At the Gamescom 2015 press conference for the Xbox platform, it was announced that the Xbox One console would be supporting TV DVR next year. This will allow users to record free-to-air channels, and store them on their Xbox One for later viewing. It has also been noted that using the Xbox app, it is possible to schedule and view recordings remotely.
Today, in an interview with Richard Irving, project lead of the upcoming dashboard overhaul, it has been confirmed that an external hard drive must be used to record TV to the Xbox One console. While this requirement may restrict many gamers from using the free service, it is obviously clear why the decision was made, from the following statement.
“You need an external hard-drive specifically for DVR because we want to keep the paths optimized between playing games and watching TV. We don’t want them to interact with each other.”
The Xbox One console originally shipped with a 500GB hard drive and was the only base SKU available, until a 1TB edition was announced in June. All games played on the console must be installed, and with many AAA releases carrying installs greater that 50GB, the internal hard drive can be filled rapidly. The limit for external hard drives requires 3.0 USB support, and a capacity of over 256GB. Up to two 16TB drives can be connected, offering a maximum storage capacity of 32.5TB.
This is a wise choice, as it allows the main storage to be reserved for the intended focus of the console, the games. The maximum resolution the TV DVR can record in is 1920×1080, therefore the large file sizes could potentially fill the external drive fast.
Source: GameSpot
Matt was a regular ICXM contributor in 2015, publishing 110 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One’s first full year of post-launch coverage, including the early days of Backwards Compatibility and Windows 10 gaming. They post on X as @RTEnvi.