In this case the broadcasts are from Freeview, the fast growing free-to-air Digital Terrestrial Television service. Freeview rose from the ashes of OnDigital and ITV Digital, which were both pay-to-view. With With Freeview offering up to 30 TV channels and numerous radio stations, all of which are free, take-up in the UK is growing at an amazing rate and is likely to result in the eventual switch-off of the current analogue broadcasts (the government have pencilled this in for 2007).
On the technical side, Freeview uses the DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcast Terrestrial) system, which is essentially streaming MPEG2. Being digital, it is possible to capture a tv program to some storage medium and replay it with no loss in quality. The question is, how do you do this? The answer for most set-top box owners is to plug a rats nest of SCART leads into their TV, Freeview box and VCR, and make do with ropey VHS quality.
For me, recording a digital program onto VHS seems like a severe compromise, so when I heard about DigiTV from Nebula Electonics, I got very excited. DigiTV is a PCI card that fits inside a PC, and along with the supplied software and remote control, transforms a humble PC into a seriously good PVR. It has a raft of features, but the main one, the ability to record TV and radio programs to hard disk in pure unadulterated digital format, appealed to my inner gadget-freak.
The DigiTV package turned up well packed, and contained the PCI card, remote control, batteries, infrared sensor, software CD and a quick-start guide. While it would be nice to get a printed manual, the software is under constant development and I can appreciate why Nebula have opted for HTML. The PCI card is a fairly standard size so it will fit in most PCs without any trouble, although Shuttle mini-PC owners have reported that it is a bit of a squeeze. The card has connections for TV antenna in, TV antenna loop-through (amplified), RCA analogue video input, analogue audio input (phono) and remote control sensor input. TV output is handled by the PC graphics card, so you need one with TV-out if you plan to view programs on your TV. I opted to use a spare 17" monitor but I'm interested to try the TV output from my Geforce 2 (TV Tool is likely to be needed). Nebula recommend ATI Radeon or Nvidea Geforce 4 based cards for the best quality TV output.
The supplied remote control is a generic "all in one" monster manufactured by One4All and is capable of controlling all manner of TV, Hi-fi, VCR, DVD and satellite boxes. Before using it with DigiTV it has to be programmed using a supplied code. The control features a flap containing further buttons which will eventually work with DigiTV software. The remote sensor included in the box connects to the PCI card using a mini jack plug, and was mounted on the top of the monitor using a bit of Blu-tac - hardly the most aesthetic solution but it works!
Once the card is physically installed, Windows XP prompts for the drivers from the CD. Following that the main DigiTV software can be installed. In my case it went without a hitch.
The software essentially has two operation modes. The first is the classic Windows look, which is more suited to general configuration and operation when you have a keyboard and mouse to hand. With the second mode, full-screen, DigiTV takes on a more graphical Set-Top Box look. In this mode, with the remote control, you really get the feeling of using a real TV. "Now and Next" along with programme durations is shown on screen as you flick through the channels.
The software comes complete with it's own TV guide for the week ahead (EPG - Electronic Programme Guide), which is automatically updated from Nebula's website, so a PC with an internet connection is vital. The EPG makes the "programming a video" task a doddle - you are presented with a graphical view of what's on and you simply click on the programs you want to record.
The recordings end up as MPEG files on your hard disk, and take up quite some space - roughly 850 Mb per half-hour, so a good sized hard disk is essential. Files are sensibly named using the programme title and can be limited to 2 Gb. The software simply carries on with a new file with no data loss. After using my 10 Gb drive for a bit I have to say that it is just about enough for a handful of programs so a new 120 Gb drive is looking very tempting. (since purchased!) As a stop-gap I am converting recordings that I want to keep to DivX using Vidomi software. Recordings can be burnt onto DVD-Rs, but at present require conversion using Pvastrumento or similar beforehand. Nebula Electronics development roadmap suggests that direct DVD recording is on the horizon.