Multichoice launches personal video recorder

14.11.2005
Multichoice last week officially launched its personal video recorder (PVR) DSTV decoder, which, the broadcaster says, is set to revolutionize South African television.

Essentially a marriage between a standard dual-view decoder and a hard drive, viewers will be able to enjoy features such as the ability to pause live TV, rewind, switch to slow motion, and even set time-delayed recordings across multiple channels.

While PVRs have been available off the shelf since 1999 (from the likes of TiVo and Replay TV), MultiChoice says that the latest version of the device incorporates a number of advanced features, which makes it amongst the most advanced PVRs available worldwide.

The decoder is the brainchild of Cape-based UEC Technologies, a division of Altech, which has clinched a R75 million (US$11 million) deal to manufacture the decoders for MultiChoice.

UEC has been manufacturing set-top boxes for Multi-Choice since the company's first entry into the local digital satellite broadcasting market some ten years ago, and was also responsible for developing the current dual-view decoders, allowing viewers to watch more than one channel simultaneously on separate TVs.

At the launch event last week, MultiChoice GM for corporate affairs, Fathima Haniff, and MultiChoice CTO, Gerdus van Eeden, demonstrated the new device's capabilities.