Some future Media Center PCs based on Windows Vista will be able to receive digital cable signals in the United States, a feature long requested by customers. However, these PCs, which Microsoft says will be available by the 2006 holiday season, will not support any features that require sending a signal to the cable system, such as ordering movies on demand. Many other details, such as copy protection limitations and hardware requirements, have not been announced.

CableCARD with Caveats

Windows XP Media Center Edition is an edition of Windows XP that allows remote-controllable access to home entertainment functions, including the ability to record TV programs for later viewing. Microsoft has hinted that Media Center will no longer be a separate edition when Windows Vista is released in late 2006 but instead will be incorporated into one or more consumer Vista SKUs.

To date, Media Center PCs have not been able to receive or record TV programs from digital cable systems because they've been unable to unscramble the signals. This is set to change: in Nov. 2005, Microsoft and CableLabs, a cable industry body that oversees standards for cable TV equipment in the United States, announced an agreement under which some Vista Media Center PCs will support the CableCARD specification. CableCARD is designed to allow users to unscramble and receive digital cable signals simply by inserting a standard card into a slot in their PC or consumer electronics device (many newer HDTVs have CableCARD slots), rather than having to use a set-top box provided by the cable company. In theory, this allows users to switch cable companies—for example, move to a new city served by a different provider—and still receive digital cable without requiring new hardware. It also allows cable providers to shift hardware costs to the consumer.

However, CableCARD 1.0 is one-way only, and does not allow users to perform any function that requires sending a signal to the cable system, such as ordering pay-per-view movies—a drawback that has hampered adoption. The first Vista Media Center PCs will support this version of the specification.

CableCARD 2.0, which is slated for approval in 2006, will eliminate this drawback by allowing two-way signals, but Microsoft has not announced whether future Media Center PCs will support it.

Copy Protection Picture Unclear

In addition to the receive-only restriction, Vista Media Center PCs will incorporate copy protection technology, but Microsoft has not yet explained how this technology will affect users.

Before an OEM can include CableCARD support on a Media Center PC, it will have to ensure that the PC meets CableLabs' "security and functionality" requirements. One possibility is that these PCs will support Vista's Protected Video Path (PVP) copy protection feature, which allows the OS to disable video playback if any component in the video-processing system (such as the PC's video card or monitor) is deemed insecure. CableLabs is also in the process of approving Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) for protecting digital cable broadcasts. This could allow cable providers to restrict what users may do with recorded programming—for example, users may not be able to transfer programming to other devices or burn it to a recordable DVD.

If these restrictions are too onerous, they could hamper adoption of CableCARD-enabled Media Center PCs. In particular, if users are required to purchase a new TV, they are likely to avoid the Media Center and stick with the set-top box provided by their cable company. This is especially true now that cable companies are beginning to offer digital video recording—in an ironic twist, cable provider Comcast is using another Microsoft product, Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, to provide this feature to digital cable subscribers in the Seattle area.

PVP and Windows Media DRM are detailed in the Oct. 2005 Research Report, "Microsoft's Rights Management Strategy."

Comcast's use of Foundation Edition is described in "Comcast Deploys Microsoft TV" on page 30 of the Dec. 2004 Update.