TiVo

1. Only one device; if some component of the DirecTiVo fails, and it must be repaired, the customer is without both the recording and the TV programming services.
2. Lack of choice in DVRs: DirecTV has chosen TiVo for this integrated service. If the customer would prefer ReplayTV, MythTV, or any other commercial or home-grown DVR service, he or she must use the traditional analog cabling method. This, however, is set to change with the introduction of Microsoft’s ‘Fiji’ update for Windows Media Center, which will coincide with a hardware device allowing for a DirecTV satellite to be plugged into a PC.
3. Lack of choice and parity in TiVo software with the regular TiVo product. The DirecTiVo product uses a special, custom version of the TiVo software, and (barring various hacks which are beyond the technical ability or desire of most at-home consumers) the software is under the control of DirecTV. Recently TiVo has released new software for their standalone units which adds new free and paid home IP networking features over Ethernet or wireless networking. Customers can view TiVo-recorded programs on other TiVo units in the same house, control their upcoming recording schedules from a computer in the house or from a Web portal anywhere on the Internet, etc. But DirecTiVo units do not have these features, and customers can only politely complain to DirecTV to request their implementation.
4. No analog input jack. The DirecTiVo unit records and plays back only DirecTV programming. Since it records the already-compressed satellite signal, it needs (and has) no analog input stage, so it cannot record any other material (for instance, local off-the-air TV programs, basic cable, or home movies). If the customer discontinues buying the DirecTV programming service, the recording functionality is useless. However, the high-definition DirecTiVo has the ability to record off-the-air HDTV channels, though not NTSC.
5. Must have a land-line connected for PPV calls and service upgrades.
6. No Support for HMO TiVo Protocol which is used to deliver Streaming Music and Photos among other things from Desktops running TiVo Desktop.

1. The video stream is delivered as a compressed digital stream by DirecTV for all their customers. Instead of the satellite receiver decompressing the stream to a raw analog video output, and then having it immediately re-compressed by a separate box, the DirecTiVo directly records the compressed digital stream on the hard drive. This means that there is no quality loss from a re-compression step, so watching recorded programs looks exactly the same as watching it live from DirecTV. There is no need to choose a trade-off between storage capacity and desired playback quality, as with the traditional TiVo and traditional tape-based VCRs.
2. Only one device on the shelf. Simplified cabling; integrated user interface; only one remote control; only one modem needs a telephone jack to call into a data service.
3. Only one bill for services. Traditional TiVo boxes may be billed a monthly fee by the TiVo company separately from any programming fed into them; the DirecTiVo combination is billed as an added line item on the DirecTV bill, and the customer doesn’t really interact with the TiVo company at all.

Dual tuners. If a dual-tuner DirecTiVo is provided with two inputs from the satellite dish (easy in most cases, since the dish usually has dual outputs, so it’s just a matter of running two parallel coax cables to the same place), then it can decode two programs independently at the same time. It has sufficient processing power, buffering RAM, and hard drive performance to record two programs on two channels at the same time (in case the customer wishes to record two programs which the TV networks have scheduled at the same time), or to record one program while watching another program live, or even to record two programs while playing back a third already-recorded program from the hard drive.

DirecTV is a direct-broadcast satellite TV programming provider operating in the United States. It uses smallish, externally building-mounted dishes and proprietary receivers (with cryptographic access cards to enforce payment for programming) to supply TV programs to millions of customers in the U.S. TiVo is a separate company which developed consumer-friendly DVRs, which normally receive an input signal from any analog audio/video source that would ordinarily be sent directly to the television monitor, e.g., analog cable TV service, or the output of a cable tuner/descrambler box supplied by a local cable TV provider. It’s perfectly possible to send the output of a traditional DirecTV satellite receiver to a traditional TiVo recorder, in which case the TiVo controls the tuning of the DirecTV unit via an infrared “blaster” (remote control-simulating transmitter) or serial port connection, but there is otherwise no real integration between the two units. But DirecTV has partnered with TiVo to produce, in one consumer product, the functional combination of the two units. It integrates the satellite tuner (actually, in recent units, two independent tuners), the on-screen programming guide, and the hard drive and recording/playback technology. This has distinct technical advantages for the consumer, as well as some disadvantages.

“DirecTiVo” is an informal term for the implemented combination of DirecTV satellite television programming service and the TiVo digital video recorder service. The full name, more properly using all the trademarked terms and phrases which belong to the two companies, is “DirecTV DVR with TiVo”.

The Series3 TiVo was officially unveiled at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, and was released to the public on September 12, 2006.

The Series3 DVR features support for high-definition broadcasts and has two tuners, each of which can receive NTSC, ATSC, and analog or digital cable (QAM). Encrypted digital cable can be received using CableCARDs. Because of the dual tuners, it can record from any two sources simultaneously. For example, two over-the-air broadcasts, two cable programs, or any combination can be recorded at the same time. However, recording from two digital cable channels requires the use of multiple CableCARDs, and if only one CableCARD is inserted into the unit, only one tuner is active and only one source can be recorded. As of 8/2007 satellite TV connections are not supported.

In October of 2007, DirecTV sent a message to all DirecTv TiVo R10 and HR10 users saying that they will be applying numerous features to the DirecTivo. The features will be listed below.

Some TiVo systems are integrated with DirecTV receivers. These “DirecTiVo” recorders record the incoming satellite MPEG-2 digital stream directly to hard disk without conversion. Because of this and the fact that they have two tuners, DirecTiVos are able to record two programs at once. In addition, the lack of digital conversion allows recorded video to be of the same quality as live video. DirecTiVos have no MPEG encoder chip, and can only record DirecTV streams. However, DirecTV has disabled the networking capabilities on their systems, meaning DirecTiVo does not offer such features as multi-room viewing or TiVoToGo. Only the standalone systems can be networked without additional unsupported hacking.

The latest DirecTiVo units (HR10-250) can also record HDTV to a 250GB hard drive, both from the DirecTV stream and over-the-air via a standard UHF- or VHF-capable antenna. They have four tuners (two DirecTV and two ATSC over-the-air) and, like the original DirecTiVo, can record two programs at once; further, the program guide is integrated between over-the-air and DirecTV so that all programs can be recorded and viewed in the same manner. Recording capacity is variable, up to 30 HD or 200 SD hours.

Some TiVo systems are integrated with DirecTV receivers. These “DirecTiVo” recorders record the incoming satellite MPEG-2 digital stream directly to hard disk without conversion. Because of this and the fact that they have two tuners, DirecTiVos are able to record two programs at once. In addition, the lack of digital conversion allows recorded video to be of the same quality as live video. DirecTiVos have no MPEG encoder chip, and can only record DirecTV streams. However, DirecTV has disabled the networking capabilities on their systems, meaning DirecTiVo does not offer such features as multi-room viewing or TiVoToGo. Only the standalone systems can be networked without additional unsupported hacking.

The latest DirecTiVo units (HR10-250) can also record HDTV to a 250GB hard drive, both from the DirecTV stream and over-the-air via a standard UHF- or VHF-capable antenna. They have four tuners (two DirecTV and two ATSC over-the-air) and, like the original DirecTiVo, can record two programs at once; further, the program guide is integrated between over-the-air and DirecTV so that all programs can be recorded and viewed in the same manner. Recording capacity is variable, up to 30 HD or 200 SD hours.

All standalone TiVo systems have coax/RF-in and an internal cable-ready tuner, analog video input—composite/RCA, and S-Video—for use with an external cable box or satellite receiver. The TiVo unit can use a serial cable or IR blasters to control the external receiver. They have coax/RF, composite/RCA, and S-Video output, and the DVD systems also have component out. Audio is RCA stereo, and the DVD systems also have digital optical out. The Series2 systems also have USB ports, currently used only to support network (wired Ethernet and WiFi) adapters. The early Series2 units, models starting with 110/130/140, have USB1.1 hardware, while all other systems have USB2.0.

Some models manufactured by Toshiba, Pioneer, and Humax, under license from TiVo, contain DVD-R/RW drives. The models can transfer recordings from the built-in hard drive to DVD Video compliant disc, playable in most modern DVD systems. The video encoding on these models was modified to match the DVD standard so transferring to DVD does not require transcoding.

The Series2 standalones can only tune analog signals, so to comply with FCC rules on analog TV phaseout, models that record from over-the-air channels are no longer sold. The dual tuner (DT) models and the TCD542 (a revision of the TCD540) will only record from cable and satellite sources.

The Series2 was a complete redesign of the TiVo hardware. It includes USB ports (for Ethernet and Wi-Fi adapters), a new CPU, and more RAM. The availability of network connectivity has spread to the software side, where new features like TiVoToGo and Home Media Engine applications are now supported.

Series2 TiVo systems are based on MIPS processors connected to MPEG-2 encoder/decoder chips and high-capacity IDE/ATA hard drives. Current Series2 units have drives of 40–250GB in size. Although not supported by TiVo or equipment manufacturers, larger drives can be added.