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Observations so far
 Observations so far:
- Overall TV quality through a modern Freeview decoding
chip is far superior to our (circa 2000) Freeview box, there are now no
artefacts even when blowing the picture up to widescreen size; I'd say that
Freeview picture quality is almost up with DVD. This has been quite unexpected,
but I guess the information was there all along and either the decoding
algorithms are better or the newer hardware knows how to drive modern TV sets
better.
- Hard disk recorders are still very much 'bleeding edge' and
there are bound to be a few glitches, sadly. Our own (slightly obvious)
observation has been that the less hard you push the units the less they fall
over. Essentially, each device is a computer in its own right, booting from a
hard disk and with its own operating system and software. Pushing the system
to the very edge will usually mean you lose everything and have to power it
off and on again. A practical example is that we were recording a programme in
the background and watching another channel. I wondered whether I could pause
the live channel as well, recording it in parallel, but chickened out after a
second or so. Had I carried on, it would have worked and I've done this since.
However, like any computer, pressing buttons quickly, before the previous ones
have been actioned can lead to the device getting confused. In this case, it
takes a good second or so to switch to a Freeview channel, a second or so to
start recording a channel onto the hard disk, a second or so to spin up the
hard disk in the first place, and so on. With PVRs, as with PCs, give the thing
a chance to catch up sometimes - don't just go pressing every button in sight
as fast as possible!
- Most PVRs automatically update their own software
(firmware) 'over the air' from the digital TV feed during the night. Our own
Technosonic PVR has updated itself several times and we've had very few
problems with the latest update (1.9). This ability to 'fix itself' is very
handy indeed. (Update: v2.0 seems a bit buggy - currently awaiting
v2.1!!!)
- Threee months on, I've almost forgotten what a video tape
is and haven't missed them at all. And, when I do see one in a shop, I
think 'how quaint', in the same way I look at vinyl records. This isn't being
snobbish, it's simply that, just as with the move from vinyl and cassettes to
CDs, the move from VHS video to DVD/hard-disk recording brings such huge
benefits that the newer technology is impossible to ignore.
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