HD recorder/no subscription/<$200 - RCA Scenium only opti

[Dougmeister]

Interested in getting a digital video recorder, but don't want the TiVo or ReplayTV monthly fees (nor do I want to pay $250 for a lifetime contract).

Apex supposedly promised one a while back, but it has never materialized from what I can tell.

It's getting hard to find the Sceniums anywhere.

My question:

is the RCA Scenium the only device currently out there (or in the near future) that will meet these criteria?

(It would be great if you could copy the recorded programs to a computer or to a DVD+-RW, but I think that would be impossible for <$200 at this point in the game)

[spiderman2k1]

I do not kow but I think you can use the ATI AIW as A TIVO do not know if you have to pay for it. Also I would just get a DVD record with a hard drive in it almost the same thing and do not have to pay.

[Dougmeister]

I actually have an old AIW 32 MB PCI card. I have a "slow" P3-733, so the "pause live TV" function doesn't work that well (unless there's some setting I'm missing somewhere - it locks up after about a minute of pause). But I can record shows just fine.

The only problem is that it's kind of a pain to switch the cables and run the output from the computer into the other room into the TV, use the All-In-Wonder Remote control, etc.

I'd just rather buy a separate unit.

[SLK001]

I have been waiting for this unit to be sold in the US. That have received all the necessary FCC certs, and it is just a matter of time... I hope.

[Dougmeister]

SLK001, what is the model of that unit? Where can I find specs on it?

Will it do what I'm asking, esp. pausing live TV?

Will it be able to copy to D-VD-RW or to another computer, etc.?

Any idea of price range?

Thanks!

[SLK001]

1 Introduction
1.1 Product Overview
The NetViom/ ‘Climax’ DVD Player/DVR Design combines the functionalities of a DVD player and a Personal Video Recorder (DVR), based on chipsets from Cirrus Logic. The design combines the power of the CS92288 MPEG audio/video codec with the flexibility of the CS98000 DVD/MPEG-2 decoder processor, providing a high-quality, cost-effective platform solution.





* IDE bus 1 is optional for simultaneous DVD playback and recording
· Figure 1-1: Block diagram of the ‘Climax’ DVD Player/DVR Design

As shown in Fig.1-1, the ‘Climax’ DVD Player/DVR Design consists of multiple elements, including CS92288 MPEG-2 audio/video codec, CS98000 DVD processor, FPGA for DMA and IDE interfaces, a TV tuner, memory, A/V interface logic, an IDE DVD drive, and an IDE-based hard disk drive (HDD).








1.2 Key Features
While a complete listing of features is provided in this specification, some of the key features of the ‘Climax’ DVD Player/DVR include:
l Play DVD, SVCD, and CD-DA
l Time-shifting recording using the HDD (Play and record at the same time)
l Play external DVD and record on the HDD at the same time
l Programming to record TV input at given time and date
l View, edit, play from pre-recorded play list
l Expandability: adding additional I/O devices such as CF card reader, more HDD, etc through IDE interface, and support network

2 Hardware Specification
2.1 Audio and Video Interfaces
The ‘Climax’ design will support the following input audio and video interfaces:
l Three sets of Composite Video input
l Three sets of two-channel Audio input
l One TV Tuner input
Note 1: The present design has only one set of Composite video and two-channel audio inputs.
Note 2: The current board supports SCART I/O.
Note 3: The design includes support for a build-in TV Tuner.

The design supports the following output audio and video interfaces:
l 6-channel audio output (Left, Right, surround left, surround right, center, and subwoofer)
l One composite video output
l One S-video output
l One component (YCbCr) video output
l One digital coaxial S/PDIF output
Note 1: 6-channel audio output is supported only for DVD playback. HDD-based encoding and decoding will only be in 2-channels stereo or mono.
Note 2: The current design supports Macrovision protection during both encoding and decoding.
2.2 TV Standards
The system supports the following TV standards for both recording and playback
l PAL/SECAM, 625 lines at 50Hz
l NTSC, 525 lines at 60Hz
2.3 DVD Loader Compatibility Issues
Two levels of compatibility are required in order for devices such as stand-alone DVD-Video players to play DVD, CD-R, or CD-RW discs containing audio/video data:
l Disc physical compatibility
l Application compatibility
In order for the data loaded on a DVD disc to be processed, the disc must first be recognized and read by the DVD drive. Therefore, the first level of playback compatibility involves physical compatibility of the DVD disc format with the DVD drive – reflectivity, sector size, etc. Once the DVD disc has been read by the drive, the application data (video) on the disc must be processed. Therefore, the second level of playback compatibility involves compatibility of the application on the disc with the playback engine. Both the DVD and its associated application must be compatible with the playback device (drive + playback engine) in order for the disc to be played back.


In terms of physical compatibility, select an IDE-based drive that supports the desired physical formats, such as:
l CD-R
l CD-RW
l DVD-5, 9, 10, 18
l DVD-Recordable (such as DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, or DVD-RAM)

In terms of application compatibility, the available playback of the following formats:
l DVD
l SVCD
l Audio CD-DA
l MP3
l Kodak Picture CD
l JPEG
2.4 Hard Disk Drive
The system will include and support a 40GB Hard Disk Drive. Following disk drives has been tested:
l Maxtor, Model No. 4D080K4 (80 GB)
l Maxtor, Model No. 4D040K2 (40 GB)
l SEAGATE, Model No. ST340810ACE (40 GB)

1M (b/s) 2M (b/s) 3M (b/s) 4M (b/s) 5M(b/s) 6M (b/s)
40G 90H 45H 30H 22.5H 18H 15H
80G 180H 90H 60H 45H 36H 30H
120G 270H 135H 90H 67.5H 54H 45H
160G 360H 180H 120H 90H 72H 60H

Remarks: Estimated recordable video length based on HDD size and video quality
2.5 Front and Back panels, Remote Control
It is the responsibility of customers to provide the designs for a front panel, a back panel, and a remote control used for navigation and editing. Customers need to provide appropriate specs for these designs so that NetViom/ can modify the navigation software accordingly.


3 Software Specification
As we mentioned before, the NetViom/ ‘Climax’ DVD Player/DVR has two functions: DVD Player and Personal Video Recorder. The remaining of this section describes the software specifications for the HDD-based recording and playback operations of the ‘Climax’ system.
3.1 Watch Live TV
In DVR mode, the ‘Climax’ system records continuously. The user can always access to the last 30 /60/90/120 minutes of the recording (base on setup settings). The user can use the remote control to navigate within these 30/60/90/120 minutes. The following functions are supported:
l Pause: Pauses playback, while time-shifting continues
l Play: Continues playback
l Fast Forward
l Fast Backward
l Switch between DVR and DVD modes
l Switch Video inputs (TV, A/V 1, A/V 2)
l DVR Status Display
l Stop: Stop recording
3.2 Video and Audio Formats
‘Climax’ system records all audio using the MPEG-2, Layer II audio specification. All recordings are in stereo at 224 kbits/s for both audio channels.

Video is recorded in either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format, based on user quality selection. Currently has 4 selections: SP, LP, EP, SEP, with bit-rate of 2M, 3M, 4.5M and 6M respectively.
3.3 OSD languages
The system currently supports English language. We can help Customers to integrate the changes for the following languages:
l Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean
For timely introduction of the design to new regions, NetViom/ and Customers will have to agree on a mutually satisfactory schedule for the completion of these languages features.
3.4 Date, Clock, Tuner Set-up
The ‘Climax’ Design System allows users to set-up the correct date and time, as specified by the GUI
in Appendix A. The system also will try to detect and store all valid TV channels. These setups can be done during an initial power-up or later on using the System Setup Menus.
3.5 HDD Play List Menus
The HDD Play List GUI is specified in detail in Appendix A. Key features include:
l Depending on screen size, display up to 8 programs in a play list per page
l Navigate through play list
l Play, Edit, Info, Delete a play-list entry
3.6 Record Schedule Menus
The HDD Recording schedules GUI is specified in detail in Appendix A. Key features include:
l Display of current recording schedule list, up to 36 programs
l Navigation of current recording schedule list
l New/Edit/Delete options
l Define start, length, quality, and record mode of recordings. Record mode can be: once, daily, weekend, weekday, Monday/Wednesday/Friday, Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday.
l Optional-Automatic detection of conflicts in the recording schedule
3.7 DVR System Setup
The DVR system setup functions are defined in Appendix A.
3.8 Firmware Upgrades
At present, firmware upgrades are possible only through an external connection. NetViom/ will update firmware so that firmware can be upgraded using a CD-R. This feature should be available before the final software release for production.
4 Roadmap
Base on ‘Climax’ platform, a family of DVR product can be developed, such as:
1. Personal Video Recorder (PVR)
2. DVD Player/Recorder (DVD Loader + HDD)
3. Dual VDR (DVD Loader + CD-R/W)
4. DVD-R/W Video recorder
This platform can also be integrated into high-end TV products such as Digital TV, HDTV, Back-Panel or Plasma-TV

NetViom/ also plans to introduce MPEG-4 based platform to replace existing MPEG-2 based version
5 Appendix – DVR GUI
The following menu defines the graphical user interface for the ‘Climax’ system. Note that the background-screen design and Logos can easily be modified according to the final ‘Climax’ design. The actual menu locations, color, size, and layout may not necessarily match those drawn in this document, but the functionality will be the same.

---- MAIN MENU-----
Data/Time setup
TV Channel manager
Record Quality
Picture Setup
Hard DISK Manager
Schedule record setup
DVD player setup

[Dougmeister]

Whoa. Serious information overload...

Thanks.

If you have all of that info, surely you have a price range, too, don't you? :=)

[SLK001]

More information overload for you. Here is an email from the company that makes the thing. I was even willing to submit their DVR to the FCC and to become their US distributor. but I wasn't able to get my hands on one of the units. I'm still interested in getting one.


Dear Sirs, We are Shenzhen Netviom Electronics Co.,ltd, which located in Shenzhen, China. Our company have just finished developing one new DVR product. I, Jerry Lee, am one sales manager. Let me introduce you the main features as following.
1, Multi-usage device,DVD/VCD/SVCD/MP3/CD/CDI all diskettes can be played.
2, Can record videos from diskettes,TV and other video sources.With digital video technology, recording video quality can achieve the effect of DVD video.
3, With inner High Frequency Receiver, can record more than 100 TV channels. Without power on TV, can record TV program.
4, 16 timer recording plan.
5, The video of DVD can be recorded directly into hard disk.
6, Four type of recording quality can be selected.
7, Support overwriting, auto-protecting and auto-protecting with tag when recording.
8, With time-shift playing technology, you can record brilliant video.
9, Stunt play mode: three grade Fast Forward, shift slow play, play frame by frame.
10, Three input mode: CVBS composite video, RF TV video, DVD direct copy.
11, Three output mode:CVBS composite video, S-Video and SCART.
12, Inner AC-3 decoder, 5.1 channels output, support DTS and Dolby.
13, Auto-protect when losing power, auto-recover when power comes back.
14, Recording when alarm, make it easy to achieve home safety protect. NVR-2288A/NVR-2288A.NET model.
15, Support diskettes exchange port and internet port¡ê?this make it easy to input and output videos. This ia also used in remote controlling.NVR-2288A.NET.
16, Chinese/English menu on TV screen. Operation easy.
17, Offer VFD display.
18, Specially designed video file format, make the hard disk life 10 times longer.
19, Upgrade intelligently.

The DVR's actual picture is attached. Would you like to tell us if our DVR is needed any approvals once it is saled in your saling area? If it is needed any approval, we would like to assign you to this work and we would like to be your OEM manufacturer in China.We agree that you may use your own brand in your saling area. Please turn this email to your compan's CEO, I think you must be interested in our DVR product. Our best price is: US$290 for 10K and above. . US$283 for 50K and above. US$275 for 250K and above. All above price is FOB shenzhen port. If you have any other questions, please be free to contact us soon. Your kind cooperation will be appreciated. Best Rgds, Jerry Lee/Sales Manager Shenzhen Netviom Electronics Co., Ltd Phone:0086-13951228561 FAX:0086-519-5209776 Website:http://www.netviom.com Email: Jerry@netviom.com

[The village idiot]

Our best price is: US$290 for 10K and above. . US$283 for 50K and above. US$275 for 250K and above. All above price is FOB shenzhen port.

So that means a $400-$500 retail price.

[verchad]

Compgeeks.com has the RCA DRS7000 Digital Media Recorder (DVR & DVD Player) for $279.99 plus S&H.

[Dougmeister]

Do either of these units (RCA or NetViom) provide the ability to connect the unit to your computer via ethernet cables?

[Michelle]

Where can you get a Scenium for < $200? I'm thinking of getting one for my sister in Canada since Tivo isn't available there.

[Dougmeister]

Used to be able to get them at Circuit City, but they were clearance items and I think they're mostly gone by now.

If anyone finds them cheaper, let us all know. Thanks.

[SLK001]

Do either of these units (RCA or NetViom) provide the ability to connect the unit to your computer via ethernet cables?

15) Support diskettes exchange port and internet port¡ê?this make it easy to input and output videos. This ia also used in remote controlling.NVR-2288A.NET.

I don't know just what they mean here. There is an IDE bus, and maybe they have a spare slot, AND the software supports networking.

[Michelle]

I read a review of the Scenium that said a phone hookup isn't needed for the guide. Where does the guide data come from?

[verchad]

More info on an earlier post. Compgeeks.com has this unit, refurbished for $239.99 + S&H.

[Lurker623]

For the RCA scenium the online guide comes from either the cable box or signal or the satelelite reciever. I have an Rca scenium and the guide works well once I figured it out.

[Gil T Pleasure]

Another option, if available, is the Samsung DVD-H40E DVD Player + HDD Recorder combo unit.

[SLK001]

Another option, if available, is the Samsung DVD-H40E DVD Player + HDD Recorder combo unit.

This unit is PAL only.