Ocean Blue Software, says the market needs a single standard for Digital TV recorders, also called Personal Video Recorders. The company is calling for a single brand to avoid consumer confusion, like the recently-announced Freeview Playback, but extending across satellite, cable and even IPTV broadcast.
“It has taken Sky two years and many £ millions to establish its PVR brand amongst a small number of consumers,” commented Ken Helps, Managing Director of Ocean Blue in a press release. “Introducing Freeview Playback has been a step in the right direction and will help consumers looking to replace their VCRs before the digital switch-off.
The market is fragmented and most PVR products contain proprietary software due to the lack of industry standard guidelines. We need to create consumer confidence via products standards and compliance.
The introduction of a single PVR standard would simplify the market for consumers and increase take-up of the new technology, says the company, a specialist digital TV software developer. Ocean Blue is a member of the Digital Television Group, the body behind the recently-introduced Freeview Playback standard.
Ocean Blue’s Surfsoft Freeview Playback PVR version contains features such as record, save, play, record conflict management, series link, indexing and trick modes. Manufacturers can now specify and build a PVR machine which will meet their exact customer requirements.
