StarHub's HubStation goes HD

Philip Wong | Nov 13, 2008

Come November 15, StarHub will be offering an HD flavor of its current digital video recorder (DVR) settop box. The new HubStation HD features twice the hard drive capacity of its plain Jane standard-definition (SD) counterpart. This extra disk space boosts recording time to a whopping 160 hours and 30 hours for SD and HD programs, respectively. Another major upgrade is an onboard all-digital HDMI output that relays both audio and video signals through a single cable.

As with its predecessor, the Singapore cable TV provider will also be bundling an identical suite of free value-added services. These range from StarHub's Digital Voice for unlimited incoming and local outgoing calls to 1Mbps broadband Internet access. Other notable features supported by HubStation HD include live TV time shift function, an electronic program guide, text messaging and video-on-demand. This HD-enabled DVR box will be available for a monthly rental fee of S$14.98 (US$10.79).

Here's a snapshot of the key features between the StarHub HubStation and HubStation HD.

Features	HubStation	HubStation HD
Hard drive capacity	160GB	320GB
SD recording time	80 hours	160 hours
HD recording time	N/A	30 hours
Best video connectivity	Component-video	HDMI
Best audio connectivity	Digital optical audio	HDMI
Highest video resolution output	576i	1080i
Monthly rental fee	S$8.56 (US$6.16)	S$14.98 (US$10.79)