DirecTV HR20 to HR54 HD DVR HOURS

Why the range of hours of capacity on DirecTV HD DVRs?

DirecTV transmits HD channels in two different formats: MPEG2 and MPEG4. MPEG4 is far more compressed, and consequently, those recordings take less space on a hard drive. Far more content is now transmitted in MPEG4 than MPEG2.

For purposes of comparison, use the chart below to help decide on your capacity needs:

Capacity Standard Definition
Hours		 HD - MPEG2
Hours
 HD - MPEG4
Hours
300 GB (stock HR20/HR21) up to 200 up to 30 up to 50
500 GB (stock HR22/HR23/HR24) up to 450 up to 65 up to 100
1 TB (stock HR34/HR44/HR54) up to 900 up to 130 up to 200
2 TB up to 1800 up to 260 up to 400
3 TB (HR34/HR44/HR54 only) up to 2700 up to 390 up to 600
4 TB (HR34/HR44/HR54 only) up to 3600 up to 520 up to 800
6 TB (HR34/HR44/HR54 only) up to 5400 up to 780 up to 1200
8 TB (HR34/HR44/HR54 only) up to 7200 up to 1040 up to 1600
10 TB (HR34/HR44/HR54 only) up to 9000 up to 1300 up to 2000

Why the "up to" in the table above?

DirecTV compresses different broadcasts differently, called VBR, or Variable Bit Rate encoding. In reality, you should expect to get fewer hours, because you likely won't record only the shows that get compressed the most. If you record sports or action movies, expect far fewer hours.

Can I record a mixture of different formats including HD and SD?

Yes to some degree. You can choose to record a standard definition channel where available, but if you are recording a high definition channel, you cannot choose between MPEG2 and MPEG4.