Today’s question of the day comes to us via Rick in the comments:
Do you know of a way to get an HDMI signal into a TiVo like device? I would like to record my own stuff and watch it with instant replay etc. Do you know of a solution?
This is an interesting topic that we’ve touched on before. There’s nothing that technically prevents recording data or a signal transmitted over HDMI. However, HDMI licensing specifically prohibits DVR-esque recording. At least that was the case when I last examined the spec, back during my Slingbox days. Interestingly, Gefen put out a “HD Personal Video Recorder” ($999) a few years back that either intentionally or accidentally ignored the HDMI recording restriction, as I had no problem whatsoever grabbing Comcast’s 1080i HBO feed. But that’s since been corrected and, generally speaking, Rick’s probably not going to find a reputable, mainstream DVR product to meet his requirements. He’ll need to record from existing component connectivity or pick up something like the HDFury that converts a digital HDMI signal to analog (in addition to spoofing a HDCP handshake) if his source box has limited HD outputs.