Digital television, personal video recorders and convergence in the Australian home

Abstract

Out of the confusion of delivery technologies for domestic digital video, the function of a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) that has a content management system based on an electronic program guide emerges as a key component of a home entertainment system. Serving as a content manager for video broadcasts for free-to-air and pay-TV, PVRs can automatically record, sort, schedule, store and integrate video material from different sources in a convenient, easy-to-use and timely fashion. Devices with PVR functionality are still not yet in widespread use in Australian homes, but are the increasing subject of pioneering commercial enterprise, innovative experimentation and open-source community development. The concept of a MADE system is introduced as a system with converged functionality for Media, Automation, Data, and Entertainment. This paper describes and compares three systems with PVR functionality and evaluates their current and future roles as a component for MADE systems in Australia: the TiVo appliance, the MythTV open source software for Linux; and a Topfield set top box using IceGuide. The drivers for and threats to the convergence of functionality towards a MADE system are also considered. © 2007 ACM.