TiVo DVRs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Main article: TiVo
 This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future product.
It may contain preliminary information that does not reflect the final version of the product.

TiVo corporation designed a number of digital video recorders which have been produced and sold by a number of other companies. All of the units listed here use the TiVo operating system software and require the TiVo service.

TiVo units have been manufactured by various OEMs, including Philips, Sony, Pioneer, Toshiba, and Humax, which license the software from TiVo Inc. To date, there have been three "series" of TiVo units produced, with the third series having been released on September 12, 2006.

Series Type Maker Model Capacity Notes
Hours GB
Series1 Standalone Philips HDR110 14 14 First model, March 31, 1999
HDR112 14 14
HDR212 20 22
HDR310 30 2x14 First model, March 31, 1999
HDR312 30 2x14
HDR31201
HDR31202
HDR31203
HDR31204		 30 30
HDR612 60 2x30
Sony SVR2000 30 30 Custom remote control RMT-V303
Thomson PVR10UK 40 2x20 UK-only, uses SCART input/output
DirecTV Philips DSR6000 35 40
Sony Sat-T60 35 40 Custom remote control RM-Y809
Hughes GXCEBOT 35 40
Series2 Standalone TiVo/AT&T TCD130040 40 40 USB 1.1
TCD230040 40 40
TiVo TCD230040 40 40
TCD240040 40 40
TCD24004A 40 40
TCD540040 40 40
TCD140060 60 60 USB 1.1
TCD240080 80 80
TCD24008A 80 80
TCD540080
TCD542080		 80 80
TCD240140 140 120
TCD540140 140 120
TCD649080 80 80 Dual-tuner
TCD649180 180 160 Dual-tuner
Pioneer DVR-810H 80 80 DVD Recorder
DVR-57H 120 120 DVD Recorder
Toshiba SD-H400 80 80 DVD Player
RS-TX20 120 120 DVD Recorder
RS-TX60 160 160 DVD Recorder
Humax T800 80 80
T2500 300 250
DRT400 40 40 DVD Recorder
DRT800 80 80 DVD Recorder
Sony SVR3000 80 80
DirecTV Hughes HDVR2 35 40
HDVR3 35 40
SD-DVR40 35 40
SD-DVR80 70 80
SD-DVR120 100 120
Philips DSR7000 35 40
DSR704 35 40
DSR708 70 80
RCA DVR39 35 40
DVR40 35 40
DVR80 70 80
Samsung SIR-S4040R 35 40
SIR-S4080R 70 80
SIR-S4120R 100 120
DirecTV R10 70 80
HR10-250 200 250 High definition, both satellite and terrestrial (OTA ATSC tuner)
Series3 Standalone TiVo TCD648250B 300 250 Dual-tuner
High definition
THX-certified
TCD652160 (aka TiVo HD) 180 160 Dual-tuner
High definition
Not THX-certified
Multistream CableCARD capable
NOT SDV capable

[edit] Series1

The Series1 (retronym) was the original TiVo digital video recorder.

Series1 TiVo systems are based on PowerPC processors connected to MPEG-2 encoder/decoder chips and IDE/ATA hard drives. Series1 TiVo units used one or two drives of 13–60 GB. Although not supported by TiVo or equipment manufacturers, larger drives can be added.

[edit] Series1 Standalone

All standalone TiVo systems have coax/RF-in and an internal cable-ready tuner, analog video input—composite/RCA, and S-Video—for use with an external cable box or satellite receiver. The TiVo unit can use a serial cable or IR blasters to control the external receiver. They have coax/RF, composite/RCA, and S-Video output, and the DVD systems also have component out. Audio is RCA stereo, and the DVD systems also have digital optical out.

[edit] Series1 DirecTV

Some TiVo systems are integrated with DirecTV receivers. These "DirecTiVo" recorders record the incoming satellite MPEG-2 digital stream directly to hard disk without conversion. Because of this and the fact that they have two tuners, DirecTiVos are able to record two programs at once. In addition, the lack of digital conversion allows recorded video to be of the same quality as live video. DirecTiVos have no MPEG encoder chip, and can only record DirecTV streams.

[edit] Series2

Front view of a Series2 TCD540040 Tivo unit
Front view of a Series2 TCD540040 Tivo unit
Back view of a Series2 TCD540040 Tivo unit
Back view of a Series2 TCD540040 Tivo unit

The Series2 was a complete redesign of the TiVo hardware. It includes USB ports (for Ethernet and Wi-Fi adapters), a new CPU, and more RAM. The availability of network connectivity has spread to the software side, where new features like TiVoToGo and Home Media Engine applications are now supported.

Series2 TiVo systems are based on MIPS processors connected to MPEG-2 encoder/decoder chips and high-capacity IDE/ATA hard drives. Current Series2 units have drives of 40–250GB in size. Although not supported by TiVo or equipment manufacturers, larger drives can be added.

[edit] Series2 Standalone

All standalone TiVo systems have coax/RF-in and an internal cable-ready tuner, analog video input—composite/RCA, and S-Video—for use with an external cable box or satellite receiver. The TiVo unit can use a serial cable or IR blasters to control the external receiver. They have coax/RF, composite/RCA, and S-Video output, and the DVD systems also have component out. Audio is RCA stereo, and the DVD systems also have digital optical out. The Series2 systems also have USB ports, currently used only to support network (wired Ethernet and WiFi) adapters. The early Series2 units, models starting with 110/130/140, have USB1.1 hardware, while all other systems have USB2.0.

Some models manufactured by Toshiba, Pioneer, and Humax, under license from TiVo, contain DVD-R/RW drives. The models can transfer recordings from the built-in hard drive to DVD Video compliant disc, playable in most modern DVD systems. The video encoding on these models was modified to match the DVD standard so transferring to DVD does not require transcoding.

The Series2 standalones can only tune analog signals, so to comply with FCC rules on analog TV phaseout, models that record from over-the-air channels are no longer sold. The dual tuner (DT) models and the TCD542 (a revision of the TCD540) will only record from cable and satellite sources.

  • CPU:
  • RAM:
    • 1xx/2xx/5xx-series: 32 MB of 133 MHz 16-bit DDR
    • 6xx-series: 64 MB of 133 MHz 16-bit DDR
  • MPEG Encoder

[edit] Series2 DirecTV

Some TiVo systems are integrated with DirecTV receivers. These "DirecTiVo" recorders record the incoming satellite MPEG-2 digital stream directly to hard disk without conversion. Because of this and the fact that they have two tuners, DirecTiVos are able to record two programs at once. In addition, the lack of digital conversion allows recorded video to be of the same quality as live video. DirecTiVos have no MPEG encoder chip, and can only record DirecTV streams. However, DirecTV has disabled the networking capabilities on their systems, meaning DirecTiVo does not offer such features as multi-room viewing or TiVoToGo. Only the standalone systems can be networked without additional unsupported hacking.

The latest DirecTiVo units (HR10-250) can also record HDTV to a 250GB hard drive, both from the DirecTV stream and over-the-air via a standard UHF- or VHF-capable antenna. They have four tuners (two DirecTV and two ATSC over-the-air) and, like the original DirecTiVo, can record two programs at once; further, the program guide is integrated between over-the-air and DirecTV so that all programs can be recorded and viewed in the same manner. Recording capacity is variable, up to 30 HD or 200 SD hours.

On July 8, 2006, DirecTV announced an upgrade to version 6.3 of the TiVo software for the HR10-250, the first major upgrade since this unit was released.[4] This upgrade includes features such as program grouping (folders), a much faster on-screen guide, and new sorting features.

[edit] 2008 DirecTivo Updates

In October of 2007, DirecTV sent a message to all DirecTv TiVo R10 and HR10 users saying that they will be applying numerous features to the DirecTivo. The features will be listed below.

[edit] Episode Recovery

Episode Recovery is a feature that will let you recover a previously deleted episode of a show. There will be a time frame of the time you could recover the episode, but the information has not been released.

[edit] Online Scheduling

Online Scheduling is a feature that will allow you to go to the DirecTV guide on the internet, and choose a television program to be recorded. This feature is popular with the Tivo Brand DVR's, but DirecTV's contract with Tivo did not allow them to implement the online features of the DirecTivo.

[edit] Series3

The Series3 TiVo was officially unveiled at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show[1], and was released to the public on September 12, 2006.

The Series3 DVR features support for high-definition broadcasts and has two tuners, each of which can receive NTSC, ATSC, and analog or digital cable (QAM). Encrypted digital cable can be received using CableCARDs. Because of the dual tuners, it can record from any two sources simultaneously. For example, two over-the-air broadcasts, two cable programs, or any combination can be recorded at the same time. However, recording from two digital cable channels requires the use of multiple CableCARDs, and if only one CableCARD is inserted into the unit, only one tuner is active and only one source can be recorded. As of 8/2007 satellite TV connections are not supported.

Switched Digital Video (SDV) is NOT supported at this time, making the TiVo unable to receive certain channels on cable providers who use such technology. There is work progressing on a USB connected, separate box that will allow TiVo to work with SDV which will hopefully become available in mid/late 2008.

One HDMI port and two sets of component, S-video, and composite outputs are included. The Series 3 is also the first DVR to feature THX-certified audio and video. The unit is also equipped with two USB 2.0 ports, a Fast Ethernet port, and a modem, which are all used to connect to the TiVo service. A wired or USB 802.11 wireless adapter can download programs from TiVo or Amazon Unbox. Multi-room viewing and transferring programs to and from a PC is allowed but HD content may only be transferred between Series 3 units.

The Series 3 can store up to 300 hours of non-HD video, or 32 hours of HD video, using its 250 GB hard drive. Like the Series 2 TiVos, storage can be increased to 1 TB by replacement of the hard drive -- something that can be done professionally, but is usually done by users familiar with how to perform PC drive replacement. An external SATA port allows up to 1TB in additional storage when using TiVo-certified external hard drives.

Series 3 is available on TiVo's website and at electronics retailers nationwide. A monthly subscription fee must also be paid to utilize its features. The product lifetime service may be activated on new units with a rare product lifetime gift card, and could previously be transferred from a unit that already had lifetime service for a fee.

  • CPU: Broadcom BCM7038
  • RAM: 128 MB for general CPU use- more for the encoders

[edit] References

  1. ^ George Hotelling. "HD TiVo Series 3 @ CES", PVRBlog, January 5, 2006. 

[edit] See also