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From pausing live broadcasts to storing hours of TV in digital quality with no need for blank tapes or DVDs, hard-drive-equipped personal video recorders are finally taking off but how does broadband affect the future of the PVR?
Digital video recorders that use high capacity hard disks have been around since 2000 though it's really only now are they catching on. But new developments such as TV by broadband could change our viewing habits even more radically. The key to making a good PVR is for the software to be sophisticated in what it can do but for the product itself to be simple to use. Many DVD recorders and Freeview boxes have built-in hard drives but few meet the 'perfect PVR' criteria.
| | Telewest's TVDrive
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Cable connections
The market-leading Sky+ now has a serious competitor in Telewest's TVDrive, which is rented as part of a cable subscription (the starting price is £26 per month for phone, channels and TVDrive). Like Sky, several networks have developed a PVR specifically for their services. Since Telewest's merger with NTL and Virgin Mobile, the cable PVR will be rolled out across the rest of the network in coming months (though at best this will only reach half the UK's households).
The well-equipped TVDrive PVR has three tuners, so you can record two overlapping programmes while watching a third. It was also the UK's first High Definition-compatible box. HDTV and hard-disk recording are just part of cable's masterplan. It sees a big future in video on demand (VoD). With fast cable connections you don't even need a PVR, just a set-top box. NTL:Telewest's VoD offering has grown substantially and now includes HD programming.
TV Replay is cable's free eight-day catch-up service where you can find recent TV shows you might have missed. It only carries a selection of the schedules at the moment but it's expanding. Similarly the Teleport pay-per-view area is like browsing DVDs in your local megastore, with a choice of new and classic movies as well as entire TV series, which can be 'rented' for a variable fee.
Once on-demand content is quick and plentiful it could diminish the need for pre-programming your PVR to record something if you are sure of it being available any time. Likewise, the whole DVD market, from sales to rentals, is being shaken up as studios offer a choice of downloading content for a short time, either downloading to own or downloading along with a mail-order disc copy (allowing you to keep a legal portable copy on your laptop or PSP, etc).
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| | BT Vision
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Telly phone
BT has struck a number of deals with TV and film studios for its upcoming BT Vision service, which will be available as part of its Total Broadband package. The Philips-made box should be a cheap purchase compared to standalone PVRs and includes two Freeview tuners, a 160GB hard disk for PVR functions as well as connection for BT's broadband hub. BT Vision is an IPTV device (internet protocol television) using ADSL broadband at up to 8Mbps for its on-demand service. There's an extra charge per programme for downloaded TV, apart from the free seven-day catch-up service for Freeview highlights. Heavy users can buy a flat-rate 'all you can eat' subscription. Whether BT can make it as a TV provider remains to be seen and a big catch is that you must use BT's broadband service, which is not the cheapest.
A similar proposition is about to launch from French set-top-box specialist Netgem, and Microsoft. The as-yet-unnamed HD-ready hybrid IPTV/Freeview PVR will be available in BT Vision-style packages via a number of internet providers, one of which may be a well-known colourful mobile and broadband company. Interestingly, it will also be available as a standalone purchase which you plug into your own broadband modem (however some VoD programmes may only be available if you go with certain providers). We've seen a demo of the highly intuitive on-screen user interface, developed by broadcast specialists Red Bee, and it's sure to give Sky+, TVDrive and BT Vision a run for their money. Meanwhile, the struggling HomeChoice IPTV venture has been taken over by Tiscali - who will rebrand it and plans to widen its availability.
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| | Sky+ HD
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Sky broadens its offerings
Not to be outdone, Sky has launched a widely publicised High Definition version of its Sky+ recorder. The Sky HD box's user-friendly functionality is much the same as before but it now receives and records HDTV too. Its HD channel line-up and UK coverage is wide but the subscription costs are higher than the cable equivalent. There's 160GB of hard drive to play with, plus more in reserve, likely to be used later in 2007 for 'trickling' pseudo-VoD to the box via Sky's recently launched broadband operation.
Freeview strikes back
It would be easy to overlook Freeview here but as the digital terrestrial service gains strength, so do its dedicated PVRs. Freeview tuners appear in several multi-format digital recorders from Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer and Philips. Some use the third party GuidePlus electronic programme guide (EPG) for browsing and timer recording but Freeview's own EPG is expanding.
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| | Sony RDR-HXD860
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Freeview has a 'Freeview Playback' promotion to identify PVRs that meet an agreed quality. Soon the EPG will carry more data about programmes and series, enabling recorders to catch broadcasts split around the news, to find regular episodes even if they don't fall into consistent time slots, to catch later showings in case of scheduling conflicts or to recommend related programmes.
New recorders that meet Freeview Playback standards will be compatible with these improved features once broadcasters provide this EPG data. Among the first of these is likely to be Sony's £350 RDR-HXD560 and £400 RDR-HXD860 DVD/hard-disk combinations. Sony also has the SVR-500, a £250 Freeview PVR without DVD drive but with twin tuners for more viewing and recording flexibility. Whether this will make the Freeview Playback grade is yet to be confirmed.
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| | Humax PVR-9200T
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Freeview PVRs without the Playback badge may receive software upgrades but this is up to individual PVR manufacturers - who may prefer you to buy a new machine. Some, like Humax, have a history of upgrading legacy models - including its superb, recently enhanced PVR-9200T - so look out for announcements about improved series recording features.
The end of the PVR?
Video recording took decades to shift from analogue tape to digital discs and hard drives. Now it's evolving rapidly into an online, on-demand world where TV programmes don't just come via the airwaves at a set time but along a cable precisely when you want. Digital recorders are getting easier to program but catch-up TV services could bypass the need to plan and record anything.
This will have an impact on the economics of TV, as VoD is usually charged per programme like album tracks on iTunes. Research in the US suggests that viewers will even pay slightly more for VoD content if it comes without ads. None of this will replace the thrill of watching a live special event but for everything else, TV timeshifting is poised to become the future.
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