HD Set-top Box PVR Finally a Reality
Update 8/09/2008 Snapstream is hard at work to make BeyondTV and the HD-PVR to operate well together. See the article here.
Update 6/20/08: Hauppauge has issued new drivers that are available for download. Soon we will see if BeyondTV will work with the new drivers.
Update 6/3/2008
The HD PVR is in – See the unboxing and first pics here.
Update – 6/2/2008
The HD PVR is shipping. As soon as it comes in, look here for pictures of the unboxing.
Update – 5/8/2008
The HD PVR Model 01212 have been delayed. According to Hauppauge customer service, the company has run into a production delay with the plastic cases needed for the device (it is an external device after all). Hauppauge intends to ship this month. As soon as more information is available, this post will be updated.
Be sure to see the update below!
Hauppauge has released pictures and a description of its 1080i HD PVR here. It seems that, at this time, the device is available only as an external USB device. The specs page warns purchasers ” Note: the playback of high definition H.264 requires a fast CPU and at least 256MB of graphics memory
The back panel shows a component video loop and will accept sound through an optical digital input. The codec utilized by the PVR is H.264 and it uses Blu-ray format AVCHD recordings, “so you can burn your TV recordings onto a standard DVD disk (up to 2 hours of video at 5MBits/sec) and playback on Blu-ray DVD players.”
Hauppauge has thought of everything – the box includes an IR blaster and repeater.
The HD-PVR comes with Arcsoft software bundled with it. Lets just hope that Snapstream is working on BeyondTV support for the device.
Pre-orders are soon to be available. You will ask for Model 01212: HD PVR.
We will finally be able to time-shift HD Football, Battlestar Galactica, and Stargate.
UPDATE: 5/1/2008
According to Geek Tonic, shipments of the HD-PVR 01212 have been delayed. That is strange as Hauppague’s front page still shows a May 1st ship date. Geek Tonic says it has been confirmed, so one may imagine customer service has been contacted. When the device does ship – look here for an unboxing and review!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
I’m afraid I am a victim of auto-focus cameras. I just can’t get a clear closeup picture. My intention was to present all of the connections present on the HD-PVR.
The front has S-video and composite connections. The back has a YCrCb component pass-through with optical S/PDIF. The optical S/PDIF is also pass-through.
Unfortunatly, this is the best it will get for now.
You need to update that photo of the device; just ask for one from a reader. I am sure you will get a response. It’s painful to look at.