I bet you thought CableCARD was the thing to get to futureproof yourself with your next HDTV purchase, didn’t you? Well, you would have been sorely disappointed to find that not many cable companies actually support CableCARD, probably because it’s a one-way only thing. You can’t buy VOD or PPV programming using CableCARD.

Hence, OCAP. (OpenCable Platform.)

I’ve mentioned Samsung efforts in this area before. But now it seems all the more official because “Samsung Electronics has achieved Certification status for an OCAP(TM)-enabled interactive digital television set in a recently concluded test wave held at CableLabs.”

Said Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts: “With Samsung and other consumer electronics manufacturers, cable continues to lead the entertainment industry into its digital era. We are a significant step closer to having advanced devices capable of receiving and displaying advanced cable services such as program guides and video-on-demand (VOD) without requiring other boxes. Just as we stood a few years ago with modems, we are poised to offer consumers more advanced services than ever.”

This is all very well and good, but do I still get to record my shows if I have an OCAP HDTV?

Yahoo! Finance - Samsung Electronics Gains CableLabs(R) Certification on 2-Way Digital Television