Forum Discussion

duhmel123's avatar
duhmel123
New Contributor III
5 years ago

Tivo Obsolescence

I called in to Tivo cable card support to get a replacement cable card paired and was told that Cox is in the process of doing something across the country that will make Series 2, Series 3HD and the first version of Roamio obsolete.  He said that the rollout has started on the east coast and letters have been sent out to Tivo users.  I am wondering whether the tech has his facts straight since the reason he gave for the unit not being able to work was Cox transition to mpeg4 encryption.  However the Premiere and Roamio units can handle mpeg4 emcryption so there seems to be a disconnect.  If anybody has received such a letter please respond here with the details.

  • Allan's avatar
    Allan
    Moderator
    5 years ago
    @Duhmel123, I can confirm that we are shifting away from using mpeg2 technology to mpeg4. This will impact third party devices that use mpeg2. However, if your device is mpeg4 capable, you should not have any issues with this transition. -Allan, Cox Support Forums Moderator.
  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III
    5 years ago

    The MPEG standards are compression not encryption.  As far as the letters, if a subscriber (me) still had the older Rovi cable-boxes (MPEG-2), Cox instructed me to swap it for Contour (MPEG-4).  I can't remember if the letter addressed cable-cards...probably...but it clearly read if I delayed, I'd lose some programming.  MPEG-4 compression uses lower bandwidth.

    This "rollout" was at least 3 years ago and I'd be surprise if any channels were still MPEG-2.  I don't know much about TiVo but if you're getting all your channels, your card probably supports MPEG-4.  For example, HBO probably has 9 channels but my Rovi could only tune 3.  When I got Contour, I could tune all 9 channels.