TiVo digital video recorders

TiVo digital video recorders encompass a number of digital video recorder models that TiVo, Inc. designed. Features may vary, but a common feature is that all of the units listed here require TiVo service and use its operating system.

TiVo units have been manufactured by various OEMs, including Philips, Sony, Pioneer, Toshiba, and Humax, which license the software from TiVo Inc. To date, there have been three "series" of TiVo units produced, with the third series having been released on September 12, 2006.

Models

Series1

Type	Manufacturer	Model	Capacity		Notes
			Hours	GB
Standalone	Philips	HDR110	14	14	First model, March 31, 1999
		HDR112	14	14
		HDR212	20	22
		HDR310	30
		HDR312	30	2x14
		HDR31201 HDR31202 HDR31203 HDR31204	30	30
		HDR612	60	2x30
	Sony	SVR2000	30	30	Custom remote control RMT-V303
	Thomson	PVR10UK	40	2x20	UK-only, uses SCART input/output
DirecTV	Philips	DSR6000	35	40
	Sony	Sat-T60	35	40	Custom remote control RM-Y809
	Hughes	GXCEBOT	35	40

The Series1 (retronym) was the original TiVo digital video recorder.

Series1 TiVo systems are based on PowerPC processors connected to MPEG-2 encoder/decoder chips and IDE/ATA hard drives. Series1 TiVo units used one or two drives of 13–60 GB. Although not supported by TiVo or equipment manufacturers, larger drives can be added.

Series1 standalone

All standalone TiVo systems have coax/RF-in and an internal cable-ready tuner, analog video input—composite/RCA, and S-Video—for use with an external cable box or satellite receiver. The TiVo unit can use a serial cable or IR blasters to control the external receiver. They have coax/RF, composite/RCA, and S-Video output, and the DVD systems also have component out. Audio is RCA stereo, and the DVD systems also have digital optical out.

• CPU: IBM PowerPC 403GCX at 54 MHz
• RAM: 16 MB

Series1 DirecTV

Some TiVo systems are integrated with DirecTV receivers. These "DirecTiVo" recorders record the incoming satellite MPEG-2 digital stream directly to hard disk without conversion. Because of this and the fact that they have two tuners, DirecTiVos are able to record two programs at once. In addition, the lack of digital conversion allows recorded video to be of the same quality as live video. DirecTiVos have no MPEG encoder chip, and can only record DirecTV streams.

• CPU: IBM PowerPC 403GCX at 70-80 MHz
• RAM: 32 MB

Series2

Type	Manufacturer	Model	Capacity		Notes
			Hours	GB
Standalone	TiVo/AT&T	TCD130040	40	40	USB 1.1
		TCD230040	40	40
	TiVo	TCD230040	40	40
		TCD240040	40	40
		TCD24004A	40	40
		TCD540040	40	40
		TCD140060	60	60	USB 1.1
		TCD240080	80	80
		TCD24008A	80	80
		TCD540080 TCD542080	80	80
		TCD240140	140	120
		TCD540140	140	120
		TCD649080	80	80	Dual-tuner
		TCD649180	180	160	Dual-tuner
	Pioneer	DVR-810H	80	80	DVD Recorder
		DVR-57H	120	120	DVD Recorder
	Toshiba	SD-H400	80	80	DVD Player
		RS-TX20	120	120	DVD Recorder
		RS-TX60	160	160	DVD Recorder
	Humax	T800	80	80
		T2500	300	250
		DRT400	40	40	DVD Recorder
		DRT800	80	80	DVD Recorder
	Sony	SVR3000	80	80
DirecTV	Hughes	HDVR2	35	40
		HDVR3	35	40
		SD-DVR40	35	40
		SD-DVR80	70	80
		SD-DVR120	100	120
	Philips	DSR7000	35	40
		DSR704	35	40
		DSR708	70	80
	RCA	DVR39	35	40
		DVR40	35	40
		DVR80	70	80
	Samsung	SIR-S4040R	35	40
		SIR-S4080R	70	80
		SIR-S4120R	100	120
	DirecTV	R10	70	80
		HR10-250	200	250	High definition, both satellite and terrestrial (OTA ATSC tuner)

Front view of a Series2 TCD540040 TiVo unit

Back view of a Series2 TCD540040 TiVo unit

The Series2 was a complete redesign of the TiVo hardware. It includes USB ports (for Ethernet and Wi-Fi adapters), a new CPU, and more RAM. The availability of network connectivity has spread to the software side, where new features like TiVoToGo and Home Media Engine applications are now supported.

Series2 TiVo systems are based on MIPS processors connected to MPEG-2 encoder/decoder chips and high-capacity IDE/ATA hard drives. Current Series2 units have drives of 40–250GB in size. Although not supported by TiVo or equipment manufacturers, larger drives can be added.

Series2 standalone

All standalone TiVo systems have coax/RF-in and an internal cable-ready tuner, analog video input—composite/RCA, and S-Video—for use with an external cable box or satellite receiver. The TiVo unit can use a serial cable or IR blasters to control the external receiver. They have coax/RF, composite/RCA, and S-Video output, and the DVD systems also have component out. Audio is RCA stereo, and the DVD systems also have digital optical out. The Series2 systems also have USB ports, currently used only to support network (wired Ethernet and WiFi) adapters. The early Series2 units, models starting with 110/130/140, have USB 1.1 hardware, while all other systems have USB 2.0.

Some models manufactured by Toshiba, Pioneer, and Humax, under license from TiVo, contain DVD-R/RW drives. The models can transfer recordings from the built-in hard drive to DVD Video compliant disc, playable in most modern DVD systems. The video encoding on these models was modified to match the DVD standard so transferring to DVD does not require transcoding.

The Series2 standalones can only tune analog signals, so to comply with FCC rules on analog TV phaseout, models that record from over-the-air channels are no longer sold. The dual tuner (DT) models and the TCD542 (a revision of the TCD540) will only record from cable and satellite sources.

• CPU:
  • 1xx/2xx-series: NEC 5432 (MIPS), 166 MHz
  • 5xx-series: Broadcom BCM7317, 242 MHz
  • 6xx-series: Broadcom BCM7318, 266 MHz
• RAM:
  • 1xx/2xx/5xx-series: 32 MB of 133 MHz 16-bit DDR
  • 6xx-series: 64 MB of 133 MHz 16-bit DDR
• MPEG Encoder
  • 1xx/2xx/5xx-series: Broadcom BCM7040
  • 6xx-series: Two Broadcom BCM7042

Series2 DirecTV

Some TiVo systems are integrated with DirecTV receivers. These "DirecTiVo" recorders record the incoming satellite MPEG-2 digital stream directly to hard disk without conversion. Because of this and the fact that they have two tuners, DirecTiVos are able to record two programs at once. In addition, the lack of digital conversion allows recorded video to be of the same quality as live video. DirecTiVos have no MPEG encoder chip, and can only record DirecTV streams. However, DirecTV has disabled the networking capabilities on their systems, meaning DirecTiVo does not offer such features as multi-room viewing or TiVoToGo. Only the standalone systems can be networked without additional unsupported hacking.

The latest DirecTiVo units (HR10-250) can also record HDTV to a 250GB hard drive, both from the DirecTV stream and over-the-air via a standard UHF- or VHF-capable antenna. They have four tuners (two DirecTV and two ATSC over-the-air) and, like the original DirecTiVo, can record two programs at once; further, the program guide is integrated between over-the-air and DirecTV so that all programs can be recorded and viewed in the same manner. Recording capacity is variable, up to 30 HD or 200 SD hours.

• CPU:
  • HR10: Broadcom BCM7037

DirecTiVo updates

On July 8, 2006, DirecTV announced an upgrade to version 6.3 of the TiVo software for the HR10-250, the first major upgrade since this unit was released. This upgrade includes features such as program grouping (folders), a much faster on-screen guide, and new sorting features.

In October 2007, DirecTV sent a message to all DirecTV TiVo R10 and HR10 users saying that they will be applying numerous features to the DirecTiVo. It include two features:

• Episode Recovery is a feature that will let you recover a previously deleted episode of a show. There will be a time frame of the time you could recover the episode, but the information has not been released.
• Online Scheduling is a feature that will allow you to go to the DirecTV guide on the internet, and choose a television program to be recorded. This feature is popular with the TiVo Brand DVR's, but DirecTV's contract with TiVo did not allow them to implement the online features of the DirecTiVo.

Series3

Type	Manufacturer	Model	Capacity		Notes
			Hours HD/SD	GB
Standalone	TiVo	TCD648250B	32/300	250	THX-certified, no M-Card support.
		TCD652160 (aka TiVo HD)	20/180	160
		TCD663160 (aka TiVo 160)	30/60	160	Australia/NZ Model, DVB-T, Dolby Digital Decoder
		TCD663320 (aka TiVo 320)	60/120	320	Australia/NZ Model, DVB-T, Dolby Digital Decoder
		TCD658000 (aka TiVo HD XL)	150/1,350	1,024	THX-certified

The Series3 TiVo was officially unveiled at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, and was released to the public on September 12, 2006. In April 2010, it was superseded by the Series 4 "Tivo Premiere" and is supported but no longer manufactured by Tivo for North American markets.

The Series3 DVR features support for high-definition broadcasts and has two tuners. In North America, they each can receive analog and HDTV over-the-air (NTSC and ATSC) in addition to both analog and digital cable (QAM). Encrypted digital cable is decoded through CableCARDs available from your cable provider. As of September 2009 satellite TV connections are not supported. In Australia and New Zealand, the dual tuners support the recording of two digital (DVB-T) over-the-air signals at the same time, whilst playing back a third.

With the dual tuners, it can record or view any two sources simultaneously. For example, two over-the-air broadcasts, two cable programs, or any combination can be recorded at the same time. The initial hardware release (TCD648250B) was unable to take advantage of Multi-Stream CableCARDs and required the use of a pair of CableCARDs to enable its dual tuners with encrypted digital cable. The followup Series3 models had an option of using either one Multi-Stream card or two single stream cards.

Switched Digital Video (SDV), a technology which allows cable providers to send only one channel stream at a time instead of the entire provider's channel lineup in order to better manage and expand bandwidth, requires a USB attachment to a separate tuning adapter available from your cable provider.

One HDMI port and two sets of component, S-video, and composite outputs are included. The Series 3 is also the first DVR to feature THX-certified audio and video. The unit is also equipped with two USB 2.0 ports, a Fast Ethernet port, and a modem, which are all used to connect to the TiVo service. The built-in wired ethernet or an optional USB 802.11 wireless adapter can download video on demand from various providers. Multi-room viewing and transferring programs to and from a PC is allowed. HD content may only be transferred between Series 3 units.

A Series 3 can be connected to several types of televisions and if necessary convert to the appropriate resolution. This allows displaying HD channels on older TVs using composite or s-video connections.

Storage can be increased to 1 TB by replacement of the hard drive—something that can be done professionally, but is usually done by users familiar with how to perform PC drive replacement. An external SATA port allows up to 1TB in additional storage when using TiVo-certified external hard drives.

• CPU: Broadcom BCM7038
• RAM: 128 MB for general CPU use- more for the encoders

Series4 Tivo Premiere

Type	Manufacturer	Model	Capacity		Notes
			Hours HD/SD	GB
Standalone	TiVo	TCD746320 (aka TiVo Premiere)	45/400	320	1080P, 1 M-Card slot, Adobe Flash interface, optional qwerty remote
		TCD748000 (aka TiVo Premiere XL)	150/1,350	1,024	1 Terabyte storage, premium remote, THX certification

The Series4 TiVo Premiere was officially unveiled on March 2, 2010, and was released to the public on March 28, 2010. Series 3 and Series 3 HD units are still supported but are no longer distributed for North American markets. The higher end Premiere model features a more sophisticated remote and larger hard drive. Upgraded Tivo Premieres are available from third parties with storage up to 4 terabytes.

The Tivo Premiere has the features of the Series 3 Tivos with the addition of support for 1080P high definition video, and a new high definition user interface using Adobe Flash. It is also Energy Star compliant after cutting power consumption by 35% to 45%. The slimmer unit relies on a single Multi-stream CableCARD ("M-Card") slot and uses a dual core processor delivering greater performance. Communication speeds are claimed to be 3 to 5 times faster than a Tivo HD, and supports an optional QWERTY keyboard remote that communicates via Bluetooth. Like the Series 3, it does not support analog video input from devices such as satellite television or AT&T U-verse set top boxes as does the Series 2 Tivos. The new user interface is meant to seamlessly integrate features such as Rhapsody, Netflix, Amazon, Blockbuster, and You-Tube video, and make development of such applications easier through use of Adobe Stagecraft (Flash Lite 3.1 + Actionscript 2.0). The operating system enhancement allows third party Flash applications similar to those possible with HME, and other Flash Lite consumer devices such as Chumby. Such applications will be available from Tivo's application store.

It has been popular among owners of earlier Tivo models to upgrade internal hard drives with higher capacity drives. Earlier software tools, such as WinMFS and MFSLive, that worked on Series 2, Series 3 and TiVo HD DVRs do not work with the Premiere's new disk format, but upgrade is possible. One vendor, Weaknees, offers a 4 terabyte Tivo Premiere with a 2TB internal drive, and a 2TB external. Do-it-yourself Premiere hard drives upgrades are now possible using a downloadable ISO image burned to CD.

Hardware:

• CPU: Broadcom BCM7413 400MHZ dual core 1100 Dhrystone MIPS vs. Tivo HD's 400 DMIPS
• RAM: 512 MB
• Encoder: Trident SAA7164 MPEG-2 encoder (for analog cable programs)

External links

• Tivo Homepage
• Full TiVo Hardware Details @ tivopedia.com