Recording high definition television programming with new HD DVR
Date: August 10, 2004
Later this year, TiVo-like digital video recorders will be able to record high definition television programming. Several of these new HD DVRs will have huge 250 gigabyte hard drives—that’s enough room to store 30 hours of high definition programming or 200 hours of standard broadcast cable.
The additional hard drive capacity is required for the high definition television programming since HDTV signals carry more information per frame than standard television broadcasts—HDTV uses five times the bandwidth required of standard definition broadcasts. For example, HD broadcasts are in 1080i which produces images that are 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, refreshed 60 times a second whereas standard analog television broadcasts are at 500 pixels by 525 pixels.
Also coming with the new HD DVRs that allow high definition television programming to be recorded and time-shifted will be copyright protection features designed to prevent digital media piracy. Primary among these copy-protection schemes will be the Digital Visual Interface. DVI works with a copy protection standard known as High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) which encrypts signals and only allows replay on authorized playback devices. Thus, for example, one will not be able to record and send a program through the internet to another device that did not do the recording—the program in that case will not play properly.
Nonetheless, these new HD DVRs will undoubtedly become the latest must-have items for HDTV enthusiasts. Hopefully, with more widespread adoption, the quantity and quality of high definition television programming will also increase.
The following are the known offerings at this point:
EchoStar Dish Network
- 250-GB hard drive (30 hours of high-definition television programming, or 200 hours of standard-definition programming)
- 3 tuners allowing for watching on one and recording on two others
- MSRP of $1,000
DirecTV's HD DVR
- TiVo-branded interface
- 250-GB hard drive (30 hours of high-definition television programming, or 200 hours of standard-definition programming)
- Four tuners (two receive DirecTV programming and two receive over-the-air programming; two programs can be recorded simultaneously)
- MSRP of $1,000
Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8000HD-DVR
- To be used in connection with Time Warner digital cable
- 80-GB hard drive
- Not as many features as competitors
- Rental fee of $8 a month
LG HDTV DVR
- 120-GB drive that records high-definition cable broadcasts
- Three tuners (12 hours of high definition television programming and 120 hours of analog)
- FireWire-enabled to send recorded programming to high-end VCRs or camcorders -- but not PCs
- MSRP of $1,000
More articles at our Flat Screen TV Articles page.
