Got a TiVo? "Digital Video Recorders Give Advertisers Pause"

New York Times ^ | May 23, 2002 | AMY HARMON

[Skooz]

Post number 15 brought to you by:

TiVO: TV Your Way

[Musket]

As I understand it there is a monthly bill AND they track everything you watch. Big Brother anyone? Me, I love ads. Ads are commerce. Ads are freedom. I don't watch enough TV to justify buying one of these anyway-mostly news shows and I prefer to see these live for some strange reason.: )

[MadelineZapeezda]

Now we need the algorithm............but AlGore ain't got no rythmn

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

I am a happy TIVO owner. You can buy the unit and not pay the monthly fee, and you would be able to use it just like a VCR. However, the really neat feature of TIVO, which requires the monthly fee (or, a one-time fee of $250) is the "Season Pass." It enables you to record every episode of a given show with one relatively easy setup. It gives you the option of recording only first-run episodes, or repeats as well. I went to Europe for two weeks, and when I came home, all my favorite shows were ready to watch. The screen is very user friendly. It tells you the name of the show and the date it was recorded. When you finish watching it, it asks if you wish to keep it or erase it. You can even program the thing to record every movie that stars a particular actor. I am very pleased with the service. I paid the one-time fee which is well worth the money.

[JoeGar]

I am a happy TIVO owner. You can buy the unit and not pay the monthly fee, and you would be able to use it just like a VCR.

Thanks for the info. It sounds just like what I want.

[FreedomPoster]

How big a hard drive is needed for say 30 hours of recording? Where can I get the necessary software and hardware? I'm computer illiterate.

In that case, I'd suggest you buy a Tivo. Getting good A/V results from a PC isn't for a computer illiterate. I'm using a Home Theater PC to drive a video projector and surround sound, am very computer literate, and it just isn't that easy to get this stuff all working right.

If you really want to go down that path, there are people who sell pre-configured HTPC's, but a Tivo would be much cheaper just to get the PVR functionality.

[FreedomPoster]

BTW, a great way to learn a lot about this stuff is at the AV Sciences Ultimate Forum. There are many knowledgeable users, a good sprinkling of industry people, good FAQ's around, etc. Tivos and PVR's in general are covered in the forums labeled "Digital Video & Audio Devices", about 3/4ths of the way down the page.

[FreedomPoster]

Let's try that link again.

[Drawsing]

..but Al Gore aint got no rhythm..

Good one.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Here's a Link to a compny that performs the upgrades. I bought a unit from them with an extra-large hard drive. It was delivered without a hitch. All I had to do was plug it in.

[IoCaster]

I use a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR with a WD Caviar 100GB HDD with an 8MB Buffer. I can capture/record from cable tv and video camera. It all works great and looks fabulous on my 21" Trinitron monitor.

:o)

[The G Man]

I do not have TiVo, but I do subscribe to the DISH Network satellite system and I have one of their Dish Player receivers that is very similiar to TiVo. I can save 12 hours of programming, fast forward at up to 300x regular speed, pause and rewind live programming, search for and record favorite shows, etc.

Mine is an older model, but the one currently out now hold about 30 hours of programming. However they are due to release a new one any day now that holds (gulp!) ... 72 hours of programming!! Oh happy day!

[AAABEST]

There is SO much more you can do with a DVR than a VCR. One great feature is that you can pause or rewind anything (realtime and live, not just what you recorded) you're watching at any time because the device is always recording.

Watching a big game and need to use the restroom? Just hit pause, then "unpause" when you get back. Missed some dialogue because the kids were screaming? Just hit rewind and see it again. Remember I'm talking real time and live TV, not just what you've already recorded.

Also it's all digital. The recording quality is exactly as good as when you first watched it from the source ..... forever.

The ones that are designed for cable are OK, but IMO you're missing the boat if you're not using them with a 32 bit digital satellite signal. With a digital satellite signal there will NEVER be any snow, interference or static ever. You either get it or you don't.

Some cable companies are now hawking a "digital" signal. What they don't tell you is that it's a 16 bit signal as opposed a 32 bit signal from satellite. Like your video card, 16 bit allows several thousand colors, while 32 bit allows several million.

[RayChuang88]

The complaints from broadcasters about how consumers record TV programming is actually an outgrowth of something that Alvin Toffler's landmark book The Third Wave.

That book--published in 1979 when the home VCR began its rapid rise to ascendency--said that with VCR's and newer home video playback technologies it would completely overturn the whole idea of television programming by the broadcasters. And indeed it has happened; David Letterman's rise in popularity was possible because Neilsen Research found out his old NBC late-night show was one of the most-recorded shows on VCR, so people could watch in the morning after getting a good night's sleep. Today, VCR's have become so inexpensive that many households have more than one of them, which means you can do things like record two programs at one time and watch a third all at the same time.

DVR's are an extension of the VCR idea, only that programming the recorder is much more sophisticated and you can skip through the program (and the commercials) even faster. And unlike VCR's, DVR's usually have consistently good picture quality.

The New York Times article is just pointing out that television network executives still have not figured out the impact of home video recording and how it has completely changed viewing habits in many households.

[Dimensio]

Some cable companies are now hawking a "digital" signal. What they don't tell you is that it's a 16 bit signal as opposed a 32 bit signal from satellite.

Heh, you should check out the cable company where I live. The "digital service" that they hawk as being far superior to the "dish" isn't even digital! Only the upper channels (ie, past 70) are actually digital channels and those are all premium movie channels (ie, an additional fee is requried for them), the lower channels are still analogue! Of course, you do get the feature of the box receiving programming information for every channel...of course, that feature often breaks and needs updating, and sometimes it screws up to the point that the information pops up on the screen whether or not you want it there.

Oh, and the default connection for it (used by the installer) is an RF line to the TV. The best connection it supports is composite video with L/R RCA stereo sound output. It looks like there's a model available with S-video and S-P/DIF output, but the cable company doesn't provide it. Component (with progressive scan)? Forget it.

I'd consider a PVR if anything came to the TV with reasonable quality -- as it is our cable connection signal is so degraded that we need a powered line amp.

[Maelstrom]

They can pass laws against rain on holidays too.....

Yes they can, but they haven't yet. When they do, they're going to come and arrest you and remove from you your legal right to defend yourself, if not jail you.

Why you? Because it rained and someone is to blame.

[AAABEST]

I'd consider a PVR if anything came to the TV with reasonable quality -- as it is our cable connection signal is so degraded that we need a powered line amp.

You sound like a perfect candidate for a satellite dish. Why haven't you got one?

[steve-b]

Next step: a TiVo that detects the screen presence of objectionable individuals (e.g., Jesse Jackson or Yasser Arafat) and skips over the time they are on the screen.

With more computing power, it could do on-the-fly CGI to (for example) make Billzebubba's nose grow as he talks.

[Dimensio]

I don't have such control in the household :(