Portable DVR

DVR HISTORY

As computer technology developed and chips became smaller and more powerfull the DVR industry really began to develop.

The two “main players” in this new industry were Anthony Woods who built up the DVR company , Replay TV and Michael Ramsay / Jim Barton who controller TiVo.

The visions of both companies to develop all purpose DVR’s for both domestic and business use became tangible reality as ever cheaper hard drives and new chip designs permitted , real time encoding of analog signals into digital signals. In the late 1990’s these were the core developments that jump started the DVR revolution.

The telecommunications industry also played a part in the new DVR industry. The main telco companies were planning the infrastructure of the future and as part of that planning they wanted the home of the future to be a digital “hub” with a main collection point / server for all the information needed for modern day living. This information could then be made available throughout the home on computers , televisions etc.

The idea of a specific set top box that would be part of the grander in house system was the genisis for TiVo’s focus on what it claims was the first commercial deployment of a DVR in late March 1999. The new set top box combined DISH Network programming with DVR capability and internet access from the home TV set.

Following the launch of of the first standalone DVR / set top box , Replay launched it’s first set top DVR . The great race for DVR dominance had begun.