TV Gets Personal with Digital Recorders

The new digital recorders fromTiVoand Replay TV allow viewers to manipulate live shows and record them.

The TiVo unit is a digital recorder that ties together television sources: cable, satellite and antenna.

Computer engineer Sean Smith enjoys his TiVo and explains how it works.

"When the phone rings, I simply hit pause. I go about my business, and when I'm ready to start watching the program again, I hit the play button. It resumes right where I left off, and it will continue recording," Smith says.

TiVo stores up to 30 hours of programs in basic video quality. Highest quality gives DVD-like performance.

The personal TV receiver even records and plays at the same time.

The $500 box is very sophisticated.

"They contain a processor, and they use a hard drive very similar to what people have in their PCs, along with something called 'Mpeg' which compresses the video into a digital format and stores it on the hard drive until you decide to play it later," says Smith.

A viewer programs TiVo once, and it automatically records his or her favorite shows any time they are broadcast.

By pressing the "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" button on the remote, a viewer teaches the unit about his or her TV habits.

"It stores that information in your box, and it can then build a profile of what it thinks you like," Smith says.

A $10 monthly fee provides automatically updated and consolidated program listings.

TiVo is sold by online and by Triangle retailers for about $500.

Replay TV is a bit more expensive but does not charge a monthly updating fee. ReplayTV can be ordered online and by phone.