because CableLabs made it too difficult and too expensive. I explored and found alternatives to Cable TV. My clients and my family watch video on our computers hooked to our HDTVs, just not cable TV. Computer-based alternatives to cable TV have been multiplying like rabbits. It is hard to keep up.

My 16 year-old daughter rarely watches cable TV. She likes the flexibility that watching video on her computer offers. She can have her messaging apps open and pause the video to talk with her friends. She is typical of her generation.

Cable companies should have embraced consumers owning their own set top boxes rather than resisting. They will soon regret that decision as more and more customers abandon cable TV for the cheaper, easier and more satisfying alternatives.

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Technology changes, always.
Frisch’s third law

Cable and satellite TV began to replace broadcast television over 30 years ago. Internet video will replace cable and satellite TV, soon and in much less time.

What is a cable company president to do?
If I ran the cable company, I would make a lot more money than I do. I would also be thinking, “How do I shift from the historical value-added content model to the utility-pipe model of the future, without having my revenue and profits sharply decline?”

Cable has two advantages that are not eroded by changes in content distribution. They have very fat pipes and typically only one or two competitors for their customers.

Cable companies make money from subscriber fees for TV, equipment rental fees, Internet service and telephone service. They may be paid carriage fees by some cable channels. They also sell advertising on some cable channels. The latter two revenue streams are under attack as content rapidly moves to the Internet.

Have you ever watched a show like CSI or The Office on the Internet? You can if you have broadband. Cable gets no income from this type of content. Advertising dollars go directly to the content producers and there is no way for the cable company to insert their own advertising. Pay-video on the Internet will happen, just as HBO came to cable in the 1970s. Viewers will shift their video dollars from premium cable channels to premium video websites. Traditional TV viewers will decline as Internet video-on-demand (VOD) increases. Cable networks, like TNT, Fox News, and A&E, are likely to wither and die as viewers move elsewhere. The current economic climate accelerates this trend.

This leaves subscriber fees as the primary revenue, perhaps the sole source in the future. Most cable companies offer three services for which they charge: cable TV, Internet hosting, and telephone service. Historically, the majority of their subscriber revenue is from cable TV. Over the last decade, Internet hosting and telephone services have grown to be perhaps half the monthly bill. Yet landline telephones, whether old-style or VoIP are in decline.

Is TV programming in the toilet?
The value of traditional TV series content is eroding. Programs on cable TV seem to be reruns of reruns and old movies, except for sports and reality shows. In 1956, a free broadcast television series had 39 original episodes. Today most TV series produce about half that number. A premium channel, like HBO, often airs shows with as little as six episodes per year, and the show may only last one or two seasons. Further devaluing the series content are lengthy hiatuses, such as Lost or 24 recently had. The cost for less-and-less new content on cable keeps going up.

Why do we keep paying or has the future arrived?
There is a lot of chatter on blogs and forums about people canceling their cable TV subscriptions, going Internet-only. They watch sites such as CBS.com or Hulu.com. They subscribe to Netflix and use its streaming VOD service. They buy shows from Amazon’s VOD or Apple’s iTunes stores. And they save money.

I have a computer hooked to my HDTV specifically for these things. I use it more and more frequently. I really do not need my cable box or the service. What I do need is unlimited broadband.

Money talks, or is it greed?
Cable companies have figured this out and many are now capping your monthly bandwidth in order to forestall this shift. Time Warner Cable has been the most aggressive. They announced that they would provide unlimited Internet service for $150/month. Their CEO is not crazy but his rollout is ham-handed at best. Congress is considering legislation to outlaw caps. Someday soon, the cable companies may have no other revenue source.

We do not need cable companies for TV or telephone. We can employ our internet connection for telephone, using services such as Skype, Vonage or MagicJack, augmented by a cell phone. Google Voice, a reconfigured and rebranded GrandCentral, points the way toward future communications services. It does not require your cable company.

Figuring out how to transition from cable’s multi-service, premium-pricing model to being a utility provider, like an electric company, is a difficult thing. They will have to change their revenue model. They have little competition or regulation so their solution will be to gouge their customers, us. And they will get away with it.