# MRV ever coming to our DVR's?



## rickeame (Sep 5, 2006)

One feature that is sorely lacking from my house, and that I keep trying to get in some manner is true multi-room viewing of content. Right now, my BSG episodes are sitting upstairs on my HR21-700, but I'm downstairs in my family room and am comfortable and boy i'd love to just be able to fire it up and watch it. Instead, I have to commit to moving upstairs to the theater room and cranking everything on. 

I've used Windows Media Center in the past for this because of the excellent extender technology built into the XBOX 360, but this isn't going to work for DirecTV in full strength for at least another year, so I'm at a loss as to how to solve my problem other than to record everything in two places.

Is MRV coming ever? How about the ability to just offload content from the DVR (that isn't copy bitted) and refactor?


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

Will MRV _ever _come? Probably. We just don't know when.


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## bigboyman2 (May 6, 2008)

There used to be a standard reciever that allowed 2 different rooms view 2 diffrent programs. Made by phillips. But it turned out to be a dud. Granted, it couldn't record, but the average end-user had too many steps if they didn't know what they were doing, so the project was scrapped. There's only a few of them active still


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## Mark_R_G (May 11, 2008)

Read the DVR Pro thread. Unless I'm misreading, the hdmi over optical has, or will very soon have this ability.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

MRV is coming... And I'm guessing we will see it in testing within the next 6 months...

They are testing streaming content to a PC right now, so if you use your TV as a monitor for your HTPC.. then its coming sooner rather than later....


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

I have to say that MRV has just been one area which I largely given up on to be honest. I've long become resigned to the fact that DirecTV just plain out refuses to go there no matter the outcry, and have simply moved on.

I really don’t know what it is about this feature which has historically caused DirecTV to have such an apparent disdain for it. But it seems that regardless of the level of subscriber demand for it over the years. It all pretty much falls on deaf ears with them.

I had hoped that maybe with TIVO activating MRV on their HD cable ready DVRs months ago. DirecTV, not wishing to be out done by the competition, would naturally want to get there version out as well ASAP. 

But, still no sale with them. And of course I'm not at all surprised. :nono2:


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

HoTat2 said:


> I have to say that MRV has just been one area which I largely given up on to be honest. I've long become resigned to the fact that DirecTV just plain out refuses to go there no matter the outcry, and have simply moved on.
> 
> I really don't know what it is about this feature which has historically caused DirecTV to have such an apparent disdain for it. But it seems that regardless of the level of subscriber demand for it over the years. It all pretty much falls on deaf ears with them.
> 
> ...


MRV is coming. There is no question about that. The only system they plan to offer in 3 years is a system based on MRV. The question is will it come to this generation of HR2's... I'd say so, since during the chat last week when asked about MRV the CTO said that PC streaming will be first.... that implys its coming after pc streaming....


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## grandpaken (Feb 4, 2006)

HoTat2 said:


> I really don't know what it is about this feature which has historically caused DirecTV to have such an apparent disdain for it. But it seems that regardless of the level of subscriber demand for it over the years. It all pretty much falls on deaf ears with them.
> 
> :nono2:


 Let's see...D* revenue - Extra receiver = 4.99/month and MRV = 0.


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## Aztec Pilot (Oct 11, 2007)

grandpaken said:


> Let's see...D* revenue - Extra receiver = 4.99/month and MRV = 0.


I am not sure that I agree. If you stream from your HR** to your PC then yes possible lost revenue. But if you have multiple HR**'s and want to "toggle between hard drives, that is not lost revenue. That is just value added. Even if you could access your HR from your H20, which you won't, it would not be lost revenue.

My 2 cents


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

Aztec Pilot said:


> I am not sure that I agree. If you stream from your HR** to your PC then yes possible lost revenue. But if you have multiple HR**'s and want to "toggle between hard drives, that is not lost revenue. That is just value added. Even if you could access your HR from your H20, which you won't, it would not be lost revenue.
> 
> My 2 cents


In fact, some people might even add another receiver rather than a hard drive to an existing one if they could use the machine in one room and also see content from it elsewhere.


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## glennb (Sep 21, 2006)

rickeame said:


> One feature that is sorely lacking from my house, and that I keep trying to get in some manner is true multi-room viewing of content. Right now, my BSG episodes are sitting upstairs on my HR21-700, but I'm downstairs in my family room and am comfortable and boy i'd love to just be able to fire it up and watch it. Instead, I have to commit to moving upstairs to the theater room and cranking everything on.


That sounds so terrible to have to get up and go upstairs to the theater room to watch BSG. I feel so bad for you.
Go all the way upstairs ? :icon_cry:


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## bakers12 (May 29, 2007)

Lee L said:


> In fact, some people might even add another receiver rather than a hard drive to an existing one if they could use the machine in one room and also see content from it elsewhere.


I added another HR2x just because I expect MRV soon.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

HoTat2 said:


> I have to say that MRV has just been one area which I largely given up on to be honest. I've long become resigned to the fact that DirecTV just plain out refuses to go there no matter the outcry, and have simply moved on.


You are certainly out of the loop then. Need to spend more time in the CE forum or checking up on chats.  MRV has been touted in the last 2-3 quarterly results meeting as something coming and was a central highlight of the future on their investor "3-5 year plan" call a couple months ago.

It is coming. It is coming soon. And the first pieces are already being tested in the last round of CE testing.


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## sagle (Aug 23, 2006)

grandpaken said:


> Let's see...D* revenue - Extra receiver = 4.99/month and MRV = 0.


I plan to purchase two more HR-2X's once MRV is functioning. So I disagree with the lost revenue.


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## vernonator (Jul 31, 2007)

:nono:


HoTat2 said:


> I have to say that MRV has just been one area which I largely given up on to be honest. I've long become resigned to the fact that DirecTV just plain out refuses to go there no matter the outcry, and have simply moved on.
> 
> I really don't know what it is about this feature which has historically caused DirecTV to have such an apparent disdain for it. But it seems that regardless of the level of subscriber demand for it over the years. It all pretty much falls on deaf ears with them.
> 
> ...


Why are you surprised? Look at their pricing schedule, if they give us MRV then we won't have to get as many recievers - at $5/mo....would you kill a revenue stream if you did not have to? :nono:


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## grandpaken (Feb 4, 2006)

Aztec Pilot said:


> I am not sure that I agree. If you stream from your HR** to your PC then yes possible lost revenue. But if you have multiple HR**'s and want to "toggle between hard drives, that is not lost revenue. That is just value added. Even if you could access your HR from your H20, which you won't, it would not be lost revenue.
> 
> My 2 cents


 If you look at it from the current "MRV" solution as Media Share to a PC connected to a TV to view recorded content then you would not need multiple receivers. I'm not sure how it's going to be implemented but if you can view a recording via media share right after it starts then you would have almost live TV in a remote location. I've got a component cable going from my DVR in the family room to my bedroom LCD which also has a H20 and a PC. If I could watch something with Media Share in the bedroom that's different from what's displayed on the set connected to the DVR I could eliminate the H20.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

Well… I hope you guys are correct;

But you will pardon me if I still remain somewhat skeptical. Until I actually see it at happen anyway. I just remember all the many requests and complaints that went on in the past for MRV with the DirecTIVOs units when the capability was right there in the OS software. And DirecTV just steadfastly refused to simply fired up the USB ports and activate this feature. Then when their own in house units came out, the R15, R16, HR20/21s. Still no MRV yet after all this time, in spite of networking capability on the HR20/21s.

So I will just wait and see. Since DirecTV, to me anyhow, has never acted in any way to demonstrate they have ever been enthusiastic about implementing any sort of multi-room sharing on their boxes.


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## glennb (Sep 21, 2006)

HoTat2 said:


> Well&#8230; I hope you guys are correct;
> 
> But you will pardon me if I still remain somewhat skeptical. Until I actually see it at happen anyway. I just remember all the many requests and complaints that went on in the past for MRV with the DirecTIVOs units when the capability was right there in the OS software. And DirecTV just steadfastly refused to simply fired up the USB ports and activate this feature. Then when their own in house units came out, the R15, R16, HR20/21s. Still no MRV yet after all this time, in spite of networking capability on the HR20/21s.
> 
> So I will just wait and see. Since DirecTV, to me anyhow, has never acted in any way to demonstrate they have ever been enthusiastic about implementing any sort of multi-room sharing on their boxes.


I still remember those dumb threads a few years ago in the DIRECTV/TiVo forums - Sign this petition to make DIRECTV turn on MRV !!


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## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

Well considering that the Previous CE release had functional streaming of Mpeg4 content to PCs using Nero it's pretty clear that they are working on that and it makes sense to use that as a step towards MRV. Also there's a nice sticky on the CE forum for "Homework" to see how well your pc will handle video play back that I assume is for CE testing on the official DirecTV viewer.


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## convem24 (Mar 11, 2007)

I have a distinct feeling that MRV is a much bigger priority for D* right now. The R22 has ethernet. The only current models not having ethernet capability are the R16 and D12 boxes. It will be interesting what Directv will do in terms of the D12 (obviously R22 is going to be available to certain areas of the country). It will definitely be interesting. I know we are all impatient with regard to new technology but D* has a plan (I hope).


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

glennb said:


> I still remember those dumb threads a few years ago in the DIRECTV/TiVo forums - Sign this petition to make DIRECTV turn on MRV !!


Yeah&#8230;

And it always seemed that DirecTV would do nothing but simply sit there like Sgt. Carter on the old Gomer Pyle TV series with a response of

"I can't hearrrr youuuu!"

:lol:


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## glennb (Sep 21, 2006)

HoTat2 said:


> Yeah&#8230;
> 
> And it always seemed that DirecTV would do nothing but simply sit there like Sgt. Carter on the old Gomer Pyle TV series with a response of
> 
> ...


What did you expect DirecTV to do ? - 
Plan an emergency board of directors meeting - Holy Sh*t ! Have you guys seen this petition on the directv/tivo forum ?!! We better do it or else !!! :lol:


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

Ok heres my .01 on the matter..... would you rather Directv rush MRV to us all and then have nothing but problems or work into it slowly as they have started to do in the last few CE releases?

How quickly we all forget how many of us were unhappy with the HR2x series when Directv brought it out. This doesnt work, it missed this show, this show recorded with a blank screen. Some people are still expierencing these problems but they are becoming fewer and further between. 

Me personally I wuold rather have something that is rock solid and has been tested by users a la CE program than something deemed suitable for use by someone else who is just meeting a deadline......

Comment away.


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## bruinfever (Jul 19, 2007)

The only thing I wonder is why they haven't put their MAIN focus on MRV..Is there any feature that you currently have on your HR2* that you would _prefer _over MRV? DoD, Mediashare are great and I'm happy to have them..But they don't even come close to MRV...


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

jodyguercio said:


> Ok heres my .01 on the matter..... would you rather Directv rush MRV to us all and then have nothing but problems or work into it slowly as they have started to do in the last few CE releases?
> 
> How quickly we all forget how many of us were unhappy with the HR2x series when Directv brought it out. This doesnt work, it missed this show, this show recorded with a blank screen. Some people are still expierencing these problems but they are becoming fewer and further between.
> 
> ...


Jodyguercio makes a point. We all want this feature but of course we want it solid.

HD-MRV isn't as easy as a couple of code changes. If it were, well, it would be done by now. Believe me when I tell you, the people on this forum aren't the only ones excited by MRV. Our friends at DIRECTV feel the same way, but they want it to be right. Hundreds of thousands of DVR users are potentially affected. It's got to be great.


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## Thaedron (Jun 29, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Jodyguercio makes a point. We all want this feature but of course we want it solid.
> 
> HD-MRV isn't as easy as a couple of code changes. If it were, well, it would be done by now. Believe me when I tell you, the people on this forum aren't the only ones excited by MRV. Our friends at DIRECTV feel the same way, but they want it to be right. Hundreds of thousands of DVR users are potentially affected. It's got to be great.


We want it to be great AND very soon. (not just "soon")


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

bruinfever said:


> The only thing I wonder is why they haven't put their MAIN focus on MRV..Is there any feature that you currently have on your HR2* that you would _prefer _over MRV? DoD, Mediashare are great and I'm happy to have them..But they don't even come close to MRV...


Because of the people that are still expierencing problems w/ basic dvr functions. They want to make sure the ENTIRE customer base is satisfied before they try and satisfy those of us that want advanced features such as MRV and other three letter acronyms....


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## Lee L (Aug 15, 2002)

jodyguercio said:


> Because of the people that are still expierencing problems w/ basic dvr functions. They want to make sure the ENTIRE customer base is satisfied before they try and satisfy those of us that want advanced features such as MRV and other three letter acronyms....


AS much as I would like MRV, I salute this attitude!


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## Mark_R_G (May 11, 2008)

Ditto what the previous two guys said  

Not trying to start a debate here, but I think the one thing people are losing sight of is the HR series are fairly new and in some ways uncharted territory. Time is the only thing that's going to make these machines as foolproof as their predecessors were, and then they can focus on adding new features. To expect them to perform as well as retired hardware that had many years of time behind them already? Just isn't going to happen folks. And that's speaking from experience, I have a shiny new HR21 that's dead at the moment, hooked up right alongside vertiably ancient rca sd non-dvr boxes from waaay back that have performed more or less flawlessly.


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## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

bruinfever said:


> The only thing I wonder is why they haven't put their MAIN focus on MRV..Is there any feature that you currently have on your HR2* that you would _prefer _over MRV? DoD, Mediashare are great and I'm happy to have them..But they don't even come close to MRV...


Personally I have no interest in MRV other than the fact that they are doing PC viewing of content as a step towards it simply because I have a single receiver. I've found some of the other features you mention to be very useful. Media share has been great for viewing pictures from my wedding and of the Grand Canyon where we went on our honeymoon on the big HD Tv in the living room with lots of nice seating rather than crowding around my computer in the office with no extra seating around.

I know there are plenty of people here who have multiple HD-DVRs but I have to wonder how many customers actually have all the requirements to make use of MRV. Multiple HD-DVRs with multiple of them networked may be a pretty small percentage of the over all subscriber base or even the HD-DVR subscriber base.


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## sagle (Aug 23, 2006)

evan_s;1595502
I know there are plenty of people here who have multiple HD-DVRs but I have to wonder how many customers actually have all the requirements to make use of MRV. Multiple HD-DVRs with multiple of them networked may be a pretty small percentage of the over all subscriber base or even the HD-DVR subscriber base.[/QUOTE said:


> I would think MRV would drive at least a small percentage of those with only one DVR to purchase another to take advanatage of MRV (or possible a non DVR receiver if they impliment a MRV client on those). For me, MRV is the most important feature, and will drive me to purchase 2 more HD DVR's once available.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

Oh I can maybe understand the go-slow approach for DirecTV not implementing high definition MRV on the HR20/21s until they sufficiently mature.

But what I really find inexcusable when I look at the history of this issue. Is why there have been no multi-room sharing feature on any of DirecTV’s boxes over time up until now? For instance as glennb and I were just joking about. DirecTV had a totally workable MRV capability in their DirecTIVO units years ago, which they could have easily activated if they had wanted to as hackers proved. 

And I’m sure that TIVO could have provided a similar solution for networking the HR10-250s for Hi-Def sharing had DirecTV requested it as well.

Yet in spite of all the pleading, cajoling, complaining, petitions, and even threats of class action lawsuits (if you can believe it). DirecTV stubbornly dug in their heels and refused to budge at all on MRV. Without ever giving an official reason as to why.

It was the total failure of all this valiant effort to try and get DirecTV to move on this issue, where I finally became resigned to the view that they simply do not want to offer this feature for the foreseeable future. 

But I will wait and see what will happen with the HR20/21s. MRV, better very late than never I guess.


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## 1948GG (Aug 4, 2007)

sagle said:


> I would think MRV would drive at least a small percentage of those with only one DVR to purchase another to take advanatage of MRV (or possible a non DVR receiver if they impliment a MRV client on those). For me, MRV is the most important feature, and will drive me to purchase 2 more HD DVR's once available.


Since I have well over 3K MDU customers with Hr20's (currently just about wrapping up the last small communities with the MFH-2/SWM plant), the number of them with multiple (usually two) units is very high (>50%), and the number looking to network them is well over 90% of those (yes, they have been asked in several polls we've run; hopefully we won't be caught 'flatfooted' by needing networking skills, and in fact all our techs have those, both wired and wireless).

So, it's not a 'techie' thing. In fact, _why_ DirecTV seems to place so much emphasis on 'PC' connectivity is a mystery. Virtually NONE of our customers have any such plans in that area (< 1%). They want to network their DVR's. Nothing else.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

HoTat2 said:


> So I will just wait and see. Since DirecTV, to me anyhow, has never acted in any way to demonstrate they have ever been enthusiastic about implementing any sort of multi-room sharing on their boxes.


Did you miss what I posted above? MRV has been a centerpiece and key feature DirecTV has touted as coming for over 6 months now. That doesn't sound like someone that has never been enthusiastic about MRV. 

Yea, they never brought the feature to the DirecTivo's. Why? Because it was so hackable and easy to extract the data to a PC which of course the content providers would have a fit with. DirecTV certainly didn't want to get sued by something a 3rd part vendor programmed/allowed. Now they control it themselves and they can "do it right" in their minds (meaning secure).

But anyway, MRV is coming. One only needs to look at the recent conference calls to see that.


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## OneOfOne (Sep 19, 2006)

mrv was easily implemented on the old tivo based dvrs. they could do lots of things as I can attest. the operating system was linux so the hacks had to come once the access was there. those boxes were and are awesome.


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## jacmyoung (Sep 9, 2006)

bonscott87 said:


> ...But anyway, MRV is coming. One only needs to look at the recent conference calls to see that.


The conference calls said 2009/2010, that is about two years from now if you consider the usual delays.


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## jmrwiseguy (Jul 10, 2007)

I'm waiting for MRV before I make the jump to HD. My wife would kill me if we lost MRV from our current directivos. That feature is used every day because with 2 units, we schedule shows alot on the family-room receiver and then just watch them in our bedroom (or visa-versa).


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## Bardman (Apr 23, 2002)

jmrwiseguy said:


> I'm waiting for MRV before I make the jump to HD. My wife would kill me if we lost MRV from our current directivos. That feature is used every day because with 2 units, we schedule shows alot on the family-room receiver and then just watch them in our bedroom (or visa-versa).


I'm in the same boat in my house, adding kids into the mix. We've been completely spoiled by moving shows around the 4 Dtivos (3 subbed, 1 for "archive"). One of the subbed is dedicated to the kids and even my 6 year old can sit in the family room and pull shows from the Kids Dtivo to that unit and watch.

I'd love to upgrade to HD as the unsubbbed unit sits in my theater with 96" FP projector and looks like [email protected] watching shows off the Dtivo. When MRV (or whatever they call it) is enabled on these units, I'm probably going to have to get 4 just to keep similar functionality to what we have today (with much better PQ)


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## EricRobins (Feb 9, 2005)

I have had "literal" MRV for about 1.5 yrs. I have two DVR's in the same cabinet, each of which is wired to TVs in different rooms. This isn't rocket science (unlike tracking D11)! I am sure there are boat-loads of people with similar setups.

Isn't this the definition of MULTI-ROOM VIEWING?

If you really want MRV, then you can make it happen!

Get off your lazy asses and stop complaining!


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## JayB (Mar 19, 2007)

To me, this all comes down to which is first - MRV on the HR2x or the HDPC-20. If I get MRV first, I probably won't dive into the HDPC-20 (at least, not soon), but if I've got no MRV and the HDPC-20 is available (and since media center allows you to share programs between media center machines, which is effectively MRV), I'll dive right in day one with a couple of PCs to replace the HR20 and HR21 that I have.


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## morphy (Jun 5, 2007)

MRV would be nice, but for me its time to get prepared for Vista Media Center. Quite simply, its time to move on from the HR20/21 as a front-end device to media extenders that support more options (such as home automation).


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## Skypalace (Nov 12, 2006)

Since there have been multiple references to it, here is the deck from the last DirecTV quarterly investor meeting (this is the link that DirecTV themselves posted, not a mirror): http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/12/127/127160/items/281632/001_DirecTV_Master_v1.pdf

The beginning is financial overview etc., the settop box and such start on slide 37.


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## hfgarris (Apr 9, 2008)

Does anyone else here use older ReplayTV DVRs?

I have had a system of 6 ReplayTV DVRs all connected to my home network for years. You can sit at any one of the units and watch shows which were recorded on any of the other units by streaming the video over your network (even wireless). You can also look at any remote machine to see what it has recorded and manage the shows remotely. If you try to schedule a show to record on the DVR you are watching and it has a conflict at that time, the Replay will check the other machines on the network and recommend which units are available at that time slot and can record the channel requested. A simple button push then schedules the remote recording. It really work great!

I was hoping that the DirecTV purchase of the ReplayTV patents recently might be a sign that this technology could possibly appear in a future release of D* DVR firmware. The ReplayTV ownership has gone from Sonic Blue, to Denon/Marantz, and now to DirecTV. I would expect that they intend to do something with the software and technology they purchased!

I have a Replay DVR at each TV viewing location. I find it useful to schedule only CBS on one, only ABC on another, only NBC on another, and FOX on another to be able to cope with the constant shifting of time slots and the aggravating 2 minute shift of start times which otherwise cause missed shows when alternate channel conflicts arise and aren't noticed. It is easy to watch any network show from any viewing location by the network streaming. Please let this technology be implemented in a future D* release!!!

This ability to access the recorded shows via the network port has also allowed software to be written and shared which makes any desktop or laptop computer act like a DVR playback device. I can sit out on the deck with my laptop and watch shows which are recorded on any of my Replay DVRs. I can also move them to a server for backup or to free up space on the DVR. I can pull up a complete TV schedule on my computer and shows will be highlighted that are scheduled for recording and it will show me which DVR will be recording it. Hopefully, this too might be in the future for the D* DVR.

Sorry to be long winded here, but it seems many people here are familiar with the Tivo units, but don't seem to be familiar with the ReplayTV features. There will never be HD Replays since the production companies no longer exist, so switching over to H21s has been my recent priority. Now that DirecTV owns the Replay patents and technology, I hope they incorporate the best features into future software releases.

-howard


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

hfgarris said:


> Does anyone else here use older ReplayTV DVRs?
> 
> I have had a system of 6 ReplayTV DVRs all connected to my home network for years. You can sit at any one of the units and watch shows which were recorded on any of the other units by streaming the video over your network (even wireless). You can also look at any remote machine to see what it has recorded and manage the shows remotely. If you try to schedule a show to record on the DVR you are watching and it has a conflict at that time, the Replay will check the other machines on the network and recommend which units are available at that time slot and can record the channel requested. A simple button push then schedules the remote recording. It really work great!
> 
> ...


Replay still puts out software... they are doing HD via PC now... and its new...

Replay people will be with Directv people soon...


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## Thaedron (Jun 29, 2007)

EricRobins said:


> I have had "literal" MRV for about 1.5 yrs. I have two DVR's in the same cabinet, each of which is wired to TVs in different rooms. This isn't rocket science (unlike tracking D11)! I am sure there are boat-loads of people with similar setups.
> 
> Isn't this the definition of MULTI-ROOM VIEWING?
> 
> ...


That is effectively a definition of multi-room viewing, but not what I would say is the commonly held definition. MRV is the ability to watch the content from other DVRs in your household in multiple different locations.

In your definition, your viewing is limited to the content in the DVR that your TV is connected to.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

EricRobins said:


> I have had "literal" MRV for about 1.5 yrs. I have two DVR's in the same cabinet, each of which is wired to TVs in different rooms. This isn't rocket science (unlike tracking D11)! I am sure there are boat-loads of people with similar setups.
> 
> Isn't this the definition of MULTI-ROOM VIEWING?
> 
> ...


You don't have MRV. You have video distribution, and that is different. You can not watch a show recorded on one unit on one tv and a different show recorded on the same unit on another tv and be recording two shows on that same recorder, all at the same time. That is MRV.... Also, that may be easy if your rooms are close and you have only 2 machines... But when you have 4 or more tv's and 5+ boxes, your method becomes ridiculously expensive in comparisons, and has major limitations vs. real MRV....

We aren't being lazy... And I don't think anyone here is complaining that MRV isn't here yet, I think we are mostly just really anticipating it....


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

I would lease another HR20/21 if MRV were available, perhaps two. I also have an HTPC so the the PC route works for me too!


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## John Nadeau (Sep 6, 2007)

hfgarris said:


> Does anyone else here use older ReplayTV DVRs?


Yes... ReplayTv is wonderful at MRV _and _recording on multiple units!!!!

If you wanted to record a show while in your Living Room, but there was a conflict, it would simply ask you if you wanted to record it on another Networked ReplayTV. You could then watch it from any ReplayTv in the house.... it worked great and was very slick!

It was one of the main reasons it took me sooooo long to upgrade to HR21's. I'm liking my HR21's... but would love it if DirecTv used ReplayTv's MRV & Recording features.

It's worth noting here that ReplayTv was _very _stable in my experience. I don't remember the last time it crashed... seriously! I'm happy that DirecTv has bought ReplayTv... and hopeful as to how they might implement it in the HR21's!


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## Leftcoastdave (Apr 2, 2004)

I bought my first ReplayTV in 1999 but alas with the coming of HDTV, I have had to take my units out of service in favor of the HR20 series over the past couple of years. Initially I replaced the Replays with HR10-250 HD Tivo's and while they were pretty good for the most part they suffered functionally in comparison to the original ReplayTV's.

There is a lot to like about the HR20 but in my opinion the 5000 series ReplayTV's set the standard for DVR's that has not yet been met by the HDTivo's, HD DVR's or the short lived Ultimate. 

MRV in any form would be welcome in my household. I have been using Channel View analog devices to broadcast content from my centralized media room to elsewhere in the house for many many years. 

In anticipation of MRV, I networked my much newer four HR20 DVR's months ago. MRV cannot get here soon enough and I hope its implementation is elegant enough to help balance and utilize the capacity on all units with the capability to view and record any content from any DVR at any location on the LAN.


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## grover517 (Sep 29, 2007)

I have 5 Replays networked here. I also just setup a HR21 this past weekend to play with just to get my feet wet with the new D* boxes.

I have to say that the HR21 is a very nice box. Dual tuners, DoD, and other features are great, but I cannot even think of getting rid of the replay's for regular tv viewing until MRV is a reality.

Like a previous poster said, I can't remember the last time any of my Replay's did anything unexpected, and having the networking capabilities of the Replay's for sharing content between devices as well as conflict scheduling on a different Replay will keep them around for quite a while!

I love programming in HD, but I can live with SD to keep all the other features. So for now, the HR21 will be delegated to recording movies, sports, and other things that "I" want to record but would conflict with the Replay's recordings that are already happening.


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

> And I don't think anyone here is complaining that MRV isn't here yet,


I'll be honest, I'm complaining. 
I'm anticipating like heck too


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## captainjrl (Jun 26, 2007)

> And I don't think anyone here is complaining that MRV isn't here yet, I think we are mostly just really anticipating it....


That fits me to a T. As soon as it happens I will be leasing/buying a 2nd HR20.


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## 50+ (May 1, 2008)

I am also anticipating MRV. I have 2- HR21,Am21's It would be awsome to view recorded programs from the dvr in another room. My wife and I really don't watch the same shows. She records her shows in the bedroom and I record mine in the living room. I spend Quite a few nites in the Lazy Boy. MRV would be great. I do not have High Speed internet in my rural area so at this time MRV is more important to me than DOD and the other media options.

As for buying more equipment, I also have 2 SD DVR's in 2 upstairs bedrooms if they would need to be replaced to add on to the MRV I would gladly do it.

I am anxious for this tecnology but I also would like it done right. I like many others am still dealing with glitches an my HR21's nothing I can't live with I still think they are great. My point is I hope it is right when it come out. 

Replay TV sounds like a good system. Since D* now owns them you would think this will give them something to build on.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Not a matter if *IF*...more like *WHEN*...


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## hfgarris (Apr 9, 2008)

I am really getting to like the dual tuner action of the HR21. How about a 4 tuner system?

It would be pretty useful if, as part of the MRV upgrades, two (or more) HR21s on the same TV could be "cascaded" to provide a transparent 4 tuner (or more) effect when programming or viewing. 

The hoped for MRV playback capability would provide a similar effect for watching shows across multiple HR21s without having to switch video inputs when changing physical DVR sourced boxes.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

You know;

Even though I now grant that MRV is on DirecTV’s horizon. The process toward its arrival is still confusing to me. Is DirecTV maybe attempting some radically different approach to its implementation of MRV or something? How can TIVO have been featuring SD/HD multiroom viewing and PC streaming with TIVO-to-go on their digital cable DVR units for almost a year now and DirecTV’s version is still poking along in its infancy? Does TIVO have exclusive patents rights to MRV?

DirecTV is only just now beta testing PC streaming of programs from the HR20 DVR. So why are they moving so slow, as though they are trying to reinvent the wheel with this feature?


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## tunce (Jan 19, 2006)

Can't wait until they have the server - client setup running. That is what I am drooling for.

Example:

1 HR20 with 3 H20's connected to the network that can stream from the HR20. Yes I know that the H20's have no ethernet port just a visual for enhanced pleasure thinking.


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## evan_s (Mar 4, 2008)

HoTat2 said:


> You know;
> 
> Even though I now grant that MRV is on DirecTV's horizon. The process toward its arrival is still confusing to me. Is DirecTV maybe attempting some radically different approach to its implementation of MRV or something? How can TIVO have been featuring SD/HD multiroom viewing and PC streaming with TIVO-to-go on their digital cable DVR units for almost a year now and DirecTV's version is still poking along in its infancy? Does TIVO have exclusive patents rights to MRV?
> 
> DirecTV is only just now beta testing PC streaming of programs from the HR20 DVR. So why are they moving so slow, as though they are trying to reinvent the wheel with this feature?


Essentially yes. The Tivo units used code written by and owned by Tivo not DirecTV. The new units run DirecTVs code so many things are actually having to be re-implemented from scratch or using other components.


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## JonW (Dec 21, 2006)

Hopefully we're talking about HD MRV. 

I'm personally using video distribution to be able to access HD content from two different HR20's as needed. 

SD MRV would be a step-down.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

JonW said:


> Hopefully we're talking about HD MRV.
> 
> I'm personally using video distribution to be able to access HD content from two different HR20's as needed.
> 
> SD MRV would be a step-down.


We're actually talking about both. HD capable MRV should obviously be able to stream SD programs as well. I was just hoping however, that software development being the widespread art that it is. DirecTV would have, or at least be much further along in developing an MRV solution by now in comparison to TIVO.

Assuming they have a genuine interest in getting one out of course...


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> You know;
> 
> Even though I now grant that MRV is on DirecTV's horizon. The process toward its arrival is still confusing to me. Is DirecTV maybe attempting some radically different approach to its implementation of MRV or something? How can TIVO have been featuring SD/HD multiroom viewing and PC streaming with TIVO-to-go on their digital cable DVR units for almost a year now and DirecTV's version is still poking along in its infancy? Does TIVO have exclusive patents rights to MRV?
> 
> DirecTV is only just now beta testing PC streaming of programs from the HR20 DVR. So why are they moving so slow, as though they are trying to reinvent the wheel with this feature?


Directv is moving so slow because they want to make sure that MRV isnt going to be a source of great frustration for their client base. We've all seen the threads here where people are asking for a reliable dvr havent we. Well until directv feels they have provided such a thing MRV is going to go slower than some would like. Personally, I would rather it take two more years to have MRV and have it solid and stable than to see people agonize over another "rushed into production" item like some feel the HR2x series is. Wouldnt you?



HoTat2 said:


> We're actually talking about both. HD capable MRV should obviously be able to stream SD programs as well. I was just hoping however, that software development being the widespread art that it is. DirecTV would have, or at least be much further along in developing an MRV solution by now in comparison to TIVO.
> 
> Assuming they have a genuine interest in getting one out of course...


Why wouldnt directv have an interest in this? All MRV can do is add to an already large customer base. And for the existing customers a very nice incentive to upgrade if one would want to.


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

jodyguercio said:


> Directv is moving so slow because they want to make sure that MRV isnt going to be a source of great frustration for their client base. We've all seen the threads here where people are asking for a reliable dvr havent we. Well until directv feels they have provided such a thing MRV is going to go slower than some would like. Personally, I would rather it take two more years to have MRV and have it solid and stable than to see people agonize over another "rushed into production" item like some feel the HR2x series is. Wouldnt you?


I can accept that. But tell me though, from a historical perspective. In your view why do you think DirecTV displayed such an obdurate attitude toward MRV back when they had a very stable platform in the DirecTIVOs with an excellent (in my view anyway) MRV solution right there in the OS software. Yet stubbornly refused to activate this feature in spite of all manner of pleading from subscribers?

And DirecTV never officially answered why?

That I can recall anyhow.



> Why wouldnt directv have an interest in this? All MRV can do is add to an already large customer base. And for the existing customers a very nice incentive to upgrade if one would want to.


All those same arguments were made for activating MRV on the DirecTIVOs. Still, in the end, it all fell on deaf ears. As DirecTV absolutely refused to budge. :nono2:

Thus the reason for my earlier initial skepticism for this feature.


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## jodyguercio (Aug 16, 2007)

HoTat2 said:


> I can accept that. But tell me though, from a historical perspective. In your view why do you think DirecTV displayed such an obdurate attitude toward MRV back when they had a very stable platform in the DirecTIVOs with an excellent (in my view anyway) MRV solution right there in the OS software. Yet stubbornly refused to activate this feature in spite of all manner of pleading from subscribers?
> 
> And DirecTV never officially answered why?
> 
> ...


I would love to be able to answer with certainity why but I cant....maybe directv knew that at some point it was going to sever ties with Tivo thus not being able to include Tivo software in their own boxes? There might have been a clause in the agreement between the two companys that certain technology could not be made available to directv.

I can certainly understand skepticism but dont give up hope that the ability for MRV is never going to be made available.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

HoTat2 said:


> You know;
> 
> Even though I now grant that MRV is on DirecTV's horizon. The process toward its arrival is still confusing to me. Is DirecTV maybe attempting some radically different approach to its implementation of MRV or something? How can TIVO have been featuring SD/HD multiroom viewing and PC streaming with TIVO-to-go on their digital cable DVR units for almost a year now and DirecTV's version is still poking along in its infancy? Does TIVO have exclusive patents rights to MRV?
> 
> DirecTV is only just now beta testing PC streaming of programs from the HR20 DVR. So why are they moving so slow, as though they are trying to reinvent the wheel with this feature?


Hmmmm, well....Tivo is what...8 years old now? And how many years did it take them to get MRV and PC streaming? DirecTV's DVR Plus is not even 2 years old yet.
Of course Replay had it long before anyone else did, even Tivo.
And now that DirecTV owns Replay's IP and patents...


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## hfgarris (Apr 9, 2008)

evan_s said:


> Essentially yes. The Tivo units used code written by and owned by Tivo not DirecTV. The new units run DirecTVs code so many things are actually having to be re-implemented from scratch or using other components.


Well, not quite from scratch. DirecTV purchased what is left of ReplayTV from Denon/Marantz about a year ago. This gives them the software, patents, and design of the no-longer manufactured Replay DVR sets.

ReplayTV has had MRV for years in the 4xxx and 5xxx series units. I have 6 ReplayTV boxes spread around the house and they all communicate and share over my home network, even over wireless connections (11g or above). The remote unit streams video over the network to the local unit (or even a PC or laptop running dvArchive) and is controlled just like a local machine.

Hopefully, D* is carefully building upon the Replay technology they purchased, and is integrating it into future HR2x software releases.

-howard


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

bonscott87 said:


> Hmmmm, well....Tivo is what...8 years old now? And how many years did it take them to get MRV and PC streaming? DirecTV's DVR Plus is not even 2 years old yet.
> Of course Replay had it long before anyone else did, even Tivo.
> And now that DirecTV owns Replay's IP and patents...


Their newest digital cable ready DVRs (HD DVR, Series 3 HD DVR) are 8 years old? This is the one I'm referring to. TIVO started offering MRV, albiet with copywrite restrictions of course, on them last year. Along with PC steaming and TIVO-to-go.

Don't get me wrong bonscott87, I want DirecTV to succeed in all this, and I accept that MRV is coming. But I can't help but feel envious of TIVO at the moment. As their digital CATV HD DVRs are way ahead of us in this area now.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

HoTat2 said:


> Their newest digital cable ready DVRs (HD DVR, Series 3 HD DVR) are 8 years old? This is the one I'm referring to. TIVO started offering MRV, albiet with copywrite restrictions of course, on them last year. Along with PC steaming and TIVO-to-go.


No, the S3 are not 8 years old. But Tivo technology is 8 years old. If MRV only just came to Tivo last year then it took them 7 years to do it (I actually think MRV is available on older Series 2 units but I could be wrong there) while DirecTV, starting from scratch on their DVR platform may do it in under 2 years. And who knows, MRV may not be something they planned to do at first but now they are. We really don't know what the business process behind the scenes is.

Anyway....here's to MRV!


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## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

bonscott87 said:


> No, the S3 are not 8 years old. But Tivo technology is 8 years old. If MRV only just came to Tivo last year then it took them 7 years to do it (I actually think MRV is available on older Series 2 units but I could be wrong there) while DirecTV, starting from scratch on their DVR platform may do it in under 2 years. And who knows, MRV may not be something they planned to do at first but now they are. We really don't know what the business process behind the scenes is.
> 
> *Anyway....here's to MRV!  *


I'll drink to that! :goodjob: (of course I'll drink to a number of things  ). Because after leaving cable in '95 and being with DirecTV ever since. There's no way I want to go back. Then have to buy the HD DVR from TIVO. Pay them a subscription fee, plus meet the monthly cable bill too. Just to get MRV?

No..., I don't think so... :nono2:


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## bmerrow (Jul 26, 2007)

MRV is eagerly anticipated and one would expect it sooner rather than later from DTV based on when it was first talked about as well as the volume of chatter now


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## ptalbot (May 14, 2008)

Might have been discussed already, but what does everyone think of the possibility of an extra monthly fee to enable MRV?


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## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

ptalbot said:


> Might have been discussed already, but what does everyone think of the possibility of an extra monthly fee to enable MRV?


Since their set-top box strategy is based on moving towards deploying only "Whole Home DVRs" by sometime in 2010 (presumably using some kind of viewing client... essentially forcing people to use MRV), there better not be an additional monthly fee.


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## texasmoose (May 25, 2007)

Please D* get *MRV* off the ground. Sooner than later would be gr8ly appreciated. My PJ room is foaming @ the mouth to get this rolling......I'm about to purchase another HR2x, since CostCo is selling 'em for nearly a 'benjamin and a 1/2" it's too sweet to pass up and MRV would be the icing on the cake. I would also like the next generation H2x to have the capability of tapping into either of my HR2x devices for MRV, as (2) HR2x are more than enough for the wife & me.............Go PENS!!!!


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## nowandthen (Nov 19, 2005)

texasmoose said:


> Please D* get *MRV* off the ground. Sooner than later would be gr8ly appreciated. My PJ room is foaming @ the mouth to get this rolling......I'm about to purchase another HR2x, since CostCo is selling 'em for nearly a 'benjamin and a 1/2" it's too sweet to pass up and MRV would be the icing on the cake. I would also like the next generation H2x to have the capability of tapping into either of my HR2x devices for MRV, as (2) HR2x are more than enough for the wife & me.............Go PENS!!!!


Costco.com returns no results for Hr20 and HR21. Where did you see the Directv DVRs from Costco? In store?


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## jzoomer (Sep 22, 2006)

While I think MRV would be a great feature to allow you to share playlists between receivers, I am not sure that they are going to get it working soon.

I look at the features they have added since releasing the HR20 and I see paritial implementations. The media server video has a lack of CODECs which mean you have to have another computer do the transcoding or convert your files to their limited support list. For me, the implementation was so bad that I use an $80 uPNP player instead of the HR20.

The VOD service implementation isn't bad but it is something that I don't use that much. As they start adding fees for it, I won't use it at all. Why pay twice? I think the biggest use for VOD will be niche market where it doesn't make sense to use satellite bandwidth.

I hope they get the MRV and PC player working soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath.


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

jzoomer said:


> While I think MRV would be a great feature to allow you to share playlists between receivers, I am not sure that they are going to get it working soon.
> 
> I look at the features they have added since releasing the HR20 and I see paritial implementations. The media server video has a lack of CODECs which mean you have to have another computer do the transcoding or convert your files to their limited support list. For me, the implementation was so bad that I use an $80 uPNP player instead of the HR20.
> 
> ...


As far as I know DoD will remain free. The only charge will be for PPV.

As for PC playback visit the CE forum for more information.

MRV is going to happen. Hopefully it will not be to much longer.


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## captainjrl (Jun 26, 2007)

nowandthen said:


> Costco.com returns no results for Hr20 and HR21. Where did you see the Directv DVRs from Costco? In store?


I can't find a link online but have been in the store many times and seen them there.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

nowandthen said:


> Costco.com returns no results for Hr20 and HR21. Where did you see the Directv DVRs from Costco? In store?


Costco.com and the Costco stores are separate operations. You can get HR2X in most Costco stores...usually close to their display of cellphones if that helps. Of course, as with everything else at a Costco store...the huge stack of an item on Wednesday may be gone forever by Friday.


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## Stealth87 (Jan 10, 2008)

Ken S said:


> Costco.com and the Costco stores are separate operations. You can get HR2X in most Costco stores...usually close to their display of cellphones if that helps. Of course, as with everything else at a Costco store...the huge stack of an item on Wednesday may be gone forever by Friday.


How much does Costco usually sell HR's for?


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

Stealth87 said:


> How much does Costco usually sell HR's for?


I believe they are normally $169 through Costco.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Missed this thread the first time around, glad I caught it today. 

MRV is a very large part of DIRECTV's plans. This comes from many public sources and some not quite so public--now that public sources, I can say they all are in alignment.

BTW, my guess, because I have watched much of the strategic thinking they have done in other areas (like the satellite constellation for single dish HD), DIRECTV very likely had this plan for quite some time. But I do not know that part from any source--only observations. DIRECTV can do some awesome strategic thinking.

Lets look at the HR20's history: basic functionality, focused stabilization, then Media Share as a client for music and photos. Next client for video. (Hmm... doesn't MRV need a client module?) 

We're now seeing Media Share as a Server. Once that is stabilized we'll have 2 parts to MRV in the can: A server and a client... All that is left is the shared GUI and potentially shared scheduling (tho if I were building this, shared scheduling would be phase 2, not phase 1.) 

Another very important part of this picture: DIRECTV has been using DLNA standards (Viiv is a subset of DLNA, btw) all along. As I peek closely into the things you guys are reporting about how DLNA works, the network captures you guys are digging up, and the tiny bit of DLNA specifications that can be found on the network (without paying a license fee) this looks very cool and impressive to me. 

Someday my AV receiver could be a fully compliant DLNA client. Or server. My PS3 already sees the HR20s that are testing PC Playback. (Can't do anything yet, I'm not sure the PS3 is fully protected DLNA compliant, hard to know at this point.) This all sounds very, very fun. 

Yes, MRV is coming. Baby Steps. Carefully so as to not destabilize the HR20 too much at any one step. I'm happy.

One last point about TiVos. Yes, the R10s and HR10s could technically support MRV, the hardware was there, the software was there and could be enabled. Now the question becomes at what licensing cost? I always felt TiVO overcharged on standalone units for MRV; who knows how much they wanted from DIRECTV? Or was the cost reasonable but DIRECTV didn't want to support it? I have my own guess but I really do not know. Very well could have been 6 of one and half dozen of the other.

Perhaps DIRECTV has had a change of direction since they started building their own. Perhaps TiVO asked way too much money? Or wouldn't support it the way DIRECTV wanted. Who knows and at this point, who really cares. The path is pretty darn clear, DIRECTV has been stepping toward MRV for a long time--now that we can look back at the steps we can see them.

Cheers,
Tom


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

> Lets look at the HR20's history: basic functionality, focused stabilization, then Media Share as a client for music and photos. Next client for video. (Hmm... doesn't MRV need a client module?)


just a thought, but for dvr to dvr is a client needed? or are they going to tie this dvr to pc to dvr?


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Don't know if it's a 'hint' or not, but with the Media Share PC client, on the server selection screen you change to the RID of the server (HR20) you want than then it says press SELECT. The PC keyboard doesn't have a SELECT key but the D* remotes have a big yellow button that says SELECT


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

RAD said:


> Don't know if it's a 'hint' or not, but with the Media Share PC client, on the server selection screen you change to the RID of the server (HR20) you want than then it says press SELECT. The PC keyboard doesn't have a SELECT key but the D* remotes have a big yellow button that says SELECT


ok, I was about to edit the question to add if client meant dvr client also. I think this answers that, thank you.
lol, my Harmony doesn't have a select  hope OK works


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## scottchez (Feb 4, 2003)

A friend of mine just left Dish for Cable and the HD Tivo just to get MVR. Seems like it cost a little more up front for the HD Tivo, so I guess we should be happy if DirecTV charge a monthly fee for MVR

I would pay extra for it myself. I have 3 receivers.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

David MacLeod said:


> just a thought, but for dvr to dvr is a client needed? or are they going to tie this dvr to pc to dvr?


Yes, one DVR is a server and the other is a client. So they need to be both server and client as needed.

Cheers,
Tom


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## David MacLeod (Jan 29, 2008)

Tom Robertson said:


> Yes, one DVR is a server and the other is a client. So they need to be both server and client as needed.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tom


thanks Tom,
for what its worth I'd be more than happy to try this theory out


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## racermd (Dec 18, 2006)

A phrase I frequently remind myself of when working on projects is:

"Good. Cheap. Fast. Pick only two."

I think this can be applied to the MRV feature we all want so badly.

'Cheap' is relative. It's obviously expensive to develop a custom solution, but assume for the moment that D* is trying to keep costs down as much as possible without hurting the overall outcome of the MRV project. They're a company out to make a profit and anything that costs them money will reduce profits. I'd say that qualifies as 'cheap' here.

That leaves either 'Fast' or 'Good'. Personally, I'll pick 'Good' over 'Fast' since I want MRV to work properly the first time out. What good is an unreliable feature?


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## generalpatton78 (Dec 17, 2003)

Tom Robertson said:


> I always felt TiVO overcharged on standalone units for MRV; who knows how much they wanted from DIRECTV?


I didn't know FREE was to much?! Serouisly they went to a free model VERY VERY VERY fast with MRV and it's still free. I don't know what the deal was that stoped MRV and Directv but I know many just hacked their Directv Tivo's to turn on MRV. 


Tom Robertson said:


> Perhaps DIRECTV has had a change of direction since they started building their own. Perhaps TiVO asked way too much money? Or wouldn't support it the way DIRECTV wanted. Who knows and at this point, who really cares. The path is pretty darn clear, DIRECTV has been stepping toward MRV for a long time--now that we can look back at the steps we can see them.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tom


Sounds great and ethernet built in should keep speeds fast, but lets admit Tivo has been doing this for years. While people have been waiting for it from Directv for years. I look forward to having it but I know not to expect it for some time. Then when it does show up I can be surprised at the progress they made. I think everybody who wanted MRV that bad with D* just got a slingbox or Sony's version of it.


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## lguvenoz (Aug 23, 2006)

generalpatton78 said:


> I didn't know FREE was to much?! Serouisly they went to a free model VERY VERY VERY fast with MRV and it's still free. I don't know what the deal was that stoped MRV and Directv but I know many just hacked their Directv Tivo's to turn on MRV.
> 
> Sounds great and ethernet built in should keep speeds fast, but lets admit Tivo has been doing this for years. While people have been waiting for it from Directv for years. I look forward to having it but I know not to expect it for some time. Then when it does show up I can be surprised at the progress they made. I think everybody who wanted MRV that bad with D* just got a slingbox or Sony's version of it.


A couple of thoughts in general. First of all about the cost. We're not really talking about end user costs here, the question is about licensing costs for DirecTV to utilize a feature of the Tivo software. I do not believe any person on this forum has any inside knowledge of the costs and terms around the licensing agreements between DirecTV and Tivo.

Finally the question of how long people have been doing this. It is really not years that anyone has really had a sound solution for HD MRV. Could DirecTV have spent the time and money to crank out a quick solution for SD?? Probably, but they as a company have clearly chosen to bet the farm on HD. Standards like DLNA are really just now being fully implemented and adopted. Frankly home networks are just getting up to par with the demands that a system like HD MRV will place upon them.


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## lguvenoz (Aug 23, 2006)

One other note on Tivo and MRV....

Consider the latest Tivo terminology around multiple DVRs and your home network:

1. In general terms the only thing offered is to "transfer" a show from one DVR to another. This is kind of MRV, but not really. MRV is streaming the media real-time from one place to another. There should be no remant left on the target where it is being watched. Maybe Tivo just does buffering ala VOD, but this is not pure MRV.
2. Lastly this quote is the most disturbing from them: "Video downloads and any shows that have been protected by the copyright holder can not be transferred." For those not aware the big content providers like HBO, Showtime, etc. are all specifying copy protection for their content. This is already biting people in the HTPC world.


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## generalpatton78 (Dec 17, 2003)

lguvenoz said:


> One other note on Tivo and MRV....
> 
> Consider the latest Tivo terminology around multiple DVRs and your home network:
> 
> 1. In general terms the only thing offered is to "transfer" a show from one DVR to another. This is kind of MRV, but not really. MRV is streaming the media real-time from one place to another. There should be no remant left on the target where it is being watched. Maybe Tivo just does buffering ala VOD, but this is not pure MRV.


 I don't know where you get this MRV is Multi Room Viewing and thats what you get from Tivo. So they feel saving the show to a HD is more stable then streaming so???


lguvenoz said:


> 2. Lastly this quote is the most disturbing from them: "Video downloads and any shows that have been protected by the copyright holder can not be transferred." For those not aware the big content providers like HBO, Showtime, etc. are all specifying copy protection for their content. This is already biting people in the HTPC world.


We are all going to have to deal with this. It's not fun and I hope D* can work out some deals, but these guys want to get paid any time something is happening with "their" content. I know Tivo worked very hard to get the HD side of MRV turned on and yes it works with PCs as well. So you can transfer your TV shows to a PC and burn them as long as HBO ect doesn't flag it. You can bet MRV with Directv will only work with other D* boxes or that new streaming PC machine they are working on with Microsoft. We won't ever see any type of option to move our content to a long term storage device from D*. Then again that's not what many of us want MRV to do.


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## jmrwiseguy (Jul 10, 2007)

bonscott87 said:


> No, the S3 are not 8 years old. But Tivo technology is 8 years old. If MRV only just came to Tivo last year then it took them 7 years to do it (I actually think MRV is available on older Series 2 units but I could be wrong there) while DirecTV, starting from scratch on their DVR platform may do it in under 2 years. And who knows, MRV may not be something they planned to do at first but now they are. We really don't know what the business process behind the scenes is.
> 
> Anyway....here's to MRV!


Tivo had MRV in the Series 2 DirecTivos 3 years ago in the 6.2 release. I have only made a couple minor upgrades since then because the major upgrades (6.3 and 6.4) have removed MRV from the codebase. I'm sticking with 6.2 because it has stability and MRV which I cherish. Hopefully we'll get MRV with the HR2x so I can upgrade to HD.


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## marksman (Dec 23, 2006)

TiVo also didn't have a free space indicator for 10 years because they thought it would confuse the customer. I am not sue what TiVo has or does not have is terribly relevant.

I am much more interested in the hows and whens of the DirecTv implementation of MRV.


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

I didn't read the whole thread, but I dissagree with some of the comments in the other thread where the DVR to PC and Media Share are nessesary steps to MRV. With both of those, there are too many variables - media server type, PC hardware it's running on, OS it's running, etc. etc. With MRV, you only have to deal with known hardware and software (i.e. what DirecTV has supplied). So IMO MRV would be much easier to implement than Media Share or the DVR to PC. And from the other poll, it's pretty obvious what people actually want.


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## vertigo235 (Mar 18, 2007)

I know it's coming, and I'll be patient.

However, I will be disapointed if it's not here by fall and the new TV season begins.


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

lguvenoz said:


> One other note on Tivo and MRV....
> 
> Consider the latest Tivo terminology around multiple DVRs and your home network:
> 
> 1. In general terms the only thing offered is to "transfer" a show from one DVR to another. This is kind of MRV, but not really. MRV is streaming the media real-time from one place to another. There should be no remant left on the target where it is being watched. Maybe Tivo just does buffering ala VOD, but this is not pure MRV.


If the ability to "copy" show from one DVR to another is what we get as D*'s version of MRV, then I will take it and go to the house happy.



> 2. Lastly this quote is the most disturbing from them: "Video downloads and any shows that have been protected by the copyright holder can not be transferred." For those not aware the big content providers like HBO, Showtime, etc. are all specifying copy protection for their content.


But in D*'s case, the entire system is already encrypted, ie it just moves a show from one DVR to another on the same network. So you can't record a show and move it to your neighbor's DVR.

As it stands now, I could record an episode of "The Soprano's" (still miss that show) on 2 different DVR's in my house. What would it matter if I recorded it on one, and moved it to the other?


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

lguvenoz said:


> Could DirecTV have spent the time and money to crank out a quick solution for SD??


I would have taken a couple of phone calls. I could have hacked it in myself in a couple of hours. As for cost, D* could have charged an extra $5 for MRV enabled DirecTiVo's and would have easily covered any costs associated with providing it.



jmrwiseguy said:


> Tivo had MRV in the Series 2 DirecTivos 3 years ago in the 6.2 release.


As found by our former EB.


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## Ben_jd (Aug 21, 2006)

vertigo235 said:


> However, I will be disapointed if it's not here by fall and the new TV season begins.


I'd like to see it for the Summer Olympics ... I know this is far-fetched, but with the China-based games this Olympiad being broadcast on 2-4 channels, there will be a lot of activity on my three different HD-DVRs that I'd like to view from wherever I'm sitting at the time without interrupting (too much) my typical recording round-up (morning news and sports in the kitchen, prime-time "stuff" in the living room, etc.). Here's hoping I'll have an excuse to buy some 802.11n wireless bridges soon.....


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## texasmoose (May 25, 2007)

Any updates on MVR? This needs to happen sooooooooooooooooooner than later. FIOS is starting to implement it, at least that's what the mailer told me that I received the other day. We're so looking forward to when this becomes available.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Alls I can say is that the magic eight ball is getting excited.


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

So is the 8ball shining on the standalone HD receivers at all? 

Seems like they have not even started there as the preliminary network things like mediashare do not even exist 

But maybe they have some tricks up their sleeve!


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