PS3 to receive tuner, DVR capabilities before March 2008
It's been rumored before, now Sony's marketing manager for Computer Entertainment in New Zealand has apparently, and likely pre-emptively, unveiled Sony's intentions to turn the PS3 into a digital video recorder. Sony's Warwick Light is quoted in an interview with New Zealand's The Press as saying, "We're also hoping next year – about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service (expected to be in March) – to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder." Sure, why not, but we're going to need a hell of a lot more than 80GB or 120GB of storage to make that thing useful for HD recordings.[Via gi]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jnas @ Aug 1st 2007 8:16AM
80gb and 120gb is a perfectly fine amount for HD recordings. In fact its a hell of alot. My SKY+ HD recorder has 40gb's and i can record crap loads of HD on it.
As for this news, its great. Seems like the features on the PS3 just keep comming. And people can't say they aren't concentrating on games because this fall they are releasing a boatload of class titles, and with more announced on the way. (Plus remember that 120 game thing Kaz said?)
Andrew @ Aug 1st 2007 8:29AM
I have the Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC 160GB and mine is always full. You should record more shows my friend! :) 160 GB is only roughly 20 hours as they say, that's not a whole lot. I have a few shows that I have recorded to keep on there long term, so there's a penalty in space already. So assuming 160GB IS 20 hours, that'd make your 40GB 5 hours. 5 shows and full? I record more than that in a day sometimes.
And as for the topic at hand... I honestly thing this is a very bad idea. I honestly don't see that many people using their PS3 as a tuner. People who buy $500+ PS3s are the people who like nice fancy TiVos. Sony is going to try to come into the DVR game as a brand new competitor to a very established market, be it TiVo or Scientific Atlanta. It just looks like one more way for Sony to waste development money that they can't recoup after release. It's obvious they are doing this to copy Microsoft's idea, but Microsoft is actually offering something useful. IPTV isn't something new that isn't as widely available. Also, it all runs from the internet, so it will cost no additional fee to get your 360 to pull it as long as you have a subscription. And in the end, I don't even know how successful they are going to be at it. I guess we'll see where we sit in a year, but I don't think it will be with everyone watching TV on their video game consoles.
Scott Gaertner @ Aug 1st 2007 8:38AM
The average HD stream (cable/satelite compressed) is 16Mbps. Uncompressed OTA can go up to 40Mbps (I think CBS does 40). This translates to 7.5GB per hour compressed, or 18GB per hour uncompressed.
So even in the best situation, a 120GB drive will give users about 15 hours of content. (Usable disk space considered.) I'll stick with my 8300HD + 500GB eSATA drive.
How much more will the tuner and extra HD add to the price? Can we get this puppy up to $1,000?
domerdel @ Aug 1st 2007 10:53AM
@Scott: PS3 supports external hard drives... only limitation... fat32
polly @ Aug 1st 2007 12:04PM
In New Zealand, where this was mentioned, the PS3 already pushes $1200.
anotherdave @ Aug 1st 2007 8:47AM
Sooner please! I was hoping they would get this out in Q4. Make it run like a dual tuner DHG-HDD DVR and I will be very pleased.
Larry @ Aug 1st 2007 8:53AM
I think he one thing you guys are forgetting, assuming this rumor comes true, is that you can add additional harddrive space to a PS3. I am not sure how successful this device would be. The last do everything PSX did not sell well at all.
VT JJR @ Aug 1st 2007 8:58AM
This should be possible via a firmware update. It is a tuner for IPTV, not requiring a cable card or coax connection.
@Scott,
Are your calculations based on MPEG2 or MPEG4? To my knowledge MPEG4 requires quite a bit less disk space than MPEG2.
Also, why would anyone be bitching about something FREE!
VT JJR
VT JJR @ Aug 1st 2007 9:14AM
My apologies on the tunder comments. I thought Freeview was IP based. I went to their website to get educated.
AG23 @ Aug 1st 2007 10:00AM
To the naysayers that say the PS3 does not have enough Hard drive space, in case some of you don't know, the hard drive in the PS3 can be swapped for a bigger one.
It is incredibly easy and the PS3 manual even gives you detailed instructions on how to do so in the manual.
Ryan @ Aug 1st 2007 11:00AM
Which would prove their point that it does not have enough harddrive space.
AG23 @ Aug 1st 2007 10:05AM
To the naysayers who say the PS3 does not have a big enough hard drive...
In case you were not aware the PS3 lets you swap a larger Hard drive. It is incredibly easy and it even gives you detailed instructions on how to do so in the PS3 instruction manual.
And I apologize if this shows up more than once, the first time my comment did not post.
Siva @ Aug 1st 2007 10:50AM
Sony is not new to the DVR market. I have their DHG-HDD250 and it is awesome. The quality is awesome and it has performed great. However, the TVGOS that it uses is awful and may quit working in Feb 2009. So, I want the PS3 to work with an external USB HDD for storing recordings and an IP/UDP based tuner like HDHomeRun. Program guide through internet is a must.
AG23 @ Aug 1st 2007 3:11PM
It actually does have enough space...
This is for the people who complain that it doesn't.
JeffDM @ Aug 1st 2007 11:31AM
It's a nice bonus, but if this is a purchase consideration, I would first wait for it to be released and find out how good it is.
HD ATSC gobbles up hard drive space. The existing drive might be good if you are persistent about keeping things around. One HD movie from over the air runs from 10 to 20GB, depending on length and how much bandwidth they give it. I'd really suggest hooking up an external 750GB drive for that type of use.
Tim @ Aug 1st 2007 11:34AM
I'd expect these extras for no extra cost at the current UK price!
LA Dave @ Aug 1st 2007 11:49AM
A few things lacking in the article:
1) No mention of US release of PVR features
2) No mention of it having the ability to record HD
3) No mention of price
I'm hoping it will come to the States and have HD recording ability.
Alex @ Aug 1st 2007 12:40PM
The Xbox is supposed to have its IPTV by X-mas, but they better do a massive price cut on the hard drives or start allowing external HD drives to work. Hopefully this competition will loosen both boxes up.
Jake @ Aug 1st 2007 3:52PM
I currently have a 320gb Fat 32 drive connected to my PS3. If I want to download movies or shows just put it to the internal drive then swap it to your external or sony could have an option to select which drive you want to download to. Its very easy to get a third party Fat32 formatter that allows you to utilize your entire disk space for it. Also on newegg.com an external 500gb HD runs for an average of $120 and thats before the mail in rebates. This costs less then replacing the internal PS3 HDD
domerdel @ Aug 1st 2007 4:14PM
@Jake:
I was just clarifying that FAT32 has a limitation of 4GB filesizes, not concerning overall disk space... not that it would matter in the format of a PVR...
treacherous @ Aug 1st 2007 5:57PM
If it has the ability to get me non-OTA HD without having to use the DISH box, I'm in!
riverside_guy @ Aug 2nd 2007 11:21AM
No matter how you slice it, cable & satellite are far and away the top sources for HD content. As such, there is the matter of the DRM they use. Due to FCC "rules" the security (DRM) has be not be integrated into hardware so the answer is a cable card.
If the PS3 becomes a DVR that can do HD, that capability is mostly useless without a cable card slot.
Yes there has been a proposed software solution (DACS I believe) but that's a far ways away if it ever actually happens.
glocks out @ Aug 2nd 2007 2:23PM
There is a way to do this with the PS3 already. You get the ATI USB CableCard tuner and you're good to go.
Slvrgun @ Aug 2nd 2007 7:04PM
This only confirms that the PS3 will lose the console wars. If Sony wanted a jack of all trade master of none box it should have created one instead of focusing on making a ridiculously expensive game console.
Mr_Fizzlepop @ Aug 7th 2007 10:19PM
Well, for a loser it doesn't look to bad at Amazon being the 3rd best seller in Video Games behind the Wii and Wii nunchuk controller. The 360 is number 31 right now.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=pd_ts_h/105-0586423-5333268?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-6&pf_rd_r=1PQ7WBQA1KYCQRW8A8QG&pf_rd_t=2101&pf_rd_p=264215801&pf_rd_i=home
Spastic Colon @ Aug 16th 2007 9:45PM
Cool. Hopefully by this time next year I can stop complaining about the lack of features to justify my purchase.
Grateful_Al @ Aug 16th 2007 9:47PM
Bring on the content!
majesty @ Aug 21st 2007 4:43AM
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