[sbrown23]

Things I'd like to see in Series 3 -

Hardware Upgrades -

• Support for 480p, 720p, 1080i via already compressed video streams (satellite, cable box/card, etc.)
• Component and/or HDMI inputs (HD cable/sat box) and outputs (to TV)
• Higher bit-rate recording, required for HD broadcasts, but SD content should be up around 7-8 mbps by default on Best quality rather than the current 5mbps or so.
• USB 2.0 physical ports
• Minimum of 4 USB 2.0 ports, with at least 1-2 on the front
• Built-in 10/100 Ethernet port
• An appropriate amount of RAM to support HD UI, menus, large media lists, etc (128MB?)
• Slightly faster processor (~ 300MHz) for handling large media lists, large numbers of season passes, etc.
• Two tuner support
• Cable Card slot, QAM tuner
• Firewire port for plugging in the video camera (not really too important, but nice to have)

Software Upgrades -

• Integrated LBA48 kernel enabling >137GB drives for all TiVos
• Free space indicator letting you know how much space is available (i.e 27GB free = XX hours at BEST, XX hours at High, and so on)
• Software support for USB 2.0
• Support for adding USB 2.0 external Hard Drives
• Drivers for 802.11g USB wireless adapters
• Integrated TivoWebPlus type features for web control
• Built in TiVo ToGo functionality (program transfer to PC for DVD burning, laptops)
• Support for WMA/WMV streaming from PC
• Ability to store media locally on the Tivo as a media server (MP3, photos, WMA/WMV, MPG, etc.)
• Easier switching of video sources (cable, satellite, etc.) without going thru full guided setup
• Out of the box support for networking, NO requirement for phone line for guided set up (some people don't have land lines)
• Option in Settings for 16:9 widescreen UI support (so you don't have to zoom or stretch on a widescreen TV).
• Option in Settings to allow user adjustable buffer. Come on, I should be allowed to determine whether I'd prefer a 15 min, 30 min, or 1 hour buffer.

And that is about it! Nothing too outlandish like 2GHz processors or anything. This is still supposed to be a low cost PVR appliance. A lot of this stuff is software updates, and the hardware stuff is really not too much to ask for. Come on TiVo!!!

<edit1> Added two tuner, Cable Card, and WMA/WMV to list
<edit2> Removed HD encode/decode request; changed support for HD resolutions via already compressed streams; USB ports on front; switch video source w/o guided setup.
<edit3> 1/31/2005 - Added component/HDMI ins and outs; high bit-rate recording; firewire support; Tivo as media server; out of box networking/no phoneline guided setup; 16:9 UI support; free space indicator; separated Hardware and Software Upgrades into their own lists
<edit4> 2/3/2005 - Added user adjustable buffer

 

[Mako]

You forgot the two tuners and Cable Card functionality. =)

 

[Dennis Wilkinson]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Things I'd like to see in Series 3 -

- Integrated LBA48 kernel enabling >137GB drives
- USB 2.0 physical ports (Series 2 only has USB 1.1 ports)

Some Series 2 boxes already have these -- the DVD-R combo units from Pioneer have LBA48 support, and the majority of Series 2 boxes have USB 2.0 physical ports (hardware), but not 2.0 drivers (software.) IIRC, a Series 2 box will have USB 2.0 hardware if the TSN starts with "2".

 

[rwhitlow]

I would like to see some overlapping show functionality in any Series! i.e. Complete show 1 and get as much of show 2 as possible, and visa versa.

 

[sbrown23]

Originally posted by Dennis Wilkinson
Some Series 2 boxes already have these -- the DVD-R combo units from Pioneer have LBA48 support, and the majority of Series 2 boxes have USB 2.0 physical ports (hardware), but not 2.0 drivers (software.) IIRC, a Series 2 box will have USB 2.0 hardware if the TSN starts with "2".

See, I mentioned in another thread that I asked TiVo support about USB 2.0 support in the Series 2. I also gave them my TSN which starts with 240 and they said that I only have USB 1.1 hardware. In any case, with Series 3 (or with a Series 2 update) I wish they would enable USB 2.0 speeds.

Hmmmmmmmm....

 

[classicsat]

Current S2 support is only for USB1.1, regardless of the hardware.

Also, IMO, asking for a component encoder is unrealstic. If you want somethin realistic, a cablecard Tivo is what you want.

Also add keyboard/mouse support.

Make the S3 peanut UEIC compatible (meaning JP1 programmable upgrades)

In box PIP could be considered, maybe an out of box decoder could be done for SD PIP.

2 of the USB2.0 ports on the front.

Maybe built in ethernet (with network GS), but add on modem.

 

[sbrown23]

Originally posted by classicsat
Also, IMO, asking for a component encoder is unrealstic. If you want somethin realistic, a cablecard Tivo is what you want.

Why is it unrealistic? Cost? I'm not sure how much it would add to the cost of the box, but TiVos already have hardware MPEG-2 encode and decode for standard television right? Is an HD encoder that much more expensive?

 

[Jonathan_S]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Why is it unrealistic? Cost? I'm not sure how much it would add to the cost of the box, but TiVos already have hardware MPEG-2 encode and decode for standard television right? Is an HD encoder that much more expensive?

Yes. Offhand an MPEG-2 encoder for realtime standard definition costs maybe ten or fifteen bucks. (And that is probably high). The only thing I've seen that does High Definition realtime MPEG-2 encoder was a multichip parallel array that took several 64 bit 66 Mhz PCI slots and ran upwards of twenty thousand dollars.

A massive difference in price. Uncompressed analog high definition takes an insane about of bandwidth. This is why it is transmitted digitally and compressed.

The only way to currently time shift HD affordably is to record these already compressed digital signal without ever having converted it to analog. For OTA this is easy since they are transmitted unencrypted, and the HD-DTiVo does exactly that. It also records the encrypted satellite HD signal digitally. However to do this for cable you either need a HD PVR issued by your cable system or a cable card HD PVR, either of which can record and decrypt the digital signal directly.

 

[maharg18]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Why is it unrealistic? Cost? I'm not sure how much it would add to the cost of the box, but TiVos already have hardware MPEG-2 encode and decode for standard television right? Is an HD encoder that much more expensive?

Yes, very expensive.. That's why no one makes a box that does this! (with a reasonable cost)

 

[pawchikapawpaw]

how about an easier option to switch between video sources? i understand about tivo dialing out to grab the correct channel lineup and stuff, but a: why can't it just use the HMO when it's available, and b: why do i have to go through the guided setup from start to finish?

 

[sbrown23]

Updated the list again... Edit2

 

[Ronin1]

Especially now that Firewire 800 is commonplace (and can be made to work with Firewire 400 (at the 400 speed) devices by the use of a conversion cable).

 

[ElPuerco]

How about a peanut with a DVR *button* rather than a DVR *switch*. Some of us may want to have more than 2 TiVos in our living room! (Especially if Best Buy offers them for -$1 after rebate next week.) Push the button and you go to the next TiVo, or press the button and then a number (0-9) and go to that TiVo number.

 

[Mako]

Originally posted by Jonathan_S
Yes. Offhand an MPEG-2 encoder for realtime standard definition costs maybe ten or fifteen bucks. (And that is probably high). The only thing I've seen that does High Definition realtime MPEG-2 encoder was a multichip parallel array that took several 64 bit 66 Mhz PCI slots and ran upwards of twenty thousand dollars.

A massive difference in price. Uncompressed analog high definition takes an insane about of bandwidth. This is why it is transmitted digitally and compressed.

The only way to currently time shift HD affordably is to record these already compressed digital signal without ever having converted it to analog. For OTA this is easy since they are transmitted unencrypted, and the HD-DTiVo does exactly that. It also records the encrypted satellite HD signal digitally. However to do this for cable you either need a HD PVR issued by your cable system or a cable card HD PVR, either of which can record and decrypt the digital signal directly.

Well TiVo had a prototype HD PVR so they must have figured a way to do it for much less than the thousands of dollars. They said they could not generate interest in the device. Not sure why. Maybe it was still prohibitively expensive. I doubt they would have even made the prototype if the price was going to be more than a car.

 

[maharg18]

Originally posted by Mako
Well TiVo had a prototype HD PVR so they must have figured a way to do it for much less than the thousands of dollars. They said they could not generate interest in the device. Not sure why. Maybe it was still prohibitively expensive. I doubt they would have even made the prototype if the price was going to be more than a car.

Their prototype recorded HD OTA signals ONLY, therefore it didn't need an expensive HDTV encoder. As you can probably imagine, the market for an OTA-only recorder is probably pretty small, which is probably why the PVR never materialized.

 

[Ronin1]

Perhaps someone with a technical background can shed some light on the matter of HD encoding. I find it hard to imagine that a DSP with a few other things on an inexpensive circuit board would not be able to handle the encoding/decoding. I realize that there is quite a volume of data involved, but I would think that the current state of the art should be able to handle it in a consumer level device.

Thanks!

 

[Jonathan_S]

Well according to a fairly quick Google search, uncompressed HD is 1.5 GBps (1.5 Giga-bits per second), or 675 Gigabytes per hour!

As a point of reference the DirecTV HD-TiVo stores 30 hours of HD on a 250 GB disk, making for a data rate of 8.3 GB/hour. (ignoring whatever part of the disk is reserved for software, showcases, buffers, etc.)

So to take uncompressed HD and compressing it down to HDTiVo levels requires a chip that can handle 1.6 billion bits per second and compress them down to 1/81st of that.

 

[ChiliDog]

How about wireless G support for faster wireless connections?

Chili

 

[rwhitlow]

Originally posted by ChiliDog
How about wireless G support for faster wireless connections?

Chili

Especially since the B slows down the whole network, not just the Tivo Connection!

 

[Ronin1]

Originally posted by rwhitlow
Especially since the B slows down the whole network, not just the Tivo Connection!

If the new models are delayed much there should be an A/B/G WiFi on a single chip set available, or if things are delayed very much more some of the 802.11n systems will be coming on line.

The alternative at the present is to get an inexpensive 802.11B WAP and add it to the LAN exclusively for the TiVo (and other B devices) thereby keeping your G speeds.