Best DVRs

History of DVRs

DVRs have been around for a long time. Much longer than most people realize, in fact. The very first DVRs to hit the market were Microsoft's ReplayTV and the original TiVo model, both of which premiered in 1999. Back then, VCRs were still the most popular (and really the only) way to record anything broadcast on television. The DVR helped make the process of recording a television show quite simple, especially in comparison to a VCR. VCRs required a fair amount of manual programming to set up to record a show at a specific time, and this was often quite complicated and difficult to do as it all had to be done using the few buttons on the front of the device, with no on-screen menu to help with the process. DVRs, meanwhile, provided a simple on-screen menu which allowed you to not only record a show at a specific time, but browse through the listings, set an option to record each new episode of a particular television show, and overall a much easier to use and better experience. The only thing that kept them from being a staple in every person's living room at the time was the high price tag.

During the early days of the DVR, both ReplayTV and TiVo competed for the crown. While ReplayTV met with some moderate success. TiVo gained the most attention, becoming popular enough with DVR enthusiasts to help make the brand a well-known name. For many years after their introduction, to "TiVo" something meant to record a show on a DVR. However, the high price tag of the early models still kept them out of many people's living rooms.

Cable TV Providers Enter the Scene

While TiVo did meet with some success, they still were only in a small percentage of homes in the US. Their successes didn't go unnoticed by many of the big cable TV providers, who started working on DVR models of their own. TiVo also managed to attract the attention of many content providers, who didn't feel that it was legal for them to provide such features as commercial skipping, thus cutting into the revenue of many television networks. TiVo, along with several other DVR providers, soon removed such features in order to help appease the content providers, who were always vigilant about possible piracy.

Meanwhile, many of the cable TV providers started releasing their own custom DVRs, often including them with cable subscription packages. While many of these DVRs had similar features to TiVo, many of them also lacked the intuitive interface that made TiVo DVRs so easy and pleasant to use. Despite this, the market soon became watered down with custom DVR models, each with its own set of features.

Recent Years

TiVo, despite the setbacks they have suffered, are still around, and still provide excellent DVRs. However, there are many other DVRs on the market, many of which provide features that most TiVo or cable company provided boxes do not, such as recording from different video inputs, clip editing, separate audio track recording, and many others. There is even software for the standard PC that allows you to turn your computer into a DVR. With all of the healthy competition available on the market now, today is definitely the right time to purchase your own DVR.

Q: How do DVRs work?

A: DVRs are basically very similar in terms of hardware to a standard computer. They use many of the same technologies as computers, but instead of running an operating system like Windows or MacOS, they have their own custom software that focuses on providing the services and features common to the devices. A DVR records video by taking the video output from another source, such as a cable box or TV antenna, and then recording that video and storing it on some form of mass storage, most commonly a hard drive. The very basic function of this is similar to how VCRs used to work.

Q: Are DVRs difficult to use?

A: This mostly depends on the DVR in question. However, most recent DVRs are extremely simple to setup and use, with many of them featuring intuitive on-screen menus and guides that help you find and use the features offered by the device.

Q: Is it legal to record shows from television on a DVR?

A: This question has been hotly debated ever since the introduction of the first DVRs, with many broadcast television networks concerned about DVRs providing a way for people to watch shows while being able to easily skip commercials. Since advertising revenue has traditionally been the main source of revenue for any TV station or network, this was a legitimate cause for concern. However, in the present day, DVRs are perfectly legal to use to record broadcast television.

Q: Is it legal to use DVRs to record video from non-broadcast television, such as from DVD or Blu-Ray players, or online streaming boxes?

A: The terms for using a DVR to record video from other media sources has been a sticky issue. Many modern devices such as home media players include copy protection built-in, and the terms of service of their use often dictate that it is not legal to record video from their service. If you are using a DVR to record video from such services, it is best to keep this in mind.

Q: Are there any legal prohibitions regarding video content that I record with a DVR?

A: Legal prohibitions regarding recorded content can vary, depending on the content provider. In general, it is legal to record broadcast television, and there is also a legal gray area in regards to recording video content from other sources. However, in all cases, it is illegal to distribute copyrighted content that has been recorded for any purpose, including such actions as selling or giving away copies of such content. If you are unsure of the legality of your actions with a DVR, it is best to check with the provider of the content that you wish to record.

Q: How can I edit the video content that I have recorded with my DVR?

A: Some DVR models include features that allow for simple editing of recorded content, such as editing out commercials. However, for more full-featured editing, it is probably best to copy the content to a computer in order to edit with video editing software.

Q: What are some best practices for scheduling television shows to be recorded?

A: Many DVRs make it very simple to schedule recordings for television shows, with many making it a matter of simply selecting the show from a guide and pressing a button. However, some DVRs can have trouble with discerning a brand new episode of a television show from a rerun. If your DVR supports automatically checking for new episodes as opposed to reruns, you can simply select that option to make sure that you are recording the correct episode instead of one you have seen before.

Another good practice is to schedule your recordings to start a short time before and to finish a short time after the scheduled start of a program. Not doing so many results in the very beginning or ending of a show to be cut off.