Talk:Digital video recorder

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[edit] DVD Recorders are DVRs?

I disagree with this entry that DVD Recorders should be considered DVRs. No manufacturer of DVD Recorders ever advertises or names their machines as DVRs. What does one call a hard drive DVR system that also has a built-in DVD recorder? A DVR DVR?

To me, DVRs strictly means recording video to hard disk. DVD Recorders needs it own entry.

Furthermore, the industry seems to have dropped the whole PVR name. All set-top-boxes and PC-based systems are called DVRs by their own manufacturers. The only products even remotely considered PVR would be a handheld device that performs DVR functions (like an Archos). "Personal" denotes handheld — like PDA.

The term PVR is still usually nearly solely in the UK and Ireland - I have never, ever seen "DVR" used in marketing here. And DVD-RAM recorders are usually sold as being PVRs (my JVC DVD-RAM/VHS unit, for instance, was sold as a PVR; as was my 160GB HDD PVR) --Kiand 13:45, 4 June 2006 (UTC)
Additionally, Humax, who are Korean, use the term "PVR" in the model numbers of their PVRs still. --Kiand 13:49, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

The term PVR was standard in the US from 1999 to about 2003, when one by one all the manufacturers switched over to DVR. Turns out DVR tested better for marketing, although in surveys it confuses people partly because they think it means the same as a DVD-recorder. PVR is common in Europe, although the devices themselves are mostly available only in the US, Canada, and the UK as of this writing.--Thinkwrite 21:12, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] a question

i have an old dvr that i want to pull videos from, but i dont have the software. where can i get opensource or free mac software for a cannon ZR 200? I've tried all over the place, and official website has software that doesnt work anymore, so i'm flummoxed OB-rad 02:41, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Digital recording?"

>The first DVR was tested on July 8, 1965, when CBS explored the possibilities of instant freeze-frame and rewind for sporting event broadcasts. Ampex released the first commercial hard disk video recorder in 1967. The HS-100 recorded analog video onto a digital hard disk and could store a maximum of only 30 seconds.

That machine was not digital at all, Ampex just replaced analog magnetic-tape media with hard disk, with signals still in analog form.

--82.197.22.64 11:07, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Commercial on DVR's

For those who have DVR, once you have a program recorded do you what any commercial? If your answer is no, do you sometimes stop forwarding to watch any? Why, what make you stop? One more question: can you see at least the brand when you are forwarding? Opiniao 18:47, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] CCTV

It has also become the main way for CCTV companies to record their surveillance, as it provides far longer recording times than the old VCRs.

I suspect another key advantage is the ability to 'record over' existing recordings with no difference in quality unlike with analog VCRs where the tapes obviously degrade over time Nil Einne 06:17, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

DVR systems do prevent the quality problems associated with old tapes that have been reused too many times, but do not necessarily provide better video quality. Digital compression can introduce artifacts, and can make enhancement impossible... there just isn't as much data to enhance as what is stored on an analog VHS tape. Wyoskier 01:39, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References

If you use inline references in an article, you still need to list the reference in the References section. Please see Wikipedia:Footnotes for how to use refererence tags to generate a reference list. --SueHay 03:22, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Subscriptions

Question to Americans: do you have any non-subscription DVRs on the market? I just checked Best Buy and Circuit City websites and they only had subscription DVRs. To me it seems weird to have to pay a monthly fee for what is essentially a digital VCR. You didn't have monthly fees for VCRs did you? In Finland none of the DVRs (made by such manufacturers as Kaon, Topfield, Humax, Samsung, and Philips) you can buy have a subscription fee. Of course you can rent a set-top-box (choices probably include DVRs) from a satellite provider if you don't want to buy one. Totsugeki 09:32, 29 July 2007 (UTC)

We used to. Apparently, Canada still has them. MMetro (talk) 10:11, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] See also

I've removed Comcast from the See Also section. Comcast is already mentioned several times in the text and doesn't need a wikilink in See also since the Comcast article does nothing to further the understanding of DVR's. In fact, just like nearly every cable company in the world, Comcast doesn't even make DVR's - they only lease or resell them. There is nothing particularly unique about their DVR's either (which is not the case with TiVO). —Mrand T-C 01:42, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

No one has time to go through an entire article looking for Comcast. And I don't see how a distributer of a product is any less importiant than the producer. Production vs resale does not contribute to the importiance of the company. --TheWikiLoner 09:59, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
Howdy WikiLoner, Perhaps I wasn't clear... it has nothing to do with the importance of the company itself. Comcast is indeed a very important company in general, just not in terms of understanding DVR's. It is the same reason that Time Warner, Charter, Cox, Dish Network, and literally dozens of other cable and Sat companies don't need to be listed either. The Wikipedia Manual of Style points out that "Items in Wikipedia articles can be linked to other Wikipedia articles that provide information that significantly adds to readers' understanding of the topic." The topic here is DVR's, and I don't see how linking to the Comcast article does that - especially when the Comcast article makes absolutely no mention of DVR's, much less a mention that furthers ones understanding of DVR's. To give an example in a different context, it would be like having CarMax in the See also section of car. Let me know if you have any other questions about it. Have fun! —Mrand T-C 12:05, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
Hmmmm...I have a compromise. Prehaps a list of companies that offer DVR would work? --TheWikiLoner 20:13, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
Howdy WikiLoner, I'm all for compromises, but Wikipedia actually actively discourages lists of things (again, how would significantly further a readers understanding of DVR's?). Raw lists are better handled by a different project: the ODP. Have a good weekend! —Mrand T-C 21:05, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
Aw, dammit, stop adressing me by "Howdy"! What's an ODP? --TheWikiLoner 21:41, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
ODP: Open directory project, aka dmoz [1]. Howdy is a standard greeting at my alma mater, Texas_A&M_University.No offense intended.—Mrand T-C 13:34, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
Oh, I see! Sorry, just thougght "TheWikiLoner" may have sounded like "The Lone Star State". Sorry. Nice talking to you! --TheWikiLoner 15:57, 8 September 2007 (UTC)


[edit] DVR are PVR?

I disagree with this, an PVR is a DVR that contains a program guide. And instead of setting recordings using date/time you can just pick the programs from the guide that you what to record. The difference is that if the program guide is updated with new program times then the times used by the PVR changes to match the new program guide info.--TimSSG 01:13, 19 January 2007 (UTC)


Š>Indeed, their box, which links the hard recorder and their own EPG and is already in over a million UK >homes, has become so successful that the verb 'to Sky Plus' (meaning to have recorded it on to PVR) has >entered contemporary English phraseology in the same way as 'to hoover' did decades earlier. > >:I've never heard "Sky Plus" used as a verb in my life, either in conversation, in print, online, on TV, >or on Radio. Has anyone? >::I just came here to say the same thing. I'm going to remove it because it really sounds like everyone >in the UK has heard of that used as a verb. The reality is I hadn't seen or heard the words "sky plus" >anywhere for a year or two, until I decided to look up TiVo in the wiki. - Goatboy > >No - not 'Sky Plus' - but have seen and used "TiVo'd" - "Yeah, I TiVo'd that last night'- meaning I used >my TiVo DVR to record a show - or "I plan to TiVo that show tonight"

I agree that I've never heard anyone use the phrase "to Sky Plus" used, but by the same token, I've not heard any variation on "Tivo'ed" or "to Tivo" either (I doubt very much that many in the UK even know what Tivo is, given the dismal job Tivo & Thomson did of marketing it).

I think I have to disagree with DVR and PVR being considered to be the same thing.

I'd class a DVR as something that allows you to record onto a hard disc by selecting programmes from an EPG and has the trick play functions such as pausing and re-winding live TV.

A PVR I'd say was something that encompasses the functions of a DVR but also personalised itself to the user, in the way that Tivo does by recording programmes featuring actors, directors you have told it you like, or that are suggested by the Tivo based on programmes you have watched in the past.

On that basis I'd say that Sky+ is a DVR, since the only dhey!!!!!!!!istinguishing feature it has over products like the Freeview DVR's is the series link feature, which is really only a smarter timer (although not that smart) for a single season of a series. It's nowhere near as sophisticated as Tivo which is surely the definition of a true PVR

[edit] The first disk-based recorder was in the 1930s

This article claims the first disk recorder dates to CBS in 1965, but that's not true. The BBC experimented with disc based recording in the 1930s, capturing 25-line transmissions onto plastic platters. - Theaveng 11:57, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] First DVR tied to a video service

Dish Network was made less prominent in the Hard drive DVR section. Not sure why it lead off with Dish- possibly motivated by earlier misconceptions initiated by propaganda surrounding the Dish vs. Tivo lawsuit last year. The previous wording and prominence suggested that Dish was offering a full DVR prior to Replay or Tivo. They didn't have this capability until late in 1999. Replay and Tivo were selling in quantity in March. I documented this fact by reference to a SatelliteGuys BBS- a BBS recognized as authoritative on such obscure details. The post was made by a founding member, so is a high quality source. However, if someone has a reference to a print publication reference, the fact would be better supported.

I considered deleting the trivia but didn't. The facts concerning Dish's entry are meaningful because they were the first to tie a dvr to a video service. Mak (talk) 17:19, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Kaffeine??

I don't think it's correct to have kaffeine here. It's a media player, not a PVR. What do you think? Diego--212.239.17.140 (talk) 12:05, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Someone must have added it because it allows the recording of streams. I don't believe that qualifies it as a PVR/DVR, so I've removed it from the list. Thank you.—Mrand Talk • C 13:19, 24 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] I disagree with the History listing ANALOG video recorders

"The HS-100 recorded composite analog video onto a 14" diameter hard disk." That's interesting, but what does it have to do with digital recorders? When we read the Compact Disc article, we don't read a discussion about analog records providing the "underpinning" of the CD. Records and CDs are not the same thing; one is analog and the other digital. Similarly, analog recorders from the 60s have no relevance to digital DVRs. ---- Theaveng (talk) 18:47, 29 April 2008 (UTC)