I see from CES that our city is scheduled to get ATSC 3.0 in 2020. Has Channels allied with an ATSC 3.0 Tuner provider to support that technology? I'm concerned about reliance on Silicon Dust, as they have been unable to bring their 6-tuner CableCard device to market after years of hype and now the inavailability to supply the 3-tuner version, despite demand
The reason they can't supply any more original 3 tuner Prime devices is because the components are no longer manufactured. The chips needed are not being made, and the manufacturer has no plans to resurrect an EOLed product.
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u can find a Prime3 tuner easy enough on ebay etc. or from folks that dumped cable. (like me)
As far as ATSC 3.0....don't even concern your self over it. It is not something to even think of for a few years...it is a voluntary move. It took the Government many years and forced networks to move to the current standard, ATSC 1.0. So don't think that u will see 3.0 adopted anytime soon even if i had the same backing.
ATSC3 hardware is still not being mass produced and costs a ton. The only one I know about is $895 https://redzonereceiver.tv/shop
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Both as a former Premium TV subscriber and a retired Mixed-Signal IC Engineer I am not terribly impressed by their management's foresight. There are several hedges for chip E-O-L, including buying extra wafers from the last run to be packaged if demand warrants. The delay in 6-tuner also suggests their choice of chip design house and/or foundry was not the best. I have worked on both iPhone and PlayStation chips, among others, so consumer product chips are not a mystery to me.
Since I have a 4k large-screen projector setup I don't want to delay receiving ATSC 3.0, and since I am dependent on TVE for Cable News & Business, I am anxious for Channels DVR to go there. We almost never watch real-time, and haven't since TiVo was invented.
Well the map of ATSC 3.0 areas in 2020 and the list of station owners adopting it is large, so it won't be expensive long. I was wondering if you developers were being courted by a 3.0 tuner developer, or kicked tires at CES, as relying on promises from Silicon Dust doesn't sound like a sound business plan, given history.
SiliconDust just announced an HD Homerun Quadro network tuner with 2 ATSC 3.0 tuners and 2 ATSC 1.0 tuners (4 total). In is now a kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1275320038/hdhomerun-atsc-30