SDV is Switched Digital Video

[Barry928]

SDV is a bandwidth saving technique rolling out at Brighthouse and cable systems across the country. The common misconception about cable systems is they are copper based and thus limited on bandwidth unable to expand as new HD channels are added to the lineup. The truth is the entire backbone of the cable system is fiber and not limited for bandwidth expansion. The point where the fiber is converted to copper is at the neighborhood or node. A node might feed 500 hundred homes and this is where SDV is doing the switching to conserve copper bandwidth. Simply stated the SDV switch shuts off channels no one in the 500 home neighborhood is watching.

An example would be a copper coaxial wire feeding the neighborhood from the node has a maximum capacity to transmit 70 analog channels, 300 standard digital channels and 50 high definition channels. The computer at Brighthouse monitoring all the set top boxes in the 500 home node sees that 200 digital channels are not being watched by anyone and shuts them off. The bandwidth saved by not transmitting those 200 SD channels allows Brighthouse to add 40 more HD channels without any additional compression keeping picture quality high.

The key to making this all work is dynamically assigning channels or the technical term is QAM frequency assignments. This is required because when someone switches to a channel that no one else is watching the channel is assigned to the next available QAM. This means the cable box is always receiving information from the node telling it which QAM frequency the requested channel has been dynamically assigned. All of this switching is transparent to the end user with the normal channel number appearing in both the guide and the channel display on the set top box.

Customers using a cable card TV or Tivo set top box do not have the ability to transmit or receive the dynamically assigned QAM so they will not work with SDV. Owners of the current generation Tivo boxes have a solution on the horizon as a usb device called the tuning adapter manufactured by Cisco and rented out by Brighthouse which will enable SDV compatibility.

[HDJerry]

Thanks, Barry. That is the clearest and most comprehensive explanation of SDV I've read.

[Barry928]

Hi Jerry - I wanted to get the discussion started with a base understanding of the technology so we could move forward and address issues as they pop up. I fully expect someone soon to say they had to wait for a requested channel. This is always possible but made less likely by Brighthouse starting with the least watched channels being assigned to SDV.

[bdraw]

You might also find this SDV FAQ interesting, although it is TiVo focused.
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=357703

[LouK]

Barry, on the island were my house is only has 40 homes and one node, how does that affect the bandwidth? Obviously, there is much less traffic on our node compared to most. Which is most likely why I have so much less problems than most of the folks out there.

[Barry928]

LouK-I think you will have great internet speed even in peak times but no real advantage for SDV video except that it is virtually impossible to run out of assignable QAM's at your node.

[skottey]

Barry, on the island were my house is only has 40 homes and one node, how does that affect the bandwidth? Obviously, there is much less traffic on our node compared to most. Which is most likely why I have so much less problems than most of the folks out there.

It would effect you because BHN looks at your entire market, and takes the worst case scenario as a baseline. If an overcrowded node can handle 300 SD channels and 50 HD channels, and another neighborhood can handle 75 HD channels, you are still only going to get 50 HD channels market wide. They don't give more or less channels to different neighborhoods in the same market. So while you might be in an area with only 40 houses, the neighborhood with 500 houses effects you.

With SDV, it will allow all areas, even the worst, to offer more channels. They will still look at the worst case scenerio and not exceed that. What if there are 500 houses on a node and for some freak reason they are each trying to watch a different channel at the same time. Well, BHN shouldn't allow more channels than they can handle as a worst case scenerio. Maybe they can handle 200 HD channels at a time, so they won't exceed that in their offerings.

SDV is a good thing and pretty much a must for BHN to compete. They were just about maxed out to capacity with the old system. Now they can offer more, like their competitors such as FIOS (currently in Tampa Bay). I know you guys don't get FIOS yet in Orlando.

Now they will certainly get an accurate rating of who is watching what. If a crappy channel like Ovation is shut down for two weeks straight, it is obvious nobody is watching it. If I owned a channel like that and was trying to sell ads, I don't think I would be too happy with SDV, because it gives an accurate count of whether people are watching it or not.

An advantage to BHN will certainly be in targeted ad sales. They already hit neighborhoods with pinpointed ads. Now they could say for example, "90% of people in this neighborhood watch Fox News in the morning, your ad will be seen by X and will cost Y to air." This is actually great for BHN making their case to get the most money out of selling ads.

[dengland]

Hi Jerry - I wanted to get the discussion started with a base understanding of the technology so we could move forward and address issues as they pop up. I fully expect someone soon to say they had to wait for a requested channel. This is always possible but made less likely by Brighthouse starting with the least watched channels being assigned to SDV.

Very interesting discussion Barry. Even for us non-Cable guys.

[JamesD]

An advantage to BHN will certainly be in targeted ad sales. They already hit neighborhoods with pinpointed ads. Now they could say for example, "90% of people in this neighborhood watch Fox News in the morning, your ad will be seen by X and will cost Y to air." This is actually great for BHN making their case to get the most money out of selling ads.

except you are referring to broadcast networks ads... not ours

BHN doesn't sell ads.. the broadcasters do, we purchase broadcast rights from them to carry the channels on our lineup

except for our channels like 13, etc

doesn't mean we can't provide that info, but that may be proprietary info.. depends how the big cheeses want to handle that

[Barry928]

Actually BH does sell and insert local ads into the cable network channels. I believe they have always had the ability to know how many set top boxs are tuned to a certain channel but never down to the neighborhood level. I doubt this data is actually shared with advertisers simply because they can't know for sure if the TV is powered on.

[JamesD]

sdv launch in central ops is on hold until further notice

[Barry928]

I was surprised they launched it at all. Who approved that press release?

[JamesD]

what press release? LOL

it's on in North and East.. they delayed central..

bugs i guess

[Barry928]

I am anxious for SDV to start since that is the floodgate for more HD channels. The SDV testing appeared to be going well but sometimes I question the use of staff only in the final stage of beta before roll out. We always find a few bugs after the employee tests end that seem obvious.

[JamesD]

of course... you think we want to sit at home and watch TV after we work all day? LOL

[Barry928]

I do understand. Working in the TV business it was interesting to see some co-workers who would go home and watch massive amounts of programming and others who did not watch any TV outside of the job. They would come to work the next day and talk about the fish they caught last night.

[lilricky]

I know this is an old thread but I didn't want to start another thread concerning SDV and tuner adapters. Got a couple of questions, is CFL Brighthouse charging for tuning adapters, and if so, how much? And can I simply go to my local Brighthouse office and pick one up or do they have to dispatch an installer?

[JamesD]

there is a limited supply of the TiVo tuning adapters, so one of the BHN techs do need to come out


as of this time, there is no charge for them, but there may be in the future.

[Solo1]

Hello -

I am looking for the channel lineup available when combining Clear Qam tuner with and SDV channels availalable with a tuning adapter in the Orlando Brighthouse network.

Can you actually get a tuning adapter without a cable card subscription?

Thanks.

[Solo1]

Hello -

I am looking for the channel lineup available when combining Clear Qam tuner with and SDV channels availalable with a tuning adapter in the Orlando Brighthouse network.

Can you actually get a tuning adapter without a cable card subscription?

Thanks.

[Barry928]

I am not aware of any SDV Clear Qam channels. The tuning adapters are known to work with Tivo HD and the Windows 7 Media Center ATI DCTs.

[Solo1]

maybe I should rephrase: do tuning adapters only work in conjunction with tuners with cable cards? ie the ATI DCT and the forthcoming Ceton and SD HomeRun products?

Thanks, as I am a relative newb in this arena.

[Barry928]

I believe the answer is yes. The QAM tuner is tied to a cable card to enable security while the TA does the job of translating the SDV dynamic QAM channel assignments.

[Solo1]

Qam tuner needs not a cable card, i know that much.

[Barry928]

That is true for unencrypted QAM channels like the local affiliates but most of the BH channel lineup is encrypted and requires a cable card.

[Solo1]

true that!

[JaxFLBear]

Here's the list of digital channels that you can receive without a CableCARD.

http://cfl.mybrighthouse.com/uploadedFiles/Divisions/CFL/ProductAndPricing/DigitalCable/Cable_Ready_line_up.pdf

[bdraw]

As other have said, you have to have a CableCARD to use the Tuning Adapter as all the channels delivered with SDV are encrypted.