Time shifting

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Time shifting

Timeshifting redirects here. For the video game, see TimeShift. For the television timeshift channels see Timeshift channel
Timeshift channel

A timeshift channel is a television channel carrying a time-delayed rebroadcast of its "parent" channel's output. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network broadcasting at a later time to reflect a local timezone unless the parent is also available....

Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time

Time

Time is a component of the measurement used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects....
more convenient to the consumer

Consumer

Consumer is a broad label that refers to any individuals or household that use Good generated within the economic system. The concept of a consumer is used in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary....
. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via podcasts.

In recent years, the advent of the digital video recorder

Digital video recorder

A digital video recorder or personal video recorder is a device that records video in a digital format to a disk drive or other memory medium within a device....
(DVR) has made time shifting easier, by using a electronic program guide

Electronic program guide

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Time shifting'

Start a new discussion about 'Time shifting'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time

Time

Consumer

Digital video recorder

Electronic program guide

An electronic program guide or interactive program guide or electronic service guide is an digital guide to scheduled broadcast television or radio programs, typically displayed on-screen with functions allowing a viewer to navigate, select, and discover content by time, title, channel, genre, etc....
and recording shows onto a hard disk. Some DVRs have other possible time shifting methods, such as being able to start watching the recorded show from the beginning even if the recording is not yet complete. In the past, time shifting was done with a video cassette recorder (VCR) and its timer function, in which the VCR tunes into the appropriate station and records the show onto video tape.

Sky+

Sky+

Sky+, or Sky Plus, is a personal video recorder service for Sky Digital , and is very similar - in principle - to the TiVo service . Launched in September 2001, Sky+ allows the user to record, pause and instantly rewind live TV....
and BT Vision

BT Vision

BT Vision is a service provided in the United Kingdom supplied by BT Retail. It provides digital Terrestrial television channels using a Freeview decoder and on demand film, TV, sport, kids and music programming delivered via broadband through a hybrid DTT/IP/PVR set top box and soon through Xbox 360 IPTV....
services in Ireland and the UK allows one to timeshift. BT Vision is generally better in design and features, but Sky+ is better-known and much more reliable. TiVo

TiVo

TiVo is the pioneer of the digital video recorder . TiVo was introduced in the United States, and is now available in Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Taiwan....
, DirecTV

DirecTV

DirecTV is a direct broadcast satellite service based in El Segundo, California, California, which transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, the Caribbean, and parts of Latin America....
and other US cable or satellite subscription services offer PVR set-top boxes

Set-top box

A set-top box or set-top unit is a information appliance that connects to a television and an external source of signal , turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen....
, often for an additional monthly fee.

In cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required....
broadcasting, time shifting may also refer to the availability of network affiliates from different time zone

Time zone

A time zone is a region of the earth that has uniform standard time, usually referred to as the local time. By convention, time zones compute their local time as an offset from Coordinated Universal Time ....
s, serving a similar function of making television programs available at multiple times throughout the day.

History in the United States

The legality of time-shifting programming in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
was proven by a landmark court case of Universal Studios

Universal Studios

Universal Studios , a subsidiary of NBC Universal, is one of the six Worldwide major American film studios. Its production studios are located at 100 Universal City Plaza Drive in Universal City, California....
versus Sony Corporation (Sony v. Universal), when Sony argued successfully that the advent of its Betamax

Betamax

Betamax is an obsolete home videocassette tape recording format developed by Sony, and released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contained 1/2 inch wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional 3/4 inch U-matic videocassette format....
video recorder in 1976 did not violate the copyright

Copyright is a form of intellectual property which gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation; after which time the work is said to enter the public domain....
of the owners of shows which it recorded.

In 1979, Universal sued

Lawsuit

In law, a lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in which the party commencing the action, called the plaintiff, seeks a legal remedy or equitable remedy....
Sony, claiming its timed recording capability amounted to "copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works....
". However, a district court found that noncommercial home use recording was considered fair use

Fair use

Appeal

In law, an appeal is a process for requesting a formal change to an official decision.The specific procedures for appealing, including even whether there is a right of appeal from a particular type of decision, can vary greatly from country to country....
s, the United States Court of Appeals

United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate Court of Appealss of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the United States district courts within its United States federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agency....
reversed this decision in 1981 giving the edge to Universal, but the Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal United States federal courts. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed with th...
reversed it yet again in 1984, and found in favor of Sony 5-4. The majority decision held that time shifting was a fair use

Fair use

Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review....
, represented no substantial harm to the copyright holder, and would not contribute to a diminished marketplace for its product. Today, this is widely referred to as the "Betamax case" or "Betamax decision".

External links

- The play-timeshifting community, where members share knowledge, experience and opinion to help you get more our of your DVR.

Time shifting

History in the United States

See also

External links