Recording and Playback
Recording Quality and Compression Magic Link models only
Normally, Magic TV™ records Terrestrial Digital TV broadcasts losslessly, preserving every bit of data to ensure maximum viewing quality.
However, because Magic Link models can also record non-broadcast material from other devices (see Magic Link Connections), it has the ability to compress the video at different rates. You can choose whether you want to reduce the quality of recordings in order to fit more recordings onto your disk(s).
From the To Do List you can press 
on a scheduled recording and choose “Recording Quality” from the menu. You will then be offered some or all of the following options:
| Compression level | Name | Resolution | Bitrate (Mb/Second) | Storage required (GB/hour) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DR* | Original | Original (depends on broadcast) | Original (depends on broadcast) | Original (depends on broadcast) |
| HG | HD High Quality | 1920 x 1080i | 18 | 9 |
| HX** | HD Standard | 1920 x 1080i | 12 | 7 |
| HE | HD Compressed | 1920 x 1080i | 9 | 5 |
| HL | HD HiCompressed | 1440 x 1080i | 6 | 3 |
| XP | SD High Quality | 720 x 576i/480i | 8 | 4 |
| SP*** | SD Standard | 720 x 576i/480i | 5 | 3 |
| LP | SD Compressed | 720 x 576i/480i | 3 | 2 |
| EP | SD HiCompressed | 720 x 576i/480i | 2 | 1 |
| SEP | Portable Video | 320 x 240p25/30 | 1 | 0.5 |
* Default for Terrestrial Digital TV broadcasts.
** Default for external High Definition sources.
*** Default for external Standard Definition sources
Note: Magic TV™ will always match the recording frame rate with the source frame rate. If external sources are connected via an SD-only connection (S-video/Composite video) then available compression options are limited to SD.
Note: Only options equal to, or more compressed than the original source are available, so for example DR is only available on DTV broadcasts, HG is only available on HD sources, etc.