If Silicon Dust app works on DRM channels why not Channels?/

No one has committed to anything From Channels DVR ... As Far as I know Only Homerun app will be certified to record and watch DRM.

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What does the app side have to do with anything? If the tuner is decoding the signal already, then it is being sent to client unencrypted? I thought that is the point and requirement is to have the hardware box and firmware to decode it.

This box does DRM does not require a app or other software. I sends the signal to TV as with any other streaming device.

Edit: Though, at this point, 3.0 is not really any better than 1.0, in my market anyways. Picture is upscaled poorly, and audio volume is super low.

EDIT 2: Ah. I see learn something. Set-Top boxes vs Gateway devices. STB have DRM support easy now. But not Gateway devices....which seems to be on the disliked side of the market by the powers that be that doing the certifications. SD claims the "A3SA" are the ones that taking their sweet ass time and why SD tuners not have DRM support.

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Because SD's DRM decoding for ATSC3 is based upon their client software handling it. No decryption happens on the tuner itself. In order for DRM decryption to happen on the tuner itself, it would have to ship with keys in the firmware which could not changed in the future.

(If SD's hardware was decoding the DRM, all client would be able to receive the streams at the same time, and DVR support would arrive at the same time. If you read their forums, you would know that DRM viewing is coming to platforms with Widevine support first, others (maybe) later. … And recording support will arrive ... (maybe when DRM CableCARD recording is available).)

So, if the decoding is on the app software side, then why are they saying that DRM support will come with update in device firmware? :face_with_diagonal_mouth: And since they releases firmware updates, can then not update the Keys that way?

That STB has internet connection, so i gather that that company updates its keys.

What type of encryption is ATSC 3.0 using? I am searching online, having a hard time finding info.

If it is Widevine or some others, that would not be that hard to work with, on a unofficial level. Many softwares out there exist to rip content from Netflix and other streaming services that decode DRM.

Would be a un-supported "hack", but sure someone could come up with something that work with Custom Channels or something, would act as a virtual tuner and decode the DRM.

Once 3.0 takes over, and 1.0 is gone, DRM all around, sure some one will find away....

Edit: Seems a app called Freecast will support DRM streaming from HDHR. They are partnered with SD.

No clue. But DRM support for ATSC3 is solely based upon their client software handling it.

No. In order to qualify for ATSC3/A3SA approval, keys stored in hardware must be shipped with the device, and be immutable.

That STB also exports its feed over HDCP-enabled HDMI, not over a network connection. Those are two wildly different situations.

Before spreading more supposition and misinformation, maybe you should read the thread at SD's forum where this has been discussed beyond the horse's spirit being allowed to escape its flogged corpse ...

https://forum.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77618

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I don't like the SD forms, been years since i had to deal with them. Not often had good communication with them and I find their form site difficult to read and navigate. Their mods also are very heavy to filter and remove posts of any negative to them connotations and cite read form rules, that just have 5 things listed that not anything clear as to what rule they remove post over. (don't hint at or mention anything about their past history or delays, especially the canceled Prime tuner, they will remove it)

But got some insightful info,

They mention blocking "Remote Viewing". Channels and others, offer remote viewing... but my version of remote, is using self hosted VPN which gives me local IP address and as far as the Media server knows, i am on my local network and thus acts as such. Not sure if this, trick, would work to stream 3.0 DRM stations though. The DRM probably would have a way to detect that, maybe detect the higher latency or something more fancy.
Edit: lol. nickk is on the ball today.

But, where i often VPN from, i get ping time of about 5ms, so maybe will work in that specific factor. Other things will probably prevent it. So stupid. Why they(they networks activating DRM) care where i watch the content? Should not matter, they still get the views and ratings. Just something more they can monopolize and charge people for who want to legit and legally watch content. This is the way.

This is because the requirements of DRM viewing has a maximum number of hops and/or TTL roundtrip; nearly every form of remote viewing is outside of these requirements.

Because their purpose is to make sure you are only within their DMA, and watching live, without the ability to timeshift, so they can make money from your captive eyeballs with ad sells.

If these are questions you are asking without actually knowing the answers, then you have not spent any time paying attention to the state of the American media ecosystem for any duration in the past 2 decades at a minimum.

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That makes sense with paid online streaming services, but not FREE over the air antenna tv.
There supposed to be laws that protect consumers right to free tv, but i guess that has changed or never was a thing.
Next, they will DRM and paywall in some fashion, AM/FM radio, and HAM/CB/GMRS etc radio. :laughing:

And no, i have not spent any attention to things related to DRM and OTA until this last month when they took down the main tower for some stations for a while and re-launched as 3.0 with DRM. Reducing power and bitrate to 1.0 stations.

I always knew that for TVE, that things were always in flux, and slowly going the way of DRM, but never assumed antenna tv going that way, and faster it seems.

OTA has just always been there, and just worked with a coat hanger stuck in back of a tv... since forever, so says the people around me...

I have always had cable tv(Comcast) my entire life (so has my family members), and it only since late 2019, that i had to dump cable due to cost and move to Channels, streaming content, and try OTA for locals. That took 5 min to hook up antenna, run cable, and connect HDHR, done.
Have not touched it since, aside from some interference troubleshooting at one point.
This ATSC3.0 and DRM nonsense the first big change in that department.

You really must be young; the shift to ATSC and digital broadcasting was a huge paradigm shift for your (great-(grand))parents' generation.

Put it this way: the major media companies want your money, and they'll do whatever they can to get it. That is why every major network has their own streaming platform (ABC=Disney+/Hulu, CBS=Paramount+, NBC=Peacock; Fox exists in a weird in-between with their parent News Corp and Disney), and most major networks (and others) are resurrecting their old syndicated content—and removing it from streaming platforms—to their own FAST brands (CBS/Paramount=Pluto; Fox=Tubi; etc.).

Everyone clamoring for Channels to add support for all of the crappy FAST services is only furthering the enshitification of television.

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35yrs young.

With folks who had to watch their Soaps and shows on cable tv, and Grandparents who only watch Fox News channel, that only was on cable tv... rarely was exposed to antenna TV. The whole complex we lived in was wired with coax and basic cable was included in the rent (local only channels and cost was $3 a month, $15 to upgrade to the normal cable chs 1-99) as there was no roof antenna or antennas or sat dishes allowed. The airport near by made inside antennas not work well.

My place now, still an apartment, but lucky enough to have a East facing window and is less than 10 miles from the main tower. I never had tried an antenna until Comcast bill was about $250 a month and going up every year. Turns out OTA works great.... until this ATSC3.0 NextGen.

Which, the last couple years, all i read was praise, 4K!, higher quality video and audio, more channels, modern TV!

But, once it finally gets to my market, is DRM for the stations i care about, and the 2 that are not DRM, audio is way to low, and uses AC4, a format nobody supports aside from Channels, and SD.
It so NextGen, it is Next NextGen. Right there with the PS7. :crazy_face: :laughing:

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More info on the status of DRM on SD devices....

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Should any of this be a surprise to anyone? The sole purpose of ATSC-3 is to lock down OTA broadcast TV and enforce a 1950's-1960's model of TV viewing -- live viewing on their terms, no time-shifting, no commercial skipping.

The only way this will end up being acceptable to consumers/taxpayers is the FCC laying down the law to the media cartel.

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Cant seem to get anywhere more on SD forms, as usual, they just delete your posts and say Read the rules... .which list 7 very brief things that mean nothing to any context of removal....

Their posts say they waiting for A3SA servers to be fixed, so their products will get the certificate...been waiting for 7 months. That seems like they are just sitting around, waiting for progress update.... i post, "How often are you contacting them to get issues resolved?"
I would be hounding them every day for something this simple and ridiculous that is preventing a product feature launch, costing my company time and money.
[removed by moderator -read form rules] every time.
:exploding_head:

Meanwhile,. other manufactures have their STB working, and that same company, their Gateway device too. But SD, seems to be dead in the water.

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SD claims that DRM support requires updates and thigns in BOTH the player app software, and the OS of the device playing back the DRM stream.

Well, ok, so devices like the Tivo Stream 4K, since it get no more updates, is out.
Nvidia Shields, also out, since Nvidia/Google seem to have forgotten about updating them for quite some time.
Apple, will take forever to implement it, and update tvOS too....

So, not sure, even when SD does eventually get things worked out, what devices will even support playback of the DRM stations.

More anti-consumer moves to eliminate one venue of media consumption.
Not surprised though.

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What other gateway device has ATSC 3.0 working with DRM support? What other gateway device even has an ATSC 3.0 tuner?

As to the Tivo Stream 4k and Nvidia Shield, both of those devices have Widevine, which is what is needed from the OS to support decryption. So they may work.

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A user on AVS form local to my market reports firmware update allows watching the DRM protected station here.

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Having purchased a SD Homerun 4k Plex Dev Unit I can now comment on the technicalities of an "unofficial" theoretical bypass of DRM on ATSC 3.0.

All A3 video transmissions are glorified DASH streams nearly identical to streaming services (think .mpd manifests). So all the video you are seeing is actually just very short video segments being merged and played back together in real time in a packetized fashion.

Now for the fun part :3

The HR Plex 4k Dev unit allows for direct output of the data received from the RF transmission of ATSC 3.0 signals. I have not yet experimented with the PCAP captures but the DASH TAR output seems to have proven very fruitful to say the least.

Here's the bombshell! The metadata containing multiple values for a key request are all in plain text and included in the RF transmission! It is in a file labeled "manifest.xml".

This file contains the PSSH, Key ID and License URL among other general metadata on what is being broadcast.

The only thing that would be needed from my understanding is that a L1 cdm file would be required to use in conjugation with said values, although I know someone experimenting using a L3 cmd file.

Feel free to message me if anyone wants the .xml file to mess with themselves ;3.

For your info and to all Silicondust still does not work on ATSC 3.0 DRM and Cable DRM is crippled on most devices that use Android.

And I am getting the feeling that this will go the way of CableTV DRM recording which never happened.

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