I know about Tivo, but you have to sign up for their service. I also have heard of TV cards for the computer, but these require cable TV for a clear signal, the computer generates too much interference. Is there anything out there that records TV, like a VCR, but to some kind of digital media? Subscriptions and cable are out.
Yes there is, Bill. Our audiovisual people record all TV and selected radio programs in digital format and keep tehm for three weeks in case someone wants to use them in teaching. If you do you can view stuff in classrooms or take away a DVD of it.
I don’t know how tehy do it but I can ask. Let’s see if someone who does know comes up with the answer first. I imagine there would be a fairly low-budget answer if that’s what you need.
The generic term is “PVR”.
I’m pretty involved in this area (my company makes chips for, among other things, HD PVRs - for the last couple of years I’ve spent about half my time on our PVR software).
Unfortunately for you, here in the US the subscription market (read: Tivo & competitors) has been the most successful. Some of our customers have products in other (non-US) markets that do what you want, but I don’t know of any (barring PC cards) that I’d currently recommend here in the US.
The pieces are all there, and there’s no technical problem - it’s just that as long as folks think that their PVR comes “free” when they subscribe to a cable or satellite service, they are resistant to paying for it separately.
It’s starting to change, I think. I believe (and hope - I want one, too!) - that consumer PVR systems will become a lot more available in the next year or so. Don’t look for them to be too cheap, though - I expect that their main competitors will be DVD recorder/players rather than the bare-bones VCR or DVD player.
So saith my somewhat cloudy crystal ball. (Hey - if I was good at this stuff, I’d be in Marketing, not Engineering!).
For a few years, I’ve had a ReplayTV, which was, for awhile, a competitor to Tivo. They are going to stop making and selling boxes, I understand, and concentrate on software. It’s a shame: ReplayTV was kinda like BetaMax to Tivo’s VHS. It’s still one of the best consumer electronic products I ever owned.
Now I have the digital recording deal in my digital cable box. It works ok, but the software doesn’t hold a candle to ReplayTV.
There’s an open source project called MythTV</a](http://www.mythtv.org/">MythTV</a)>. It’s fairly functional, however I don’t think it’s as usable as Tivo and isn’t something I’d recommend unless you like constantly tweaking your computer.
But it is an option.
Bill… I’m using an older Replay brand PVR which does what you’re talking about (and does it very well). The model I have is the Panasonic Showstopper PV-HS2000 (the OEMd version of the ReplayTV 3030).
At the point that they release this model, Replay’s business model was to not have subscriptions, so the system is perpetually taken care of insofar as not needing a subscription. It downloads your local guide data via a built-in modem, and makes a call every night to a local access provider (typically a free call), and you’re set. Unlike some others, it can work without getting the guide data. While they don’t sell this model new anymore, but you can find it on eBay and other online locations (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004TKHX/104-2488051-2301559?v=glance&n=172282)
We’ve had ours for several years and love it. I’ve seen Tivos and PVR integrated into cable decoder boxes, but I’ve always been less impressed with their functionality when compared to the Replay. Ours originally came with a 30 gig hard drive, but we’ve hacked the box and replaced it with a 120 gig drive… lot more recording time.
BTW, you mention that your computer causes interference on cable. In what way? If it is RF noise, I’d wonder if any other way of bringing in a signal wouldn’t have similarly bad reception. Perhaps I’m missing someting here.
??? 
???
Eh?
What would the computer be doing to create interferrance???
RF interferance is the only thing I could think of that a computer would generate that would interfere with a TV signal, but it effects cable signal too…also, RF signal from another source (computer?) would only be registering as interference if there were a flaw in the television or cable coax feed, or if the sheilding on the coax was broken, shorted or faulty somewhere…even then, a high pass filter, available at Rat Shack (radio shack), connected to your TV feed between your computer and your tv should solve that problem.
'asides, all that said, those special “TV cards” for your computer, IMHO, are a great bloody waste of time, as there are programs that use an RCA input adaptor for your USB port or video and sound card inputs (providing you have them, ‘acourse!). No subscriptions, no need for cable.
My new HP came with RCA ports and a program to record video files at full NTSC resolution, which I have used to record from the television (without interference of course) and either store, record to DVD or erase altogether.
I don’t understand why someone would tell you you’d get interference from your computer if you didn’t use cable; either they’re jerkin’ your chain or I’m dreadfully wrong. maybe one of our computer techie fiends can help…
I wish there was a way to hack the software of the subscription-based ReplayTVs to function stand-alone.
The real problem is that a computer monitor is usually set to a much,
much better resolution than you can get in a standard-def TV. So, any
crapulance in the signal is incredibly evident on the monitor, whereas
you may not even notice it when viewing the same signal on your old
TV. Even the analog Cable channels show some artifacts coming into
my ATI All-in-Wonder card. I need to drag my digital box upstairs
sometime to see if the digital channels are any better (they should
be…) I think, if you can reduce your resolution to 640x480 or lower,
it will look better.
LMAO, Ooh, I like that one!! 