If you have ever loved a television show, or a sports team, you know the excitement and anticipation as the day of the newest episode or the next game approaches, and you also know the heartache and agony of missing it. VCR technology has always been something of a solution, but between tapes, the extra equipment, and the frustration of sorting through cryptic menus, it was always less than ideal. DVR, or digital video recorder, has revolutionized the way we view satellite TV and makes missing the big game or the season premier a thing of the past. What’s more, these systems are easy to use, allow you to record in high definition, and can be operated even when you are not at home.
DVR stands for Digital Video Recorder and refers to a system that allows digital television signals to be captured on a hard drive for access at a later date or time. A DVR tuner may be built in to the receiver provided by your satellite or cable provider, but separate DVR systems can be purchased and attached externally to your existing equipment. Newer DVD players/recorders include hard drives for program recording, and there is even technology and equipment available to allow you to turn your home computer into a DVR system. Each system contains a hard-drive with a pre-installed computer operating system that manages data storage and provides the brains behind the user interface.
One of DVR’s chief selling points is that it is seamless in that there is no tape to buy, unpack, put in, take care of, label, etc. The tape is the hard drive itself, and with advances in digital compression, hours and hours of television shows can be saved on the device itself and easily accessed for later viewing. It also means that you will never have to miss a show because you are out of blank tapes, or be distraught because someone recorded over your favorite show or that sports game you were waiting to watch. It also means, however, that your storage space is somewhat limited, but standard hard drive sizes are increasing seemingly daily, and some systems allow you to expand the memory available simply by adding a new memory card.
The best part about DVR is the freedom you have to manipulate playback. For example, imagine that you get home halfway through a two-hour special that you’ve been dying to watch. With a VCR you would have to wait until the program had finished to start from the beginning and waste time that perhaps you do not have. With DVR, however, you have the power to simply go back in time. DVR systems allow you to watch a show in progress, from the beginning without pausing the current recording. This functionality also gives you the power of personal instant replay for sports viewing, meaning that you can “rewind” to see the last play and then skip ahead to the live action or view what you missed in between.
Take full advantage of
Direct TV programming with a DVR system. Look for
Directtv Packages that include DVR-equipped receivers.
