Hi, sorry to ask the obvious question, but i'm just starting to look at STBs. What are the basic things I should be looking for?

I'm getting a 32 inch samsung lcd tv. I want a HD STB, but other than that, I'm pretty clueless.

One that has output's that include S-Video, Component or RGB and potentially DVI or HDMI if your panel has it. IMO go for a reasonable brand eg. Humax, Topfield or Teac.

Some thoughts:

1) Question the HD requirement. Its still generally pretty overpriced and the majority of TV is still broadcast in upscaled SD. Not saying its a bad idea but just consider how much you really want it.

2) The biggest thing to realise about a STB is it can't talk to your VCR (one's digital the other's analogue). By this I mean, if you set up you VCR to record something then your STB MUST be tuned to that channel - you can't flip around channels while the recording is taking place. If its a timer recording then you need to ensure the STB changes to the right channel at the right time as well as the timer on the VCR.

3) With that last, in mind its a good idea to get a STB with timer functionality.

4) A DVD Recorder is basically the same as a VCR with respect to item 2 - Both machines are analogue and can't talk to digital STBs

5) For only a few dollars more consider getting a PVR (HiDef versions are still very badly priced, not to mention rare and buggy) so you should get a SD one if you go down this track. A twin tuner PVR is recommended (allows you to record stuff as well as watch something else at the same time) although a single tuner box like a Wintal is around $250. Note a PVR is just a STB with a harddrive recorder.

6) If all you do is watch live TV then agree a STB is really all you need (although even the simplest PVR will let you skip adds to some degree)

7) To combat the record something/watch something limitation of a single tuner STB you could always get two and switch between them if necessary. You can also keep the analogue signal. Either leave the VCR to tape the analogue signal and watch live TV on the STB. Or reverse that and when taping something via the STB watch TV on the old analogue sigal.

8) I presume dual tuner STBs exist but don't really know to be honest.

Hope that gives yo usome ideas anyway.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

Wow, thanks pgdownload. I had no idea about that recording issue. Very important to know. Sounds like my choices are:

1) Leave my DVD recorder (don't have a vcr) to record the analogue signal from the tv, i can still flick tv channels at the same time without ruining which channel that gets recorded.

2) Get a STB with a timer functionality that will make sure the right channel is recorded, and therefore i'd get the digital channel recorded. Now i can also flick between channels without ruining the recording of my favourite program. But does this mean the digital tuner must stay on the channel being recorded? ie I can only flick between analogue tv channels?

Is this right?

Sounds right Inferno. Essentially when recording off the STB you will be recording whatever channel the STB is on. So if you flick around on the STB you will record yourself flicking around. You will always have the option of flicking around the analogue channels while recording the digital channel if you have analogue plugged in to your TV or DVD Recorder by the sounds of it. OR you could get a second cheap STB.

Note your DVD Recorder will gain no benefit from recording a HiDef signal over a StandDef signal - you'll only benefit when watching TV live.

Perhaps the best bet would be to get a simple $140 SD STB with timers to plug into your DVD Recorder. Then get either a second SD STB or HD STB for your general viewing. Regardless, I suspect most of your viewing would be of stuff off the DVD Recorder though.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

I think i'll leave the dvd recorder to record the analogue channels. I get good reception and only use the dvd recorder function to time shift shows. If there's any movie or tv show i want to keep i usually just buy it on dvd.

What about if you have Foxtel digital and a STB? Is there any reason why you couldn't use your VCR to record foxtel and use the STB to watch FTA or vice versa?

Nope that's quite possible. The Foxtel and STB both bring in their own signal. In both cases you would have the same main issue as mentioned above. When recording to a VCR from either box you couldn't change the channel on that box. You could however switch the TV to recieve the other box and what that one while the other one recorded.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

Excellent, Thanks for the advice. Now to decide which STB to get! The Teac 820 seems to be getting good reports on the forum.

Inferno

Couple of points here :-

I have the Samsung 32" with an LG 5100p HD stb and a Wintal PVR. The PQ on the HD box is better (maybe 30%) than that from the Svideo on the Wintal, I have also tried a friends digitec. This seems to be because the signal is converted to analog (svideo) where the DVI-HDMI connection is pure digital. As you have a DVD recorder I would suggest a cheap SD box to connect to that and a HD box with DVI or HDMI for normal viewing, trust me you will notice the difference especially on 9 and 10 (CSI, Mcleods daughters and the Alice are all in true HD. HD recorders are still far too expensive.

Thanks for the input, peebs. Think i'll play around with it when i get it. See to what extent i notice the picture quality difference, and whether it becomes a burden to not be able to change the channel. Perhaps the answer is to buy another lcd for the bedroom!!! (Think the wife would smack me across the head if i did that though...)

Which ones have timer functionality? I had a quick look at the major brands and they don't seem to mention it.

Most that are one step above the absolute cheapest have a timer. Shouldn't be that hard to find out if a box you're looking at has it as part of the spec list (Google or make a phone call). Here's a recent thread on the same query:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=26217

Regards

Peter Gillespie

Thanks again, peter. Wow, there certainly is a whole heap of brands I've never heard of.

No probs,

I'd suspect the market will continue to flood with these things. Even at $100 they're no doubt costing only a few $$ to manufacturer. Personally I wouldn't agonise too much over what brand to buy. If your reception is good then the difference between most SD STBs is pretty mariginal. Just make sure it does what you want (aka timer) and jump in. Odds are, in less than 12 months you'll be looking to make additional purchases (I reckon 2006 will be the year of the PVR in Oz)

Regards

Peter Gillespie

Yeah, well it looks like 2005 is out of the question now.....