TiVo Gets Huge Horsepower Boost

[Gregg Lengling]

TiVo and other digital video recorders will get a serious boost in horsepower later this year as manufacturers start selling DVRs that can record high-definition television programming.

Several of the new, more robust high-definition DVRs will sport 250-GB hard drives -- enough room to store 30 hours of high-definition programming or about 200 hours of standard broadcast.

The beefier hard drives are necessary because signals for high-definition TV, or HDTV, carry far more information per frame than standard TV. For example, one HDTV standard in the United States (1080i) calls for images that are 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, refreshed 60 times a second. By comparison, standard analog TV in the United States is 500 dots by 525 dots.

But while the huge storage will please consumers, another "feature" of the new generation of machines may not: Under pressure from Hollywood, the manufacturers will include copy-protection schemes that will prevent users from sharing recorded programs or playing them on other devices, like a PC.

The content will be protected by two mechanisms. The first is Digital Visual Interface (or DVI), which shuttles digital signals from the DVR to the display. DVI works with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (or HDCP), which encrypts that signal and ensures that only an authorized device can display the content.

In practice, a chipset in the DVR will check to see if the HDTV display has the right clearance to play a program. If the display does, the DVR will play back with perfect clarity. If the display doesn't, the DVR will play the content back at a lower resolution -- or not at all.

The DVR manufacturers say they built in these mechanisms because content producers are concerned the DVRs could become the ultimate piracy tool.

What's more, the popularity of TiVo, and devices like it, threatens television broadcasters, who depend on large audiences watching the same thing at the same time to pull in advertising dollars. High-definition copies of The Simpsons with the commercials edited out and distributed through peer-to-peer networks would bury the television business.

"If they give a satellite or cable company an HD copy of a new movie, they need some assurances that the content will be secure," said Marty Zanfino, director of product development for Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America. "They want the content to be protected all the way to the customer's screen."

Despite the mistrustful attitude toward customers, the new devices likely will become must-have items for HDTV customers, who already demand the latest and greatest.

Here's a rundown of some the offerings:

EchoStar Dish Network: The company was the first out of the gate. In mid-December, it began selling the first high-definition DVR, which records programming off its satellite TV network. DishPlayer's product boasts a 250-GB hard drive and three tuners that let viewers watch one show and record two others at the same time. The $1,000 device also can record standard-definition programming.

< strong>DirecTV's HD DVR: DirecTV and TiVo are pairing up to sell an HDTV DVR with a 250-GB hard drive that can store about 30 hours of high-definition programming, or 200 hours of standard-definition programming. It also would sell for $1,000 and will be available March or April, according to the company.

Subscribers to the satellite television service will be able to record high-definition programs like The Tonight Show or CSI, as well as premium programming such as HBO and ESPN (which now have separate channels broadcast in HD).

The new DirecTV HD DVR has four tuners. Two of the tuners can receive DirecTV programming and two receive over-the-air programming. The device can record two programs at once.

Scientific-Atlanta: In December, the Explorer 8000HD-DVR became available to Time Warner digital cable subscribers (and Packer fans) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This is the first market where the company is testing the product.

LG: The HDTV DVR by LG features a smaller, 120-GB drive that records high-definition cable broadcasts. It has three tuners and can record about 12 hours of HD and 120 hours of analog shows. It will be available sometime this month and will retail for $1,000.

The product uses FireWire to send recorded programming to high-end VCRs or camcorders -- but not PCs.

ReplayTV: The company does not have a high-definition DVR on the market yet, and won't comment on its plans. "We are looking at this market space to find when these three things converge: content availability, market penetration of displays and the underlying componentry to manage the signal," said Bill Lowenthal, vice president of product marketing for ReplayTV.