Subject matter is only questionably notable, and the only source linked here (the official website of Open Cable) was a redirect to a Cable TV advisory company - seems like that website hasn't been active for a long time, so I've removed it. Additionally, there is not a single reference to Open Cable on the CableLabs website itself. It seems like it hasn't been referred to as "open cable" since 2008, and has become better known as Tru2Way (https://dvb.org/news/ocap-becomes-tru2way/), so I propose that the existing WP article for Tru2Way covers everything that needs to be covered on WP.(proposed by 20WattSphere )
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Expired [[WP:PROD|prod]], concern was: Subject matter is only questionably notable, and the only source linked here (the official website of Open Cable) was a redirect to a Cable TV advisory company - seems like that website hasn't been active for a long time, so I've removed it. Additionally, there is not a single reference to Open Cable on the CableLabs website itself. It seems like it hasn't been referred to as "open cable" since 2008, and has become better known as Tru2Way (https://dvb.org/news/ocap-becomes-tru2way/), so I propose that the existing WP article for Tru2Way covers everything that needs to be covered on WP.
Nominator: Please consider notifying the author/project: {{subst:proposed deletion notify|OpenCable|concern=Subject matter is only questionably notable, and the only source linked here (the official website of Open Cable) was a redirect to a Cable TV advisory company - seems like that website hasn't been active for a long time, so I've removed it. Additionally, there is not a single reference to Open Cable on the CableLabs website itself. It seems like it hasn't been referred to as "open cable" since 2008, and has become better known as Tru2Way (https://dvb.org/news/ocap-becomes-tru2way/), so I propose that the existing WP article for Tru2Way covers everything that needs to be covered on WP.}} ~~~~
Specifications for the next-generation digital consumer device for cable television
OpenCable is a set of hardware and software specifications under development in the United States by CableLabs to "define the next-generation digital consumer device" for the cable television industry. The consumer-facing brand tru2way was introduced in January, 2008.
The goal is to create a common hardware/software standard for digital cabletelevision within the U.S., hence promoting competition among licensed device manufacturers, while at the same time making it improbable that any one software company dominates digital television.
Tru2way is the brand name for interactive digital cable services delivered over the cable video network, for example interactive program guides, interactive ads, games, chat, web browsing, and t-commerce. The brand also appears as "<tru2way>" and is used to market cable services, applications, and devices that support the tru2way cable architecture. Tru2way is the successor, consumer-focused, name for technology known as OpenCable. Major cable operators have committed to deploy support for the tru2way platform in service areas covering more than 90 million U.S. homes by the end of 2008. As of December, 2008, Comcast and Panasonic are offering services and a limited number of consumer products that support Tru2way in the Chicago and Denver MSAs.
CableLabs, the industry's research and development arm, licenses the brand to cable companies and cable programmers that deliver tru2way applications and services, as well as consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers that build devices that support such applications and services. Use of the mark on CE devices requires CableLabs certification testing for conformance to the tru2way specifications (also known as the OpenCable Host 2.1 Specifications). Tru2way includes a middleware technology that may be built into televisions, set-top boxes, and other devices. The technology enables cable companies and other interactive application developers to “write” applications once and see them run successfully on any device that supports the tru2way architecture. With tru2way technology, consumers can access interactive digital cable programming, including video-on-demand and pay-per-view content, without the need for a cable operator-supplied set-top box. The tru2way technology is capable of supporting all cable services now delivered to consumers via leased set top boxes, as well as future services written to the tru2way platform.
Digital rights management
DRM is implemented using both Java and a pluggable decryption card. This would work much like DirecTV's encryption system. When a crack of the current encryption system in use becomes widespread, a new card can be sent out to consumers and a new encryption system will be employed. Putting portions of the restrictions management in the Java interpreter allows greater flexibility in billing.
At the present time (circa 2007), the OpenCable specification(s) do not make any use of a Java interpreter for the purpose of performing or managing the deployed conditional access (CA) systems, of which there are two primary types: (1) integrated or embedded, and (2) CableCARD based.
In the current market a cable operator is locked into either Motorola or Scientific Atlanta for 10–20 years when they make the capital investment to use either system for their digital cable operations. With OpenCable a consumer can use an MPEG-2 decoder from either company and the cable company can switch between the system at only the cost of the decryption card for each consumer and the backend costs. The decryption cards will probably license for $10 to $20, much less than the $50 for a simple decoder or $500 for a full featured digital video recorder.
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. Based on the PostScript language, each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to display it. PDF has its roots in "The Camelot Project" initiated by Adobe co-founder John Warnock in 1991.
A home theater PC (HTPC) or media center computer is a convergent device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that focuses on video, photo, audio playback, and sometimes video recording functionality. Since the mid-2000s, other types of consumer electronics, including game consoles and dedicated media devices, have crossed over to manage video and music content, such as the PlayStation 3 and the Apple TV. The term "media center" also refers to specialized application software designed to run on standard personal computers.
Pirate decryption is the decryption, or decoding, of pay TV or pay radio signals without permission from the original broadcaster. The term "pirate" is used in the sense of copyright infringement. The MPAA and other groups which lobby in favour of intellectual property regulations have labelled such decryption as "signal theft" even though there is no direct tangible loss on the part of the original broadcaster, arguing that losing out on a potential chance to profit from a consumer's subscription fees counts as a loss of actual profit.
A conditional access module (CAM) is an electronic device, usually incorporating a slot for a smart card, which equips an integrated digital television or set-top box with the appropriate hardware facility to view conditional access content that has been encrypted using a conditional access system. They are normally used with direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) services, although digital terrestrial pay TV suppliers also use CAMs. PC Card form factor is used as the Common Interface form of Conditional Access Modules for DVB broadcasts. Major CAM manufacturers include: Neotion, SmarDTV & SMIT.
CableCARD is a special-use PC Card device that allows consumers in the United States to view and record digital cable television channels on digital video recorders, personal computers and television sets on equipment such as a set-top box not provided by a cable television company. The card is usually provided by the local cable operator, typically for a nominal monthly fee.
Conditional access or conditional access system is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to the content. The term is commonly used in relation to digital television systems and to software.
In Digital Video Broadcasting, the Common Interface is a technology which allows decryption of pay TV channels. Pay TV stations want to choose which encryption method to use. The Common Interface allows TV manufacturers to support many different pay TV stations, by allowing to plug in exchangeable conditional-access modules (CAM) for various encryption schemes.
Globally Executable MHP (GEM) is a DVB specification of a Java based middleware for TV broadcast receivers, IPTV terminals and Blu-ray players. GEM is an ETSI standard and an ITU "Recommendation”. GEM defines a set of common functionalities which are independent from the signaling and protocols of a specific transmission network and enables to write interoperable Java applications for TV. GEM is not intended to be directly implemented, but rather forms the basis for broader specifications targeting a particular network infrastructure or class of device. GEM defines profiles for different device classes (targets) – these define the set of available features of GEM for this device class. Currently GEM defines targets for broadcast, packaged media (Blu-Ray) and IPTV. Combinations of these targets can be combined into a hybrid GEM platform, which enables to build devices with multiple network interfaces, such as a combined broadcast/IPTV set-top box.
The OpenCable Application Platform, or OCAP, is an operating system layer designed for consumer electronics that connect to a cable television system, the Java-based middleware portion of the platform. Unlike operating systems on a personal computer, the cable company controls what OCAP programs run on the consumer's machine. Designed by CableLabs for the cable networks of North America, OCAP programs are intended for interactive services such as eCommerce, online banking, Electronic program guides, and digital video recording. Cable companies have required OCAP as part of the Cablecard 2.0 specification, a proposal that is controversial and has not been approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Cable companies have stated that two-way communications by third party devices on their networks will require them to support OCAP. The Consumer Electronics Association and other groups argue OCAP is intended to block features that compete with cable company provided services and that consumers should be entitled to add, delete and otherwise control programs as on their personal computers. On January 8, 2008 CableLabs announced the Tru2Way brand for the OpenCable platform, including OCAP as the application platform.
The High-Definition Audio-Video Network Alliance (HANA) was a cross-industry collaboration of members addressing the end-to-end needs of connected, HD, home entertainment products and services. Leading companies formed the organization from the four industries most affected by the HD revolution: content providers, consumer electronics, service providers, and information technology. HANA created design guidelines for secure high-definition audio-video networks that would speed the creation of new, high-quality, easy-to-use HD products. HANA membership was open to all companies involved in the digital entertainment industry. HANA was dissolved in September 2009, and the 1394 Trade Association assumed control of all HANA-generated intellectual property.
Downloadable Conditional Access System or DCAS was a proposal advanced by CableLabs for secure software download of a specific Conditional Access client which controls digital rights management (DRM) into an OCAP-compliant host consumer media device. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) proposed that DCAS be used as a substitute for physical CableCARDs, a standard also created by CableLabs for which products began appearing in August 2004 as part of industry compliance to the FCC mandate, which in turn is pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996. DCAS is growing in popularity as a less expensive alternative for CableCARD, with major North American operator deployments from Cablevision and Charter. DCAS deployments can be expected to grow in the coming years, thanks to favorable regulatory view from the STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014 and FCC appointing a Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee, and wider support for key ladder (K-LAD) functionality from system-on-chip (SoC) vendors and set-top box manufacturers.
Cable-ready is a designation which indicates that a TV set or other television-receiving device is capable of receiving cable TV without a set-top box.
Card sharing, also known as control word sharing, is a method of allowing multiple clients or digital television receivers to access a subscription television network with only one valid subscription card. This is achieved by electronically sharing a part of the legitimate conditional access smart card's output data, enabling all recipients to gain simultaneous access to scrambled DVB streams, held on the encrypted television network.
Switched video or switched digital video (SDV), sometimes referred to as switched broadcast (SWB), is a telecommunications industry term for a network scheme for distributing digital video via a cable. Switched video sends the digital video more efficiently freeing bandwidth. The scheme applies to digital video distribution both on typical cable TV systems using QAM channels, or on IPTV systems.
In cryptography, the OpenPGP card is an ISO/IEC 7816-4, -8 compatible smart card that is integrated with many OpenPGP functions. Using this smart card, various cryptographic tasks can be performed. It allows secure storage of secret key material; all versions of the protocol state, "Private keys and passwords cannot be read from the card with any command or function." However, new key pairs may be loaded onto the card at any time, overwriting the existing ones.
Interactive television standards are standards for television broadcasting which relate to different modes of interaction and feedback mechanisms resulting from this interaction with the television experience.
A cable converter box or television converter box is an electronic tuning device that transposes/converts channels from a cable television service to an analog RF signal on a single channel, usually VHF channel 3 or 4, or to a different output for digital televisions such as HDMI.
Tru2way is a brand name for interactive digital cable services delivered over the cable network. Services include interactive program guides, interactive ads, games, chat, web browsing, and t-commerce. The brand also appears as <tru2way> and is used to market cable services, applications, and devices that support the tru2way cable architecture. Tru2way is the successor name for technology known as OpenCable. Major cable operators committed to deploy the tru2way platform in service areas covering more than 90 million U.S. homes by the end of 2008.
Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) is both an industry standard and promotional initiative for hybrid digital TV to harmonise the broadcast, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs and set-top boxes. The HbbTV Association, comprising digital broadcasting and Internet industry companies, has established a standard for the delivery of broadcast TV and broadband TV to the home, through a single user interface, creating an open platform as an alternative to proprietary technologies. Products and services using the HbbTV standard can operate over different broadcasting technologies, such as satellite, cable, or terrestrial networks.
Widevine is a proprietary digital rights management (DRM) technology from Google used by the Chromium and Firefox web browsers, Android MediaDRM, Android TV, and other consumer electronics devices. Widevine technology supports various encryption schemes and hardware security to restrict consumer access to distributed video content according to rules defined by content owners. Widevine mainly provides a Content Decryption Module (CDM) as a client to Google Chrome and other browsers and devices. Widevine is free to use by content providers and as such does not charge any fees for license generation or device integration.
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