# Comcast Sent Me a Letter Today



## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

....says that they are switching to MPEG-4, and that I need to be sure that my equipment supports it...

I assume my Roamio Pro is going to be fine... But wanted to get confirmation here, just to be certain...

Thanks!


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## Javelin3o4 (Apr 22, 2003)

I think its just the Series 3 TivoHD, so I'm assuming now you have to have a Premiere or better. I got the same letter.


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

A little out of date but...

https://support.tivo.com/articles/Features_Use/Comcast-Transitioning-to-MPEG4-in-Select-Markets


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

TonyD79 said:


> A little out of date but...
> 
> https://support.tivo.com/articles/Features_Use/Comcast-Transitioning-to-MPEG4-in-Select-Markets


Interesting from your link:

*BOLT Series UESs, Roamio Plus/Pro DVRs:* These devices are compatible with MPEG4, but the built-in transcoder for streaming will be incompatible. You will receive your HD channels on the DVR, but will be unable to stream content to other devices.


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

MikeekiM said:


> Interesting from your link:
> 
> *BOLT Series UESs, Roamio Plus/Pro DVRs:* These devices are compatible with MPEG4, but the built-in transcoder for streaming will be incompatible. You will receive your HD channels on the DVR, but will be unable to stream content to other devices.


Does this mean that the TiVo mobile app will no longer work?


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

MikeekiM said:


> Does this mean that the TiVo mobile app will no longer work?


Oops... Nevermind... I didn't notice the next line in link:

Streaming functionality will return in mid-2015, when a Stream software update that provides compatibility with MPEG4 will be released.


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## HTGuy (Apr 15, 2006)

Javelin3o4 said:


> I think its just the Series 3 TivoHD, so I'm assuming now you have to have a Premiere or better. I got the same letter.


Actually, Tivo has rolled out a software update for the TivoHD, so that model should be fine for MPEG-4. The original Series 3 will not support it however.


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## Wil (Sep 27, 2002)

HTGuy said:


> Actually, Tivo has rolled out a software update for the TivoHD, so that model should be fine for MPEG-4. The original Series 3 will not support it however.


Actually, Tivo has rolled out a software update for the TivoHD, so that model should be fine for MPEG-4. Tivo has not yet provided, or said that they will provide, a similar update for the original Series 3.


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## murgatroyd (Jan 6, 2002)

Letter showed up here in the East Bay -- switchover date is 2/23/2016.

The TiVoHD has gotten the update, so I'll see if it works in a couple of weeks.

Really glad I got the news last fall so I could get a Roamio while they were offering the deal on Roamio + All-in Service. But I only got a Basic, so I've been considering getting a Stream. TiVo's site says:



> *TiVo Stream:* These devices are not yet compatible with MPEG4. TiVo Stream will not work with the upgraded Comcast HD channels until mid-2015, when a Stream software update that provides compatibility with MPEG4 will be released.


I guess I'll have to check the TiVo Stream threads and see what's what.


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## cbm (May 4, 2002)

So I assume TiVo has no plans on updating the Series 3? I have a Series 3, and haven't felt the need to upgrade to date. I wonder if it makes sense to upgrade to a newer TiVo which Comcast might make obsolete, or just get a Comcast box. The Comcast / TiVo combination has never been easy to deal with as far as getting the Cable Cards set up properly.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

cbm said:


> So I assume TiVo has no plans on updating the Series 3? I have a Series 3, and haven't felt the need to upgrade to date. I wonder if it makes sense to upgrade to a newer TiVo which Comcast might make obsolete, or just get a Comcast box. The Comcast / TiVo combination has never been easy to deal with as far as getting the Cable Cards set up properly.


Assuming you are referring to the original S3 OLED (648), then it's unlikely they will released an MPEG4 update. Although it has an MPEG4 decoder (different hardware than the HD), we're not aware that they had any code in place to support it unlike the HD model where the Australian version supported MPEG4.

I haven't had any issues getting CableCards paired recently with Comcast (nor my brother). I just upgraded to a Roamio Pro with TiVo's loyalty deal last October since we have 2 S3 OLED's that won't support MPEG4 and had no problems moving one of the CableCards from one of the S3 OLED to the Roamio Pro and getting it paired properly.

Scott

Scott


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## kokishin (Sep 9, 2014)

murgatroyd said:


> Letter showed up here in the East Bay -- switchover date is 2/23/2016.
> 
> The TiVoHD has gotten the update, so I'll see if it works in a couple of weeks.
> 
> ...


I live in the South Bay and got the letter too. Transition date to mpeg-4 on/around 2/23/16 as well. I have a Roamio Pro. Hope that the transition is seamless.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

A lot of people have been complaining about jerky FF/RW after the transition to MPEG-4. Other then that it seems to work fine.


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## SomeRandomIdiot (Jan 7, 2016)

MikeekiM said:


> Oops... Nevermind... I didn't notice the next line in link:
> 
> Streaming functionality will return in mid-2015, when a Stream software update that provides compatibility with MPEG4 will be released.


Yes, right after they get Bolt OOH and SkipMode for all Roamios


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

H.264 streaming was released in mid-2015 for the Roamio and standalone stream. 

The Bolt uses a whole different chip for streaming so it's fallen back to basically 2012 Stream functionality.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Dan203 said:


> A lot of people have been complaining about jerky FF/RW after the transition to MPEG-4. Other then that it seems to work fine.


That's kind of funny, because 1XFF is broken on MPEG 2 channels often, as has been discussed many times.. something to do with the specific video encoding situation. Sometimes you get normal playback speed but without sound.. sometimes you get video that "randomly" (from the user's point of view) speeds up and slows down... (Rewind in general is even more jerky, regardless of speed, just because of the way video is encoded time wise..)

Basically, none of it worked as well as Tivo's nicely tuned digitizer rates when they did the analog->digital conversion.


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