Technical Information
Astro MAX was introduced in July 2006 as a combined digital satellite receiver/decoder and personal video recorder (PVR), as well as a rival for the upcoming LG's television integrated with a similar digital video recorder, the Time Machine TV. It allowed recording, pausing and instantly rewinding live TV, as well as a 30 second skip. The unit also had a 30 minute buffer which constantly records the currently watched program. Full integration with Astro's electronic programme guide enabled easy selection of programmes to be recorded. Additional features included the ability to record all audio tracks and all subtitle tracks on multiple language programming. Copies of programmes recorded would also be transferred to DVD or VHS tape. The system performed these functions using an internal hard drive inside the Astro MAX set top box. Programming was recorded without converting the DVB-S-compliant MPEG2 digital satellite stream, as such the recorded video is the same high quality as the broadcast feed.
The Astro MAX system was similar to TiVo. It was equipped with twin digital satellite tuners which allowed the recording of one programme while viewing another. However, the system was not be able to allow recording of two channels and programmes at the same time.
There was no service fee for the use of the Astro MAX system.
Read more about this topic: Astro MAX
Famous quotes containing the words technical and/or information:
“I rather think the cinema will die. Look at the energy being exerted to revive it—yesterday it was color, today three dimensions. I don’t give it forty years more. Witness the decline of conversation. Only the Irish have remained incomparable conversationalists, maybe because technical progress has passed them by.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)
“The information links are like nerves that pervade and help to animate the human organism. The sensors and monitors are analogous to the human senses that put us in touch with the world. Data bases correspond to memory; the information processors perform the function of human reasoning and comprehension. Once the postmodern infrastructure is reasonably integrated, it will greatly exceed human intelligence in reach, acuity, capacity, and precision.”
—Albert Borgman, U.S. educator, author. Crossing the Postmodern Divide, ch. 4, University of Chicago Press (1992)