Originally posted by bobgriffiths
So starburst its Not Dolby digital then? i knew you could get a stereo feed out of it .
And djblack the "general purpose digital interface " as mentioned by the original poster was designed to be general. for several things that Might come up . As i said Pace designed a optical out put to fit in this interface . so the spec must be quite general and not just for CAMS
SONY may or may not have intended the optical output to support DD audio, I do not know but SKY+ for instance has a Dolby licensed chip inside something as far as I know the SONY does not have however I've never had my hands on that model to have a good look around
I suspect SONY being at the higher end price wise for consumer electronics included the optical output to justify the higher prices they were charging SKY compared to other manufacturers. The end result of course was that SKY always looking for bargins bought more and cheaper models from PACE etc and SONY stopped making there models.
Some Freeview manufacturers have included an optical output to stand out from the pack of boxes that are built to a price point but can they actually pass on a DD signal to a suitable amp IF a DTT channel ever supplied one?
I would put cold hard cash on the table in regards to the interface being unable to support any sort of third party CAM, SKY rely on the embedded Videoguard CAM not only for fantastic security but to control the subscribers access to further revenue generating services. The lack of a CAM slot in the digibox design also precludes any serious move by any regulator into forcing SKY into any movie that would weaken their business, I would be shocked if that option had been included back in '97 when SKY were looking at digital to remove all piracy problems and be a revenue generator in it's own right.