Guide to
Digital video recorders and players -
DVD, hard disk PVR, HD DVD and Blu-ray
In
digital video recording (DVR), the signal is stored in digital form on digital
storage media such as DVDs or hard disks. If the original material is in
analogue form (e.g. standard TV), it has to be digitised by the recorder in
order to be stored. For
HDTV or standard digital TV, the original signal is
already in digital form and is best recorded before it is converted into
analogue to preserve its high quality. A recorder usually requires an
internal digital tuner or a
HDMI input to get access to the digital signal
level.
What types of
digital video recording and playback are available?
-
Standalone
DVD players or recorders
-
Digital video recorders (DVR) or personal video recorders
(PVR)
-
HD DVD and Blu-ray players
Standalone
DVD players or recorders
DVD
recorders are similar to VHS decks but record the information digitally to a
DVD instead of a tape. Some newer units can
upscale
the output to produce a
HD signal with selectable resolutions when playing a standard DVD and feed
this via
HDMI or
DVI port to a HDTV set. This can be quite impressive but is
definitely inferior to proper HD material (you will need the upcoming HD DVD or blue ray
for the real thing). It still allows you to enjoy your old DVDs in HD
enhancement on your new HD ready flat panel TV. Here our selection of top
rated upscaling DVD players with HDMI output:
Samsung DVD-HD860,
Toshiba SD-360
and the high-spec
Cambridge Audio DVD89.
There are now also DVD
recorder with integrated digital tuners on the market. These provide you with two main
advantages: you don't need a separate digital set-top box (Freeview) to receive digital
television and the recorder has access to the high quality digital signal
for recordings. To get the best of both worlds you can go for a combination of DVD and
hard disk drive with an inbuilt digital tuner (for multi tuners see below).
Here are two top rated units of this type: the Toshiba RD-85DT and
the test winning Panasonic DMR-EX75.
Digital video
recorders (DVR) or personal video recorders (PVR)
Digital
video recorders (DVR)
or personal video recorders (PVR)
use computer style hard disk drives
HDD
for recording. PVRs usually include digital tuner(s) and an electronic program guide (EPG) to set
the timer conveniently by program name, not by date, time, channel or
VideoPlus codes.
These devices can have extremely high storage capacities (depending on size
of hard disc) allowing you to record a large number of movies and other
programs. They can be erased, edited and re-recorded and are super fast. The
channel the PVR is tuned to can be constantly recorded, which allows for
rewinding and pausing of live programs. Some come in combination with DVD
drives to allow you to make permanent DVD copies (see above).
A PVR
with inbuilt digital TV tuner acts as a digital TV set-top box and allows you to
record the programs at the same time. It records the digital signal directly
before it is converted into analogue for output to standard TV and will
therefore provide better quality of digital TV recording than
DVD recorders without digital tuners. You should at least have two internal tuners (some have
three) to be able to watch one program while recording another (or two). They are available in the Sky+ box, numerous Freeview
versions and digital cable versions. Two feature-packed top rated Freeway
versions with
twin freeway tuners
are the Humax
PVR-9200T and
the Topfield
TF5800PVR:
The new HDTV tuners
such as the sky HD box and the HD TVDrive box from TeleWest in the UK are fully
functional PVRs with sizable hard disk drives (160 GB). They allow you to
record and play-back HDTV programs and standard digital TV at high quality.
HD DVD and Blu-ray players
HD DVD and Blu-ray
discs are competing formats that are similar to DVDs (4.7 GB) but have much
higher storage capacities (up to 50 GB) to accommodate the larger data
requirement of HD material. Both
use blue lasers to read and write data, as this allows the information to be
packed more densely.
The new HD DVD and Blu-ray disc players
are due to be launched in the UK towards the end of 2006 (the Toshiba HD-XA1
HD DVD player is already available in the US). The players will be geared
towards high definition television with HDMI outputs, etc.
HD DVD or Blu-ray are
also expected for the new games consoles
|
