PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com/media/feedlogo.gif PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/HD DVD hacker interviewedhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/hd-dvd-hacker-interviewed/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/hd-dvd-hacker-interviewed/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/hd-dvd-hacker-interviewed/#commentsFiled under: , ,


HD DVDYou've probably heard that the new HD-DVD format, which was reportedly un-crackable, has been hacked. Last week the anonymous hacker that goes by the name of muslix64 was interviewed by Slyck.com

This was an extremely interesting interview with muslix64 who sounded like a modest and intelligent character that was more interested in fair rights for the consumer than promoting piracy.

The reason that muslix64 started hacking the HD DVD protection was because he wasn't able to appropriately play back a HD DVD film that he purchased on a non-HDCP HD monitor.

Interestingly muslix64 also described that the hacking that DVD Jon did to crack the protection on DVDs some years ago, was actually technically more difficult than what he himself did with HD DVD.
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]]>hd dvdHdDvdinterviewmuslix64Chris Tew2007-01-29T14:33:00+00:00Pimped Out John: the ultimate entertainment center for your pottyhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/pimped-out-john-the-ultimate-entertainment-center-for-your-pott/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/pimped-out-john-the-ultimate-entertainment-center-for-your-pott/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/pimped-out-john-the-ultimate-entertainment-center-for-your-pott/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Pimped out ToiletIf you'd rather watch TV in the bathroom than read the paper, you might as well go all out, right?

Roto Rooter is sponsoring a contest for a "Pimped out John." The winner will get a flat screen HDTV, laptop computer, an iPod with a dock, a TiVo, an Xbox 360, and a DVD player, portable fridge, and other components to make sure you never have to leave your favorite room in the house. Oh yeah, and there's a Kohler toilet thrown in for good measure.

The contest begins January 24th, it's not clear at this point what you have to do to win, but Roto Rooter is encouraging people to sign up for the company's newsletter "to be reminded when the sweepstakes begins."

[via CE Pro]
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]]>pimppimp my toiletpimped out johnPimpedOutJohnPimpMyToiletroto rooterRotoRooterBrad Linder2007-01-18T07:43:00+00:00Netflix trials video streaming servicehttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/netflix-trials-video-download-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/netflix-trials-video-download-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/netflix-trials-video-download-service/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


NetflixYou know, when we first heard rumors that Netflix was going to offer video downloads, possibly even partnering with TiVo, it sounded pretty exciting. But that was in 2005.

Now everybody and his grandmother has a video download store. Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, AOL etc. Still, Netflix has been an innovator in movie delivery and product recommendations, so when I heard today that they would be launching a limited trial of their service, I was still excited.

And then I found out that the company has a DVD catalog of over 70,000 titles, and what are they making available online? Older movies that don't get rented very often, like Amadeus, Chinatown, and The Bridge on the River Kwai. That's right, Netflix is competing with basic cable here. All told, about a thousand movies should be available online at launch, so I'm hoping there's some better ones in the mix somewhere.
So how does the service work? Well, as you're making selections on the Netflix website, some movies will have a little "watch now" button. The first time you click on it, you'll have to install a browser applet, which is supposed to take about a minute. From then on, any time you click watch now, you'll be able to start watching a movie within 10 to 15 seconds.

The movie opens inside of your browser (I hope there's a full screen option), and you can pause, or jump around in the movie using a position bar. You'll need an internet connection of 1Mb/second to take advantage of the service, and the higher your connection speed, (up to 3Mb/second), the higher quality your video feed will be.

Unlike most movie download services, which charge you per download, Netflix will stick with the subscription model. That's not to say your $17.99 a month will give you access to unlimited movies. For $5.99 a month, you'll have access to six hours of online movie watching per month, while for $17.99 you'll get access to 18 hours. I think that's on top of your usual DVD rental services, rather than in addition to, but it's not entirely clear from the press release.

Right now, only a small number of Netflix users have access to the download service, but there are plans to roll it out to all users by the end of June.

[via The Mercury News]
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]]>netflixBrad Linder2007-01-16T08:56:00+00:00How to use a TiVo DVD theme using TiVoToGo for Machttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Mac TiVo DVD menuSo first TiVo goes and outsources TiVoToGo for Mac to Roxio, and then Roxio leaves out one of the promised features, a TiVo theme on DVDs you burn from TiVoToGo recordings.

Well, it turns out that since TiVoToGo is built into Toast Titanium 8, and since Roxio figures that a fairly small number of Toast users will really be using the TiVo functions, they left the TiVo theme out of the official release. That seems a bit silly. Why bother building TiVoToGo functions into your product and then leave out a theme that only takes up a few megabytes?

Anyway, Dave Zatz posts a link to download the TiVo theme. All you have to do is download the file, unzip it, save tivo.psd to the Toast DVD Menu Styles folder, and you're done. Zatz also points out that since the file is a psd file, you could probably use Photoshop to edit the theme to your liking
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]]>dvd themesDvdThemesmacroxiotivotogotoast titanium 8ToastTitanium8Brad Linder2007-01-15T13:43:00+00:00HD DVDs backup/copy crack making progress - tracked title keyshttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/hd-dvds-cracked/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/hd-dvds-cracked/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/hd-dvds-cracked/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


HD DVDEarlier this month I reported that HD DVDs had been sort of cracked. By "sort of cracked" I mean you could backup/copy a HD DVD providing you had access to the hard-coded "Volume Unique Keys", but how you would get hold of these keys was pretty much unknown.

However, now members of the Doom9 forum have tracked down the elusive key in memory and have already started leaking keys for a few HD titles including Serenity, King Kong and 12 Monkeys.

The cracking battle is not over yet due to a little part of the HD DVD protection system called Key Revocation. Key revocation procedures ensure that devices manufactured by any vendors who violate the license agreement could be relatively easily blocked from receiving HD data.

At this point it's not very clear what this will mean in reality and how it will effect HD DVD players and their users, some playback issues with the ripped HD movies have already been reported.
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]]>backupcopycrackhd dvdHdDvdprotectionChris Tew2007-01-15T05:54:00+00:00Vault 360 video and media manager and converterhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/vault-360-video-transcoder/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/vault-360-video-transcoder/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/vault-360-video-transcoder/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Vault 360Another product out of CES this week is the Vault 360 media converter from Bamboo Technology that acts as a central hub for your media, allowing you to manage and convert your media collection so it is ready for playback on a variety of devices.

Rather than using a whole suite of software to convert various formats into other various formats, Vault 360 will handle it all.

When it comes to video Vault 360 can convert video files such as AVI, DivX, MPEG, WMV, etc to DVD format and other formats ready for playback on portable devices. It can also import and convert video from DVDs, camcorders, video recorders such as TiVo, Media Center PCs, DVRs and even from VCDs and VHS

Vault 360 supports "virtually any portable device" converting video files into the correct format. It already supports a number of specific products and Bamboo will also add support for new devices as they come out. Vault 360 also contains a built in scripting language that allows others to add support for more media devices.
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]]>conversionmediavault 360Vault360videoChris Tew2007-01-08T17:54:00+00:00CES first look rounduphttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/ces-roundup-day-1/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/ces-roundup-day-1/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/ces-roundup-day-1/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


CinemaNow Zoran PMP

Zoran is working on a new OEM portable media player designed to work with CinemaNow and other movie download services. I believe this is the first PMP designed to work with CinemaNow. While the company's been around longer than Apple's been selling videos through iTunes, it'll be tough for anyone to compete with Apple when it comes to selling videos that you can download and sync to a portable player.

MSI Media CenterMSI Media Live is showcasing a new Media Center PC featuring AMD64 dual-core processors, a 12-in-1 card reader, and support for AMD LIVE!, HDMI, and NVIDIA PureVideo, among other buzzwords.
Addlogic PC2TV EchoViewFM
While the Addlogix PC2TV EchoView FM may not have a catchy name like Apple's iTV, Apple's said they'll probably change the name anyway. So if Steve Jobs announces they'll be calling the new device "Apple's audio visual component for transferring video downloaded from iTunes through your home network to a television set," then Addlogix may actually have a chance in the marketing game.

Anyway, the PC2TV has a DVI output, and supports streaming of up to 720p video at 30 frames per second over an 802.11g network. It'll hit shelves in February for about $200.


Netgear EV800Oh yeah, and Netgear showed off own iTV competitor, the EVA800 during a keynote this morning. It's a networked Digital Entertainer HD device that streams 1080p content from a PC. You can stream video stored on your hard drive or online content including YouTube videos.

If you've got multiple boxes, you can hit pause on a recording in one room, walk into another room and pick up where you left off.

Cyberlink HD pluginCyberlink is showing off its latest version of PowerDVD, which includes a plugin for Vista Media Center.

Unlike most video formats, you don't simply install a new CODEC. Instead Cyberlink integrates directly into Media Center so that when you choose to play a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movie, the Media Center application closes and Cyberlink PowerDVD opens.

It'd be nice to be able to watch your hi-def movies in the same user interface as the rest of your multimedia content. But at this point it's just nice to see an easy way to watch next generation optical discs on a Media Center machine.

LG's got a new combo Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive that you can plug into a PC or a television set. The GGW-H10N will set you back about $1200, but for that price you get to not just watch hi-def videos, but you can also burn Blu-Ray discs (although not HD-DVD).

Matsunichi ips 70Lest you think Matsunichi has only got digital picture frames on display at CES, check out this iPS 70 docking station for the iPod. It lets you watch video from your iPod on a nice 7-inch display. It's got a 16:9 aspect ratio, built in speakers, including a subwoofer, and a headphone jack. You can either watch at home, or carry it with you, where you'll get four hours of battery life.

Philips also has their DCP portable media player on display. The PMP handles a variety of video formats, including DivX and MP4. You can watch content from the included flash card recorder, or from an iPod with the included iPod dock. You only get 2.5 hours of battery life on a 7-inch or 8.5-inch screen.

And on the mobile TV front, GigaOM is reporting that Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm will be announcing the launch of MediaFLO mobile TV this week. This follows news that Modeo and Samsung are each working on their own TV distribution systems for mobile phone customers.

Sprint, MobiTV, Intel, Samsung, and Motorola also plan to demonstrate mobile TV over WiMax, and Cingular will demonstrate a service letting customers share a live video stream with other users during a voice phone call.


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]]>addlogixblu-raycescinemanowcyberlinkhd-dvdipodlgmsizoranBrad Linder2007-01-07T15:00:00+00:00When will we see a new TiVo/DVD Recorder Hybridhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/04/when-will-we-see-a-new-tivo-dvd-recorder-hybrid/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/04/when-will-we-see-a-new-tivo-dvd-recorder-hybrid/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/04/when-will-we-see-a-new-tivo-dvd-recorder-hybrid/#commentsFiled under: , ,


TiVoHard disk and DVD recorder hybrids are a popular personal recording solution since it gives people the easy option of keeping recordings on their TiVo and burning those extra special recordings to DVD to keep permanently.

When it comes to PVRs TiVo is definitely a very popular solution yet we haven't seen a new TiVo/DVD recorder hybrid for a good few years. Currently the models available are the:
  • Pioneer DVR-810H - 80-hour TiVo
  • Toshiba RS-TX20 - 140-hour TiVo
  • Humax DRT800 - 80-hour TiVo
In the UK the Sony RDR-HXD860 hybrid hard disk and DVD recorder (which is not a TiVo) appeared to be one of the best selling PVRs this Christmas and I'm sure there must be a high demand for a new high capacity Series 2 or Series 3 hybrid TiVo in the US.

With the new Blu-ray and HD DVD discs hitting the market we could even possibly see a new TiVo hybrid recorder that uses the Blu-ray or HD DVD format, although I'm not too sure the demand for these formats is high enough in the US at the moment.

If and when a new hybrid TiVo is announced we'll let you know...
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]]>dvdhybridrecordertivoChris Tew2007-01-04T18:48:00+00:00Burning PVR recordings to DVDhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/27/burning-pvr-recordings-to-dvd/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/27/burning-pvr-recordings-to-dvd/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/27/burning-pvr-recordings-to-dvd/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


toshiba hybrid dvd pvrBurning recorded video from a PVR to a DVD recorder is something that a lot of us want to do but unfortunately it is not always such an easy task. Here is a brief outline of some of the ways you can go about burning PVR recordings to a DVD:
  • Connect your PVR to your TV and DVD recorder using RCA composite cables, S-Video cables or the traditional coaxial cable. You can then, depending on the setup on your PVR:
    a) use the "record to VCR" feature on your PVR such as on a Sceintific Atlantic PVR.
    b) playback PVR recordings through your TV and then, while they play, record them from the TV to your DVD recorder.
  • Connect your PVR to a PC and export recordings from your PVR to your PC's hard drive. Different models of PVRs will have different PC software for the job and some won't have this functionality at all. If you have a TiVo the softare to use is TiVo2Go. Once the recording is on your PC you simply convert and burn the copied recordings from your PC and onto a DVD using a DVD writer and DVD burning software such as Nero. Dave Zatz shows you how to do it with a TiVo PVR and the Nero software. There are also some instructions on how to do this with a DirecTiVo.
  • By far the easiest option is simply to get a hybrid DVD and hard drive PVR such as the Sony RDR-HXD560 or the TiVo Toshiba hybrid PVR.
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]]>dvddvrpvrrecordrecorderrecordingtivoChris Tew2006-12-27T18:00:00+00:00Get "All My Movies" for free (today only)http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/get-all-my-movies-for-free-today-only/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/get-all-my-movies-for-free-today-only/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/21/get-all-my-movies-for-free-today-only/#commentsFiled under: , ,


All My Movies

No, I'm not giving away my personal video collection. But Giveaway of the Day is giving away a free copy of All My Movies, a video database program.

The program lets you grab information from the IMDB or other online databases for Russian, German, Dutch, French, Polish, Italian and Spanish films. You can then save that information in a personal database. You can also capture screenshots from DVD or AVI files and add them to the databse. Movie posters are pulled from sites like Amazon.

You can add videos using UPC codes, which you can type in or scan if you happen to have a bar code scanner. There's a search function, a loan manager to help you keep track of your videos, and the ability to export your database to an HTML, TXT, or XLS file. You can also export your data to a cell phone or PDA.

Sorry for the late notice about the deal, I just discovered it a few minutes ago. But the deal's still good for a few hours. The program regularly goes for $34.95, although there's a 25% discount if you buy before Christmas.
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]]>all my moviesAllMyMoviescollectiondatabaseBrad Linder2006-12-21T17:36:00+00:00Why I don't watch DVDs anymorehttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/20/why-i-dont-watch-dvds-anymore/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/20/why-i-dont-watch-dvds-anymore/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/20/why-i-dont-watch-dvds-anymore/#commentsFiled under:


DVDYou ever happen across one of those blog posts that makes so much sense that you think, why didn't I write that first? Well Brian Watson does a great job of summing up why I never really watch DVDs anymore.

Before we got our first PVR, we had a Netflix subscription. But over the past 2-3 years, I could probably count on one hand that number of DVDs I've watched -- and that's including DVDs I own.

Here are some of the advantages a PVR has over a DVD player:
  • A PVR will save your place in as many programs as you want. As soon as you pop a disc out of a DVD player you've lost your place.
  • You can store as many movies as your hard drive will allow on a PVR, giving you a large library of videos to choose from.
  • You don't have to get up from the couch and take a DVD out of its case and load it in the player every time you want to watch a movie on a PVR.
  • You don't have to wait for a PVR to boot up or for a movie to go through an FBI warning screen before you can start watching.
  • DVD discs can get scratched up if you leave them lying about. I guess theoretically your hard drive could get damaged if you left it lying about... but what are the odds of that happening?
  • You don't have to pay for DVD purchases or rentals. Depending on what type of PVR you have, you may have had to pay a 1-time fee to set it up, or you may pay a monthly fee. And depending on how many movies you watch, this may be cheaper than renting DVDs.
Of course, there are a few advantages to DVDs:
  • Movies come out on DVD sooner than they do on cable, especially if you don't subscribe to premium channels.
  • DVDs don't take up any space on your hard drive, leaving room to record other shows.
  • Umm... that's all I've got.
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]]>comparisondvd vs. pvrDvdVs.PvrBrad Linder2006-12-20T10:19:00+00:00DVD players outnumber VCRs in US homeshttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/dvd-players-outnumber-vcrs-in-us-homes/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/dvd-players-outnumber-vcrs-in-us-homes/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/19/dvd-players-outnumber-vcrs-in-us-homes/#commentsFiled under: ,


VCROkay, here's a shocker... 79.2% of all American households have at least one VCR. This statistic jumped out at me far more than the headline of Nielsen's latest press release that "DVD Players Surpass VCRs."

I mean, it shouldn't be surprising. My parents are satellite subscribers. They have hundreds of channels at their fingertips. They have a 32" LCD HDTV. And they have a VCR. And they can't seem to figure out why hi-def programs they record on VHS don't look very good during playback. Old technologies die hard. Except for the 8-track.

Anyway, apparently DVD players have finally overtaken VCRs in US homes, with 81.2% of all households reporting that they have a DVD player. That's up 6% from last year.

Nielsen's been tracking DVD ownership since 1999, when only 6.7% of households reported owning one. 88.6% of households had a VCR at that point. So while DVDs have caught up over the last 7 years, it looks like a relatively small number of people are ready to throw out that VCR altogether, whether they use it or not.
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]]>dvd playerDvdPlayernielsenresearchstudyvcrBrad Linder2006-12-19T14:00:00+00:00Rip Blu-Ray movies on a PS3http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/01/rip-blu-ray-movies-on-a-ps3/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/01/rip-blu-ray-movies-on-a-ps3/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/12/01/rip-blu-ray-movies-on-a-ps3/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Talladega nights dump

So you've dropped $600 on a PS3 (or a few thousand dollars to pick one up on eBay), only to realize that you hate video games. Well, as it turns out you've not only picked up a Blu-Ray player for your living room, but you can also install Linux on it.

And once you can install Linux, you can do all sorts of things, like say, ripping Blu-Ray Movies. The folks over at the PS3News forums have managed to dump the data from a Blu-Ray copy of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. It takes up 20.9GB of space on the hard drive, so you'll need to get a 60GB PS3 or an external hard drive if you want to rip movies. And once you do it's up to you to figure out how to burn a copy. Or if you want a media center that can only hold a few movies at a time, then I guess you're all set.

Of course, if you've gone through all the trouble of installing Linux on your PS3 and ripping a hi-def movie, it probably wouldn't be that hard to compress it to DivX or XviD.

[via eHomeUpgrade]
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]]>blu-rayhdlinuxripBrad Linder2006-12-01T09:00:00+00:00Wal-Mart launching video download servicehttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/28/wal-mart-launching-video-download-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/28/wal-mart-launching-video-download-service/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/28/wal-mart-launching-video-download-service/#commentsFiled under: ,


Wal-MartI've always maintained that the reason Napster was so popular when it was new is because it made it easier to download music than to rip your own CD collection.

Well, Wal-Mart seems to agree with that reasoning, and they're set to begin offering movie downloads -- for DVDs you've already purchased at a Wal-Mart store.

The service will roll out nationwide on Wednesday, starting with customers who purchase the DVD of Superman Returns. You'll be able to download the film in three different formats. A low-resolution version for portable devices will cost $1.97, while $2.97 will get you a PC version, and $3.97 will get you a bundle with versions formatted for both PCs and portable devices.

About 40 percent of all the DVDs sold in the US are currently sold through Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart says it will offer other DVD/digital download bundles, and also plans to launch a beta version of an online video store featuring movie and television content.

I think the bundle idea is interesting. While ripping a DVD for viewing on a PC or portable media player would be easy for tech-savvy consumers, I think a lot of people would find the idea of a digital download for just a few extra dollars appealing. On the other hand, this is kind of like asking you to pay again for something you've already purchased.
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]]>wal-martwalmartBrad Linder2006-11-28T11:30:00+00:00Linksys networked DiVX/DVD player & media extenderhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/24/linksys-networked-divx-dvd-player-and-media-extender/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/24/linksys-networked-divx-dvd-player-and-media-extender/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/24/linksys-networked-divx-dvd-player-and-media-extender/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Linksys DP1600Linksys is entering the home video player market after having purchased consumer electronics company KiSS last year. The first product to bear Linksys's name is the DP1600 -- a networked DVD player that supports DiVX, XviD, WMV9, MP3, and MPEG 1/2/and 4 video files.

The DP1600 includes Scart, composite, S-Video, component, HDMI, optical and SPIDF connections, as well as an ethernet and 802.11 b/g wireless.

The DP1600 will also work as a media extender for Windows Vista Media Center. No price has been set, but the device should be available in December.
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]]>dp1600linksysmedia extenderMediaExtenderBrad Linder2006-10-24T10:04:00+00:00Transferring Recorded Shows on a Scientific Atlanta PVR to a DVD Recorderhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/18/transferring-recorded-shows-on-a-scientific-atlanta-pvr-to-a-dvd/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/18/transferring-recorded-shows-on-a-scientific-atlanta-pvr-to-a-dvd/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/18/transferring-recorded-shows-on-a-scientific-atlanta-pvr-to-a-dvd/#commentsFiled under: ,

Scientific Atlanta PVR Transferring Shows to DVDDigital Home, a web site that writes about the digital lifestyle in Canada, says the question they get most frequently from Scientific Atlanta PVR owners is "how to copy previously recorded programs from a SA PVR to a DVD recorder or something similar?"

Thankfully, the procedure is fairly simple and we're passing along knowledge as a tip in the event you live in Canada, use a Scientific Atlanta PVR, and want to create your own bootleg Heroes Season 1 DVDs to sell on eBay. There is nothing wrong with having a little entrepreneurial spirit. The show is so enjoyable, I might just buy it from you myself.

From Digital Home:

  • Connect an s-video cable for video and stereo RCA cables for audio to your Scientifi Atlanta PVR and your VCR
  • On your PVR be be sure to use OUT 2 for the audio otherwise when you copy to VCR, you won't get the audio from your program
  • Access your recording list by pressing the green list button on your remote control and select the show you wish to export to your DVD recorder
  • Once the DVD recorder or VCR is set to record, simply select the Copy to VCR option.

Digital Home also has a slew of other helpful tips and topics like the one above ranging from Archiving Widescreen Content from the SA8300HD to Recording from PVR to PVR. This and a lot more on Scientific Atlanta PVRs can be found if you follow the jump.

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]]>Scientific Atlanta PVR Transferring Shows to DVDScientificAtlantaPvrTransferringShowsToDvdJJ Hawkins2006-10-18T10:00:00+00:00Why isn't there DVD streaming in Vista's Media Center?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/18/why-isnt-there-dvd-streaming-in-vistas-media-center/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/18/why-isnt-there-dvd-streaming-in-vistas-media-center/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/18/why-isnt-there-dvd-streaming-in-vistas-media-center/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

DVD Streaming in Vista Media Center

If there was any debate as to whether or not DVD streaming would be a feature available in Vista's Media Center, Matt Goyer, former eHome division team program manager for Window's Media Center, tries to put it to rest. On his blog he states:

"Once and for all: The Media Center team, the TV team and the Extender team (yes, it would have been a co-ordinated dev effort from all three teams) did not implement streaming of DVDs from PCs or changers for one big reason: Getting core functionality working on Vista was hard enough. And if, like me, you're running an early build of Vista on you will understand."

"And without doubt had there been extra time in the schedule there were many features of higher importance ahead of DVD streaming (DVD streaming is actually quite close to the bottom).

"I know all you with changers wanted it (though I'm puzzled why you bought the changer in the first place? just get a fat NAS) but there's not enough of you (and don't get all chicken and egg on me. you still wouldn't have bought a changer if we had the feature, you'd get a fat NAS)."

It's kind of a drag this feature isn't making its way into the Vista release. With the cost of hundred disc DVD changers so low, having the ability to load up your DVD collection in a matter of minutes instead of the hours upon hours it would take ripping them to network storage (legal issues withstanding), would have been a real convenience. It also would have also been incredibly cool to have access to this gargantuan DVD library anywhere an extender resided in your household.

Head over to Matt's blog for some interesting commentary from his readers after his post.

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]]>DVD Streaming in Vista Media CenterDvdStreamingInVistaMediaCenterJJ Hawkins2006-10-18T09:30:00+00:00Hauppauge and others added to Windows Vista Logo programhttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/13/hauppauge-and-others-added-to-windows-vista-logo-program/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/13/hauppauge-and-others-added-to-windows-vista-logo-program/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/13/hauppauge-and-others-added-to-windows-vista-logo-program/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Windows Vista CapableYesterday at Digital Life 2006, Microsoft unveiled a list of over 50 vendors who received the "Certified for Windows Vista" or the "Works with Windows Vista" designations. Among the list were a couple of interesting names, including Hauppauge, Yahoo! and InterVideo.

Let's start off with Hauppauge. These guys make some of the best TV tuner cards around, so this should be a great sign to all of the homebrew PVR creators out there. This designation essentially says that Hauppauge will make cards that are supported under Vista, and this should make using Vista's built in Media Center application a lot easier.

Next is Yahoo! Although nothing was explicitly listed as far as what product or service they were certified for, keep in mind that they do have Yahoo! Go for TV. It would seem pretty redundant to package that software in with Vista since Microsoft already has their Media Center application, but who knows what the future holds.

And finally there is InterVideo. These guys were mentioned for their products WinDVD and WinDVD Creator. This is good news because we now we know that there should be certified DVD playing and authoring software available at Vista's launch.

A more complete list is available at eChannelLine.
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]]>HauppaugeInterVideoMicrosoftYahoo!Matt Crape2006-10-13T11:21:00+00:00If you own a Windows based PVR, watch out for ProtectDischttp://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/10/if-you-own-a-windows-based-pvr-watch-out-for-protectdisc/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/10/if-you-own-a-windows-based-pvr-watch-out-for-protectdisc/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/10/10/if-you-own-a-windows-based-pvr-watch-out-for-protectdisc/#commentsFiled under: , ,


DVDImagine this: you just get back from the store where you bought the newest summer hit on DVD and you pop it into your Media Center PVR only to find out that it won't play. Why is that?

It may have to do with the fact that a company called ProtectDisc has released a copy protection dubbed Protect DVD-Video which actually will not allow PCs (and PC based PVRs for that matter) to read the DVD in question, regardless of the fact that it is an original disc.

To make a long story short, the copy protection fools Windows into believing that IFO file on the DVD (which contains all of the entry information for the chapters, subtitles and audio) is 0 bytes long and therefore invalid.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has a blog post on this over at ZDNet which mentions that there is already a work around for this, but that is beside the point. The real issue at hand is why is it that as legal owners of the product, we are disallowed from watching it on devices that we own?

This seems like just one more reason to hate DRM.
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]]>downloadsquadDRMWindowsMatt Crape2006-10-10T11:11:00+00:00That'll be the Daewoo?http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/27/thatll-be-the-daewoo/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/27/thatll-be-the-daewoo/http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/27/thatll-be-the-daewoo/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Daewoo DVD recorderI've never really been convinced of Daewoo's ability to make decent cars, so I'd best reserve my judgement on their ability with home consumer electronics, namely their new DVD recorder, the DVR-07.

However, at just $50 (that's like, £27), it might be worth buying one, just to have a better option than the creaking VHS which is probably sitting under your TV in the bedroom.

It can playback from DVD+R/+RW/-R/-RW, VCD, SVCD, CD, MP3 and JPEG, and can record to DVD+R/RW.

Via: Gizmodo.
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]]>daewoodvdrecorderMartin Conaghan2006-09-27T16:30:00+00:00