Promise TV records all channels all the time

At the OpenTech conference in London, Promise TV revealed the prototype of a digital video recorder that can record and index and full week’s worth of digital television programmes. The device is approximately the size of a 1990 VCR. Promise TV plans to unveil the new device next month.

Dominic Ludlam, Promise TV’s lead developer, said that the device was commissioned by the BBC. It uses commodity PC hardware, including a bank of hard drives totalling 3.2 terabytes.

At the end of the week, new programming overwrites previous programmes. However, the recorded material can be stored on a separate device. The system means that viewers do not need to pre-select the programmes they wish to record. Mr Ludlam said: “This could well herald a change in the way we watch television. No longer need there be any peak viewing time or head-to-head competition between channels”.

Chris Rowen, a research analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Capital Markets, expressed reservations about the device. He said: “They’re compensating for the fact that they don’t have advanced listings by recording everything and then indexing it after the fact”. Mr Rowen said that he did not think that the device would work in an 80-channel environment.