CEATEC 2011: Toshiba’s HDD/Blu-Ray Server Records 15 Days Of Digital TV From 6 Channels

You have an HDD/Blu-ray recorder connected to your TV but never enough space on it? Then Toshiba’s REGZA DBR-M190 might do the trick for you (if you live in Japan, at least). As with most devices at CEATEC 2011, the recorder was pre-announced [JP] by the company just ahead of the exhibition.

The DBR-M190 boasts no less than 5TB of storage: according to Toshiba, 4TB are reserved for the time-shift function, which allows users to simultaneously record up to six six terrestrial digital channels in SD for 15 days (the remaining terabyte can be used to store other programs).

I couldn’t check the quality of content compressed that radically at the Toshiba booth today, but buyers can opt for shorter recording times and better quality. All stored programs can be copied over to an external HDD.

The built-in REGZA Link Share function makes it possible to not only watch content on the TV but also to stream it to other devices, for example compatible Toshiba tablets or smartphones (which is why the DBR-M190 is actually being marketed as a “REGZA server”).

The device is compatible to 3D Blu-ray discs and will go on sale in Japan next month (price: US$2,600). A trimmed down version, the DBR-M180, with 2TB for time shift and 500GB regular storage space will set buyers back US$1,950.