When shall Tivo come out with HD DVR independent of Direct TV?

[mallu2u]

When shall Tivo come out with HD DVR independent of Direct TV?..cannot get out of Dish Network due to their Int'l programming and like Tivo since it could be vendor independent....any news when this might happen? Benefits:

- Would boost their sales for sure
- Would also bring in competition in the much needed HD DVR market and
- Drive down prices..

 

[Ken F]

Look for Tivo to unveil a CableCard HDTV Tivo early next year.

It will not work with Dish Network. It will probably be five years before the technology is available (and sufficiently low cost) to allow consumer DVRs with analog HDTV recording capability. If the current HDTV DirecTivo were capable of recording high-definition from all services, it would probably cost in the range of $4000-$5000.

If international programming is important to you, keep an eye on DirecTV. DirecTV intends to become more competitive with its international offerings later this year.

 

[mallu2u]

I sincerely hope Direct TV to get into that market. Very lucrative since I know I can get rid get of other channels but not Int'l. Same is the case with ALL my friends! Direct Tv however does not mention anything abt what channels they might be getting into..any place where I can find that out?
Why do u say 'analog' HDTV recording and not digital? Does HD Tivo not record digitally? And why would it be so expensive to have both DirecTV and Dish? Or is it that DirecTV is sucking up most of the cost of developing the HD Tivo and $999 is a money-loosing cost for them?

 

[mallu2u]

My interest is in Dish Network and OTA Antenna feeds

 

[Ken F]

Why do u say 'analog' HDTV recording and not digital? Does HD Tivo not record digitally?

There are only two options to record HDTV for the forseeable future -- record the original digital bitstream from satellite (like HDTV DirecTivo and Dish 921) or re-encode and re-compress analog signal from component into digital form so it can be saved to the hard disk.

The first approach is used by the DirecTV HDTV Tivo and the Dish 921 HDTV Tivo. However, as soon as the signal leaves the box, only the second choice is an option for HDTV recording (for forseeable future). Thus, if you wanted a standalone HDTV Tivo for use with a Dish Network HDTV receiver, it would have to accept the HDTV signal from component, re-encode and re-compress it with quality loss, and save it to disk. The technology to do this is currently very expensive -- upwards of $3000.

And why would it be so expensive to have both DirecTV and Dish? Or is it that DirecTV is sucking up most of the cost of developing the HD Tivo and $999 is a money-loosing cost for them?

DirecTV is the one responsible for the DirecTV HDTV Tivo. They paid for the R&D. It represents a competitive advantage for them. They are not going to give away that competitive advantage and spend money to develop a HDTV Tivo that is compatible with Dish Network.

 

[mallu2u]

Hmm. How abt having a HDTV recording device that lets u record from OTA Antenna that I have? Right now I only get HD from my antenna and not from Dish Network. I want to record that.

 

[Jeff_R]

Hmm. How abt having a HDTV recording device that lets u record from OTA Antenna that I have? Right now I only get HD from my antenna and not from Dish Network. I want to record that.

Those are currently available from several vendors. Tivo doesn't make one, however LG and others do have those devices available.

 

[mallu2u]

Can u throw in a link to them? I would like to look into them.

 

[DarrellP]

I took a survey from Tivo about a year ago regarding what features I would like to have in a SA HD Tivo so they must be working on one.

 

[sirlurkalot]

try this:

Review of LG LST-3410A HDTV Tuner/DVR

http://www.hometheatermag.com/pvr/704lg/

and available from a Satellite guys Gold Sponsor!

http://www.valueelectronics.com/zenith_HD_PDR.htm#LST-3410A