Freeview Box – Freeview HD Recorders
Posted on February 26, 2012
With digital switchover looming, an unfortunate side effect is that your existing video player won’t be able to record the new digital channels. It will be able to record what you are currently watching but that largely negates the point of it. Buying a standard freeview box won’t allow you to video either.
What Sort of Freeview Box Do You Need?
So you will need a digital TV recorder, or even better, a Freeview HD recorder style of freeview box. This gives you all the new channels, both standard and high definition when they are available and also allows you to record programmes you are not viewing.
There are two types of freeview box recorder : one records onto a hard disk in the box, similar to a computer, and the other records onto DVD’s.
Hard Disk
The total length of programmes you can keep on one of these is restricted by the size of the disk inside the machine. To work out how much time can be recorded, a simple rule of thumb is to divide the disk space in GB by two or divide by six for high-def recording on the freeview box.
For example, a 250GB freeview box would record 125 hours of standard television. For HDTV, you would expect a 250GB freeview box to store up to 45 hours as there is much more information in the picture and sound.
If your disk fills up, you will need to delete some programmes before you can record anymore.
DVD Recorders
With one of these, you are restricted to the modes of the freeview box. They have different qualities such as 1 hour, 2 hour per disc. The less time per disk you record, the better the picture and sound quality.
There are many different recording formats and whilst most will work on other players to the one you record on, you cannot guarantee that.
Hard Disk v DVD Recorder
The obvious advantage of the disk recorder is that you don’t have to keep buying disks to record on. If you are the sort of person who only wants to catch up on programmes and not keep them, then the hard disk style of machine is the one for you.
If you want to keep programmes indefinitely or pass them on to other people, then the DVD style recorder is better.
Freeview Box – Summary
For the majority of people, a Freeview Box HD Recorder is the better option. It’s future proof and offers all the great features such as series record that you would want from a modern set-top box.
Be aware that you also need an HD ready television to receive the extra picture quality. Nowadays, there are many bundles put together by the major retailers that give you both the freeview box and the TV.
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Tags: Box Recorder, Digital Switchover, Digital Tv Recorder, Disk Recorder, Disk Space, Dvd Recorders, Freeview Box, Gb, H2, Hard Disk, Hd Recorder, Hdtv, High Def, High Definition, Lt, Modes, New Channels, New Digital Channels, Rule Of Thumb, Sound Quality, television, Unfortunate Side Effect, Video Player
Categories: Freeview Box