Hurdles await digital television recording attempts

By Sascha Rettig High-definition television offers a whole world of cinema-style viewing. But trying to record it can easily make a viewer wish for the good old days of the analog VCR. The problem is that HD signals are subject to a lot of limitations, from proprietary data formats to encryption to blocks against fast-forwarding. First, there are a variety of ways to receive HD TV, from DVB-T to satellite to cable to Internet signals. Each has its own receivers and recorders. “Receivers are on offer in a variety of packages, with integrated hard drives, in a variety of sizes,” says Holger Wenk of the German TV Platform. There are also DVD and Blu-ray recorders. “Some of these devices even come with a USB connection, so you can connect a hard drive or a USB stick.” Some contemporary TVs also contain hard drives or DVD or Blu-ray drives. Most also come with USB connections for recording, says Wenk, a feature dubbed Personal Video Recorder (PVR). Keep an eye on the number of tuners the TV or receiver offers. “Only with more than one tuner can you simultaneously record one programme while watching another channel,” he says. To burn a movie onto a DVD or Blu-ray disc requires having the right recorder with a burn function. Since every Blu-ray recorder can also burn DVDs, it won’t be long before DVD recorders disappear. Up-to-date Blu-ray recorders are often outfitted with hard drives and twin tuners, but have yet to catch on, mainly because of the relatively high price of blank Blu-ray discs. Recording doesn’t tend to be a problem, so long as one sticks to standard formats. But problems can quickly pop up with HD or pay TV, with some broadcasters using flags to prevent copying. The PVR function can also run into problems with recording, says Michael Gundall, with the consumer centre of the German state of Rhineland Palatinate. Even if the recording works, archiving can be difficult depending upon the receiver. What goes into the box can be watched, but might not be able to be moved somewhere else, he says. The problem is that the hard drive is often formatted when connected to the television, says Andreas Nolde, of German computer magazine Chip. “When you try to create a recording archive, you find the recording is bound to the hardware.” Another problem is that PVR recording can use very exotic formats. “The data can either not be read by a PC or can only be viewed with a media player in the hands of an experienced user with specific tools,” says Nolde. “Sometimes it’s hard to figure out which format was used.” Often these are protective features used by copyright holders to make sure the data does not get spread too widely. People who don’t have their own recorder can try online services like Safe.tv or Bong.tv. “These services are usually subscription based and have set monthly fees,” says Nolde. HD quality isn’t an option. “The shows are recorded in DVD resolution and can be downloaded.” — DPAControl by drawing, wiping, waving — the mouse faces competitionActing more like a music conductor than a computer user, Tom Cruise’s character in the 2002 film Minority Report controlled his computer by waving his arms to move images, enlarging them with a gesture. Now life is catching up with the movie, which is set in 2054, thanks to touchscreens and cameras with motion sensors. Could this be the end of the mouse? For years, the mouse has been the go-to controller for just about any computer. Thanks to all the alternatives out there, its days look numbered. But experts say it will never quite disappear. “It won’t be the standard device for home computing in 10 years’,” says Albrecht Schmidt of the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems at Stuttgart University, noting that more and more people will be using a touchscreen device at home, or even ones that work with gestures. To look into the future, consider the gesture mouse glove, a glove that turns hand movements into cursor commands. It’s already on sale in Japan. But eye tracking remains a dream for now. That said, the mouse will continue to be the chief controller for work computers, at least so long as there are no universal standards. “Touchscreens at the desk just don’t make sense, even if everyone is developing it,” says Tom Gross, who studies human-computer interaction at the Otto Friedrich University in Bamberg, Germany.  “You can make everything easier to use, but some things need to be complex.” He points to photo editing or tax declarations as two jobs that will always require the precision of a mouse. Also, he notes, few office workers will be prepared to spend their days waving at their computer. Touchpads or mouses with touch sensors can conduct tactile commands to a touch-sensitive system, without the trouble of arms sore from reaching towards the monitor all day. Other options might include a trackball. The key, says Gross, is to think about the kind of work that will have to be done. “As a user, I always have to think about the product, and not the device.” That means people working on long documents need a wheel for quick scrolling; gamers need more buttons; and artists need a graphics tablet with an electronic pen. The touchpads or trackpoints that have become popular in modern laptops could replace mice in many cases. But Hildegard Schmidt, who studies back problems, worries about this option. “Here, you can’t have the hand at a 90-degree angle to the upper body. Over long periods, you’ll compress the upper body,” she says, noting that anyone who works with a laptop at a desk for longer periods of time should get an extra mouse, as well as a separate keyboard. But Schmidt sees positives in other possible mouse replacements, like the vertical mouse, which works like the standard device but is shaped differently and has the buttons on the side, and not on top. “Here, the hand rests about the way it would normally when holding a pen,” says Schmidt. “The advantage here is that, compared to other mice, you don’t have to twist the wrist to the side.” The real key is to make sure that any device is used properly. “The problem is rarely the device in and of itself, but the way it’s used,” says Schmidt. Many problems with modern mice can be avoided by using the middle finger to control the scroll wheel. And users can always seek out special devices should they experience problems. — By Tobias Hanraths/DPA