1121 replies to this topic

[lauriesm1]

Yes Peter, I have the Homecast connected to the Sony DVDR via scart and from the DVDR to the Sony plasma via component. I have the FTA analog feed to the DVDR via RF. The Homecast digital audio out goes to the Yamaha receiver.

My idea to update this is to get a new plasma with two digital inputs. Connect a STB with digital out to one and connect a dvd/hdd with digital out to the other (mainly for playing dvds). I don't plan to record a lot of FTA so for this purpose I could connect the STB to the dvd/hdd. I do plan to record stuff from the satellite but so far I can't find a satellite box that has anything better than a scart connection, I guess because they all come from the EU. I have a scart to component converter but the Sony DVDR does not have component in hopefully the new boxes have this.

Appreciate any comments.

regards

Laurie

[pgdownload]

Seems an effective solution. The DVDR is obviously analogue (4:3) in while the STB is digital in. As you say, they both send on digital out. Don't think the cheaper ($250) PVRs do digital out otherwise I'd suggest grabbing one of those so you have the best of both worlds. You could always have just one digital input in the TV and send (say SVideo) from the PVR to the TV.

Its ironic that this setup would mean the DVDR get analogue and converts to digital, while the PVR would get digital and convert to analogue  

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[curlyt]

HI

Forgive me, I'm completely new to this Digital TV thing!

Just a few questions about the anaolg tuner thing in DVD-R/HDD recorders.

If I recorded the digital signal from say a STB into the HDD then moved it onto a DVD what would I get?  Do you lose the wide screen view, PQ etc if DVD is played back on a widescreen tv?  What about a conventional 4:3 TV?

Would you get a different outcome if the digital signal was downloaded from a PVR (eg Hummy smart or Toppy) to a PC then burned to a DVD?

An even more basic question is what type of picture do I get when I plug a STB/PVR into my standard 4:3 TV?  Do I get 'letterbox' all the time?  Do all STB/PVR's come with the option to cut the centre out of the picture?  I asked someone at the local HN this question and they totally confused me!

I am looking at replacing my VCR with someone that won't require a million blank tapes, all of which have nothing to indicate what might be on them!

I'm not quite ready to buy a new TV yet.  I was ready to buy a DVD-R/HDD recorder when I came across these PVR things so now I'm confused about which way to go.  

If someone could help me out on these few things it will probably push me one way or the other.


Thanks


Curly

[pgdownload]

Chasing you around Curly ,

But do realise this 'digital thing'  is pretty overwhelming - lots of $ you could spend badly if your not carefull. I suggest re-reading this thread (first post) as it has a lot of good info on the questions you ask. In a nut shell though both STBs and PVRs (which is basically a STB with a harddrive) and all other existing equipment plug into your standard aerial. The PVRs/STB grab the digital signal bit, the DVDRecorders, VCRs and TVs grab the analogue bit.

Analogue is broadcast 4:3, Digital is broadcast 16:9. you can stretch, shrink, zoom both on a 4:3 or 16:9 set but obviously its best to have 16:9 broadcast on a 16:9 set etc. Otherwise you're either dostorting the picture or cutting bits off.

A STB/PVR takes the digital picture and translates it to analogue (crystal clear) so it can travel the last little bit of wire to a TV where it will be recognised and displayed.

As a last suggestion, DVD Recorders are analogue 4:3. But if you want to keep your current 4:3 TV for a while yet (and you have decent analogue reception) then possibly this would be a better way to go. Grab a DVD Recorder with a hard drive and you can stil skip ads and pause live TV. You'll probably need to upgrade it all in a few years when you get a new 16:9 TV but you can then send the analogue output of  your STB/PVR to the DVD Recorder  to save the odd show.

Hope that makes sense. Basically this whole arena of PVRs/STBs/DVDRs is converging and in a few years the options will probably be very different. May we live in interesting times

Regards

Peter Gillespie

[Timmy Downawell]

I think the original post should state that SCART often also carries s-video, just as it is capable of carrying component (abeit even less often). It is, of course, capable of carrying composite, s-video, component and RGB, but which of those it ultimately does is up to the manufacturer of the device concerned.

[Tassie Devil]

Timmy Downawell, on Feb 23 2006, 09:48 PM, said:

I think the original post should state that SCART often also carries s-video, just as it is capable of carrying component (abeit even less often). It is, of course, capable of carrying composite, s-video, component and RGB, but which of those it ultimately does is up to the manufacturer of the device concerned.

Good point.  I'll add that.

Thanks

John

[Tassie Devil]

curlyt, on Feb 23 2006, 08:40 PM, said:

HI

Forgive me, I'm completely new to this Digital TV thing!

Just a few questions about the anaolg tuner thing in DVD-R/HDD recorders.

If I recorded the digital signal from say a STB into the HDD then moved it onto a DVD what would I get?  Do you lose the wide screen view, PQ etc if DVD is played back on a widescreen tv?  What about a conventional 4:3 TV?

Would you get a different outcome if the digital signal was downloaded from a PVR (eg Hummy smart or Toppy) to a PC then burned to a DVD?

An even more basic question is what type of picture do I get when I plug a STB/PVR into my standard 4:3 TV?  Do I get 'letterbox' all the time?  Do all STB/PVR's come with the option to cut the centre out of the picture?  I asked someone at the local HN this question and they totally confused me!

I am looking at replacing my VCR with someone that won't require a million blank tapes, all of which have nothing to indicate what might be on them!

I'm not quite ready to buy a new TV yet.  I was ready to buy a DVD-R/HDD recorder when I came across these PVR things so now I'm confused about which way to go.  

If someone could help me out on these few things it will probably push me one way or the other.
Thanks
Curly

This question is frequently asked so I'll add the following if you find it explains the situation.  Please give feedback.

John

Confused about a DVD-R recording a 16:9 or 4:3 picture?

Basically this arises because the tuners in DVD-Rs are still analog and put out a 4:3 picture.  Make a recording on the hard drive or on a DVD and that will be the format.

However, if you feed in an external source which is 16:9, then the hard drive or DVD recording will be in that format and to display correctly needs to be fed to a 16:9 display/TV.  Play that recording on a 4:3 display/TV and it will be distorted.

Most 16:9 display/TVs have an option where you can set the menu so the video is either 16:9 or 4:3 so you can compensate for different recording aspect ratios through this if necessary, but most 4:3 units do not usually allow for this.

Unfortunately the present DVD-Rs do not enable you to put in a “flag” which indicates if the recording made is 16:9 or 4:3.  This is probably because of the internal 4:3 analog tuner.  Note that STB’s have this flag in their set up menu so you can set them up to output 16:9 or 4:3.

So, if you only have a 4:3 display/TV, then all recordings should be made in this format.  If you later change to a 16:9 display/TV then these recordings will be distorted unless you change the menu in the display/TV to 4:3 each time you want to look at an earlier recording.  If the DVD had a “flag” in it, as commercial recordings do, then this would not be necessary but until DVD-Rs incorporate this option in the recording set up, that is the situation we have to live with. :ph34r:

[curlyt]

Thanks Tassie Devil, that clarifies the issue very well.

I read somewhere in this forum that it is possible to change the flag on a file downloaded to a PC.  If there was something I wanted to keep and watch on both my current 4:3 tv and then be able to watch on my 16:9 when I get one (soon), could I download the file from a PVR (such as a Topfield) then burn off 2 copies.  One in 4:3 then, change the flag and burn one in 16:9 mode?  Would this work?

Thanks

Curly

[tonymy01]

You don't have to, if you set the correct flags for the material, then your DVD player will adjust accordingly, i.e 16:9 for 16:9 material, or 4:3 Pan&Scan for pillarboxed 16:9 material.     Then you setup your DVD player to 4:3 letterbox for your 4:3 TV, and 16:9 for your 16:9 TV... easy peasy.

[nguyen]

tonygib, on Jan 12 2006, 12:09 AM, said:

When you hit an ad break, skip ahead till the show comes back. There are around 15 mins of ad's during the hour, so as you skip them, you will finish watching the show, around the time that the show finished broadcast, only difference is you didn't see any ads.

Sorry if the question is silly, but can any PVR skip ad automatically during recording?

[Foggy]

nguyen, on Mar 7 2006, 09:04 PM, said:

Sorry if the question is silly, but can any PVR skip ad automatically during recording?

Unfortunately not.

[Tassie Devil]

nguyen, on Mar 7 2006, 09:04 PM, said:

Sorry if the question is silly, but can any PVR skip ad automatically during recording?

As Foghorn says, no.  However you touch on a weakness of many PVRs - their FF speeds and how well they perform them, something quite important for skipping ads.  The Strong 5390 I had previously could freeze at times on its fastest speed and was "jerky" in its action.  Some PVRs like the Topfield are limited to a frustratingly slow 4X or 6x (although there is a simple +30 second skip button that can be simply programmed to do mulltiple skips).  My present Humax is a delight in this respect and all FF speeds (2X, 4X, 16X & 64X) act smoothly.  Similarly the FF on the Pioneer DVD-Rs is smooth and effective.

John

[tonymy01]

Tassie Devil, on Mar 8 2006, 08:40 AM, said:

Some PVRs like the Topfield are limited to a frustratingly slow 4X (although the computer literate owners have found a way around that).

What the??  "Computer literate"???   The manual details the +30second skip button, press that sucker six times in succession and you have a very quick advert skip right there, no need to be computer literate!
And TAPs only enhance this wonderful default feature by pressing the button six times for you (ok, it does a million more things than that now, but the origins of the PBK tap certainly were about doing this exact thing).
I don't think you have to be computer literate to install TAPs, Andy will attest that there are plenty of people who wouldn't know the first thing about a computer that have successfully installed his tap onto the Toppy.
Regards

[Tassie Devil]

tonymy01, on Mar 8 2006, 09:35 AM, said:

What the??  "Computer literate"???   The manual details the +30second skip button, press that sucker six times in succession and you have a very quick advert skip right there, no need to be computer literate!
And TAPs only enhance this wonderful default feature by pressing the button six times for you (ok, it does a million more things than that now, but the origins of the PBK tap certainly were about doing this exact thing).
I don't think you have to be computer literate to install TAPs, Andy will attest that there are plenty of people who wouldn't know the first thing about a computer that have successfully installed his tap onto the Toppy.
Regards

Thanks for that feedback Tony.  I'll edit in the corrected info  

Most important this file contain no errors.

Edited postscript: thought I'd put something incorrect in the top file but realise it is only in the one above so corrected it anyway.  If nubies wade through all this thread it needs to be right and not confusing.

John

[jthorp]

Tassie Devil, on Feb 24 2006, 08:26 AM, said:

This question is frequently asked so I'll add the following if you find it explains the situation.  Please give feedback.

John

Confused about a DVD-R recording a 16:9 or 4:3 picture?

Basically this arises because the tuners in DVD-Rs are still analog and put out a 4:3 picture.  Make a recording on the hard drive or on a DVD and that will be the format.

However, if you feed in an external source which is 16:9, then the hard drive or DVD recording will be in that format and to display correctly needs to be fed to a 16:9 display/TV.  Play that recording on a 4:3 display/TV and it will be distorted.

Most 16:9 display/TVs have an option where you can set the menu so the video is either 16:9 or 4:3 so you can compensate for different recording aspect ratios through this if necessary, but most 4:3 units do not usually allow for this.

Unfortunately the present DVD-Rs do not enable you to put in a “flag” which indicates if the recording made is 16:9 or 4:3.  This is probably because of the internal 4:3 analog tuner.  Note that STB’s have this flag in their set up menu so you can set them up to output 16:9 or 4:3.

So, if you only have a 4:3 display/TV, then all recordings should be made in this format.  If you later change to a 16:9 display/TV then these recordings will be distorted unless you change the menu in the display/TV to 4:3 each time you want to look at an earlier recording.  If the DVD had a “flag” in it, as commercial recordings do, then this would not be necessary but until DVD-Rs incorporate this option in the recording set up, that is the situation we have to live with. :ph34r:

I have a Sony HX910 hard drive dvd recorder, and it can set the 4:3 or 16:9 flag correctly. I have a 4:3 tv, and if I make an analogue recording via the HX910's tuner then I use "auto" (which will set the ratio to 4:3). If I use my stb to do a recording from widescreen digital tv, then I set both stb and the HX910 to 16:9 and I get a 19:6 recording (and I've checked it works on DVDs as well as the hard drive by playing the DVDs on a PC).

It's a real shame though, that Sony Aus don't sell the UK version of the HX910 which has a SD digital tuner. I'd have loved to buy one of those instead of the analogue tuner version.

Hope this helps

Jeremy

[ted583]

Up until tonight I knew nothing about DVD-R or PVR. (and probably still don't)  Have read this forum since seeing the Aldi DVD-R HDD ad for 23rd March.  Thanks for the great info everyone.  I have decided not to jump in the pool until DVD-R is full digital.  I think it is another marketing ripoff making us buy an analogue recording device only to be replaced by a digital one in a couple of years.  If I'm that desperate to record a program, I'll stick to the primitive tape.  I would find it difficult to live without my Sony widescreen integrated digital TV though.  No digital out on that either.  How do you record digital TV to DVD?  Can you output from a SD STB to a DVD-R?  How many DVD-Rs have digital inputs? Not the Aldi one!  Why bother until it is full digital?

[Tassie Devil]

ted583, on Mar 18 2006, 12:31 AM, said:

Up until tonight I knew nothing about DVD-R or PVR. (and probably still don't)  Have read this forum since seeing the Aldi DVD-R HDD ad for 23rd March.  Thanks for the great info everyone.  I have decided not to jump in the pool until DVD-R is full digital.  I think it is another marketing ripoff making us buy an analogue recording device only to be replaced by a digital one in a couple of years.  If I'm that desperate to record a program, I'll stick to the primitive tape.  I would find it difficult to live without my Sony widescreen integrated digital TV though.  No digital out on that either.  How do you record digital TV to DVD?  Can you output from a SD STB to a DVD-R?  How many DVD-Rs have digital inputs? Not the Aldi one!  Why bother until it is full digital?

Go read item 10 & following on the sticky at
http://www.dtvforum....showtopic=29072

John

[Huggies]

Howdy

I new to these forums and thought I would add here that if you plan to get a second set top box that you make sure that their remote controls don't clash with each other. I own a MTV-540 STB and a Telefunken TDR986 (which I use to record to my LG DVD Recorder). I've found that their remotes clash with each other .

Even with the small telefunken unit siting behine the TV the Remote for the MTV can interfere sometimes. I'm going to look into putting a switch on the unit so the IR Receiver can be switch off.

Cheers

Huggies

Edited by Huggies, 30 March 2006 - 01:54 AM.

[Foggy]

Huggies, on Mar 30 2006, 02:53 AM, said:

I'm going to look into putting a switch on the unit so the IR Receiver can be switch off.

Just put some black electrical tape over the IR sensor.

[Tassie Devil]

Timmy Downawell, on Feb 23 2006, 09:48 PM, said:

I think the original post should state that SCART often also carries s-video, just as it is capable of carrying component (abeit even less often). It is, of course, capable of carrying composite, s-video, component and RGB, but which of those it ultimately does is up to the manufacturer of the device concerned.

If you look at items 1 and 16 you will see that SCART giving s-video as well as RGB is mentioned.  However we must be careful about misleading nubies re SCART outputting component.  AFAIK Topfield is the only manufacturer that does this and that is contrary to the normal specifications for SCART.  Also, not all SCART outlets have RGB video out, all of which makes this whole business even more confusing to the newcomer.

But thanks for your input.  It did alert me to one mistake which has now been corrected.

John

[DarkMatter01]

Suppose this is a good question that no one at Wow! Sight and Sounds managed to give me a certain yes or no answer: Some PVRs have a USB plug at the back. Does that mean I can record a program then transfer it to computer so I can edit using something like Adobe Prem to remove all the ads? Or if not, what is the purpose of the USB? So far, I've only got two answers (As it was hard finding staff without carrying a box and taking it on a tour throughout the store) and they were "It should do" or "Possibly".

If it's not possible to upload on to computer, I've also thought of getting a DVDR with a hard drive. Even though it could of been answered, it didn't seem to make any sense so I'll ask: If I hook up my SD reciever to a DVDR that has a hard disk, would I get SD signals or would it not work?

[Tassie Devil]

DarkMatter01, on Apr 1 2006, 09:20 PM, said:

Suppose this is a good question that no one at Wow! Sight and Sounds managed to give me a certain yes or no answer: Some PVRs have a USB plug at the back. Does that mean I can record a program then transfer it to computer so I can edit using something like Adobe Prem to remove all the ads? Or if not, what is the purpose of the USB? So far, I've only got two answers (As it was hard finding staff without carrying a box and taking it on a tour throughout the store) and they were "It should do" or "Possibly".

If it's not possible to upload on to computer, I've also thought of getting a DVDR with a hard drive. Even though it could of been answered, it didn't seem to make any sense so I'll ask: If I hook up my SD reciever to a DVDR that has a hard disk, would I get SD signals or would it not work?

The USB socket does mean you can download files in the Topfield but being present does not always indicate this is possible.  For example, the Pioneer DVD-R has an USB socket but that is for connecting a keyboard for easier title entry.  So, the sales person was correct.

Whether or not you want to mess around with downloads to your computer via slow 1.1 USB so you can do editing etc on the PC could narrow your choice of PVR considerably.  Otherwise yes, feed in any STB (usually via s-video & analog audio) into a DVD-R and you can reproduce the original.    This and more is discussed in items 10 to 14 in the essay above.  Have a careful read and ask us again if anything is still unclear.

John

[Tiger_Africa]

Hi All,

I am new to this site and after reading this post, I have a question...

I am trying to achieve the following:

Timeshift Foxtel Digital
Record Foxtel Digital to HDD
Record my DVD's to the HDD
Record my Music to the HDD
Be able to record it to DVD

After much reading, I came up with the following solution, but not sure how viable it is ??

Install Fox IQ
Buy DVR (DVD + HDD)
Connect the 2 together

That way I should be able to timeshift and record Fox to the IQ box.
Then I should be able to copy the programs to the DVR and also record and play my movies and music from there.

Is this possible ?
Is this correct ?

Any help would be much appreciated...

[Tassie Devil]

Timmy Downawell, on Feb 23 2006, 09:48 PM, said:

I think the original post should state that SCART often also carries s-video, just as it is capable of carrying component (abeit even less often). It is, of course, capable of carrying composite, s-video, component and RGB, but which of those it ultimately does is up to the manufacturer of the device concerned.

I'm somewhat mystified by your comment Timmy as in the basics it does state s-video and composite are carried and it is repeated again further down.  However maybe you are looking at somewhere else it is not mentioned so please direct me to where you mean.

On SCART carrying component, it would be incorrect to say it does as the official SCART specification only allows for RGB, s-video and composite video outputs.  Topfield are the only ones to depart from those specs AFAIK.

Your feedback appreciated

John

Tiger_Africa, on Apr 4 2006, 09:55 AM, said:

Hi All,

I am new to this site and after reading this post, I have a question...

I am trying to achieve the following:

Timeshift Foxtel Digital
Record Foxtel Digital to HDD
Record my DVD's to the HDD
Record my Music to the HDD
Be able to record it to DVD

After much reading, I came up with the following solution, but not sure how viable it is ??

Install Fox IQ
Buy DVR (DVD + HDD)
Connect the 2 together

That way I should be able to timeshift and record Fox to the IQ box.
Then I should be able to copy the programs to the DVR and also record and play my movies and music from there.

Is this possible ?
Is this correct ?

Any help would be much appreciated...

Yes, all very possible and certainly the most convenient if you can afford all that gear.
I suggest that if you can see in advance you want to archive a program you set the DVD-R to record it on HDD so you do not have to waste time transferring the file from the Fox IQ box.

John

[Tiger_Africa]

Thanks for the reply John.
I suppose what I am after is a simple solution that'll give me all those options that I required.
If you know of another way to do it all, please do tell...