HDTV ON YOUR MAC

Watch and record high definition television with a $10 antenna, a $175 decoder card, and some free software. By Erica Sadun

T The other night, I popped over to Target
to pick up an antenna. You remember WARNING: BROADCAST FLAG APPROACHING
what those are, don’t you? Those tele- If you’re reading this after July 1, 2005, then it’s too
scoping metallic things that connect late. You won’t be able to buy an HDTV tuner that
to television sets? That predate cable? can record programs in high-resolution format.
Rabbit ears? I was about to buy my July 1 is the date the FCC will begin enforcing its
first antenna in something like 20 years. I am such “Broadcast Flag” mandate, which requires manufac-
a cable-generation baby, I felt like I was walking into turers of digital television tuners (including PC tuner
a time warp (and not the good Rocky Horror kind, cards) to include so-called “content protection” in
either) until I walked into the actual aisle. their hardware. That means DTV tuners made after
It was the packaging that hit me first. Target had this date must be able to detect and honor a con-
about a dozen or so antennas on sale, and every tent flag that makes it impossible to record HDTV in
single one (and let me repeat that, just to be em- full-resolution. Worse, content that has been flagged
phatic, Every Single One) had an HDTV digital-ready can only be saved on systems that support “digital
sticker on it. I hadn’t walked back into the past — I rights management” technology, which means
had just entered the present. This was the world of programs can’t be copied to other players. In other
Terrestrial HDTV: high-definition television broad- words, forget about burning Alias to DVD so you can
cast over the airways. watch it on your portable player. The Broadcast Flag
The GE “Futura” unit I picked up (got to laugh at makes it so you can’t.
the name, but it was only ten bucks) proclaimed However, if you build or buy an HDTV player or
that it was “designed to receive the highest quality recorder before July 1, you’ll be able to enjoy a full-
broadcast HDTV signal.” You’ve just got to love that. featured system without restrictions on your rights
As a platform, Macintosh is a little late to the to time-shift and space-shift content. So get crack-

HDTV party. PC solutions (both Windows and Linux) ing. —Mark Frauenfelder are more abundant and better supported, and if you (For more information about the Broadcast Flag, use these systems, you can visit copperbox.com visit the websites listed at left.) and eff.org/broadcastflag to find out how to make