DVD sales figures: WIDE SCREEN vs FULL

[Aeolius]

That... made no sense to me.

Think you could translate that to five sentances or less?

Video
RCA = yellow plug = Good
S-Video = round plug = Better
Component = Red/Green/Blue = Best

Audio
Mono = one RCA plug = Good
Stereo = Left/Right = Better
Surround = Left/Right/Center/Rear Left/Rear Right/Subwoofer = Best

Ideally, your receiver, DVR (Tivo, ReplayTV), DVD player, and monitor (TV, projector) should all support component video and suround sound.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Right, got it!

One question more though, people here keep talkin' about something called Tivo.
I expect it's somekinda US thing, or at least has some other name here.

So... what is it?

 

[WizarDru]

Tivo is a brand name for a DVR, it's closes competitor being ReplayTV. Tivo is, IMHO far superior, but that's a taste and needs issue.

A DVR is short for Digital Video Recorder. Think of it as a VCR that works using a hard drive and video codecs with intelligent software, instead of a standard VCR. They are, essentially, very simplified Linux appliances dedicated to replace the VCR (although they can output to VCRs or other devices). This probably sounds pretty underwhelming, and it would be, if all it did was replicate a VCRs functionality.

Instead, they have advanced software and features over a VCR that make them very attractive to people like me, who have very busy work schedules, children, and a poor history of properly setting VCRs. If you're really interested, I'll post my review of my Tivo that I'm about to post to my website.

 

[Viking Bastard]

So it records your shows when you can't watch it so you can watch it later? Or am I missing something?

 

[Aeolius]

So it records your shows when you can't watch it so you can watch it later?

Correct. Just like most answering machine no longer use a cassette tape, the Tivo records TV shows onto a hard drive. But, better than a VCR, all you do is tell it what shows you like, and it will record them all for you. I tell Tivo that I want a "Season Pass" to Six Feet Under, and it records it every Sunday for me.

 

[Mistwell]

Thanks for the explanation of Componant connections. I never knew any of that.

Tivo not only record things you tell it to record, it also memorizes the things you like (actors, directors, genres, keywords, etc...) and will let you know when one of those things are coming up. You can also search for things a week in advance and it will pull of whatever you are looking for and give you a full summary. And it records everything you are watching, just in case you suddenly decide you want to back up a scene or pause, or record and then play back so you can fast forward through commercials.

It will also record some things for you that it thinks you will like, though of course you need no watch it. It will record tens of hours of stuff without need for erasing anything (mine does 30 hours, others do 60 or more hours). And just in case you run out of space, it allows you to prioritize what you like most, and what you like least.

Mine comes with Direct TV, which is a satellite system. With my version, Tivo can record two programs that are on at the same time.

There are many other things Tivo does that I know I am forgetting (like short films just for Tivo users, variable recording times for things that tend to start early or go late, replay buttons, etc...).

Anyway, Tivo rocks. It's one of those few items I have bought that made me say "how did I ever get along without this" afterwards. My friends who had one all told me how great it was and I was very sceptical...until I got one. It's worth every penny.

 

[Viking Bastard]

It sounds great.

I want one.

 

[John Crichton]

Anyway, Tivo rocks. It's one of those few items I have bought that made me say "how did I ever get along without this" afterwards. My friends who had one all told me how great it was and I was very sceptical...until I got one. It's worth every penny.

I couldn't agree more. TiVo is one of those things that was well worth the money I spent (and spend monthly for the subscription fee). It has a few little glitches but catches many things that a VCR simply can't. For example, the first episode of Alias was 71 minutes long. I just told TiVo to record it and blammo it got the whole show. Many folks missed the last 10 minutes who taped it. Sometimes it will even catch last minute broadcast changes (it updates early in the AM via modem) and record them properly. The only recent thing it didn't catch was the last Thursday when the President gave his State of the Union and I missed almost all of Survivor (no big).

I have been able to catch so many reruns of things I didn't even know were in reruns (Brisco County Jr., 2 Guys and a Girl, Ren and Stimpy, etc). Plus (and this is HUGE for me) you can pause and rewind live TV (up to 30 minutes). So if you are watching sports and missed something because a girlfriend, phone call, bathroom break, etc. got in the way you can go back a still catch it. If I am around to watch something I will usually put it on the channel and pause it. Then I'll turn it on about 20 minutes later so I can watch the entire show (most of the time) without all the commercials. Great stuff!!

 

[stevelabny]

the record episodes of any show i like feature still has some problems with cable shows...it will record not only the new episodes, but all the repeats too. (examples: baseball tonight and south park)

the best thing is definitely the fact that if youre watching thru tivo, you can REWIND live tv and watch it again. this is the worlds greatest feature.

i needs to get me a tivo.

 

[WizarDru]

The moment that sold a Tivo to a friend: A week after I got my Tivo, Cartoon Network (as part of their Adult Swim midnight run) was restarting InuYasha from the beginning. Knowing that I'd want to catch it, a friend called up to remind me. I nodded, said thanks for the heads-up, as I wanted to catch it...and then promptly forgot while watching Buffy.

The next morning, I woke up, realized I'd forgotten to set the program, and cursed the dark lords of TV for making me forget. Then I saw that Tivo had recorded it for me, based on my preferences, as a show it thought I might like. I set up a season pass for it right then, and made the Tivo my third child.

And being able to pause and rewind live TV is a biggie. Tivo truly does rock on toast.