A stand-alone DVR is a digital video recorder that has largely supplanted the VCR as the recording medium of choice for many Americans. The reasons for this change range from the ease of use of a DVR as compared to a VCR to the widespread marketing campaigns launched by many of the top DVR companies. Rather than make use of a video tape, a DVR records the video onto its own hard drive for playback.
History
Though a theoretical patent for the system dates back to 1985 (before most households even had a VCR), consumer DVRs did not make their way into the public until 1999. With that year came the launch of the two biggest names in the DVR industry, TiVo and ReplayTV. They both debuted their products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in February of that year. While ReplayTV won the show's award for most innovative new product, TiVo was first out of the gate when it came to marketing directly to the consumer.
Features
In addition to recording programs, stand-alone DVRs offer a wide range of features that helped them to eclipse the VCR as the recording technology of choice. Rather than choosing a single program, laboriously setting a VCR and then hoping for the best, DVR users can choose a TV show and then set the DVR not only to record a single instance of that program but also record it every time it airs.
TiVo, in particular, made some revolutions with its "suggestions" program. This program monitors a user's viewing habits and records shows based on what it perceives the user may like. Due to limited room in the hard drive, these suggested programs always take lowest priority and are deleted before shows that the user manually records. In addition to all of this, DVR users can pause live TV, rewind up to 30 minutes of live programming, watch a show they are recording from the beginning and, with a dual tuner DVR, record and/or watch two shows at the same time.
Market
ReplayTV was thought by many to be the superior of the stand-alone DVRs, but due to various reasons, it lost the market war, and badly, to its competitor TiVo. Mired in lawsuits regarding its commercial-skip feature, ReplayTV soon left the market altogether and stopped making DVRs for commercial sale. Meanwhile, TiVo has found itself battling the advent of cable company DVRs and the production of televisions with DVR capabilities built right into them. As of 2008, TiVo had about 3.5 millions subscribers. While this is a substantial share of the market, it is down from its peak of 4.3 million subscribers in early 2006.
Security
While most people think of recording television shows and movies with a DVR, they have also found a place in security surveillance. These DVRs record video and (sometimes) audio from closed circuit television feeds. Many advanced security firms have chosen to go with DVRs over VCRs for their advanced features and the increased search capabilities inherent in the products. Entire security systems have been built around DVRs, with the abilities to hook them into a PC network and control them from a remote access point being major selling points for technophile security experts.
Effects
Advertisers have taken a dim view of much DVR technology. Though recorded VCR programs certainly afforded viewers the opportunity to fast-forward through commercials, statistics show that users make much more use of the recording capabilities of DVR products and thus skip many more commercials. Because of this, advertisers are having to think outside the box and find new ways to get their messages out to the consumer. Some of this has already come in the form of product placement, but it remains to be seen what further steps will be taken.
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