Pausing Live TV – A Miraculous Discovery

It may be a source of some bemusement to some younger people, but for many people living today the development of the DVR – the Digital Video Recorder – has brought about a benefit that some of us thought we would never see in our lifetimes. The hard-disk based DVRs that now come as standard in some TVs and digital TV packages allow us to pause live TV. Although this is a standard now available in a large number of homes, it is no small step for those of us who dreamed about it in the 80s and 90s.

Before the DVR was developed, a phone call during a tense moment in a sports match or a movie would be greeted with barely controlled anger. “Oh, it’s so nice to hear from you,” you would say to the caller, as the moment came and went without you being able to witness it, while silently cursing them. Now, you can pause and come back to the action as though you were watching a DVD or a video. Not only that, but for those “Did I see/hear what I thought I saw/heard?” moments, you can also rewind the broadcast.

There are limitations to the technology, undoubtedly. Not least of these is the fact that if you change channel during the broadcast then everything you have watched up to then will be lost – hardly surprising, as the system needs to preserve memory. However, it is still quite nifty technology and for those of us who grew up dreaming about it, it’s still big news.