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(Credit: CableLabs)

Update: Subsequent to the publication of this story, Panasonic has released a more detailed statement on the status of its Tru2way TVs.

CableLabs' Tru2way got a big boost last month when Sony signed on with a pledge to design and deliver TVs that incorporate the standard, bolstering an already impressive list of backers. The Web was flooded with optimistic reports of a post-cable box Valhalla where you could simply buy a Tru2way TV, screw in your coaxial cable, and have plug-and-play access to your 1,000-channel universe. Before those miracle TVs hit the market, however, they need to be certified by CableLabs--and there are rumors that the initial trials aren't going well. According to IP Democracy, the initial certification tests for Panasonic Tru2way TVs were unsuccessful--to say the least. The post cites "folks close to Tru2way" as calling the Panasonic tests a "'disaster of spectacular proportions'" that resulted in "'dozens and dozens' of bugs."

In an attempt to verify those dire--but anonymous--quotes, we contacted Panasonic and CableLabs for their responses. ... Read more

If the industry press is to be believed, Tuesday's announcement that Sony would be producing TVs with Tru2way compatibility was a watershed event--the electronics world equivalent of the Magna Carta or the Treaty of Versailles. But let's step back a bit and examine what this really means.

Tru2way is a digital cable technology developed by CableLabs that's designed to be built directly into TVs, eliminating the need for an outboard set-top box. In theory, you'd be able to buy a Tru2way-compatible TV, bring it home, connect it to your coaxial cable, and instantly be able to receive your entire lineup of digital cable and high-def channels--including all the interactive video-on-demand and pay-per-view channels that currently require a cable box.

(Credit: CableLabs)

If this sounds familiar, it's because many of the same promises were made several years ago with a technology called CableCard. TVs that shipped with a CableCard slot were called "Digital Cable Ready" (DCR); they required a smart card, provided by your local cable operator, to receive digital and HD channels. The problem with CableCard was that it was an interim solution that satisfied nobody. Everyone--cable companies, hardware manufacturers, government regulators, and consumers--found CableCard technology lacking. Among the problems:

• CableCard was effectively a one-way technology, so it was incompatible with any interactive services, including video-on-demand and pay-per-view services that customers have grown to like, and cable companies depend on as a major revenue stream.
• CableCard was incompatible with Switched Digital Video (SDV) technology, which more cable providers are--or will soon be--utilizing to deliver more HD channels despite bandwidth limitations. As a result, CableCard devices such as the TiVo HD DVR need an outboard tuner (basically, a second cable box) to receive those channels, which often include the newest and most desirable HD stations.
• The CableCard installation and setup still required the cable companies to "roll a truck" to the customer's home--so it didn't save the company any time or money versus a cable box setup.
• Original CableCard setups were limited to just one tuner, so dual-tuner applications--such as picture in picture and the ability to record one show while watching another--were unavailable. (This issue was addressed with dual slots on the TiVo HD, as well as the multi-stream "M-card," which allowed for dual tuning--it was rarely deployed by cable operators.)
• CableCard setups are notoriously finicky, and often require one or more follow-up visits from the cable technician.
• The electronic programming guide (EPG) interface on most CableCard TVs was either bare bones or nonexistent. That was bad for users who've grown used to increasingly sophisticated EPGs (on TiVo and satellite DVRs). It also frustrated cable providers who were used to controlling that interface on their own boxes, where--for better or worse--they could add advertisements, customized graphics, and other "branding" that so excites multimillion dollar corporations.
• TVs with CableCard support often charged a slight premium over their non-CableCard counterparts--meaning that consumers were often paying more, but (as evidenced by the laundry list of issues above) getting less.

Not surprisingly, there was an immediate clamor for "CableCard 2.0" to address all of those issues. And that's effectively what Tru2way is: the next-gen CableCard, without the physical card. (You may have heard it mentioned during its years of development, when it was alternately referred to as "OpenCable" or "Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP)".) And--on paper, at least--it seems as if CableLabs and its partners finally got it right this time.

Tru2way is designed from the ground up to be interactive, customizable (for the cable provider), and plug-and-play. Switched digital video, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, HD channels, dual-tuner support--it should all work without a hitch, and deliver an identical experience on your local cable system, no matter which Tru2way TV you're buying.

There are plenty of other potential advantages. Tru2way TVs should be able to offer additional functionality, such as built-in DVRs. (A handful of CableCard DVR/TV combos were released, but they never took off, thanks largely to the problems outlined above.) And including the tuner inside the TV would offer the potential for better picture quality, since a TV signal native to the TV would no longer be reliant on the so-so video processing found on most set-top boxes.

Beyond the TV, Tru2way functionality could be built in to third-party DVRs (TiVo is already said to be working on a "Series4" DVR that utilizes the technology) and accessories. Among the other possibilities: a Tru2way Slingbox with a built-in tuner; an adapter that turns the Xbox 360 or PS3 into a cable-ready DVR; true home theater PCs; and portable TV viewers (such as the Comcast/Panasonic player shown in January).

So what's not to like? Nothing--except that none of this yet exists in the real world. Until you can actually buy one of these Tru2way products at Best Buy, Circuit City, or Amazon.com, it's all theoretical.

Sony joins Panasonic, Samsung, and RCA on the Tru2way roadmap, but whether any of these companies will actually deliver a real world Tru2way product before the end of the year remains to be seen. And even if they do, there are plenty of other questions. How much will cable companies charge you for the privilege of connecting a Tru2way product to their pipe? (Our guess: exactly the same fee they charge for renting the box you have now.)

And why will companies like TiVo bother developing Tru2way boxes if the consumer will be forced to use the drab cable company interface versus the far superior TiVo UI? Just imagine, for instance, if a future Apple TV offers Tru2way compatibility, but instead of its slick Apple home screen, you're stuck with a Comcast/Time Warner/Cox EPG the minute you toggle to live TV. For most users, that would eliminate the whole reason for upgrading in the first place.

Color us skeptical
The bottom line is this: Tru2way certainly looks to offer the potential for cable customers to return to the simple, halcyon days of "cable ready" TVs--just one wire, just one remote. But until we see the products hit stores in the real world, and see how--or if--they work as advertised on cable systems around the country, color us skeptical. In the meantime, we'll be waiting patiently in the downstairs rec room, sitting on hold with tech support, trying to get the CableCard PC up and running.

What do you think: Will Tru2way make for a better cable TV experience? Or will it be the latest consumer electronics scheme to overpromise and underdeliver?

Update (5/29/2008): Be sure to read the detailed comment below from reader MegaZone (who runs the Gizmolovers website). He offers some important corrections and expansions to my CableCard/Tru2way analysis.

Sony signed an agreement with the country's six largest cable companies Tuesday to develop a TV that will receive cable services without the need for a set-top box.

The Japanese electronics giant will make an LCD set based on the Tru2way cable platform introduced in January at CES by Comcast. Tru2way allows interactive cable services to be integrated directly into devices.

Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision, and Bright House Networks have all agreed to develop the technology behind Tru2way.

Sony's not the first consumer electronics company to announce a device based on the platform, however. At CES, Panasonic announced two high-definition televisions and a portable digital video recorder that use Tru2Way.

And last month Samsung, the world's largest producer of HDTVs, announced its own Tru2way TV and high-definition DVR.

Comcast, the United States' largest cable operator, says the set-top box's days are numbered.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday, CEO Brian Roberts predicted in a keynote address that by the end of the year, "virtually the entire cable industry will support Tru2way," an "open cable" standard that would render the bulky boxes moot by directly integrating any U.S. cable provider's service with a variety of devices. Initial partners in the Tru2way endeavor include Motorola, TiVo, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Microsoft, LG Electronics, Cisco Systems, and Sun Microsystems.

Roberts also showed off a device, unveiled on Monday, that Comcast has co-branded with another partner, Matsushita Electric Industrial unit Panasonic. The AnyPlay, which has an 8.5-inch display screen, can record up to 60 hours of video, and it plays DVDs and CDs. It is slated to begin selling in the United States later this year.

Although Comcast CEO Brian Roberts indicated earlier to Reuters that Tru2way marks a step toward an "open, national, and interoperable structure between cable companies," the Consumer Electronics Association has argued that Tru2way would not be the truly open system that the Federal Communications Commission wants because it would not be compatible with the technologies of noncable video suppliers.

Ahem, DirecTV and Verizon Fios? The "era of closed cable" may be coming to an end, as Roberts said, but the wars between providers of television, broadband, and telephone services are far from over.

Indeed, the AnyPlay device is designed to play and record shows from any U.S. cable operator's system--but not those of satellite providers.