If you're a customer of Comcast and have their DVR, then you might notice a little button on the bottom left of the remote control titled "Swap." Many Comcast DVR users don't know about this neat little button. For more info on the "Swap" button, read my quick tip, Swapping Tuners on the Comcast DCH3416 Digital Video Recorder.

Want to watch Blu-ray or HD DVD discs on your PC? Then you'll definitely want to check out Corel's newest version of their popular WinDVD software, WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray. Key features included are high-definition playback (Blu-ray Disc, AVCHD, HD DVD), enhanced picture-in-picture features in Blu-ray Disc playback known as BD-Live, and advanced upscaling that provides a near-HD quality playback experience with standard-definition videos and DVDs.
NOTE: To playback HD DVD or Blu-ray discs your PC requires a Blu-ray or HD DVD drive.

TiVo, Inc. has a special deal out now called "A Blue Moon Birthday Special." From now to June 16th you can purchase a TiVo HD, Lifetime Service (no monthly fees), a TiVo wireless adapter, and a plush TiVo doll for $698.99. NOTE: Lifetime service is the life of the TiVo HD box, not your lifetime! This is a good deal for those who want to own their TiVo HD outright, and not have to worry about paying for monthly fees. Check out the TiVo HD offer for yourself.

The transition from Analog Over-the-Air TV signals to Digital Over-the-Air TV signals is scheduled for February 17, 2009. This will effect anyone who receives there television via an indoor or outdoor antenna, but not Cable, Satellite, or Phone Company TV consumers. However, older analog VCRs and DVD Recorders will be effected by the DTV transition as well. The following articles are a must read for anyone planning to stay with analog TVs, VCRs, or DVD Recorders:

February 17, 2009 - Analog Television Broadcasting Gets Turned Off
Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Coupon Program
Inside The DTV Transition Converter Box Coupon Program
The DTV Transition, HDTV, and Your VCR and/or DVD Recorder
Is it possible to record TV programming on a VCR when using a DTV converter?

Dvico has announced it will be releasing the worlds first TV Tuner Card capable of recording dual HDTV programs on your Computer. The card will support NTSC, ATSC and QAM signals. The card allows you to record two shows at once, record one show while watching a live program on another channel, or view Picture-in-Picture videos. For more info on this new card, check out CyberEStore.com, or visit the Dvico Product page.

While Blu-ray Disc players are finally appearing to take off in the U.S., there is one thing missing: Recording capability. However, this is not the case in Japan, where both Blu-ray Disc Players and Recorders are becoming quite acceptable, especially Blu-ray/Hard Drive combinations which allow extra flexibility for recording and dubbing functions.

Just an example what is currently available in the "land of the rising sun", Sony offers several Blu-ray Disc/Hard Drive Recorder combinations with HDD recording capacity ranging from 250 to 500GB, while Panasonic offers four Blu-ray Disc/HDD recorder models, including its BDW900 which houses a 1 Terabyte (1,000 GB) Hard Drive, and Sharp has come online with two Blu-ray Disc/HDD combos of its own, with one also having 1 TB hard drive recording capacity to supplement Blu-ray Disc recording.

However, although Blu-ray Disc recorders have been available in Japan for about two years, and new models are being introduced, don't get too excited, as there is no official word on when, or if, these, or similiar units will become available in the U.S. anytime soon. With competition from other high definition recording devices, such as the HD-TIVO and Cable/Satellite HD-DVRs, as well as copy-protection requirements demanded by the movie studios and other programing sources; Sony, Panasonic, and other Japanese Blu-ray Disc Recorder manufactuerers are very reluctant to put the effort into making standalone Blu-ray Disc recorders available to the U.S. consumer, at least for the near future.

If you want the the abilities of a PC-DVD drive, without the hassle of the PC, then consider the Sony VRD-MC5. This device is a complete standalone DVD recorder that accepts video directly from Camcorders, VCRs, and still photos from digital camera memory cards. The VRD-MC5 records in a variety of formats, including AVCHD. AVCHD alllows high def recording on a standard DVD (Note: AVCHD recordings can only be played in a Blu-ray Disc player). Its built-in 2.5-inch LCD screen allows you to monitor your recording while it is in progress.

One drawback is that this unit does not have its own built-in tuner for recording TV programs. However, using its AV inputs, you can connect a cable or satellite box that has either RCA or S-Video outputs to perform this task. It also important to note that the MC cannot record on Blu-ray discs. On the other hand, for its reasonable price, the Sony DVDirect MC5 offers a lot of flexibility for buring DVDs in a variety of standard formats.

Do you own an older TIVO unit and wish you could increase its hard drive capacity without having to purchase a new unit? If so, there is help. Check out an informative article posted by Yahoo Tech and TIVO For Dummies that shows you how you can change out your hard drive. In addition, for more information on upgrading your TIVO, including purchasing any necessary parts, check out Weaknees.com. NOTE: Do not attempt modifications to your TIVO unit unless you are confident that you understand the instructions and any risks, as modifying any aspects of your TIVO unit yourself, or through a third party, may result in the invalidation of your warranty, if it is still in effect.

If you are unfamiliar with TIVO, and would like to learn more, check out: TIVO 101 and Top Ten TIVO Features.

Cable and Satellite Television services are in a heated competition to provide more and more HD channels to their subscribers. However, as demand for HD programming grows, and more HD channels come online, both cable and satellite providers are encountering the issue of limited bandwidth space to carry it all. Satellite providers can counter this state of affairs by launching more satellites. However, expanding bandwidth capacity to carry more channels is a more expensive proposition for Cable TV providers, as they must literally dig up the street in an entire city and lay more cable, which is far more expensive that launching a satellite or two.

In an effort to deal with the increased need for bandwidth, without sacrificing quality, some cable providers are beginning to implement a technology dubbed "Switched Digital Video". To put it simply, in order to increase the capability of the current cable infrastructure to accommodate more channels and more HD offerings, instead of sending out all the available channels to a customer at a given time, the cable service only sends out the most popular channels at any given time.

However, if the consumer then wants to access a less viewed channel, the cable box simply searches out the feed from the cable service and actively tells the service, electronically, for permission to access the feed. The Switch Digtal Video process frees up the cable infrastructure from less popular channels and services taking up space when not actually being viewed, while still supplying access to those channels when needed.

For more details on Switched Digital Video and how it may be used by your cable service, check out the report from Blu-ray Guide.org. In addition, to find out how Switched Digital Video can affect DVR devices, such as TIVO, check out this report from CNET.

There is one high definition format that can be recorded on a standard DVD disc, or MiniDVD disc, available for U.S. consumers, known as AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition). AVCHD is a high definition (HD) digital video camera format recording 1080i and 720p signals onto miniDVD discs, miniDV tape, Hard Drive, or digital camera Memory Cards, by using highly efficient compression using a format known as MPEG4 (H264). In addition to its use in camcorders, AVCHD editing and recording is also supported in PCs via some DVD burning software products, such as Ulead MovieStudio 11 Plus and 11.5 Plus.

AVCHD was developed jointly by Matsushita (Panasonic), and Sony Corporation. AVCHD recordings made on MiniDVD discs can be played back on some Blu-ray disc players. However, AVCHD recordings cannot be played back on current standard DVD players. Also, standard DVD recorders are not currently equipped to record DVDs in the AVCHD format, but since this technology has been implemented on some DVD camcorders and in PC video editing programs, if Sony, Panasonic, or others wish it, it could certainly be added to the recording format mix of a standard DVD recorder. However, the cost to add such a feature to a DVD recorder would certainly increase the price of such a recorder for the consumer. For a more in-depth look at this new digital video recording format, check out the Official AVCHD Specifications Page.