Glossary

The technical terms used by the television industry, manufacturers and stockists when talking about the switch to digital can be very confusing. This glossary is designed to help demystify the jargon.

If there are terms that you’d like explained, but they aren’t listed below, let us know!

Personal Video Recorder (PVR)

A set-top box with a hard disc drive is the digital replacement for the VCR. The difference is that the digital TV formatting and quality are maintained, you get the benefit of features like time shifting and you don’t have to worry about co-ordinating timers.

They can often record in excess of 24 hours of standard definition TV. They’re more expensive than the basic set-top box, and you'll pay more for models with two HD tuners. More than one tuner makes it possible to watch and record different channels at the same time.