Question: What is a Digital Video Recorder (DVR)?
What is a Digital Video Recorder (DVR)? Learn more about Digital Video Recorders (DVR)?
Answer: A Digital Video Recorder or DVR is a generic term for a device that is similar to a VCR but records television data in digital format as opposed to the VCR’s analog format. VCRs utilize analog tapes to record and play programs broadcast over television, but Digital Video Recorders (DVR) encode video data in MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 formats and store the data in a hard drive. DVRs have all of the same functionality of VCRs (recording, playback, fast forwarding, rewinding, pausing) plus the ability to pause "live" TV and resume without missing any part of a program.
A DVR is essentially made up of two elements: the device that stores the hard disk drive and power supply, and some type of Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) that allows the user to program recordings.
Two common DVR systems are TiVo and ReplayTV.
A DVR is also referred to as a hard disk recorder (HDR) or a personal video recorder (PVR)