“The VCR is dead.” Long live the PVR.
Freeview is said to be getting ready to air a new ad campaign proclaiming the death of the traditional video recorder.
- Published by David Knox
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Freeview is said to be getting ready to air a new ad campaign proclaiming the death of the traditional video recorder.
The campaign, “the VCR is dead”, is expected to break in coming months, says The Australian. Set to join its old buddy Betamax? Probably.
More than 45 per cent of all households now rely on set-top boxes to translate digital signals or act as personal video recorders. More than 100,000 devices a month are being sold around the country.
Robert Bonanno, marketing director of Topfield, which has been selling PVRs in Australia for seven years, said the penetration of devices such as PVRs was now heading over the 50 per cent mark.
Along with brands including Beyondwiz, Strong, Topfield, Tivo, Dgtec and Bush, there is the Foxtel IQ, which allows recording, pausing, rewinding and time-shifting of shows.
And they also help viewers to overcome the annoying network habit of late starts.
Some even allow us to skip the ads Freeview wants us to see. Freeview branded set-top boxes have limited ad-fast-forwarding features.
Meanwhile Catch-Up TV continues to take hold.
Plus7 attracted more than 500,000 unique visitors in its first four weeks while the ABC’s iVIEW topped 411,000 visitors last month.
But there are divisions between Seven Media group and Yahoo7’s plans to make about 20 of Seven’s TV shows available on a catch-up basis on Sony’s soon-to-launch Bravia TVs.
But executives are reluctant to make key programs available to be viewed on channels that are not counted in their television ratings.
Yahoo7 spokeswoman Amanda Millar said the Bravia used an internet browser to access Plus7 and no content leaves the Yahoo7 domain or is sub-licensed to Sony.
Source: The Australian
39 Responses
I bought PlayTV for my PS3 at the weekend and my Facebook page declared “RIP VCR”.
Rest well, video tape. You’ve served me well over the years!
I have a twin SD tuner PVR and I still use the VCR to record a third channel when needed. I will be upgrading to a twin HD tuner but by then, the quad tuners should be out. 8)
i still have a vcr but hardly use it as everything i record now is on DVD i love my panasonic twin HD tuner HDD dvd recorder
and a word of warning guys if you are thinking of buying an LG dvd recorder and vcr Don’t mine has had 4 dvd drives replaced i gave up when the 4th one died thank god for extended warrantys
The fluffy, vague Freeview and Government ads about upgrading to digital TV only serve to confuse those who most need help.
I switched to a Panasonic digital tuner HDD/DVD recorder long ago but my parents with an old analogue TV are completely baffled by the mixed messages. Non-technical or older folks seeking the cheapest way to go digital have been encouraged thru the ads to get a digital set top box. But if they just get a basic S.T.box then recording programs with their analogue VCR’s will be more complicated, as will changing channels using the STB instead of their usual TV controls.
Freeview should have promoted integrated HD digital tuner PVR’s from the outset instead of waiting until half the people have bought cheap basic set top boxes (non-PVR).
Their ads are not informative at all and force them to rely on the technical advice of shop sales staff, who may just confuse them even more.
No, VCRs are not dead, they are just not used by as many people as they used to be – same with turntables for records for example.
Sounds like another pointless ad campaign with no real message. Another FreeView waste of time and money.
@JJ – That why you get a PVR with HDD and DVD, record to the HDD then edit the ads and burn to the DVD, simple an affective.
BTW you can buy some PVRs (with HDD & DVD) for around $400 if you don’t mind SD and given the lack of content on HD it’s never bothered me. I admit the Twin-Tuner HD models with Blu-Ray do get a bit expensive though, starting on the wrong side of $1500 last I checked.
Considering it was not that long ago a decent VCR with all the potential tape issues could set you back well over $500, a PVR like my LG around $400 is not a bad price.
VCR still works for me. I use mine in tandem with my HDD recorder for the nights when there is too much to watch at once.
Looking back, i gave the VCR the flick back in early 2006. I didn’t want to abandon it, however as technology grew…. i found i had no real use for it.
My Panasonic DVD-HDD recorder has been fantastic for me over the past year, much better than the Pioneer DVD-HDD recorder i relied on for 3 years prior to buying the Panasonic model.
Quite often over the last few months there have been two shows on at the same time that i’ve wanted to watch. Heck over the last few weeks there have been occasions where there are three programs on at the same time – recording two, while watching the third live is very handy. Especially since i tend to hold off recorded shows for a night or two where there is nothing on that i find interesting.
I find VCR’s to be too unreliable (you need to pay money to get the heads cleaned, it won’t rewind anymore, tapes get chewed, etc.). When blank Blu Ray discs become more affordable, I’d guess there will be a 2nd gen of digital recorders, that’ll also give the option to transfer something recorded, onto a disc. Panasonic have a digital recorder on the market that has both digital recording and disc recording options in the one unit.
I own a Panasonic Blu-Ray Twin 500GB HDD recorder and it’s the best, cost $650 more than my Panasonic LCD but totally worth it if u can afford it.
Steer clear of Topfield if buying a PVR. I’ve had no end of trouble with mine since buying it in March last year. Almost gave up and consigned it to the bin. Working a little more reliably after sending it back twice.
MY VCR/DVD combo is working Just fine and the PVR’s are still way to expensive.
There’s no way I’d buy a Freeview PVR if somebody paid me.
I have a huge box of VHS tapes with stuff recorded from the late ’80s/early ’90s. Some of the tapes haven’t been played for 10+ years. Still have a couple of VCRs that work OK. What should I do with the tapes? Is it best to just record them straight on to disc or can I somehow store what I want on a hard drive?
i haven’t had a vcr in years, and have nothing on tape. I have DVD/HDD player at home that’s rarely used as i own most of what i enjoy watching…
Makes me sad thinking of the boxes of VHS I still have sitting in the shed… but I haven’t used a VCR is about 2 years now and don’t know how I lived without it. Record strait to the HDD then edit out the ads and I can save them on DVD which take up far less room than those boxes of VHS.
I may not have some of the features of the likes of TiVo or even HD (its SD as the HD boxes are still out of my price range) but the fact I have a DVD player makes it worth the sacrifice.
Long live the PVR!
My next upgrade will be Twin HD tuners and BluRay… if the price it right.
I personally think the VCR is far from dead. The old VCR’s were created for two reasons:
1. To record programs that you are unable to watch because you are going out or they are on very late at night etc.
2. To archive programs of interest which you may then keep for months/years/forever
Most PVR’s on the market (without a DVD burner) only address the first reason, they can only record a program which you are unable to watch so you can watch it at a later time but cannot be used for archiving your favourite shows and movies. DVDS can do this but also have their disadvantages such as not being able to erase whole or partial recordings to make space for new ones like you can on a videotape (eg. you might set your DVD recorder to record a movie that you want to keep late at night and set it to record an extra 20 minutes in case it runs over and say that it finishes pretty much on time you can never erase that last 20 minutes on the DVD like you can on a VHS tape)
DVDS are also prone to scratches and unable to read errors but I can tell you in all the years I’ve been using my good old trusty VCR it has never not been able to play a tape, you press play and it comes on. PVR’s also have a habit of recording the wrong channel sometimes, rarely but enough to make it bothersome, the good old trusty VCR was always 100% accurate with its recordings.
DVDS can also only store 2 hours of normal high quality SP recordings usually not even enough for a movie whereas the norm for VHS videotapes is 3 or 4 hours and if you double that on LP you can have up to 8 hours of recording time.
Not to mention all the videotaped recordings people would have taped through their VCR’s of shows, movies, weddings etc sometimes it’s not feasible to convert all of these to DVD and that’s why VCR’s in my eyes are a long way from being dead and will always have a place in the home, with all the problems of PVR’s and DVDS there is a market for them which is why VCR’s and VHS videotapes are still sold in stores today.
VCRS are still needed for the transferring of VHS to dvd. Something has to play the tapes at one end !!
Aside from the timeshift functionality of PVR’s I’d still go for a DVD(Bluray)/HDD recorder option anytime. PVR’s have a habit of reaching a ‘no vacancy’ status far too quickly.
i still use my VCR and will continue to do so !
The vcr isn’t dead at our place. We record everything we watch, so until we can afford to replace the other 3 with dvd recorders, the vcr is still the easiest way to record. Some nights we’re recording 3 channels at the same time.
I have a topfield and it does the identical of a Foxtel IQ I can record; rewind and timeshift programs. Great, Great, Great Invention.
I told my parents a couple of years ago, when their VCR’s tuner died, that the time had come to give up on VHS and enter the PVR age. They bought a DVD-RAM recorder / VHS combo thing. With an analogue tuner. And which uses discs hardly anyone sells any more.
Freeview, where were you when I needed you? 😀
As for the Bravia thing: what’s the resolution of the “Catch up” streams? Is it as sub-VHS-quality as ABC iView? In which case, why on earth bother including it in the feature set of a 1080p HDTV?
A campaign to tell us something we already know. Briiliant!
I still have a VCR and will continue to keep it until it dies out as it still does a great job of recording my favourite programs during the day or late at night.
I don’t know what the advantages of a PVR are, apart from recording the extra digital channels i presume.
Would have worked ten years ago. Just sounds a little bit stupid now. Just sayin’