Why aren't there many HD-DVR on the market?

[xwingsct]

I don't mean like the one from Tivo, Cable company or Satellite company putting out. Something that you don't have to subscribe to the service.

If you can program a VCR it can't be that hard to do the same with DVR.
I know Sony has one out awhile ago that uses TV guide which is free and they never release the follow up model. Looks like they just gave up on it.

[Darth_Bane]

Originally Posted by xwingsct

I don't mean like the one from Tivo, Cable company or Satellite company putting out. Something that you don't have to subscribe to the service.

If you can program a VCR it can't be that hard to do the same with DVR.
I know Sony has one out awhile ago that uses TV guide which is free and they never release the follow up model. Looks like they just gave up on it.

I know what you mean, but its because you would then have to essentially have two boxes attached to your tv. most signals these days are digital and encoded, and all will be after feb 2009. that means to get any picture at all you have to have a box from the company that provides your tv service, and then you would have to attach a dvr after that. its just easier to get the dvr from the company that supplies your tv signal.

[Big Daddy]

Another problem is the issue of patents. The DVR business has been marred by lawsuits

The following are some patent litigation as reported by Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorder

“On July 14, 2005, Forgent Networks filed suit[5] against various companies alleging infringement on U.S. Patent 6,285,746 , entitled "Computer controlled video system allowing playback during recording". The listed companies included EchoStar, Directv, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Comcast, Time Warner, and Cable One.

Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola, the manufacturers of the equipment sold by the above mentioned companies, filed a counter-suit against Forgent Networks claiming that their products do not violate the patent, and that the patent is invalid. The two cases were combined into case 6:06-cv-208, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division.

According to court documents, on June 20, 2006, Motorola requested that the United States Patent and Trademarks Office reexamine the patent, which was first filed in 1991, but has been amended several times.

On March 23, 2007 Cablevision Systems Corp lost a legal battle against several Hollywood studios and television networks to introduce a network-based digital video recorder service to its subscribers.”