Been wanting to take advantage of all the new features that ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV has to offer? Need DRM support? Good news finally, we have a timeline for DRM support on a runner. 4K TV, improved sound, better weather alerts, and a ton of other features are coming with the NextGen TV ATSC 3.0 free over-the-air TV. Sadly, though, many are blocked out of the NextGen TV because of Digital Rights Management or DRM is blocked on all external runners. Now, the Zapperbox may be the first tuner to support DRM.
Now the Zapperbox has announced that on September 18th, 2023, the Zapperbox will get a free upgrade to start supporting DRM for ATSC 3.0 OTA TV. At that time, you will be able to watch encrypted DRM OTA TV. In October, Zapperbox will add support to DVR-encrypted OTA TV that will allow you to record even encrypted over-the-air TV.
Zapperbox also says they will be working on offering the ability for you to stream your antenna and DVRed programs from the Zapperbox to other devices. Making it easy to watch your favorite programs on the go.
This would make the Zapperbox only the second OTA DVR as just last week the ADTH box started shipping with DRM support to customers who pre-ordered the box.
Here is what the Zapperbox announced yesterday:
v2.2 Support for Secure Content (aka DRM/Encrypted Channels) (approx. Sep 18)
- Support content security (aka DRM/encrypted channels).
- Recording buffer; start recording early, record for extra time
- Jump by day or page within grid guide
- Show posters for recordings
- Repeat manual recordings
- Series recordings for shows in OTA guide data but not in 14-day extended guide data.
v2.3 DVR with Content Security (October)
- This release will support recording and playback for encrypted channels.
More enhancements coming soon (dates TBD)
- Record only new shows
- Do not record duplicates
- Automatic recording deletion options
- Disable pause buffer for multi-cell Flash drives to extend Flash life.
- Easy channel entry for sight challenged customers.
- Undelete recordings from trash folder.
- Search recordings
- Edit scheduled recordings
- Show channel logos in grid guides
- Multiple ways to categorize recordings like series, genre, etc.
- Add support for multiple storage devices
- Backup entire storage device
- Save and restore channel maps and DVR settings to/from storage device
Roadmap
* NEXTGEN TV logo certification
* Support for A/344 “Broadcast Apps” (the BA key on the remote)
* IP controls and SDK for smart home integration
* MMT
* Support local streaming ZapperBox to ZapperBox
* Support for multiple TVs over Ethernet or Wi-Fi
* Support Away-from-Home streaming