THOMSON UDR-01

Television Mastery
Intelligent TV is finally here (!)… Thomson has in fact thrown down the gauntlet, proposing on the market of digital visual storage, the first external hard disc drive destined to general consumers. Already pioneering in the inclusion of hard discs in satellite decoders (US market), Thomson has decided to attack the market for image storage, held until now by VHS, D-VHS and recordable DVD formats.
The UDR picks-up the programme at the exact moment that the viewer switches off, and records the rest. A very simple manipulation (Pause button) allows one to stop it during the programme. In a way, it’s like personalised replay on demand.
The advantage is in being able to be master of your TV viewing time. The user becomes the director. Whether it be a sequence or a line that have escaped your notice, you can pick up the programme at your leisure, and watch it at whatever speed you want… image by image or slow-mo if you please!
- With Photo Snap, it suffices to select a sequence, to mark it, and to thus transform it into a photo. The UDR allows you to stock around 8,000 photos.
- Remote Recording can be used to record at a distance. The user just has to submit his or her request via a vocal server, which is then sent to the UDR by ‘phone.

Other functions:
- 40 hours’ recording available that can be classified in a library,
- RDDS allows for the displaying of two different events on two screens in simultaneous mode,
- Digital Quality recording (image and sound),
- Speed of access via an Auto Edit mode, from one sequence to another,
- Ease of use thanks to an electronic programme guide,
- TIP mode, displaying the phone number of your correspondent on the TV screen…

While the performance levels of the UDR have everything it takes to make it attractive, its design makes it all the more seductive. This little technological marvel is all the more surprising due to the fact when one takes account of its bulk (360 x 200 x 60 cm), which facilitates its emplacement alongside your other electronic gear, either in horizontal or vertical position.

The UDR will be sold for a price of around 1,700 Euros.