We first heard of XStreamHD in November of 2007. They’re working on a system to use satellites to delivery Full HD (1080p) video into homes with 7.1 sound (DTS-HD MA) in ‘Blu-ray quality’. More details appeared in December, and then in January to coincide with CES. I managed to visit their booth at CES 2008 and take some photos and gather more info. They popped up on the radar again briefly in October.

Well, it looks like they’re still out there working away, and they’ll be at CES 2009 next month. As will I, so I’ll try to check out their booth again. They issued a press release to announce a successful test of their transport system using the AMC-16 satellite. This confirms that their technology works using existing FSS (Fixed Satellite Services) capacity, which is part of their plan. They’ll use leased capacity on existing FSS satellites to distribute their content to end users.

Their technology and plans are interesting, but it remains to be seen if a new entrant can carve out a piece of the market. The last to try, Voom, didn’t succeed.

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I haven’t seen much from XStreamHD since I saw them at CES back in January. Though, while I don’t think they’re going to hit their 4Q08 ship date, based on the lack of any product updates, it looks like they’re still out there working on their product. Design & Reuse reports that XStreamHD has just licensed audio processing technology from ARC International to support decoding of Dolby Digital Plus. And checking XStreamHD’s press page it looks like they added members to the executive team in May, and licensed SATA IP tech in June. Not really any indication of what kind of progress, if any, is being made toward bringing their product to market, but signs of life at least.

Picked up from EngadgetHD.

Well, I think I’ve finally caught up on rest since returning from CES, so it is time to write up a few more details from the show. On the last day of the show I managed to swing by XStreamHD’s booth and pick up some more info. I already posted the information from their press release during the show, so see that if you haven’t already.

The XStreamHD system consists of three major components – the satellite dish, the Media Server, and the Media Receiver. Content is received primarily via the dish, but some content will also be delivered via broadband. The latter is mainly used for ‘vintage’ content or SD programs. The server has a cover which conceals two drive bays, which can each hold 500GB or 1TB drives. It also has eSATA to support additional external storage. The drives pop in and out quite easily, making it easy to upgrade the unit.

The Media Server is accessed from Media Clients that can be distributed around the home. The basic setup is sold with a single receiver, but up to four HD streams can be supported at one time. Additionally, the XStreamHD HD Media Server is DLNA 1.5 certified and you can use any compatible DLNA device to access the content. One such device is the PlayStation3, and there are also HDTVs with DLNA support built in, so you could access the content without the Media Client. Of course, you’d be using the DLNA interface built into the device and not XStreamHD’s UI in that case.

Another requirement is a fast network – you really want Gigabit Ethernet. 100Mbps Fast Ethernet is not fast enough. XStreamHD says 802.11g WiFi is not fast enough, and even 802.11n WiFi may not be. Why? Because all the heavy lifting is done by the Media Receiver. The HD video – up to full 1080p with up to 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio – is sent across the network uncompressed. The decompression and decoding is done by the server, so the clients are fairly lightweight. But that means you can have streams up to 80Mbps – and up to four of them simultaneously. That explains the need for some serious network bandwidth. XStreamHD designed custom silicon for their Media Server, and most of the work is done by two custom ASICs.

The Media Receivers also have HDMI 1.3 output, along with component and composite video. Audio is over HDMI, optical or coax S/PDIF, or stereo (RCA) audio. There is also a USB port on the top of the unit for locally connecting devices like MP3 players for playback of content. They support both IR and ZigBee RF for remote control, which also means they can be controlled via ZigBee based home automation systems.

In addition to receiving content from satellite or broadband the Media Server also has three OTA ATSC tuners which support Live TV viewing or DVR usage. XStreamHD calls it ‘NVR’ for Network Video Recorder. One caveat – the tuners are UHF only. While most ATSC stations are UHF, there are some VHF ATSC channels and it seems this unit will not be able to tune those stations.

I didn’t get to see the DVR interface, but the reps told me it will be ‘full featured’, with support for recordings similar to TiVo’s Season Passes. I doubt it will be up to TiVo’s level of functionality, but the DVR functionality is secondary to the main functionality of the unit.

The oddest feature of the system has to be the PBX functionality. It just doesn’t have anything to do with all the other features, so why is it there? Well, I asked, and the answer seems to be ‘Why not?’ Apparently they were brainstorming what they could do with the units for additional functionality and that’s when the PBX concept came up. The Media Server has two POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service – the old analog phones) jacks and it also works with VOIP. And it isn’t just tacked onto the unit. You get on-screen Caller ID, voice mail with forwarding over email, hold music for your callers, conference calling, and more. It is really a full featured PBX. And it will make free VOIP calls to other owners of the XStreamHD system. Hmm, I didn’t think to ask if the VOIP system can connect with all existing systems, such as Skype, but that is the impression I got.

One thing that I am very curious about that they couldn’t give me more information on is the “Patent Pending Adaptive Recording”. They claim that they’ll be able to automatically adjust the DVR functionality so that if programs run long the unit will continue recording instead of stopping when the guide data says the program is supposed to end. I’d really love to know how the system works. My suspicion is that it is based on the PSIP information carried by ATSC broadcasts. My understanding is that the programming guide used for the DVR scheduling is obtained from the OTA PSIP data.

I have a few data sheets that I’ll get scanned as posted soon. This looks like some fairly high end hardware and an interesting service, and I’m generally not keen on yet another STB. The question is if XStreamHD can execute on their content deals and really bring the product to market with worthwhile content to justify the costs. I’d be interested in testing this out for myself if the content is there.

Details on the XStreamHD satellite service are emerging here at CES, and it looks to be much more than just a satellite service. The basic system has three components, a Media Server and a Media Receiver, and, of course, the satellite dish. In addition to receiving HD content via satellite, in resolutions up to full 1080p with 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, it also functions as an OTA DVR with three ATSC tuners. And it turns out it is a hybrid service. Newer titles will be delivered via satellite – but older, or, as they say ‘vintage’, titles may be delivered via broadband.

The content is stored in the Media Server and is distributed through the home via Ethernet, up to GigE. The client device can be the XStreamHD Media Receiver or any DLNA v1.5 enabled device. Up to four devices are supported simultaneously. It seems to use a TiVo Suggestions-like mechanism to learn your preferences to decide which content to automatically store. It does appear to be a cached system, not on demand, so you’d only be able to watch the content already in your ‘Virtual Personal Library’.

The Media Server has two drive bays which will support 500GB and 1TB Segate drives, for up to 2TB of internal storage. And there is an eSATA interface to enable additional, external storage. So capacity doesn’t seem to be an issue, just how much you’re willing to pay. There is also a USB port ‘for MP3 downloads’, which I’ll need to get more details on. Now, this is the weirdest feature:

Includes a feature-rich Personal PBX business-class phone system; also supports VoIP calls and offers free calls between XStreamHD subscribers

I definitely need to get more info on this when I hit their booth tomorrow. That just seems like an odd feature to be included.

The basic solution will be available in 4Q08 for an introductory price of $399. Of course, the value will really depend on the content that is available.

CES is huge, spread across multiple locations. I’ve been at the LVCC so far, XStreamHD (and Sling and others) are at the Sands. I’m planning to spend the day at the Sands tomorrow.

The press release:
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