Monday July 11, 2011 – Greg Scoblete
Last month, the RVU Alliance announced that it had opened its certification program for client device validation, the culmination of nearly two years of work since the alliance was publically announced in 2009.
RVU - for "Remote User Interface" - is the brainchild of a variety of players in the content, consumer electronics and set-top box worlds, including heavy hitters such as Cisco, DirecTV, Samsung and Verizon. Many of the key chipmakers are involved as well, including Broadcom, Sigma Designs, ST Microelectronics and Trident Semiconductor.
The idea is straightforward: to simplify the distribution of pay TV content throughout the home using a "client/server" model that ensures that consumers get the same interface and quality of service regardless of viewing device. The server in question is a service provider's set-top box while client devices could include smartphones, tablets, Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and other, smaller, less expensive set-top boxes. The server can accept any form of pay TV content - from cable, satellite or telco providers - but distributes it to clients throughout the home as IP via DLNA technology. It could also access and share personal digital content stored on DLNA-enabled home storage devices.
Using RVU technology, a TV service provider could deliver a consistent viewing experience and user-interface to all of the above client devices. The technology automatically optimizes the video stream from the server to fit the client device's parameters (resolution, aspect ratio, etc.). So if you, like me, are not allowed to watch Family Guy while the children are awake, you can squirrel away in a private corner of the house with your iPad and get your fix (and if you find a good corner - let me know).
Of particular importance to service providers, RVU enables multi-room viewing of PVR content without the need to place multiple PVRs by each TV. Instead, a client - be it a TV or smaller IP set-top box - can pull recorded shows stored on the server. This cuts the cost to both the service provider and, potentially, the end-user. RVU clients devices can also receive live TV and have access to functions like pause and rewind as well.
Content is secured using Digital Transmission Content Protection-IP (DTCP-IP) so it should, in theory at least, assuage Hollywood's copy protection concerns.
So that's how it works. The question is will it work?
RVU faces something of a familiar chicken and egg problem: CE manufacturers won't build-in RVU clients if pay TV providers won't work with STB makers to build RVU servers. But for RVU to fulfill its promise, you'll need multiple client devices in the home.
RVU's success will likely hinge on support from pay TV providers. DirecTV has been the most aggressive out of the gate: it’s currently field testing an RVU server (the Home Media Center set top box) and plan to deploy it in October. It also announced that several 2011 Samsung TVs will include the RVU client technology. But no other pay TV provider has jumped in. (Verizon is a founding partner of the alliance but has yet to announce an offering.)
Still, RVU's arrival is well-timed. Sensing a competitive threat from so-called "over-the-top" video services delivered to consumers over the open Internet, pay TV providers are increasingly searching for solutions to retain subscribers.
As of now though, the RVU Alliance product page promises - in Hollywood preview parlance - that devices are "coming soon." Stay tuned.
