What are some non-subscription DVR's?

Aside from DVRs, are there any good ways to record HDTV?

• Before HD came out everyone used to use VCRs to record TV shows. All you needed to do was buy the machine and the tapes-- NOT a subscription service like with TiVo and other DVRs. Another fault with DVRs is that they lack portability, and the recorded material is not permanent. With a VCR, I can record a program on tape and watch it 10 years from now. What I want to know is: is there any way to record programs off of the TV in HD directly to tape/DVD/hard drive? I've heard DVD recorders are an option, but aren't they much more complicated to use than VHS (given that you have to set up chapters, etc.) ?

• Answer:

  There was a VCR made that would record HD programing. It was expensive and did not sell very well. >Before HD came out everyone used to use VCRs to record TV shows Analog tuner DVRs were in use before HD became popular. Using a DVR is generally much less of a pain than using a VCR. >is there any way to record programs off of the TV in HD directly to tape/DVD/hard drive? No. TVs don't normally have video outputs! But you can put an HD tuner in a computer and compress non-copy protected HD programing onto a DVD. This is not usually done in real time because it takes a lot of computing power to use advanced compression techniques. You need the extra compression (Mpeg4, divx, etx) to get a reasonable amount of content on a DVD data disk. So if you build or buy a computer to be a DVR, you can record HD content onto a DVD. You need a computer to play the disk back. DVD recorders do not record in HD. All the ones available in the US convert HD content to SD before recording it to DVD. As computer processors improve in speed & cost, it's possible that someone will market a DVD recorder for HD signals, but it's not part of the DVD standard, which would make it a tough for the first company that markets it.