# Hotel Experience = Home Experience?



## jaywdetroit (Sep 21, 2006)

I understand that the technology that D* uses prevents a signal from being sent directly to your T.V. without the use of a STB. (Which, of course, s*cks.)

However, obviously, the technology is not too difficult to engineer, as the TV in a hotel room I was in recently had D*, no STB, and HD programming. 

Why can't D* make a back-end device that plugs into your RG-6 cabling as a back-end and sends out some kind of similar signal that works on QAM/ATSC tuners they way that cable does? 

BETTER YET: WORK WITH a SERIES 4 TIVO???? 

I have to believe this is possible, just not within the will of D*. But if D* really wanted to make me a happy camper, this is the device they'd create!

***I intended to post this to the General D* forum. Can a mod move it?***


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## SamC (Jan 20, 2003)

Somewhere in the hotel is a rack with 20 or 30 DirecTV settop box equilivants and a device converting those to the channel numbers fed into the inhouse cabling.

Remember that DirecTV has well over 200 channels in a residential application.

However, if the box bothers you, just get a UHF remote and mount the box wherever you please.


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## jaywdetroit (Sep 21, 2006)

That would miss the point. I'm still tied to a set top box and one/two tuners in the home per box. I'd like to see D* engineer a device that gives me the same experience I get with Cable TV in the home. So I can get as many TVs as I like running, and I don't need a box at every TV. In a perfect world, this back-end device would contain the 'card' to descramble the signal, and authorize programming so as to eliminate the need for a separate card at each source. 

If I could get the cable experience, tied in with D* quality/channels/etc, that would be the perfect 'TV' world.


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## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

And how would Chuckie get his piece of every one of those sets?


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

jaywdetroit said:


> That would miss the point. I'm still tied to a set top box and one/two tuners in the home per box. I'd like to see D* engineer a device that gives me the same experience I get with Cable TV in the home. So I can get as many TVs as I like running, and I don't need a box at every TV. In a perfect world, this back-end device would contain the 'card' to descramble the signal, and authorize programming so as to eliminate the need for a separate card at each source. If I could get the cable experience, tied in with D* quality/channels/etc, that would be the perfect 'TV' world.


It is possible. When DirecTv originally came out with HD, they had a RCA widescreen television with a built in directv tuner, however, since they have switched to a single software experience/controlled manufacture/lease type system, this was stopped.

What I am doing, is using a DirecTv receiver, two ATSC tuners, and a DVB-S2 PCI card, all in a home theatre PC, to create an in home "IPTV" system. I can watch TV via laptop wirelessly, or in any room via media extender, but there again, it still has a box at the TV. The upside, and reason I went with this option, is that the DVR (the PC) has unlimited storage (currently at 4.5TB), a HD interface, can display 10-20 channels per screen in the guide, and whats recorded is on the computer, so if I have to swap a box, or upgrade, I dont lose all my recordings.

What you are wanting to do, however, would be to have an in-home cable system, which would require one receiver and one QAM encoder for each channel you wanted on the system from DirecTv. The cost would be astronomical.

From the information gleaned from our members who attended the consumer electronics show this year, DirecTv is working on a project which would, like U-verse, have a central dvr/media center device, and each tv location would have a tunerless control box. Since the control box would not have a tuner, and therefore not need an access card, perhaps they will allow manufacturers (via HDNA or other methods) to add the control box internal to the set itself, creating the exact same thing you want. Only time will tell, however.


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## jaywdetroit (Sep 21, 2006)

Davenlr said:


> It is possible. When DirecTv originally came out with HD, .....Only time will tell, however.


This was a great post with lots of useful information. Thank you! Where can I read up on DVB-S2 cards? I am not familiar with how this would work.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

The thing that prevents all that from working (for HD, at least) is the legal requirement for copy protection/encryption.

There is a system called Pro:Idiom that allows a digital, HD, encrypted QAM type head-end from satellite receivers, but it requires that the hotel/hospital/etc. purchase specific models of TVs that can accept a Pro:Idiom encryption module. A big problem with that is that most hotel/motels go out and buy a bunch of cheap HDTVs and install them, decide that their TV picture (SD analog) looks like crap, and only THEN investigates how to get HD to each room. As soon as they learn that they'd have to scrap all of their brand new TVs, they're done listening and decide to keep analog SD. And that's before the learn the cost of the head-end itself...

Over time, as more hotel/motel operaters learn about Pro:Idiom and as consumers push for HD in their hotel/motel rooms, you'll see it rolled out, but don't hold your breath.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

jaywdetroit said:


> That would miss the point. I'm still tied to a set top box and one/two tuners in the home per box. I'd like to see D* engineer a device that gives me the same experience I get with Cable TV in the home. So I can get as many TVs as I like running, and I don't need a box at every TV. In a perfect world, this back-end device would contain the 'card' to descramble the signal, and authorize programming so as to eliminate the need for a separate card at each source.
> 
> If I could get the cable experience, tied in with D* quality/channels/etc, that would be the perfect 'TV' world.


This would work if DirecTV had analog cables like Cable does. If you have digitally encrypted channels then you must have a descrambler. That's the box and even cable will have to have box's at all TV's soon.


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## dirtyblueshirt (Dec 7, 2008)

There's also the option that some smaller cable companies use... on base here in San Diego, they use a service called Command Broadband which, at its top tier, gives you 64 glorious channels of SDTV. But those channels come from DirecTV (noted by the prevalence of DirecTV Cinema and On Demand ads).

This is all fed through the single cable to normal, off-the-shelf TVs throughout the base; much like what you suggest.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

While you can justify a QAM system to serve up TV to dozens of clients, it just doesn't pencil out in a residential scenario. The same goes for ATSC modulators.

Note that the hotel systems often use local cable as a basis and they fold in DIRECTV delivered channels only where necessary. As pointed out above, a receiver is required for each channel.


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## D-Bamatech (Jun 28, 2006)

harsh said:


> Note that the hotel systems often use local cable as a basis and they fold in DIRECTV delivered channels only where necessary. As pointed out above, a receiver is required for each channel.


Hotels?
Dont forget about this config & scenario vs the typical racked head end.

http://www.pdi-sat.com/com100.php


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