One of the really fascinating things about TV technology these days is the variety of different directions that technological developments can come from. A good example of this can be seen in the technology that TV service providers build into their set top boxes. Echostar, which is the company that markets its services under the name of Dish Network, has especially innovative developments in its equipment- particularly in the real of Digital Video Recorders.

While most other TV service providers have digital video recorders built into some models of their receivers, Echostar uses DVR technology in a number of innovative ways. For example, it uses its DVR technology to supply video on demand options to its subscribers. The video on demand programming is stored on a hidden part of the DVR's hard disk and is updated in the background over the satellite signal so that there are fresh video on demand options for the subscribers to access.

Another interesting innovation is technology that allows users to download video from the hard disk of a DVR to the hard disk of a portable video device. These portable video devices (which Echostar calls PocketDishes) can then display that video on their built in screens. Since the PocketDish is battery powered and self contained, it lets Echostar subscribers watch TV in a lot more locations and under a wider variety of conditions than they would otherwise be able to.

Echostar's latest innovation is a digital video recorder receiver that's truly designed for HDTV. The earlier model that could record HDTV, the ViP 622 DVR, could record only thirty to thirty five hours of HDTV content. This new models, which Echostar calls, the ViP 722 HD DVR can store up to fifty hours of programming in HDTV. That's much more in line with people's expectations of what a DVR should be able to do and more in line with the number of channels that offer high def programming. The ViP 722 HD DVR also has an impressive capacity for recording standard definition programming as well. While its predecessor could record up to two hundred hours of standard def TV, this model can record up to three hundred and fifty hours of SDTV program content! This model also makes about a hundred hours of Video On Demand content available as well, though it's unclear at this point if any of that content is in HDTV.

One thing that this receiver from Echostar does address that's been a shortcoming for other DVR's is the fact that the built in hard disk limits the device's recording capacity. While recording capacity of many DVR's can be expanded by replacing their hard disks, that's not a very convenient alternative. Echostar's new technology addresses this problem by offering detachable hard disks that can be connected and disconnected to the DVR easily using a USB cable. These external drives are much more convenient than upgrades because they have plug and play compatibility with the DVR's and they make recorded TV programming portable. All of this makes for a lot more convenience built into this newer model.

This new HD DVR receiver from Echostar proves that innovative technology doesn't have to come from companies that just do electronics.