TVonics DVR-250 leads the arrival of Freeview Playback boxes

June 7, 2007 – Welsh firm TVonics has launched one of the first Freeview Playback-capable Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) onto the UK market, called the TVonics DVR-250. 

The new unit is the updated version of TVonics’ DVR-150, and offers significant improvements over the previous model, including a 250Gb hard drive capable of storing up to 125 hours of digital TV (compared to the DVR-150’s 160Gb), and twin tuners for multi-channel recording, as well as the new features of the Freeview Playback format. 

These are similar to Sky+ and include the facility to rewind and pause live television and 'series link', or record entire series at the press of one button, while remaining free of subscription charges and requiring only the initial outlay for the box.  Other features offered by the TVonics DVR-250 include twin scart, 8-day electronic programme guide, parental controls, universal remote control and improved energy efficiency.  The unit retails at around GB£180.

Freeview Playback was launched by the Digital TV Group, an industry association for digital TV, to raise consumer awareness and promote sales of Freeview-capable personal video recorders.  In the first phase of launch, Freeview Playback-capable devices will also offer Accurate Recording, which catches late-running programmes in full, as well as the ability to record two-part broadcasts, for example films fitted around a news bulletin.  Then in September 2007 more new features will be made available via broadcast updates, such as Series Recording and ‘conflict resolution’.  The latter is not available on Sky+ and uses programme listings to find imminent repeats of a programme in case the first showing conflicts with other recordings.  The first six brands to produce Freeview playback machines will be Alba (Bush/Goodmans), Sagem, Sharp, Sony, Humax and TVonics. 

The format is being rolled out in the second half of 2007 following the success of Freeview digital television in the UK. Freeview overtook Sky as the preferred way to watch digital television in the UK earlier in 2007, and reported that its platform is now preferred by 8.2mn homes in the UK, compared to 7.975mn for Sky in the last reported figures.  Cary Wakefield, the General Manager of the Freeview consortium, has predicted sales of 10mn Freeview Playback devices by 2012.  Sky meanwhile has revealed that it intends to remove its three Freeview channels from the digital TV line-up in autumn 2007 and introduce a pay-TV package instead, requiring new hardware to receive.