# TiVo's Denney confirms HDR for Bolts



## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

*TiVo Unveils 3 TB Bolt+ OTT 4K/HDR Cable DVR*

http://hdguru.com/tivo-unveils-3-tb-bolt-ott-4khdr-cable-dvr/



> Jim Denney, TiVo:
> As for high dynamic range, Denney said "the platform is the same as Bolt. It is capable of doing the SMPTE standard (ST.2084/2086) of HDR. But how HDR comes out is still being evaluated. There is a SMPTE standard for HDR, which the platform is capable of and there will be a software update a little later that will turn that on."
> 
> He explained the Bolt boxes have the hardware to support HDMI 2.0a outputs needed to send HDR 10 metadata to HDR-capable displays, and firmware to enable 2.0a functionality will be sent along with the software updates for HDR format support.


Also some good info on cablecard's future and what TiVo is doing about it.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Great catch Dave. 

In the interview with Jim Denney, he also said this same box (with perhaps a smaller hard drive) is going to MSO partners. It wouldn't be a very big leap to assume we wouldn't be getting the Bolt + without the MSO side of the business. Which again I think shows the importance of the MSO side of the business to stand alone users.


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## Steve (Apr 24, 2003)

He said "not enough room" for 6 symmetrical tuners + OTA. Shame they didn't make the box an inch bigger. How much more could it have added to the parts cost?


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Steve said:


> He said "not enough room" for 6 symmetrical tuners + OTA. Shame they didn't make the box an inch bigger. How much more could it have added to the parts cost?


Guess it depends on if you think this box primarily got built with stand alone users in mind or MSO users in mind.

My opinion is that it got built with the need to fit MSO users requirements. I think if it was being built for stand alone users only it would have been a Bolt Pro and been a significantly different box.


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## VillaRegina (Aug 25, 2016)

I am not very tech savvy so I apologize for the dumb question... Is it just the Bolt + which is capable of the HDR update or is it both Bolts? 

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

VillaRegina said:


> I am not very tech savvy so I apologize for the dumb question... Is it just the Bolt + which is capable of the HDR update or is it both Bolts?


It will be both.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

atmuscarella said:


> Great catch Dave. In the interview with Jim Denney, he also said this same box (with perhaps a smaller hard drive) is going to MSO partners. It wouldn't be a very big leap to assume we wouldn't be getting the Bolt + without the MSO side of the business. Which again I think shows the importance of the MSO side of the business to stand alone users.


Yeah, hopefully rainwater doesn't come and take a dump on this one too. 

I was going to post about the cablecard and mso info too, but it was late and I do need my beauty sleep.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Steve said:


> He said "not enough room" for 6 symmetrical tuners + OTA. Shame they didn't make the box an inch bigger. How much more could it have added to the parts cost?


I don't think he means physical space. The Broadcom chipset only has 8 data paths for feeding from tuners. To make a 6 tuner unit that did both cable and OTA they would need 12.


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

And when its gets HDR most wont even notice.

As long as the specks are there, minds will rest.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

foghorn2 said:


> And when its gets HDR most wont even notice. As long as the specks are there, minds will rest.


I don't want "specks" in my HDR video image!


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## Steve (Apr 24, 2003)

Dan203 said:


> I don't think he means physical space. The Broadcom chipset only has 8 data paths for feeding from tuners. To make a 6 tuner unit that did both cable and OTA they would need 12.


FWIW, the HR10-250 architecture only supported two data paths, but had both OTA and Sat tuner support. It was limited to only two recordings at time, but it could be any combination of 2-OTA, 2-SAT or 1 of each.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Steve said:


> FWIW, the HR10-250 architecture only supported two data paths, but had both OTA and Sat tuner support. It was limited to only two recordings at time, but it could be any combination of 2-OTA, 2-SAT or 1 of each.


The other potential issue is that according to jafa, the inventor of the HDHomeRun, there are no 6 tuner ATSC chips available on the market. Apparently 6 tuner QAM and DVB tuner chips are readily available because they're used worldwide, but ATSC is North America only so there are less suppliers that make ATSC tuner chips.

Edit: This is the post I was referring to...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8695783#post8695783

Not quite the info I remembered, but it explains why doing QAM+OTA in a single box is more difficult and does say that integrated chips aren't readily available because ATSC is not a big market for the chip makers.


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## Steve (Apr 24, 2003)

Dan203 said:


> Not quite the info I remembered, but it explains why doing QAM+OTA in a single box is more difficult and does say that integrated chips aren't readily available because ATSC is not a big market for the chip makers.


Makes more sense. That comment about "not enough room" threw me off.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

Dan203 said:


> The other potential issue is that according to jafa, the inventor of the HDHomeRun, there are no 6 tuner ATSC chips available on the market. Apparently 6 tuner QAM and DVB tuner chips are readily available because they're used worldwide, but ATSC is North America only so there are less suppliers that make ATSC tuner chips.
> 
> Edit: This is the post I was referring to...
> 
> ...


Although it has been 5 years since that post after all. Chips I am sure have improved in many ways since then, Moore's Law and all. But of course ATSC 1.0 use has probably gone down, especially since ATSC 3.0.

I also see that he foreshadowed the Mantis 5 years ago! :up:



jafa said:


> Quick analysis...
> 
> To do 4 tuners of ATSC+QAM plus RX-OOB with today's best technology you need at least 10 tuner-related ICs (4 tuner ICs, 4 demod ICs, 1 OOB IC, and 1 splitter/amplifier IC).
> 
> ...


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

It is possible they could use the Mantis that way, but I'm doubtful. Having an exteral tuner like that has all the same issues as cooperative scheduling between multiple TiVos and they've been avoiding that for years. But I'd be happy to be wrong on that.


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