Personal video recorder

The personal video recorder (or PVR) is a type of consumer electronics that records television encoded in MPEG format shows to a hard disk. This makes the "time shifting" feature promised by VCR much more convenient, and also allows "trick modes" such a pausing live TV, instant replays of interesting scenes, and skipping advertising.

Most PVRs currently on the market are TiVo's Tivo, and SonicBlue's ReplayTV. Upcoming entrants into the market include products from Digeo, Moxi, and Microsoft.

There are ways to make your own PVR, there is software that works on the linux platform, and soon the XBox, with a modchip.

• External Links:
  • Flamethrower (http://staff.washington.edu/jmgasper/) - Linux PVR
  • Freevo (http://freevo.sourceforge.net/) - Another Linux PVR
  • MythTV (http://www.mythtv.org/) - Yet Another Linux PVR
  • Dreamix (http://dreamix.sourceforge.net/) - XBox PVR Project
  • PVR Resource (http://www.linuxprofessionalsolutions.com/pavlicek/tv) - great resource on open source PVR's