More on the Replay TV 4000

boskone noted that Replay TV's site has updated with a variety of new information that will definitely allow the Tivo/Replay flamewars to escalate. Besides the networking capability we mentioned earlier (send shows to friends, or to other Replay's on your home LAN), and the gigantic 320 hour maximum storage capacity, there are more detailed specicifcations. Also notable is the progressive video output port, and the fact that it actually requires ethernet, but doesn't require a subscription! I'd love to try one of these buggers out when they ship.

Comments

It's not going to last long

[Anonymous Coward]

Send shows to friends over the Internet? I'm afraid that extends a little beyond fair use, guys. Good luck keeping this one on the market. ;-)

Re:It's not going to last long

[Registered Coward v2]

According to their specs, it goes from Replay box to Replay box. They could include some sort of distrobution limitation that prevents shows gotten from another Replay from being redistributed, or they could erase the show from Box A once it's in Box B. Either way, it's not much different from me sending a tape to someone.

Of ocurse, tehre are other things that limit sharing as well - first is the cost of the box - it's not exactly soemthing your average consumer buys on a whim, and even with high speed access the bandwidth limitations would prevent massive show swapping.

This looks way cool

[forgoil]

Any chances this might improve the chances of local lans popping up all around cities?

subscription

[Sc00ter]

"the fact that it actually requires ethernet, but doesn't require a subscription!"

Part of the reason early replayTV units were almost twice as much as the same recording capacity was because the subscription price was included.. You do pay for it.

Re:subscription

[BrookHarty]

Autoskip with no commericals and Quickskip with 30 seconds! I was going to pick up a tivo, but noticed they removed these features. Guess maybe I need to think about a Replay.

Re:subscription

[Sc00ter]

I don't understand that, with Tivo, when you fast forward you just go thru the commercials, as soon as you see the show, you hit play, it jumps back a few seconds and BAM, you don't miss any of the show. I think that's far better then 30sec skip, because with that you could accidently skip into the show..

Re:subscription

[Syberghost]

Don't be so quick to jump on the "no commercials" idea.

The broadcast networks can only afford to be free if they have income, and if enough people start skipping the commercials, they'll have to do something about it.

So unless you wanna pay a monthly fee for access to the networks and your local stations, you better hope Autoskip stays a niche product.

Re:subscription

[Anonymous Coward]

"
The broadcast networks can only afford
to be free if they have income, and if
enough people start skipping the
commercials, they'll have to do something
about it.
"

Like wither up and die? YAY!
Or even better - become PBS stations! WAHOO!
I am getting one of these tomorow!

Re:subscription

[Zaknafein500]

Also, FWIW, the 2.5 version of the TiVo software includes a backdoor to enable 30 second skip. Check out the AVS Forum and I'm sure you'll be able to find it. Almost all DirecTiVos have been updated to 2.5, so they have this feature right now. Stand alone TiVos won't see 2.5 until about January ufortunately due to some delays with VBR encoding.

Also, what about dual tuners? Having a second tuner is invaluable, as it allows you to record two shows at once. So far, I haven't seen any mention of dual tuners on the RP4000. DirecTiVos have this ability right now.

I'm not even convinced that Sonicblue can pull off the features they are promising. The "Send Show to Other RPTV User" has so many copyright issues I won't even get into it. Plus, who really wants to spend at minimum $700 on a RPTV when you can find DirecTiVos for as little at $129 with new DirecTV service. Add in the $250 TiVo lifetime sub, and you're still about $300 ahead. Hack your box, and you can have over 120 hours of recording time, and still be underneath the cost for the base RPTV 4000 model.

I'll stick with my TiVo. UTV came along with big promises, and has largely failed. Replay won't have me convinced until they actually get the thing working with all the features functional.

Re:subscription

[bperkins]

This argument makes no sense.

You're right to say the networks would be upset if lots of people started skipping commercials, and that something would have to give.

But the idea that people should voluntarily refrain from skipping commercials is unrealistic, just as it would be unrealistic to ask people not to go to the bathroom during commercial breaks.

The technology exists. People are going to use it. It might be bad for everyone if such technology became popular, but arguing that I shouldn't skip commercials for the good of everyone doesn't make sense to me.

Re:subscription

[the_2nd_coming]

I wonder when TiVO will be bought out by some one like sony......it is just a matter of time you know.

Re:subscription

[stripes]

I don't understand that, with Tivo, when you fast forward you just go thru the commercials, as soon as you see the show, you hit play, it jumps back a few seconds and BAM, you don't miss any of the show. I think that's far better then 30sec skip, because with that you could accidently skip into the show..

They are around the same. The people that have both TiVo and replay tend to like the 30sec skip a little better, but not all of them do. After you skip the right number of times you normally have to back up a little bit, so it is about as much fiddling with buttons as TiVo, and just slightly less time.

The upside is on the TiVo if you see a commercial you think is interesting you can watch it (at 60x FF the commercial is half a second to a second long, so don't blink!)

Replay's skips are more useful to move around in a TV show, like if you watched about half of it, and then your wife watched the rest, you have to FF for 30 seconds on the TiVo, the reply you can hit a few buttons. Apparently TiVo's 2.5 software will let you skip to the 15min tick marks, so that is less of an issue.

FYI, there is a backdoor code on TiVo's with pre-2.0.1 software, and I've been told 2.5 software to change the "skip to end" button into a 30 second skip.

The only compelling Replay feature (to me) is moving shows from unit to unit. Everything else you can either do (frequently with hacking!) to a TiVo, or just isn't that interesting to me. To be honest you can even currently move shows from one TiVo to another after you hack it, but I'm not expecting that to last :-(

However other people have other priorities, and may be better suited with a Replay. One thing's for sure though, if you watch TV, you really ought to own one of these things. Like now. I'm sorry I waited so long to buy mine (even with the price drop, and larger drives)!

Re:subscription

[Sc00ter]

Why? TiVo is a software company, they don't make any of the hardware anymore. Sony already makes recording units, same with Philips.

Re:subscription

[the_2nd_coming]

ahhh....well, that was a good move for them, no wonder they ae so cheep.

TFTI

Re:subscription

[Tim Macinta]

Autoskip with no commericals and Quickskip with 30 seconds! I was going to pick up a tivo, but noticed they removed these features. Guess maybe I need to think about a Replay.

These were not removed - TiVo never had these features (not officially anyway - I think there may have been a hack that let you get the Quickskip functionality, but it was never officially part of the product). TiVo has kept the TV networks in mind from the start, which makes long term sense because without the networks to provide content a TiVo isn't very useful. A lot of networks have actually invested in TiVo as well, probably so that they have a voice in things when features like Autoskip or Quickskip are under consideration.

Personally, I don't think that the five seconds it takes to fast forward through commercials is such a big deal, but I could be understimating how useful Autoskip and Quickskip would be. I know I grossly understimated how useful the whole TiVo service would be when I first got it.

Re:subscription

[Syberghost]

Plus, who really wants to spend at minimum $700 on a RPTV when you can find DirecTiVos for as little at $129 with new DirecTV service.

The average person doesn't have or want DirectTV, and doesn't want to hack his box.

I'm not getting one of these either, but you and I are not normal.

Re:subscription

[Jburkholder]

>After you skip the right number of times you normally have to back up a little bit, so it is about as much fiddling with buttons as TiVo, and just slightly less time.

My Sony TiVo has a 'repeat' button that backs up the replay a few seconds (5, I think). I've found that I can hit FF the 3 times it takes to get it advancing at the highest rate, hit play as soon as I see the show starting back up, and hit replay if I've started a few seconds into the show.

TiVo also backs up a few seconds when you go from FF to play to compensate for reaction delay. I've read that there is a way to fine-tune this compensation-backup, but I've never tried to fiddle with it.

Re:subscription

[Jburkholder]

>the 2.5 version of the TiVo software includes a backdoor to enable 30 second skip

I took a look in the AVS Forum as you suggested (I got all excited thinking this feature was actually still available). I did find mention of this, but not with near the certainty that you expressed:

According to those whom attended the NY soiree, the word that RB used was that :30 skip "may" make it into 2.5 as a backdoor code! There is no certainty of this happening AFAWK.

Re:subscription

[Marc Boucher]

The broadcast networks can only afford to be free if they have income, and if enough people start skipping the commercials, they'll have to do something about it.

And how would they know you're not watching their commercials?
I never watch them. And using my VHS recorder I can also skip them. What's the difference?

Re:subscription

[Zaknafein500]

It's there. Check out this thread for the combo.

Re:subscription

[Jburkholder]

Thanks. Now I just have to wait for my stand-alone recorder to get the 2.5 upgrade (January, I heard?)

Re:subscription

[Zaknafein500]

That's what RB has said. It will be worth it though, as we will be getting VBR (Variable Bitrate) encoding, which should increase the quality of the recording, and give you a bit more space to work with. The only downside is that it won't be nearly as easy to determine total space, as it is impossible to tell how much a show will take up.

Re:subscription

[e_butler]

The average person has trouble using a remote. They will still watch comercials beacause they will have no clue how to do this and they will not even care.

E

Re:subscription

[MonkeyBoy]

Uh, yeah. I guess my 70-ish year old mother & father are abberations.

They looked at what cable TV cost and DirecTV cost and signed up when they realized cable cost twice as much for the same channels.

Frankly, I recommend everyone do the same thing (compare cable to DTV), particularly since all those "you can't put a dish on your property" rules are unenforceable (there's a federal law on the books, written in the era of large satellite dishes, protecting satellite dishes).

Frankly, I think someone, somewhere, is getting a kickback from cable companies to try and pull that bullshit. Whether it's the builders, association members, city council, whoever - to try and pull something that asinine means they're getting something out of it, simply because the risk is high of it exploding in their face.

Re:subscription

[Syberghost]

Uh, yeah. I guess my 70-ish year old mother & father are abberations.

They looked at what cable TV cost and DirecTV cost and signed up when they realized cable cost twice as much for the same channels.

Yes, they are abberations. Cable TV far outstrips DirecTV in sales. And the cost difference isn't the same everywhere.

Re:subscription

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, if there is a buyout, it will most likely be AOL-Time Warner, since AOL is already a major TiVo investor and has an option to acquire 30% of TiVo stock.

Re:subscription

[Syberghost]

Frankly, I recommend everyone do the same thing (compare cable to DTV), particularly since all those "you can't put a dish on your property" rules are unenforceable (there's a federal law on the books, written in the era of large satellite dishes, protecting satellite dishes).

I should add; in the last three years, I've lived in two apartments and purchased a house in a gated community.

In all three cases, the salespeople made a POINT of telling me I could put a small dish up, and mentioned that a Federal law protected my right to do so. The salesperson for the house even offered the help of the construction supervisor in deciding on placement, if I decide to get a dish. (Which I won't, since I get hundreds of channels and a discount on Time Warner cable since I'm also a Road Runner subscriber, without any of the hassles of dish service.)

The Prices are:

[minus23]

Prices start at $700 for a 40 hour unit and max out at $2000 for a 320 hour unit. -- According to their site. --- A bit pricier than a TiVo, but these obviously have more features aswell.

TiVo = 299 + 10/month.

Shows to computers

[!recycle]

If you need to have an ethernet connection, then you should be able to watch shows on your computer. It says you can do it between replays, but personally, my monitor is bigger and of better quality than my tv.

Details?

[Anonymous Coward]

How is it going to be sent(the shows?, format). I would love to have one, but is it going to be better than my hauppauge PVR? I like being able to record tv, and make vcds, but if I cant get the shows off the Replay easly, I dont see much need to add another device. But it would be nice to have one less computer on 24/7....

Very Close

[1alpha7]

The specs are killer. Now if we could just get the cable company to send out the guide channel in machine-readable format, I'd be all set. As soon as the price has settled into my range . . .

1Alpha7

Re:Very Close

[mmacdona86]

If it's ReplayTV, the purchase price includes the channel guide service (you dial in to it) in perpetuity.

Re:Very Close

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you buy (seperately) and use Replay TV's service, w/out a ReplayTV unit?

Re:Very Close

[RetiredMidn]

Done.

Replay already includes a service (MyReplayTV.com) which enables you to view and/or search the channel guide on the Web and program the unit to record/delete/etc. shows. (The unit dials in to the server once a night to refresh the guide and collect the Web-entered commands, so you need to act at least a day in advance.)

Hrm..320 hrs..

[huckda]

Sending things to friends...
wow...as for fair use...as long as you aren't charging for the viewing you can tape and let friends watch...nothing wrong with that...

As for ethernet requirement...
umm...what's this going to do to bandwidth say if I'm on a cable or dsl connection, and my neighbor is also on that cable segment for instance and "sends" something to his friend in alabama...
does this mean I get bogged down big time? Hope not...

Re:Hrm..320 hrs..

[Sc00ter]

"As for ethernet requirement...
umm...what's this going to do to bandwidth say if I'm on a cable or dsl connection, and my neighbor is also on that cable segment for instance and "sends" something to his friend in alabama...
does this mean I get bogged down big time? Hope not..."

Why would that be any different then if your neighbor was downloading linux ISOs or other large files.. it's shouldn't be an issue..

Progressive output is actually VGA (Dsub 15)

[[amorphis]]

I thought progressive output for compressed NTSC would be pretty silly, till I saw it was actually a VGA connector
Cool!

The _real_ cost

[parc]

Sure, the Replay doesn't have a subscription requirement. But how much you wanna bet there's going to be more intrusive information sent up that ethernet connection about your viewing habits?

Re:The _real_ cost

[kvigor]

TiVo doesn't have a subscription cost either if you choose to pay the 'lifetime subscription' free (which, oddly enough, brings the total cost of the TiVo unit up to almost exactly the cost of a 'subscription free' ReplayTV).

Do you suppose that when you pay the 'lifetime subscription' fee TiVo turns on the top-secret anal-probe privacy-invading feature on your box?

Because apparently you believe there are only two possible business models: monthly payments or screwing your customers while hoping they don't find out.

Skepticism is good. Paranioa is bad. Grow clue.

I worry also that they will get stopped

[iconnor]

But really, it is the same as lending a video to your friend. If this is legal, then sending it via the internet is the same.

If the law does not allow the video being shared, this will not be allowed. And if anyone is thinking of creating a napster for this, you might want to add a few lawyers into your business plan - right or wrong you will need them.

Re:I worry also that they will get stopped

[Alien54]

But really, it is the same as lending a video to your friend. If this is legal, then sending it via the internet is the same.

Technically? No.

It is much closer to burning an extra second copy for your friend. This is the slippery slope that Napster went down.

Big Media considers it a pain when you say that you have several million friends you want to share extra copies with. We've been through this before.

Don't forget those essential copy protection features!

Yeah, TIVO is in trouble now (sarcastic)

[hoggoth]

I don't think they have the engineering resources to figure out how to install a bigger hard drive and an ethernet card.

Re:Yeah, TIVO is in trouble now (sarcastic)

[Sc00ter]

TiVoNet

More Space for your TiVo

But I would suggest adding more space yourself, probably more cost effective.

Re:Yeah, TIVO is in trouble now (sarcastic)

[Anonymous Coward]

"
I don't think they have the engineering resources to figure out how to install a bigger hard drive and an ethernet card.
"

They wont. This is a replay of the 80's format wars:

Superior, cool format (beta/replay)
VS
cheap trash format (VHS/tivo)

Tivo depends on cheapness. They would loose their
market if they produced *good* machines.

Re:Yeah, TIVO is in trouble now (sarcastic)

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think they have the engineering resources to figure out how to install a bigger hard drive and an ethernet card.

They obviously can't install modems that work.

Re:Yeah, TIVO is in trouble now (sarcastic)

[Anonymous Coward]

Bullshit. TiVo does everything better than ReplayTV, except for the autoskip thing, and there is a TiVo hack for that too.

Re:Yeah, TIVO is in trouble now (sarcastic)

[cat_jesus]

They obviously can't install modems that work [avsforum.com].

I had a modem fry on my Tivo. It gave me incentive to start learning linux which I had put off for too long. The decision to go with cheaper modem parts is actually part of the insidious anti-microsoft conspiracy. Your modem dies and you want to enable ppp over the serial port instead of shelling out 100 bucks for Philip's to fix it. Seriously though, it is understandable that a company could screw up on the modem parts when they started designing these motherboards. The modem issue was not discovered until enough machines went out into the field and encountered real telephone lines with real voltage spikes. The software engineering is not too shabby. They put together a pretty robust system for only having 16 meg of RAM and a 50 Mhz PowerPC chip to work with. I was very skeptical of the Tivo until I got one. I'd still like to get a replay4000 but I might just install an ethernet card on my Tivos and save 800 bucks. Cat

Wow

[lorenlal]

And I'm still using a VCR that has to be specially set to use cable every time the power blinks.... Thank god I don't live in Cali.

Never overestimate the intelligence of the individual, and never underestimate the stupidity of the masses.

Re:Wow

[richie2000]

So, basically YOU need a UPS for your VCR.

Ohh, I'm a TLA whore. :-)

Canada?

[sys$manager]

When are these things going to work in Canada? I know TiVo doesn't work here yet, but I'd love to have one.

Re:Canada?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, it does exist in Canada.

Bell ExpressVu is offering that kind of service over satellite TV (the decoder have a 20 hours HDD). I know StarChoice had that option on their high-end decoder since more than 2 years! Also, Videotron is offering digital cable TV in the Montreal area with the option to buy an over-expensive decoder/recorder plain ass with 5 hours recording (they still use MPEG1 instead of MPEG4 like in the Bell solution).

I live in Quebec, it might be different elsewhere...

*** to lame to login, so AnonyCoward is doing the job :)

Re:Canada?

[Pope]

Bell ExpressVu just started advertising their PVR/Dish combo. Not much info here, but I've seen the commercials: http://www.expressvu.com/EN/home.asp

Re:Canada?

[Anonymous Coward]

Which high end decoder would that be? How about a model number so we could actually buy it? Just because Star Choice ran the ads a couple of years ago doesn't mean they actually offer the service.

Star Choice have always been ones to promise you anything... TiVO units, 2-way internet, etc... anything to keep you from going with Bell ExpressVu.

Progressive output.. HDTV Recording?

[-tji]

Standard broadcast tv is low resolution and interlaced. Putting progressive component ports on this thing implies display of something higher quality.

Hopefully it can be made to support recording of 1080i (1920x1080) or 720p (1280x720) High Definition TV.

With the interfaces they have listed, the only way this could be done is if the tuner supports ATSC (Digital television). This is doubtful... maybe next version.

Open standards...

[swordboy]

What we need is an open standard for digital entertainment. Something that everyone can agree upon (consumers, manufacturers, advertisers, etc). It would be nice if I could buy one box and then have the option to hook it up to the cableco or my particular satellite provider. You could then hack in a hard drive for the PVR features and possibly add gaming functionality. Bahhh.... The possibilities are endless but the only company smart enough to put something like this together isn't going to make it "open".

Re:Open standards...

[kvigor]

One word: HAVi.

Apparently I must add more spew here in order to pass the postercomment compression filter. I hope you have enjoyed reading it every bit as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

At what price is it worth it?

[Refried Beans]

Take a look at the pre-order form:

RTV4320 ( Approx. 320 hours of recording time) $ 1,999 *
RTV4160 ( Approx. 160 hours of recording time) $ 1,499 *
RTV4080 ( Approx. 80 hours of recording time) $ 999 *
RTV4040 ( Approx. 40 hours of recording time) $ 699 *
* Plus applicable tax & shipping charges.
Estimated shipping costs within Continental US are:
$25 3-5 business days, $35 economy 2 day, $45 next day

TiVo prices:

Philips HDR 212 20 $199
Philips HDR 312 30 $299
Philips HDR 612 60 $599

I love my TiVo, even if I did pay $400 for it a year ago. $10 a month is pretty cheap. $100 a year isn't too bad either. I loved mine so much I paid the lifetime fee.

Re:At what price is it worth it?

[1010011010]

I would be a lot happier with my TiVo if it didn't flake out so much.

Sometimes it doesn't record sound, records only a few seconds of a show, etc.

Re:At what price is it worth it?

[Refried Beans]

If you think there is a problem with your TiVo, why don't you take it in to get it serviced? I spent some extra cash to get an extended warranty.

Re:At what price is it worth it?

[Keith Mickunas]

I occasionally get a brief pause, and I mean brief, and that's the only glitch. But that could be the satelite or something else. Anyways, my point is it sounds like your's has issues. If its under warranty, get it fixed. Mine got hit by lightning after I had it for 2.5 months, and they replaced the whole thing for free. That goes against their policy, but they did it anyways. Now that's service.

Re:At what price is it worth it?

[1010011010]

If you think there is a problem with your TiVo, why don't you take it in to get it serviced?

Out of warranty. "Service" (swapout) costs half the price of a new unit. And I'm probably going to spend my future DVR dollars on that snazzy new Replay with ethernet...

Re:At what price is it worth it?

[trcooper]

Or you can get the upcomimg dual tuner DishNetwork PTV 721, which has 70 hours, and the ability to record two shows at once.

The PTV 501 had some problems, but from what I've read tht 721 should be feature competitive with TiVO and ReplayTV. It also is going to be an Interactive TV box with games and the like, if you go for that, and reportedly the ability to burn CD's. (Music)

So replay can record up to 320 hours. Big deal, It'll take 320 hours to do it too. This thing can record 70 hours in 35.

Best thing is this thing is preordering for $499 with no commitments to Dish programming (which kicks DTV's ass, BTW), or montly access charges. I was going to break down and get a TiVO, but a dual tuner PVR for under 500 bucks... Can't beat that. I just hope it gets here before football season is over.

Re:At what price is it worth it?

[jbarr]

Of course, if you really do the math, you see that the two boxes really aren't too far off:

Tivo (Philips HDR 612): $600 for the box + $250 for a lifetime subscription + $20 (for shipping from BestBuy.com) = $870

ReplayTV (4080): $1000 (for the box) + $25 (for shipping) - $100 (Promo rebate) = $925

Hmmm. That means that for about $55 more, you get a Replay 4080 with Commercial Skip, an integrated Ethernet connection, and 30% more (20 hours) capacity.

One FAQ, I'd like to see answered

[eam]

I read the FAQ on their site, but there was one important question that went unanswered:

If I buy a Replay4000, and Replay goes under, will I still be able to use it, or will it go dead when it can't get schedule updates from the Replay server?

Re:One FAQ, I'd like to see answered

[eam]

Actually, another question just occured to me:

Will it work behind my IP Masquerading Linux box - Adelphia has only allowed me 1 IP address...Maybe now that Comcast bought my cable they'll give me a few more...

Re:One FAQ, I'd like to see answered

[mkozlows]

It'll go mostly dead (you can use it as a dumb VCR, basically), which is why I'm not buying one.

Besides, it's stupid to have to use a second source for program information when my digital cable already has that functionality in it. Anyone know if Time-Warner Cable plans to integrate TiVo-esque functionality into their digital cable boxes soon?

Re:One FAQ, I'd like to see answered

[mjh]

What I would like to know is, since Replay TV doesn't sell their program guide, then would they be opposed to someone else reverse engineering the service and providing a competing program guide? Or even better, handing out the specs so that someone else could easily provide a competing service. Personally, I'd like to see the program guides provided by the tv provider (i.e. your cable company or satelite provider). Why? Because then I know that both services will always be available simultaneously. I won't have to worry about getting a tv signal and not getting the program guide. Both will either work or fail. And if both fail, then I just switch to someone else who will provide both. With Tivo/Replay/Microsoft I might still get tv signal, but the program guide might go away. So clearly a competitive program guide is what I'd want.

But I don't think we'll ever see it. Clearly Tivo isn't going to do this, they want to sell the service. But I suspect that Replay won't do this either. Why? Because what they also want is the data that they download that tells them what you watched and when you watched it. They want the information about what programs interest you. They want the data about which commercials you skipped and which ones you watched. They want to know if you prefer the sports replays that the tv networks generate or the one that the PVR generates. They want to know who/what/where/when/why you watch TV.

Think about this. How can Tivo/Replay/Microsoft provide a service that needs to run forever, without corresponding income that gets generated forever? By selling the information gathered from the service to program providers, or advertisers or ??? Think this isn't a viable business model? Think of it as the same service that Nielson sells, but with tv viewers paying money to participate.

So with program guide going across an ethernet now, I imagine it's only a matter of time before the protocol is reversen engineered... unless of course, it's encrypted. And then it's only a matter of time before someone tries to hack the box to get the encryption secrets. And then it'll be only a matter of time before Replay/Tivo/et al, sue under the DMCA.

This will be an interesting next few years in the PVR world.

Re:One FAQ, I'd like to see answered

[Anonymous Coward]

Replay uses another company to source the
progamming information. Probably is the same
one that TiVo uses. But I imagine that Replay
distributes it (via earthlink, I think).

Replay is now part of Sonic Blue, so they're
not just dependent on PVR to stay afloat.
Formerly, they've been fairly cooperative
with the hacker community. But if they sink,
and decide to be nice about providing info to
get programming info to the systems, that would
just be part of the puzzle. Besides, that could
be a sellable asset.

There's lots of info at http://www.avsforum.com
and a FAQ at http://www.replaytvfaq.com

Rock on, Commander!

[AtariDatacenter]

Thanks for posting the new updates. I'm going to save over them. But if all of this isn't enough to get you going, there is something else for you:

ReplayTV PROMOTIONAL CODES!

Some are geared at existing ReplayTV customers. Others are for 'people in the industry'. But they were freely given over the phone. I worked with this guy and got some codes corrected, so they now work properly.

I took the $100 off and no payments. (That'll make it easily financable over a few months.) Note! Most of these promo codes are for all but the most basic model.

Re:Rock on, Commander!

[Anonymous Coward]

If you remove your homepage URL, it is automatically replaced with Slashdot's URL. Don't you read the source code? Dumbass.

Re:Rock on, Commander!

[Anonymous Coward]

$100 off and no payments!!?!!!
Sign me up, too! :)

Isn't 320 hours of recording time overkill ?

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

I have a Tivo with 30 hours. I usually record things in "medium" quality, so I guess I get no more than 15 hours in reality. But I virtually never run out of space. The only times I wish I had more space are :

When I go on a trip for several days

When some channel broadcasts a bunch of episodes of something I like in a single day (a something-"marathon" they call it)

But even if I could record all these things and keep them in memory, I'd never be able to watch them all anyway. I hardly watch everything my mere 30-hour Tivo records already.

The thing that I'd really really like to see appear in PVRs is a second tuner. Very often, choosing between two programs is the real bother, not the amount of memory. The only reason why single-tuner PVRs work nowadays is because interesting programs are so diluted in an ocean of crap on TV. Come to think of it, that's also probably why 15 hours are enough, because there aren't enough interesting programs per day to fill it up.

I DO...

[BillyGoatThree]

...pay a monthly fee for access to the networks and local stations. They come over my cable channel and I can't get them any other way. Plus I note that there are still commercials on channels like Comedy Central. So here I am, paying to watch commercials. How dumb is that?

Re:I DO...

[krugdm]

Um, no... You are paying a monthly fee to your cable/sat provider for the line going to your house, the maintenance of lines between their office and your hookup, and their big dishes to get the programming to feed to you in the first place. The commercials you watch pay for the programming that you view. Unless of course you are getting a premium channel that you pay extra for, such as HBO, then you are paying extra for the priveledge of not having to watch any commercials. This is akin to saying "I'm already paying a monthly fee for my internet access. Why should I have to view ads on websites? All those companies should make all that content available absolutely free even if they have to lose money in doing so." If advertisers realize that no one is watching their ads, then they'll stop paying premium prices for airtime. Less cash flowing in means that some new shows may never get the funding to see the light of day. Shows that may have eventually done well on their own.

Re:I DO...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, in the US cable and satelite companies that offer broadcast channels to their customers must charge a fee to them for that priviladge and pass the money on to the broadcasters. Not sure of why this is but I believe it is related to lost commercial revenue.

Re:I DO...

[Anonymous Coward]

As pointed out, part of the fee does go to the stations. In fact, I once saw a list of how much of my cable bill goes to each station. It's not something like 5 cents per channel, either.

Re:I DO...

[pben]

Um, most cable only channels do cost the cable company. They charge between ten to fifty cents per subscriber. The cable company also has to pick up the hardware cost like you said.

So Viacom, AOL/Time/Warner, Disney, ect. gets money from the cable company and the commercials. The local cable company can insert some ads at their local headend but that is limited by the rights holder.

Re:I DO...

[Syberghost]

Less cash flowing in means that some new shows may never get the funding to see the light of day.

And it should be pointed out that when cash is tight, shows that are cheap to produce and have a broad audience get made, and shows that are expensive to produce or have a niche audience don't.

So if you want to see Farscape, Dark Angel, Buffy, and Enterprise replaced by sitcoms, by all means get rid of the ads.

What if the service ends??

[Anonymous Coward]

I have to say it is nice of them to give the service for free and all, but what happens if the service ends? I can't find anywhere that talks about who does the service, and how do the people that provice this service get reimbursed for the costs of doing this?

It's Already Done

[telstar]

TV Guide already lets you download the guide in a machine-readable format.
It's being used for a few PDA-based TV Guide listers such as PTVL (Pocket TV Listing)

Re:It's Already Done

[uradu]

Seems to be just HTML though, with potentially constantly changing formatting, throwing any parsers off. This would seem to be an ideal application of web services: provide a web service that takes region/provider/date range input and returns standarised listing data, maybe using some generic XML TV listing markup language or a standard database table format.

Commercials.

[Lemmy Caution]

TANSTAAFL.

Somewhere, we or someone else is paying for the commercials - usually, in the price of products. And commercials don't add value (in advertising, the market is the product, the producer is the consumer. Weird, isn't it?)

Without commercials, we would have to pay for content - using the money that we have saved by not having to pay 20 to 40 percent more for products to cover the cost of their ad campaigns. I can live with that.

Re:Commercials.

[Syberghost]

Without commercials, we would have to pay for content - using the money that we have saved by not having to pay 20 to 40 percent more for products to cover the cost of their ad campaigns. I can live with that.


Wrong. The companies will still pay for advertising, just in other media, since TV will lose it effectiveness.

So you'll pay just as much for the products, AND pay for your TV besides.

It's not a zero-sum game, you'll be creating new income for radio and print.

Re:Commercials.

[jswitte]

> pay for content - using the money that we have saved by not having to pay 20 to 40 percent more for producs

Yeah, but how much of that 20-40 percent do you expect would actually come back to you in the price? I bet about 10, maybe 15 percent. The rest would pump up cash reserves, or stock dividends ("look Ma, I'm getting 59 cents per share instead of 58! Woo-hoo!")

Jim

Re:Commercials.

[Lemmy Caution]

No. The value of advertising on radio relies on the number of listeners per dollar that they get. Because advertisers only advertise because their *competitors* advertise in a media - the threat of losing market share obliges them to do so. Advertising budgets aren't fixed - if producers don't have to forfend the competition for attention in a media, they'll invest those costs elsewhere (like lowering prices or developing new products.)

Re:Commercials.

[Lemmy Caution]

At least then it would be reinvested into a *productive* sector of the economy. Advertising money is just spent getting people to produce advertisement. Those cash savings would recirculate to hire people to do things like build housing, teach children, and make lattes.

I think of advertising as the junk-food of the economy. Empty calories, no nutritional value. Except it doesn't even taste good. Like 8 month old Skittles that you find in your sofa.

Re:Commercials.

[nexthec]

I pay 32.50 bucks a month for cable. Now, if 1) got 15% back on everything I spend, that would be alot of money. if its only on advertised products, there still wouldnt be much difference, but lets just limit it to gas, food, and entertainment, insurrance. 150 bucks a month(hey I drive a pickup). That comes to 22.50 a month more. now that leaves me 55 bucks a month to spend on cable. Now say I pay 5 dollars a channel, that I really want. That means I could get good shit only(no MTV, QVC, CNN but VH1, M2, TLC, HIST, TNT, UPN, Dicovery, and SciFi, and a couple for my fiance). sounds like a great plan to me!

Let me guess

[BillyGoatThree]

"...there are more detailed specicifcations."

Are they going to include a spell-checker for you WebTV users?

Second tuner

[mmacdona86]

Microsoft's DVR Ultimate TV has a second tuner (and I think maybe a third on some models.)

Re:Second tuner

[Sc00ter]

so does DirecTiVo, it has dual tuner. UltimateTV couldn't have three, because you'd need a third LNB on the dish, and I don't think that exsists.

Re:Second tuner

[Anonymous Coward]

There are now quad LNB's available.

Re:Second tuner

[sik puppy]

I haven't seen triple lnbs, but I have seen quads. I have to visit the house-of-evil today (aka fry's) and will check. Don't know how they would do trying to put two quads on one dish for multi-satellite reception though.

Re:Second tuner

[Anonymous Coward]

They do have a device that hooks into a dual-LNB to provide all the channels to a large number (8+) receivers. I believe the idea was that there were two different polarization methods or something, and having two LNBs is enough to get the signal that a group of machines would need. (They send a voltage over the line to tell the LNB to switch polarization.)

Re:Second tuner

[mprinkey]

You do not need a third LNB to have a third tuner. To understand why requires some explanation. The old single LNB's where only able to receive one polarization (clockwise or counterclockwise) at a time. With one IRD (receiver) connected to the LNB, the system would select the polarization required to tune a given channel. A problem arises if you connect a second IRD. The single LNB system will work only if both IRDs try to tune channels which are on the same polarization.

Installation of a dual LNB solves the problem. One LNB receives the clockwise polarization while the other receives the counterclockwise. You can connect 3, 4, or more IRDs to a dual LNB and all of the units may be tuned independently without causing a conflict.

DBS providers are currently using secondary satellites to provide local network and foriegn channels. The so-called "quad" LNBs are really just two dual LNBs each of which are directed at different neighboring satellites. The newer "egg-shaped" dishes have two foci for the reflector, allowing the single dish to receive from two adjacent satellites. Each focus for each satellite requires a physically separate LNB. These are generally dual LNBs which receive both polarizations simultaneously.

Re:Second tuner

[someone247356]

Actually, When I last looked into Sat. tv I checked on the whole multiple LNB thing. I had 5 televisions in the house at the time. In any event I didn't want my house to look like I was trying to contact E.T. so I asked how I could get multiple tuners (one for each television).

Originally I was fed the same line about needing a LNB per tuner per television. Worked out to three dishes (2 with 2 LNB's and 1 with 1). Yea right.

Further digging revealed you can use a special splitter with 1 LNB. It was for the Dish Network cost $400 USD at the time (about 2 years ago) and fed 4 tuners off of 1 LNB. Which meant I could get by with 1 dish, 2 LNB's digital splitter and 5 tuners. Upfront cost, before subscription would have set me back about $1200 USD. I dislike the cable company (Adelphia) as much as the next guy, but unlimited televisions at about $35.00 USD a month and no hardware cost kept me with cable.

Perhaps when I'm down to 1 or 2 televisions I'll give Sat. another look.

Re:Second tuner

[Big Boss]

Just a slight correction...

You can't just connect as many IRDs as you want to a dual LNB. You need a Multiswitch for more than 2. This device locks each side of a dual LNB to opposite polarity. So both are available to the Multiswitch at any time. Then it connects to the IRDs. When the IRD asks the switch for Left or Right polarization, the Multiswitch connects them to that side. By default, both sides of the LNB are able to tune to either polarization. You would connect each output to an IRD and they would both be good to go. For more than 2 IRDs, you need the MultiSwitch.

Multiswitches are also used on multi-sat dishes to select which satelite to look at. These are the simplest ones. The IRD must set the polarity itself. The more advanced units can see all sats and all polarizations at once and just connect the IRD asking for a signal to the sat and polarity they asked for.

The Quad LNB contains two Dual LNBs along with a multiswitch. The internal switch allows you to connect 4 IRDs. There is also a Twin LNB that allows 2 IRDs without extra switches. To the receiver, these look like dual LNBs connected to a multiswitch. It just means less wiring to have the switches built in. The down side is flexability. You can't cascade the switches to give you more receivers or to look at more satelites.

Doing a Google search on this stuff will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about satelite tech. Or check out www.dbsforums.com.. They have a ton of stuff too.

Replay is still around?

[the_2nd_coming]

I thought they went bust a year and a half ago.

well, I wonder what the TV folks will think about this sort of thing, will we start to see more crack down on TV program copying since you can move the show to a divX formate and put it on a CD? how cool would that be for Star treck: Enterprise? :-)

p2p?

[davidesh]

just wait till someone develops a peer-2-peer network for these things :)

Re:p2p?

[mjolnir_]

replay tv p2p?

Group of friends/geeks/etc living in large house pool funds to buy $1000 replay.

Unit goes on home LAN. Recorded shows get sent across home LAN and cached to disk. Someone hacks together some kind of online control, so you can schedule recordings from a browser. Archives go either onto VCD/DVD-R/vhs tape.

If you helped pay for the unit initially, then watch or borrow material recorded, it's still fair usage..

As much as I like the idea of a big juicy network that has every episode of any given show (cough*limewire*), it will still be faster bandwidth to use physical media to move things around (the station wagon of DATs driving cross-country theory).

-mj

Hidden "features" like spyware, rights management?

[tmoertel]

Two questions:

1. What kind of information about users will these units gather and transmit back to ReplayTV?
2. Do these units incorporate any kind of "rights management" system that would infringe upon fair use or home-recording rights?

It ISN'T about the Ethernet card. Software!

[AtariDatacenter]

It is about the software. I've got an ethernet card in my TiVo right now. But I don't have any compelling software for it. I can't share video with other TiVo users without going through extreme measures. In all, the Ethernet on the TiVo is great for toys like a web server, or doing stuff from the shell prompt.

That's why ReplayTV is better than a TiVo with an ethernet hack. ReplayTV embraces the network connection. TiVo, unfortunately, is too in-bed with corporate sponsors. Here's hoping they change.

Re:It ISN'T about the Ethernet card. Software!

[uradu]

> In all, the Ethernet on the TiVo is great for toys like a web server, or doing stuff from the
> shell prompt.

How about pulling shows down to you PC and burning them onto VCD or even DVD? Not compelling enough for ya? Once on VCD, they're a heck of a lot easier to share with friends than transferring mammoth video files over slow internet connections. How many of your friends have DVD players versus TiVos/ReplayTVs and T1 lines?

Taco learns English...

[Anonymous Coward]

plural of "Replay" is "Replays"

• ex: There were two Replays in my house
• sugg: There were two Replay boxen in my house.

possesive of Replay is Replay's

• ex: I love the Replay's feature set.

When you use a language incorrectly, you break it. Please don't break English. Please don't tell me "it's language evolution" becuase it's not.

More:
wrong...i was born in the 70's
right...i was born in the '70s (since it's 1970s shortened)

its vs. it's

• its is to his as he's is to it's
  (or funnier)
• its is to his as he is is to it's

mod me down if you will, but it's a lesson that everyone needs to learn.

Where's the DVD recorder?

[TokyoJimu]

In Japan, Toshiba sells a PVR with a built-in DVD recorder, allowing for easy archiving. I wonder when we'll see that here (where here=anywhere but Japan).

Buggers?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want to get buggered, you just need to go to your local hardcore lifestyle gathering spot and ask around a bit...

For Those Comparing To Tivo

[macsforever2001]

For those of you comparing prices with Tivo. Here's a comparable hacked Tivo unit with 250 hours of (lowest quality) recording time for $925.

It will send to other ReplayTVs via ethernet...

[-=OmegaMan=-]

... so, a hack to make your PC look like a ReplayTV at the end of the cable would be miiiiiiighty useful. :)

Re:It will send to other ReplayTVs via ethernet...

[datavortex]

... especially if you have a home network that includes a workstation with an ATI television card in it, as I do. An add-on for the GATOS project to allow a PC to appear to be a replay box, and then display the video would allow all sorts of niftyness. In my case, I could watch a recorded program in a window on my PC, while someone else watches live television in the next room. Now if I can just get a definitive answer to whether or not it is possible to buy the low-end model, and replace the hard drive myself...

Quickskip

[mac123]

Actually, I hear the Quickskip/30 seconds returns for v2.5 of the Tivo software....2.5 is already available on DTivos

Security, anyone?

[nuetrino]

Let me see if I got this right. The RePlay unit is now to be connected to Internet 24X7. The company needs to have access to the unit to upgrade software and presumable download viewing statistics. The software is remotely upgradeable. And to say more precisely, it doesn?t look like it can be behind a firewall because the company needs access to the unit.

So, are we talking a gleaming new attack vector into the home network with a guaranteed propagation strategy as user exchange content, or has security been taken seriously? I do not see anything in the specs or FAQ.

I would probably let a M$ box onto my network first.

Re:Security, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would probably let a M$ box onto my network first.

Oh. Now that is a thrilling strategy!

Re:Security, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Put down the crack pipe ... take a step back and explain exactly WHY listings and upgrades can't be a "pull" technology like a web page... which, incidentally, works quite well from behind a firewall.

*clicks a button to see what firmware upgrades are available*
*chooses v2.32.1*
*click the shiney "Upgrade" button and prays*

The 2 most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.
--unknown

Re:Security, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, yeah, how about this - shut down your system, step back, and go outside for a while. You'll discover a big-ass world out there, full of things you've never seen.

Things like firewalls that are so locked down they only allow HTTP traffic in and out. So if the RTV box uses anything other than port 80, they're screwed.

Then there's firewalls that not only lock down all ports, they also require you to proxy HTTP requests through the proxy server (only the proxy server can communicate with the outside world).

Of course, the more basic "firewalls" (typically built into routers) are friendly and allow incoming traffic provided you recently sent traffic out on that port. But you only see those in small outfits. Which you obviously work for...

Re:Security, anyone?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not a firewall, that's a gateway. UDP and incoming TCP are debatable, but if you can't even send SYN to an arbitrary host on an arbitrary port and receive SYN+ACK from it, you aren't connected to the global Internet.

One more thing I'd like to see

[boskone]

I'd like to see these come down a few bucks and also it would be really nice to be able to xfer the recorded programs to a PC so that we could convert to divx ;) or save to VCD's or whatever.

I want this feature for archival of cancelled or rarely aired shows (Tales of the Gold Monkey, Family Guy, Starblazers, etc.)

14 hours adequate for time shifting?

[peter303]

I figure I have about two hours a day for watching TV. At the most I'd time-shift up to seven days, but not be too interested in stuff more than a week old. So that would make about bulk 14 hours. Right now I find seven four-hour VCR tapes to be adequate and maybe view a quarter to a half of it. Random access disk video would allow me to browse 20-30 hours of TV in my 14 hours of viewing. So that would be enough for my needs.

Are there 320 hours worth recording?

[Pac]

You see, where I live I would be hard pressed to find 320 hours of TV to record on any given month.

Even 40 hours may be an overkill.

Maybe it would work well as an archiving tool. It would be nice to have all Babylon 5 in one place: 5 years * 52 * 50 minutes ~ 217 hours, leaving plenty of space for everything else. Unfortunately Bab is history now.

Re:Are there 320 hours worth recording?

[Pope]

It's even better than that: the *vast majority* of TV shows don't make 52 episodes a year. So unless you like have multiple copies of the same thing, you can record lots of other stuff in there too! ;)

Re:Are there 320 hours worth recording?

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, there are only 22 episodes of B5 per season and JMS edited them to syndication-strength so there are only 47 minutes of content per episode.
(5*22*47)/60 = ~86 hours

You could add in every episode of Crusade and still be under 100 hours. Not that you'd want to.

Re:Are there 320 hours worth recording?

[amuro98]

The number of hours usually reflects the capacity with the higest compression turned on - like recording at EP speed on your traditional VCR.

Stand alone Tivo units have other settings for quality, so your "30 hour Tivo" does:

30 hours at "basic"
~19 hours at "medium"
~15 hours at "high"
~10 hours at "best"

"medium" is about VHS SP quality in my opinion.

I recentally upgraded my Tivo to have a total of 160 GB across two disks. This gives me over 195 hours at "basic"...however I now record everything at "high" or "best." (even at "best", I have over 55 hours of storage.)

Supposedly 2.5 for standalone Tivos will also include variable bit rate encoding, which might boost your storage capacities a bit. 2.5 isn't out yet for standalone units.

DirecTivo units don't need to compress the signal - they simply record the raw digital signal you get off your dish. So they record everything in "best".

Re:Are there 320 hours worth recording?

[Anonymous Coward]

Has anybody done a comparison with SVHS?

IMO, Medium is worse than SVHS EP, but better than VHS EP. High is worse than SVHS SP, but again better than VHS SP. I don't want to talk about Basic.

So, Best is the only one I see that can really beat my SVHS SP archives..

Re:I r0X0r!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Suck what, my lollipop? OK, whatever.

P.S. The correct way to spell your post is
"I r0xOrz J00 suXOrZ no\v 5uX0R i7 d0\vN!"

quick acronym translator

[Kraft]

This is a tad off-topic, but I suppose I'm not the only one wondering what TANSTAAFL stands for. I can really recommend Atomica (formerly known as Gurunet). It's a small application running in the background. When you see a word/acronym/term/country/anything as text, you just alt-click on it, and an un-bloated window pops up with the meaing/translation/explanation immediatly. What is so cool about this program is that you can click on any text anywhere (except for on pics) - in your email client, browser, text editor. I use it a lot to get more info about some piece of news I read.

Btw, I alt-clicked on TANSTAAFL and Atomica gave me:

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Could have figured that one out... doh.

(Sorry, just for Windows and palm)

Re:quick acronym translator

[ek_adam]

> This is a tad off-topic, but I suppose I'm not the only one wondering what TANSTAAFL stands for.

TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, came from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.

Re:quick acronym translator

[unitron]

The acronym may have come from Heinlein, but the saying has been around a lot longer. Bars used to offer a free lunch, but in reality, the price you paid for beers covered the food price as well as the real beer price.

Microsoft's terra server

[peter303]

Microsoft and Oracle anticipated this have had terabyte video raid disks around for years. The stored TV market isn't quite there yet, so they have a demo on web that serves satellite images. Once there is a market, MicroSoft will be there.

Re:Hidden "features" like spyware, rights manageme

[Philipv1]

Probably your viewing habits. Which isnt bad if you think about it. Companies will pay for these habits and you'll see more shows based around the ones you like to watch, and you'll see less of the ones you hate to have on. Ad companies will be able to target you better. Also as far as fair use goes, it's legal to give taped copies of shows to friends to watch AFAIK. And as far as 'skipping commercials' this is only possible when you're watching pre-recorded shows, NOT real-time. And just like a normal tape VCR, you can just fast forward through commercials anyways, so this is also not infringing on anything, it's just a 2000 way of doing it (ie. better technology.).

Dubious

[romkey]

I'd love it if Replay actually ships what they're claiming to, but I'm dubious. When they shipped their first product, it had a firewire port on the back and their marketing literature advertised the fact that it was expandable via firewire. Never happened. They never made it work. After a while they just stopped answering questions about when it would work, then they denied that they'd ever said it would.

The features they advertise sound great. I hope they actually ship them.

Replay Legal Issues

[Anonymous Coward]

Replay doesn't stand a chance.

Although the specs on this box look very cool (not quite the "ultimate solution" yet, but a good step towards it) Replay is NOT going to be able to withstand the legal onslaught that will be unleashed upon them by the MPAA for all the "peer-to-peer replay-box" sharing bit.... :(

Re:Replay Legal Issues

[uucp]

Replay is NOT going to be able to withstand the legal onslaught that will be unleashed upon them by the MPAA for all the "peer-to-peer replay-box" sharing bit....

I don't understand how anyone could claim that this should be illegal. The design mimics the capabilities of a VCR, and adds no new additional risk to copyright. A video tape can be played on anyone's VCR, and a replay data file (or whatever that may be) can be played on anyone's ReplayTV. I don't see any new infringement here.

I do agree, however, that the shit-eating MPAA and their cock-sucking fascist lawyers will probably lie to the courts and the public about the amount of money they lose due to fair use. Frankly, society should fuck those little bitches in the head with a chainsaw.

Re:Replay Legal Issues

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, you tell 'em Jay!!! LOL That was Puuuurfect!!

Progressive video and digital audio output...?

[Anonymous Coward]

I really don't see the point in having progressive video and digital audio output if there is no progressive video and digital audio input. Doese anyone know what this is used for?

Do it yourself?

[Steve Mitchell]

So has anyone thought of an open source variant on Replay/Tivo? Consider you can get ATI video cards that can capture video in real time and hard drives for nothing, I could see maybe a specialized linux project to create the ultimate home converge box. Perhaps even a specialized linux distribution that could turn that spare high-end PC into headless super box beyond Replay and Tivo. Think of the cool projects that could revolve around this? Open Source databases of program listings that wouldn't be subscription based, IR interface for a remote, voice mail which would screen out telemarketers and display phone numbers on the screen, DVD, voice command channel changing, dim the lights, mix drinks, etc.

As long as we're feeling anal retentive

[MediaBoy77]

As long as we're being anal about it, a PVR wouldn't let you record only 47 minutes per episode... you get all 60 regardless of whether you watch the ads.

And don't forget the pilot episode!

So (5*22)+1 = 111 hours

Flamebait: But why would you want all 111 hours of B5 anyway??

Re:Progressive output.. HDTV Recording?

[ncc74656]

Standard broadcast tv is low resolution and interlaced. Putting progressive component ports on this thing implies display of something higher quality.

They could be doing on-the-fly deinterlacing, either in recording or (more likely) on playback. Some of the bigger TVs already do this...mainly HD monitors, IIRC (sometimes, they also throw in line doubling as an added bonus).

Inverse 3:2 pulldown would also be cool (it would enable higher-quality recording as your framerate falls from 29.97 to 23.976 while your bitrate stays the same), but I don't know how you could detect whether you should attempt it. It would only work for stuff that originated on film...stuff that never hits film, like news, sports, and soaps, would be screwed up if you applied inverse 3:2 pulldown to it.

listing of top notch open source PVRs?

[dan_bethe]

Hey all. I spent my dotcom days developing Linux-based rich media network appliances, so I don't mean to disrespect the hard work of TiVo, ReplayTV, or any PVR vendor other than Microsoft. ;) But I was wondering if any of you have any pointers to the state of the art in open source Video4Linux-based PVR apps. I'd like the following:

• change channels on digital cable or satellite (I don't know if a personal computer can do that without IR)
• get program listings via the Internet for digital cable or satellite, hopefully with categories
• have some utility to convert to Divx or 3ivx
• web-based or other GUI interface

I currently have partial use of the PlanB video chipset on my Powermac 8500 on Linux, and I would like to use it as a PVR. I'll either use my large RAID or get a faster CPU to compensate for PlanB's lack of realtime compression.

Thanks!

Re:listing of top notch open source PVRs?

[spood]

get program listings via the Internet for digital cable or satellite, hopefully with categories

Just use a Perl script to pull down the listings from TVGuide.com.

Re:Progressive output.. HDTV Recording?

[echo]

3:2 pulldown can be autodetected.

Check out http://deinterlace.sourceforge.net

What's Up With Progressive Scan and Digital Audio?

[snookerdoodle]

Since the inputs are only S-Video, ant (and no HDTV decoder), and stereo analog audio, what's the Big Deal with the fancy outputs?

Can you say GIGO?

PSARIANOS

[Anonymous Coward]

A tribute to: Psarianos

As long as I live a shall remember Turd Fergs0n.

Respect

upload limit?

[Anonymous Coward]

they claim @home will be a feasable connection, but my @home is capped to 15k/s UP. Wouldn't be much fun sharing movies and such with that cap. :/

Networks can opt out of file sharing!!

[raygundan]

See this post I made in the previous article about this for quotes and a link to the CNET article the quotes are from. Basically, networks will be given the ability to opt out of having shows shared. So this feature will probably be disabled for everything but PBS as soon as the networks realize their shows are being swapped around.

One of the replies to my post makes the creative suggestion of using a VCR to pass the information through to make it appear on a different channel (3 or 4) to trick the Replay into sharing stuff it shouldn't-- but this will only work if everything on channels 3 and 4 (according to the unit's guide data, I would assume) is blocked from sharing too.

I'm sure somebody will figure out a way around it, but then we're right back to having to hack it together yourself.

Re:Networks can opt out of file sharing!!

[ryanwright]

This makes one wonder: Why even bother putting in the show sharing features if you're going to let the networks opt-out? They'll all opt-out, obviously, so what's the point?

Consider a company who wants to let people share shows but doesn't have the cash to go through a couple dozen major lawsuits. This company could release a device that allows show swapping, let the networks opt-out, but conveniently make it very easy for the end user to hack the box to share anything. This shifts the blame to the users and turns the box into a cult-classic to people like us.

Face it: These boxes have been a hacker's thing for a long time. They were made to be hacked. There is a whole community dedicated to doing neat tricks with a Tivo. Maybe ReplayTV wants a slice of that enthusiasm? The show sharing and the ethernet port (they know someone will write an app to let you copy the shows to your PC - it's got to be painfully obvious to the people developing this box), if easily hackable, will sell a hell of a lot of these.

VGA output = no macrovision

[HuangBaoLin]

I remember the RIAA (or some other governing body) getting on Sony's case about the VGA out capability on its PS2, because there is no macrovision over VGA. You essentially could buy device (they exist) to convert the VGA out to flawless, macrovision free, s-video analog output for making perfect tape copies.

Re:VGA output = no macrovision

[Anonymous Coward]

does it matter? I think they would have other things to worry about then VHS tapes

Re:VGA output = no macrovision

[Anonymous Coward]

A box that receives VGA and sends composite or s-video is called a "scan converter". They aren't even that hard to find--in the US, CompUSA carries a few models.

Just one question...

[hal200]

Do the TV listings work in Canada? I know this was a problem with the TiVos the last time I checked... =(

Please track my viewing habits

[Punchinello]

Why do people get all upset about marketers tracking their viewing, shopping, ass-wiping, etc. habits? I think this is a desirable feature.

I'd like marketers to target me with coupons and adverts for items that I'm interested in. It's better than getting junk mail for crap I don't need.

TiVo and usability

[lightspawn]

the TiVo is a wonder of UI design. Although not perfect, it's getting there. After a few minutes with the unit, we were one.

This is why it won my fierce loyalty. Software that's designed to be used is so rare in today's world that whenever I find it, I feel like it is my friend. It likes me, and it will do what I ask instead of fighting me.

It's going to take more than capacity to make me even look elsewhere. If another company can do that, TiVo will - I'd rather wait for them than fight with a competitor.

Boycott Replay

[dickDragon]

They are part of the evil empire.
It's all microsofty inside.

Re:Boycott Replay

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice FUD post but TIVO and Replay are both *NIX based and have been hacked extensivly.

Way to do even minimal research before you post though!!

O Canada

[rakerman]

I see a number of comments about using Tivo and Replay in Canada. The only services in Canada that I know of are:
ATI All-in-Wonder Radeon (card that goes in your computer) and Bell Expressvu (satellite service).
I think some other bundles are coming from other satellite and cable providers (e.g. Rogers, StarChoice).

But...

[Anonymous Coward]

... my TV set doesn't have an annoying fan.

Try offering your PC as an upgrade to HIFI freaks.

Marko

PAL Support?

[peu]

Does anybody know if this box supports PAL formats?

Any of those device working in europe?

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems that TV in US is different from Europe.
Here we have PAL and/or SECAM.
We also have 16/9 and Teletex.
For better picture we have PALplus.
And we have Stereo NICAM.
Also HDTV is comming.

I was wondering if there were any device out there that would work in Europe (non NTSC only)?

If I owned a broadcast station, I would LOVE this.

[jfisherwa]

Free advertising.

I can stick my little network station logo on the bottom right of the screen. These people swapping have a chance of seeing *my* advertisements. (which makes me look good to my advertisers)

I have this feeling that this will be accepted more so than Napster has. This isn't about stealing movies and giving movies to your friends -- this is about sharing *sitcoms* with your friends. (or atleast let's let them think that, for these exact reasons)

Let's say Seinfeld is running. I record it and send it to a friend -- does that remove income from the company providing Seinfeld to me? No. Because next week they are going to show a new episode -- so the question is, what is the half-life of a sitcom episode? .. Much less than that of a movie. A show in-running has a new episode every week.

Popular networks are going to stand behind this. More people watching my shows = more popularity for that show = more advertising dollars I can charge once Neilsen starts providing rating figures.

Jason

false advertising

[Anonymous Coward]

The ReplayTV 4000 claims to be the first networked DVR -- NOT TRUE! SnapStream has been doing it for well over a year.

Replay Spyware

[Anonymous Coward]

Did they remove the spyware?

using your PCs hard drives?

[martyn s]

it says that it must be hooked up on a "home network." Is it possible to use your hard drive for storage space?

Re:using your PCs hard drives?

[martyn s]

I'm talking about a PC's hard drive.

Re:Progressive output.. HDTV Recording?

[QuMa]

Wouldn't doing the deinterlacing before encoding give much better compression ratios?

Re:Progressive output.. HDTV Recording?

[ncc74656]

Wouldn't doing the deinterlacing before encoding give much better compression ratios?

It usually does...it's what I do when I reencode my TiVo rips to burn them to SVCD. I didn't know if it could be done on-the-fly, but another poster has already answered that question.