The Digital Revolution is upon us.... In fact, it’s beensneaking up on us for a long time with devices suchas calculators, digital watches, and many otherconsumer goods, not to mention the devices weactually use but see very little of. Such devices arecommon to us in "the first person" in the form ofmany automotive controls in our car, and indirectlycommon to us if we fly.. things like aircraft engines,etc.

But the first area possibly to have a major impact interms of comparison has been in the cameras weuse. This effects us both in camcorders and in thestill cameras. While the purist will probably alwayswin the argument that the film camera gives greaterquality control than the digital, there are those whowould argue against this principal very vociferously.

Now, most Americans who own a TV are about toexperience first hand another upward leap on thescale of digital technology as our televisions will bemandated to use digital transmission and receptiontechnology within the next few years. Yes, for manyyears our current televisions will still work.. possiblywith adapters, and the upgrade is not too unlike theupgrade from the old AM radio to FM, or if you are a"ham" from AM to SSB.

Sometimes we have to wonder if progress takesplace simply for progress own sake.. or to justifysome new selling point or to create obsolescence sothe engine of progress can march on.

Without going into a technical discussion of digitalVs its predecessor, analog, and going thecomparisons of an analog watch (one with hands)to digital, suffice it to say that in this case, the moveto digital technology in most cases DOES bringsubstantial benefits. Clarity, use of less power,higher resolution when it comes to video.. these arebut a few. However, it is not the scope of this articleto lead into a technical discussion which could fillpages, but to "segway" and introduce one to thesubject of DVR: Digital Video Recording.

The DVR is on the way "in" and the old recordingdevices are on they way out at about the samespeed as your old 33 1/3d and 45 RPM records..and the VHS tape you use. Probably half the ofreader base of this article owns and has used a DVDplayer by now, and you see the many advantages ofnot having to contend with tape that gets tangled inheads some times, must be rewound, and haslimited audio and surround sound capability.Recording with the VCR has always been achallenge, particularly if one wants to recordmultiple programs at multiple times, or do anextended recording. Instant and simultaneousreplay is virtually impossible.

With DVR, which by the way not only applies to theentertainment area, all of these things becomethings of the past, and options open up that werenot previously available.

One can either own equipment and record on site,with the most commonly known device being theTiVo.. although there are devices now made byvirtually every known electronic manufacturer. Theonly question in buying one of these is, "Will thisbecome obsolete in 36 months?" A web sitereferred to in the resource block goes further intoevaluating this.

The other option is to let a outside source do therecording. Many of the TV cable providers offer thisas an optional service now. You don’t have to buy athing.. only be a subscriber to their DIGITAL service(which we all will be eventually).

In the meantime, the only question is, "Do I wantthese benefits now enough to pay the cost forthem?". That’s an individual question.

In the meantime, this article gives those who havecome across it some general background, and theopportunity to prepare some questions beforewondering into your TV and Electronics dealership.We suggest you prepare by doing searches on termslike HDTV; "digital ready", "digital TV converters";"Digital Recorders". Ask about the total number ofinputs; the total recording time; Ask if you can makea copy of the recording onto a CD or DVD, and will itplay universally, or only on the machine it wasrecorded on.

Many questions.. but in the end, all of us will soonbe in the DVR owner ranks.

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