OTHER TECH

CableCARD, a PC card-like device that slips into the back of most new big-screen HDTVs, lets you tune standard- and high-definition cable channels (even premium ones) without a digital cable box. But today's CableCARDs are one-way devices that can't access on-demand video services or, more important, display your cable provider's onscreen interactive program guide.

To get around the latter problem, TV manufacturers are turning en masse to TV Guide On Screen (TVGOS). It's a free interactive program guide developed by Gemstar TV Guide, a company controlled by News Corporation (the same people who bring you the Fox TV networks and 20th Century Fox movies). TVGOS works by sending program data to your TV on a hidden portion of the analog signal from your local PBS station that's known as the vertical blanking interval (VBI). But if you've been reading Sound & Vision's HDTV reviews lately, you know that all is not rosy with the system.

The problem is that the guide is neither as user-friendly nor as reliable as the typical cable-box guide. To start with, the nature of VBI data delivery means slow loading: it takes six days for the entire eight days worth of guide data to load after initial setup. And when it does load, you might not like what you see. Ad panels alongside the grid take up about 20% of the screen. And the channel order bears no resemblance to your local cable lineup, instead following an order based in part on Gemstar's arbitrary groupings and its agreements with stations that formerly carried guide data on their VBIs. You can manually reposition channels one at a time, but it's a clunky, time-consuming task.

You may also find, depending on your cable carrier, that the guide won't load some channels - or anything at all. For example, because of technical issues, Cablevision subscribers in the New York City metro area who use CableCARD (including me) typically don't get any listings (though there's a workaround for some TVs). Thanks to another technical glitch, consumers who bought one of several Toshiba DLP rear projectors from the 2004-05 line also got an empty TVGOS. (Toshiba now offers a firmware upgrade to correct the problem.)

Add to these issues sluggish navigation and limited search functions that render this feature nearly useless, and you have to wonder why TV makers have flocked to TV Guide On Screen. The answer, as always, seems to be money: it's both an affordable add-on for manufacturers and, unlike TiVo or even Microsoft's new guide, the only true no-pay service for consumers. But according to sources at TV manufacturers and Gemstar, set makers who license the technology from TV Guide relinquish control of the look, feel, and operation of the onscreen guide. So except for the ability to alter minor details like background color, what you see is what they get.

That leaves it up to Gemstar to fix what ails TV Guide On Screen. Although the company theoretically has as much incentive as your average monopoly, some help may be on the way. A TV Guide spokesperson promises that its next-generation guide, available in 2006, will provide the proper channel order and be easier to use. Unfortunately, current versions will not be upgradable, so today's set buyers may still want to think twice before trading in their cable boxes.