Digital Trends

Hauppauge obviously decided to leave one big surprise until later in the week at CES.

 

Yesterday it introduced an HD video recorder for the PC, known as the HD PVR. It connects to the computer via USB, and records HD TV in real time, converting into the ISO standard H.264 format.

 

The HD PVR can connect to high definition cable TV or satellite TV set top box receivers using standard component cables. The device includes a video player application which allows the recorded TV programs to be played back on a PC screen.

 

It also has Hauppauge's IR Blaster, which controls the channels on most popular cable and satellite TV set top boxes in North America and Europe, and will allow users to schedule the recording of their HD programs.

 

Finally, it can also create AVCHD recordings (the format used on Blu-ray high definition players). As part of the software applications which will be shipped with Hauppauge's HD encoder, a DVD burning application will be provided which can take AVCHD formatted recordings and burn them onto a conventional DVD disc. These discs can then be played in Blu-ray DVD players. About 2 hours of Blu-ray HD content can be recorded on a 4.7 GB DVD disk.

 

It will be available within the next few months at a recommended price of $249.