[LINK] Awaiting the Dawn of the Digital TV age

[Tom Worthington]

At 08:08  3/01/01 +1100, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
>... If I have a set top box, can I watch one program while recording
>another?

No. It would be theoretically possible to digitally record one channel 
while watching another with some systems, but the industry is unlikely to 
want to encourage this for commercial reasons.

>It would seem that none of the digital/set top box schemes (eg Foxtel,
>Transact, Digital TV) allow this...

As Transact <http://www.transact.com.au/> is a subscriber system with 
on-demand capability, it should be possible to have the system record all 
available free-to-air programs and allow playback. This would remove the 
need for the subscriber to have any recording equipment or have to remember 
to set a recorder: everything on TV would be recorded permanently and could 
be played back at any time in the future, on demand. While technically easy 
to implement the lawyers would have fits.

ps: Transact is more than an an academic exercise for me, as I just put a 
deposit on an apartment at "City Edge" in Canberra 
<http://www.cityedge.net/cityedge_frame.htm>, which comes wired for it. 
Unfortunately the real estate types don't quite know what it is and 
describe it as:

>City Edge is wired ready for the future, with the latest fibre optic 
>technology built in. You'll have the opportunity to tune in to your 
>favourite pay-TV channel, because the cabling is all there, waiting. Enjoy 
>the benefits of a fast internet connection and be prepared for advances in 
>digital communications and home entertainment.

Technically this is incorrect as the building cabling is specified as Cat 5 
copper cable, which will be connected to one Transact fibre optic cable, 
servicing the whole building: 
http://www.transact.com.au/about_transact/techinfo.asp