Digital Video Recorder: What Is A PVR Or A DVR?

The Personal Video Recorder replaces your VCR
Don't things move quickly nowadays? It seems only yesterday that the first VCRs became available and changed the way that we used our TVs forever. Now it seems that you will soon have to replace all your old analog TV equipment including your VCR with digital TV receivers and digital video recorders (DVR) if you haven't done so already.
Analog satellite TV, cable and terrestrial TV transmissions will soon be turned off and when that happens you will need digital TV equipment if you plan to continue to watch TV.
If you don't want to change your VCR at this time you will still be able to record digital TV from the analog AV output of your digital receiver but you won't be able to take advantage of all the new features on offer. In fact you will have fewer options available to you than before unless you upgrade to a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) or a DVR.
Digital Video Recorder or DVR explained?
A DVR captures digital video or digital TV and records it onto a hard drive like the one in your computer. In fact a DVR is a computer dedicated to the task of recording and playing back digital video. All a computer needs to be able to do this over and above all the usual stuff is a digital TV tuner.
Your DVR tuner has to be able to receive and decode signals from your chosen provider so there are different types available depending on whether you use digital satellite TV, cable or terrestrial TV.
Some systems that provide premium pay for channels will insist that you use their own equipment to receive their programming and you may have to pay even more to use their PVR or DVR equipment
What does a DVR do for you?
With a DVR you can capture and record digital TV programs onto a hard drive that's inside the unit. You can typically record up to about 40 hours of video onto the internal hard drive.
A DVR makes it possible to record a live transmission while you are watching a recording and if you have a DVR with two digital tuners then you can watch one channel while you are recording another or record 2 programs from different channels while watching a recording made earlier.
Your DVR will also pause live TV if you want it to and restart it later. It turns live transmissions into recordings on the fly.
Personal Video Recorder or PVR explained?
A PVR or Personal Video Recorder is a DVR with some advanced features. For instance with a PVR you might find that it can learn what programs you watch and automatically record them for you if you forget to set the recorder. You can also use a PVR to create a recording playback list and have it record only the best programs and then watch them as if it were your own personal TV channel.
Read the full article at Personal Video Recorders: PVR and DVR
How the satellite TV system works Satellite TV: How Does It Work at http://www.sattelite-television.thegrandfatherclock.com
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